Wolfstein Castle Ruins

A couple week ago I turned 27. I know I'm getting so old! haha My present was a trip, thats what we are doing while in Germany, but since it wasn't until the following weekend I still wanted to get out and do something fun. I have my trusty notebook for travel ideas and I opened it to my list of castle and castle ruins. We thought a ruins would be more fun especially for the kids. We didn't want to go too far since we had to be back for our date that night(!) so I got on google and found Wolfstein only about 45 minutes south of us.

Wolfstein was one of the most intact ruins was have seen so far. It was really cool to go inside the main structure of the castle. There were still wall separating the rooms and windows. The kids enjoyed being able to run around and climb on things. There was only another family there when we got there so we pretty much had the place to our selves. Inside one of the rooms in the main castle structure we had a pillory. Of course we had a little fun with it. Its not every day you get to experience a form of medieval punishment with you kids. 

He was being bad!

I forgot the cool tripod we bought for such occasions but oh well I made do with the self timer and a rock. Could of ben better but I learned my lesson for next time. 

The castle, like most, was on top of a mountain/hill I'm not really sure what the Germans consider it. We were able to park pretty close and then walk only a little ways. Of course being up so high always makes for amazing view of this beautiful country we are calling home right now. Harper is our little budding photographer and always wants to take pictures. With a little coaching from mom she was able to capture this picture of Colby and I. Pretty good for a 3 year old I'd say!

I enjoy these little adventures with my family so much and hope we can continue even when we move back to the States even though there won't be any castle ruins to explore! 

Kloster Kreuzberg

So I have gotten a little behind on blogging our travels well because we have been traveling a lot and busy at home.

The first weekend in April Colby's friend came to visit us for the 4 day weekend. Colby has been wanting to go to Kreuzberg where they make what people refer to as monk beer. It is a brewery at a monastery. I wanted to go when it was warmer. The weekend that Brandon was visiting was beautiful and since they both love beer we decided it would be a good trip.

They don't only have beer there. They also serve food, have hiking trails, a church and 3 wooden crosses at the top of the hill.

We decided to climb the 300 steps to get to the crosses first. Brandon went to get beer first though and hiked up with two mugs of beer! The view at the top over looking the village was gorgeous! It was nice to relax and enjoy the view after the trek up the hill.

The 3 crosses and Colby's mug

We took the shorter hiking trail around to get back down the the monastery. It was a lovely hike through the forest with a nice little opening so we could see the view down the mountain. The hike was just the right distance for us with the kids. They were able to run/walk the whole way and get out some energy without disrupting anyone else. We as a fall always enjoy spending time outdoors. 

The view along our hike

Once we were back at the monastery, we got some food and more beer for the guys. The kids also enjoyed some ice cream. After eating and Colby getting his 5 liter growler of beer to bring home we went to check out the church. We have seen a lot of church since moving to Germany and its very interesting to see how different they are but also how similar they can be. Harper also had some questions about Jesus on the cross. It was a good chance for me to tell her about the true meaning of Easter which was prefect since we were in the middle of lent. 

Colby and Brandon with 5liters of beer

After leaving the monastery we planned to just head home but as we were heading down the mountain we saw what looked like a castle ruins, Osterberg. We decided it would be fun to check it out. Just Colby and I made the big hike up. It was just ruins. We have been to a couple castle ruins and this one was probably  the most run down we have seen. It was still nice and the view again was very nice. 

Space A

While my husband was gone to training his great grandfather passed. It was a sad time but also happy as he lived a long full life and many years with out his wife.  Since we were just sitting at home alone anyway, I decided to the kids and I would try and get a Space A (available) military flight back to the states for the funeral and some visiting.

This was our first time using Space A and with out our "sponsor" we were pretty low on the totem pole. The also base it on the day and time of sign up in each category. We had to wait for Colby to get our Command Sponsor ship letter so we could fly without him. Everything moved pretty quickly for us. He passes friday night (stateside time) and we were trying to fly out on Tuesday. We didn't make the first flight to leave Ramstein that day but lucky for us there was a flight that was delayed from the day before and we were able to get on that.

We landed at BWI about 5pm EST. Germany had not yet entered Daylight Saving time so in Baltimore we were only 5 hours behind Germany. That being said we landed feeling like it was 10pm and being up since 3am. Jet lag set in for my kids and turned them into evil monsters that in no way resembled them. Once we got through customs, we went on to the ticket counter for a flight to Atlanta. I paid a little more but got us a non-stop flight. They even waived the baggage fee.

We enjoyed our time in Atlanta. Then flew to Kansas to spend time with my husband's family and finally drove up to South Dakota to hang out with my family. We got to see a lot of our family and I got to eat all the places Colby and I have been craving, a lot of which was mexican.

We planned to fly back March 31st so we could be home when Colby got back from his month long training. Well, he called the Wednesday before to say they were sending him home Friday. They only post the flight schedule on Facebook 72 hours in advance and only the roll call times. So then I just had to wait until they had a flight back to Germany available. This happened to be Sunday. I had to fly commercially  back to BWI and they only flights to arrive in time left at 6am. I choose the schedule to put us in BWI as late as possible while still having enough time to get our bags and check in at the AMC counter. We had some decently long layovers but it all worked out. Once they started roll call for the flight I was very worried we weren't going to make the cut. There were a lot of people there! I was stressing once they got down to only 14 seats available but I was able to count the number at that point and we were 8, 9 and 10. Just barely made it. Once we were on the plane they said it was a full flight however, there were several empty or almost empty rows behind me. Whatever I guess. I didn't care as long as I was on that plane. We made it back to Germany happy and just a little tired!

 They are well traveled and wonderful travelers!