Family Fun

On my way home from Texas I stopped in Colorado Springs for 5 days to see my family! My grandparents, brother and sister-in-law, and all 5 nieces and nephews were there, along with the ones that already live there :) I had so much fun playing and shopping and getting donuts. I landed back in Germany on Christmas Eve and pretty much slept until I had to go back to work today.
We went to Pixie Skate, which is my favorite thing to do when I visit. The kids are adorable and it is hilarious to watch the other kids eat it. It brings back so many memories of fat lips and sore knees. I had a few dates with these cuties and had so much fun being with family.

She doesn't realize her skates are locked :) 

Check out the pioneer girl in the helmet...

The newest addition, Olivia!!!

After 5 minutes the children need coaxing from the parents

She's not listening

She's really not listening

Safe and sound at home!

Me and my Grandparents!

Babies holding babies

The boys

Me and Jackson on a whole new friend level. I love it :)

My brother and his girl 

More babies holding babies

Cousin fun at the kid table. The circle of life.

She's a Burt

Paula making me laugh so hard I cried. I think she was trying to pronounce a spanish word.

More boys!

Cruising Kitchens

I found this place while I was lost, looking for my hotel in San Antonio. http://cruisingkitchens.com/ . I could definitely see myself driving one of these one day. Especially if the military doesn't work out. Haha. I have always and will always love the idea of being a gypsy. I don't think I would actually love it, but it's okay to be in love with an idea.
They also have a sitting area that looks like they serve food. I went to check it out today but it was closed, so I went to Bento's instead and got the "best empanada in the free world". It was pretty good. Their fish taco was supposed to be amazing but I've had way better. I normally don't notice that with food, but I know I've had better fish tacos than that. I'm a bad critic since I love it so much. I usually don't have anything bad to say, but this taco was way too fishy. There, I'm a food critic.
Here are some pictures of Cruising Kitchen that I stole from the internet.

 

Thanksgiving in San Antonio

I'm in Texas for a while and was able to spend Thanksgiving with some friends from my year in Wichita Falls. They are avid Harley riders and participate in an annual group ride for the Basic Trainees at Lackland AFB. I got to tag along and ride on the back of Jill's trike and it was so much fun. There were around 150 riders and we just escorted a few buses filled with Air Force recruits to the Harley shop where they ate Thanksgiving dinner.
Afterwards we ate at their house and had a great time catching up. The weather is amazing here so riding in late November is perfect!

Art & Jill and her trike

Art and his sweet ride

Riding buddies

I'm most definitely the nerd in the mirror :)

Line of bikes returning from the ride

Non-riders supporting the troops!

Basic Trainees on their way to get some food without being yelled at :)

Javelina Harley-Davidson

 

Small Cities

Here are some pictures from my latest day trips. I love small cities. I always find a chocolate shop and have a few homemade delights and take pictures of all the beautiful buildings. The weather never really cooperates but if you wait for a sunny day here, you might never see another city.

Frauenfeld, Switzerland

Frauenfeld, Switzerland

Echternach, Luxembourg

Echternach, Luxembourg

Getting ready for Christmas!

Art Nouveau sign in Echternach

Art Nouveau tiles above the windows

Strasbourg, France

The weekend before Corey deployed we went on a day trip to Strasbourg. I loved it! It was such an adorable city with a lot of cool things to see. We parked outside of the downtown and took the train in and it was a perfect, stress free day. Plus, the drive out there was incredible. Every curve in the road led to a picture perfect postcard view.
Eating in France is always a little difficult for us because there aren't as many people who speak english and the food is very...fancy. We found a nice place to eat and luckily a server there spoke english but even then the conversation went something like this.
"Here we have the liver of a bird that is like a goose"
"Oh, that sounds lovely. Do you have anything that is like chicken?"
"Oui, I do not know the name of the bird but it is family."
"I'll take it."
The food turned out to be amazing and the whole day was great. Street musicians, open markets, cheese stands everywhere. I love France.

I love the outdoor seating that is EVERYWHERE!

Street food

Beautiful french accents

Petit France, Strasbourg

They have an amazing cathedral and it has an astronomical clock inside

These two were fantastic!

Not going to lie, I kind of want to carve cheese now

Cheese warmers...I snuck my hand in there. It was cold!

Foot bridges over rivers are so cool!

Watch your six on this street :)

Heidelberg, Germany

For a work trip, Corey's office went to Heidelberg for the day. I had the day off so I got to tag along and see the famous castle. We only live an hour and a half away, but hadn't made the trip yet. We've been busy with the other million places to see while we're here.
We've been having a heat wave but yesterday was the first cooler day in a while and I welcomed a trip free from swoobs, hair clingy to my sweaty neck and any chaffing whatsoever. There was some rain at the end of the tour but it didn't last long.

Main square in Heidelberg

Beautiful cobble stone streets

Entrance to the castle

The castle

View of Heidelberg

I got my hair lightened

It was windy

Me and my boo

Just a little rain

Too many darling places to eat

On the bridge looking back to the city

Corey, me, Aaron and the castle from the bridge