The Black Forest and Bacharach

Over the past month my sister Laura was able to visit us and during her stay we were able to visit numerous beautiful spots. One of my favorites was the Black Forest. As we drove through this scenic region we saw rolling hills, dense forests, and beautiful large German homes with architecture unique to that region.



At the beginning of the day we had some rain but that didn't stop Tristan from enjoying himself.




As we drove down I got this sweet shot of Tristan cuddling next to Laura.

Here we are at the Trieberg Falls in the Black Forest.


It was pretty much impossible to get a good family picture here because Tristan was so preoccupied with the gorgeous falls.

Here you can see Tristan in awe of the falls. If I had included video of this moment you would hear him saying "wow!".



The little guy stretching his legs before our long drive home.

Another favorite spot I was able to share with Laura was the charming little town of Bacharach. This picturesque little spot is nestled in between fragrant vineyards and the calm shores of the Rhine River.

Usually we share our gelato with Tristan (and he screams for more as we are trying to get a lick in), so this day I thought "what the hey-just get him his own!" so this was Tristan's very first gelato (of his own). After giving him his own I don't think I can go back to sharing one with him.






The Germans do an absolutely fabulous job of adorning their homes and places of business with beautiful flowers. Where ever you turn you see flower boxes with robust arrangements and flowers billowing out of windows and door ways.



Before leaving this quaint little town we stopped to play at the park.


Laura was the best aunt, as she played with Tristan until he was too exhausted to laugh and squeal anymore.


These next few pictures are from our day trip to Trier. These pictures (above and below) are of us at the Roman baths.





I had to include these two pictures as they bare record of something fabulous that has recently happened...Tristan has overcome his fear of the vacuum cleaner! Yes, that's right as Tristan has turned 18 months he is finally old enough to go into nursery (happy day), his vocabulary has really begun to take off, and I can now vacuum without him clinging to me, as if I was facing a wild animal. Now that he's 18 months, instead of being scared of the vacuum he's intrigued by its motor and all of its moving parts.



This picture I had to take as the little guy looks like some sort of monster. I had given him a plum and he went to town with it. When finished with the plum it was in his hair, his ears, on his neck, up his nose and everywhere inbetween.

Lastly, here's a couple of pictures of Tristan getting his hair cut. Paul and I were both surprised at how well behaved he was in the barbers chair and so after our first experience (this is Tristans second time-the first I didn't remember to bring the camera) I vowed to never have Paul touch his hair again (if you recall having Paul cut/butcher his hair in the spring was slightly traumatic-Tristan does not look good with a buzz cut!)

Lovin Life in London

Over the fourth of July we spent a week in London and had such an enjoyable time. We not only had beautiful weather but were able to have my sister Laura with us, which was an added bonus.

Here we are in front of the London Tower.



Laura was such a huge help as she carried Tristan a good portion of the time.



Here we are in front of Saint Paul's Cathedral.




We had such uncharacteristically beautiful weather (for London), that unfortunately all of our pictures involve Paul squinting. Here we are in front of Buckingham Palace waiting for the changing of the guard.



Big Ben looking through the lovely Holland Park.


We naively thought getting to Buckingham Palace 45 minutes prior to the changing of the guard would suffice. To our surprise the grounds were filled with hundreds of people who must have been waiting for hours in order to get the perfect seat. So...to say the least there were lots of people and it was difficult to see all of the ceremony (because they do it behind the palace gates where no one is allowed in). Despite not seeing everything in its fullness, we enjoyed all of the pomp and circumstance (which there was plenty of-the ceremony lasted over an hour).



London was filled with several lovely parks where we enjoyed lunches on the grass as well as the occasional break from sight seeing (our feet were begging for a break by the end of the day).


Here we are in front of the very impressive Westminster Abby. Despite the outside looking very ordinary, the inside was the most amazing collection of tombs and memorials to famous Kings, Queens, Poets and notable British socialites. It really was very impressive and definitely worth seeing.


One afternoon Laura and I enjoyed perusing through the amazing British Museum.

I was amazed at the amount of Egyptian, Babylonian, and Greek (just to name a few) artifacts that this amazing museum had in its possession. It even made me a little sad to see all of these precious items so far from their homes. After all wouldn't it be more impressive to see all of these Sphinxs in Egypt or to see the Parthenon in its entirety in Athens? I sure thought so (I kept thinking about how disappointing it must be to go to some of these historic places and to find very little left because everything had been taken to the British Museum). Despite my sadness I did enjoy this incredible Museum.

Here Paul is in front of Center Court at Wimbledon (one of the most premiere Tennis venues in the world). After being in London for days and feeling as though we had seen and done all that we had intended to, we thought we'd try our hand at getting into Wimbledon. This afternoon proved to be particularly exciting as we were able to get in on the day the men were playing in the semi-finals.

Here Paul is eating strawberries and cream...

and I'm enjoying a scone with clotted cream (after all the hype I was definitely NOT disappointed-it was oh so yummy!) and strawberry jam.

This day really was so much fun. Not only did we enjoy delicious food, beautiful weather and a world class competition-but Tristan and I were interviewed by the BBC (what a hoot that was-too bad I didn't know anyone watching) as well as us being able to do a little celebrity sighting (sitting next to us in the cafe where we were eating was none other than British actor Clive Owen).

Our last day in London we took the train to Cambridge. Here's a picture that I had to include, as I had never seen cricket played. Here's a whole team playing in their traditional white uniforms.

Cambridge was such a charming little town and perfect for a relaxing day to just take in the sights. After enjoying fish and chips at a local pub we made our way to the 800 year old campus (where greats such as Sir Isaac Newton and Lord Kelvin attended).

Through out the town you can see tourists being guided around the charming water ways by youth (I wondered if these were students trying to earn some extra income during the summer) by punting -or maneuvering these British gondolas.

Cambridge was quaint and fortunately for us not overrun by street performers. This talented (and very flexible ) man was the only performer I saw. Paul and I agreed that he was probably the most talented performer we had seen in all of our travels, as he played with proficiency from inside this trash can.














Our relaxing day in Cambridge was the perfect end to our time in London. I was so glad we were able to go and so glad we could share this experience with my sister Laura.

Since getting back from London, Laura has continued to spoil me as she helps with Tristan and gives me a welcome break from the monotony of daily life. We have been able to do several day trips (Hardenburg Castle, Heidelberg and its castle, Burg Eltz) and have a handful of trips planned for the future. It really is nice being able to have her here, and wish we were here long enough to host more of our loved ones.