Back to reality......

We are back from our Southern California spring break....

Flew back on the red eye Monday...

I feel like I have vacation hangover....

I hate red eye flights.....

We had a whirl wind of a vacation...

Day 1

Hollywood

Beverly Hills

Bel Air

Santa Monica

Malibu

Day 2

Oceanside with our friends the Lee's from Utah

Day 3

San Diego Safari Zoo

San Diego Zoo

Sea World 

Day 4

Rainy cold day....

Hermosa Beach

Redondo Beach 

Dinner with friend

Day 5

Wedding day.....

Best day of all

I love weddings

Cried of coarse

Had a wonderful time

Day 6
Disneyland...
Happiest place on earth...?
So crowded
long lines
So crowded
strollers galore
Not a Disney character to be found...lots of other characters though
Awesome people watching!

Happy to be home! 

Disney Girl

Katelyn had a wonderful time on her Senior Class trip to Disney World! 

They were on the go non stop from Thursday to Monday...

Her poor little feet hurt so bad!

By the last night one of the boys got her and a friend a wheel chair and pushed them around the park...

he was so sick of hearing them complain about their feet! 

Lots of smiles, 

memories 

and new friendships!

Home again....

There is something to be said about sleeping in your own bed!

We just got back from a week in Utah.

It was nice to go "HOME"

It's been almost 4 years since we moved from there....

It's gone by fast

It's weird to drive by our house and see renter's living in it...

It's nice to see family, friends and eat and shop at our favorite places...

And of course enjoy the gorgeous

Wasatch Mountains!

My hubby skied everyday...

I skied 2 plus days...

I got altitude sickness the first day...

that was fun...NOT! 

Goodbye blue skies of Utah!

Hello gray blah skies of Buffalo!

Happy Tuesday!!

Spring Break

Spring Break 2011

Some people went to the sunny beaches of Florida or Mexico but not us we road tripped it across Pennsylvania ending in our Nations Capital DC! 

It was College Tour 2011 for the West family...started in Erie, PA and ended in Philadelphia, PA. Seven college campuses and four official tours....lots of walking and questions. Our heads are spinning, but we are well informed and our daughter is excited for the future. She liked all but one school. It's been many years since I've visited Pennsylvania.....we saw a lot of the state and loved it. 

Pittsburg was one of my favorites and most surprising. It was not at all what I thought. While there we ate at a fun authentic German restaurant called Hofbrauhaus. It had great food,beer and music. The atmosphere was so authentic, you could close your eyes and you would think you were in Germany.

Philadelphia was a nice stop too but the city is grittier than I remembered. We had only a little time to see  the city. Arriving at Independence Hall after it closed, so we saw the Liberty Bell through the window. 

After Philly we headed to DC to see all the sights.....it was insanely crowded! I thought everyone went to Florida! We stayed in Alexandria Virginia outside Old Town. I loved walking and riding the trolley up King Street with the shops and restaurants. 

DC was beautiful they are several weeks ahead of us in Spring. We missed the Cherry Blossoms but everything else was in full bloom. 

There is so much to see and do, we just saw a tip of the iceberg of DC. I think several trips are in order to see and do it all. The weather started out good but changed quickly from 80 degrees one day to cold and raining the next. 

Katelyn and I really wanted to go to Georgetown Cupcakes....do you ever watch that show DC Cupcakes on TLC? Omg......there was no way we were getting a cupcake that day or any day with lines like that. There was at least a 3 hour wait....for freaking cupcakes! No thanks! 

I'm happy to be home, in my own bed. I missed my Sophie. Something to be said for 

HOME SWEET HOME! 

Happy Easter Monday!

Pictures both mine and Katelyns

Heading out...

This little baby is going to do some driving....her first road trip....she is behind the wheel. Well it's Spring Break here and we are heading to Pennsylvania to tour colleges making our way to Washington DC.

Seems like yesterday she was playing in the car and now I've been booted to the back seat and she is in control of the radio, temperature and our lives!  I'm really excited to be heading to see colleges...she wants to be at least 3 hours from home.....3 hours!!

So Pennsylvania here we come...not sure what to expect, either is she...I can't wait to see what she thinks or likes......rural or urban.....big or small!

Also excited to head to Washington DC my first visit.....I think we are too late for the cherry blossoms. I can't wait to see it all...maybe run in to Obama family!

Have a wonderful week catch you after Easter!

On our drive to New Jersey we passed through many little towns. I got a kick out of some of their names, one being Fishs Eddy. Such an unusual name I thought. Until we were in NYC heading down Broadway towards Union Squares Holiday Market. We came upon a store called FISHS EDDY, I stopped and was like thats weird, same name of little poe dunk town in NY has a store in the BIG NYC!


We stopped in and my heart started beating faster, I was in love....it only took a second, I fell hard! I asked the girl greeting us at the door about the name and it is named after the little poe dunk town, but only because the owners liked the name.

FISHS EDDY is a kitchen store....dinnerware galore, fun accessories, glasses, towels you name it.

Here is one of the reasons I'm so smitten, one of many!

But I also loved their collection of CHEER UP products. It reminded me of Keep Calm and Carry on.

And the Tunnel Vision products crack me up.....

If you are ever in NYC it's worth checking out or you can order online, there is something for everyone!

Here is a picture of my sister and nephew enjoying Bremen, Germany! 

That was before this happened!

Because of this.......

And now we are one BIG LOVE family!

It's crap she is only on board for the cooking!

Side note DELTA Airlines is having a sale to Europe from New York need to book by April 26th!!!
Great deals act fast!!! Seriously it's on their website! 

Breaking up is hard to do....

So since we will be moving back to America in July I figured what's the point of taking my German lessons. Right makes sense......so yesterday I told my teacher my news. She said so what does that mean for us? And I nervously said well I should probably stop ya know cause I'm gonna be busy and stuff. Okay I might of stuttered and nervously laughed all the while thinking Omg I will never utter another German word as long as I live please stop trying to make me learn!! I'm incapable of learning languages! She said, NO we will continue until you leave! End of discussion! What!! okay see ya next week......!

Tomorrow my daughter and I are flying to Paris to meet my sister Preppy Player and nephew. We are stay until Monday night and then I'm bringing them back to Germany to stay until the following Sunday. I can't wait to see them and to have the last of my sisters come visit. My sister speaks perfect French and we are doing different things in Paris than I have done and seen before. Like going to Versailles and Giverny Monet Gardens.


Au revoir!! Ciao!! Auf Wiedersehen !! until then...

Amsterdam dam dam dam!

(click to enlarge)

We just returned from Spring Break, spent four days in Amsterdam. The city was easy to get around, we took the tram and walked everywhere. The first day we visited the Anne Frank House, that was interesting and sad at the same time after that we walked around and had lunch at the famous Pancake House.It was delish and I could have had seconds. Did some shopping and found some beautiful Delft pottery , I fell in love with it all. So beautiful and love the blue and white. We took a canal cruise through the city it was really cool way to see all the houses along the river and house boats. Some of the canal's were so narrow I can't believe we fit through. Afterwards we walked some more, the streets were filled with locals and tourist and the air was filled with the smell of pot. We were just wondering around taking in everything around us and one wrong turn ended us in the Red Light District. Poor Katelyn between the Pot smell and girls in the windows waving I thought she was going to vomit! Not sure if we will win parents of the year but she certainly gained an education this trip. Had a wonderful Italian meal and some yummy tasting wine. Great first day lots of laughs.

Second day we visited the Van Gogh Museum, loved it but it was very crowded.  Next we were off for more educational tours, Heineken brewery of coarse. It was really interesting and fun, something different. Katelyn was the only teen on the tour! Again parents of the year! They give you a wrist band depending on your drinking age so she did not enjoy the best beer in Holland. We had really good food, wine and beer the whole trip.

 Our last day we spent at the Keukenhof Gardens, it was amazing. We were a little early for all the tulips in the fields but the grounds were covered in tulips,crocuses,hyacinths and daffodils. Water fountains and statues of all kinds. It was also Katelyn's sweet 16 birthday that day, wasn't exactly how I think she pictured her 16th would be. I think she has visions of MTV my super sweet 16. But hey she got tulips, windmills, second hand pot smell, art, history, culture shock what more can a girl ask for? A repeat according to her!!!

If you ever get a chance to go to Holland do, it is as beautiful as you can imagine!

Austria and Update

Thank you for keeping my nephew in your prayers, he is doing much better and will recover. He is a lucky young man, for now he doesn't need back surgery. He will be in a brace for many months ahead, along with rehab it will hopefully do the job. If you are a skier/boarder please wear a helmet it saved his life. Thank you again for all your kind words.

St. Johann, Austria beautiful little ski town, just a five minute walk to the slopes. We stayed in a quaint little inn with amazing views of the Alps. My pictures really don't do justice of the beautiful painted buildings and woodwork.That is by far my favorite part of Austria.  St. Johann is a very Catholic region of Austria, almost every house had a cross on the outside of the home or shop. Every restaurant was decorated in religious ornaments. All the shops and some business shut down everyday from noon to 2:30, except for restaurants. It's like that in most parts of Germany and other European countries as well. I think lunch is their big meal. Our hotel had free soup and bread everyday at 5:30, I'm pretty sure we were the only ones that ate soup and left for dinner at near by restaurants. It shocked me to have free soup nothing in Germany is free, you are charged for the butter you use. We found some great restaurants, good food and great service. They have two breweries there Huber Bier and Egger Bier it's sad to say I fell in love with both. We had the best weather sunny, blue sky days up until the last day. My husband would have prefer snow everyday but after the winter we have had it was nice to soak up the rays. The Cathedral was gorgeous inside and out. It was so cold inside you could see your breath...we had to go outside just to warm up. Hope you enjoyed my little tour of St. Johann in Tirol Austria, you can click the picture to enlarge.