After the monastery and lunch, we made a quick stop at St. Hildegard Abbey. St. hildegard's is only 100 years old, but is still a working abbey, and we did not have a tour set up in advance, so we had to settle for just looking around the ground, and inside the chapel, where I stopped Ezekiel just before he was about to blow out the prayer candles  

The girls were especially interested in the tombs of deceased Abotts and other patrons of the abbey. Are they buried right here?  (step) Here? (step) Here? And that they got to see a real nun before we left. She looks just like Maria! (The Sound of Music, people). And because I know you're dying to know, Emi did great the whole day. The next day, no so much....

Just wanted to share a few quick pics with ya'll...

Since we have been studying the middle ages, we decided to take a little field trip the other day. Our first stop was Eberbach Monastery, founded by 12th century Cistercian monks in the German state of Hessen. It is no longer a working monastery, but a museum of sorts, and after our English language guided tour, we got to wander all around a bit. Here we all are, with the monastery in the background. Don't ask me why my kids are making those faces...

Oh, and the lovely lady next to me is my Mother In Law, our long-suffering hostess in Germany. The scary teenager is my sister in law, though we like to pass her off as my sister

Unfortunately for our pictures, the weather was overcast the entire weekend.

Ok, so I have no idea how to use my camera. Sue me.

I think Dh took that one. Artistic, no?

This fountain was right outside the stairs to the dining room. You know, so the monks could wash before they eat. The tour guide asked my kids: "What does mommy ask you do before you eat?"  Blank stares.  Well, I make them wash if they've been playing outside...

Afterwards we had schnitzel and apple juice for lunch in the town of Rudesheim:

Stay tuned for more....

This post is dedicated to Mariposa, and my new friend Christy 

Our original plan was to stay overnight in Louisville, but we decided to press on a little further down the road and ended up at some random motel frequently mainly by truckers, of course. But other than the smoke smell (uhg!) it was clean enough. The next morning we drove rather uneventfully through southern Indianna and Illinois.  Round about 1 pm we saw this:

Since Emi was hungry, and none of us except Adam had ever seen the Arch, we decided to stop and stretch our leg in the park. It took a bit to find a place to park that was close enough to walk but that we didn't have to pay for. When we finally did (in a hotel/casino parking lot), I got the baby and Adam got a out to stretch. A minute later he comes back with this piece of good news:

We've got a flat tire.

Well alrightly then. We decide to go over to the Arch first, then deal with the tire (nothing like a little procrastination!) It was a nice shady walk, and No, we didn't go up to the top - they wanted $10 for adults and $5 for kids 3+!   But it didn't cost a blessed cent to get into the museum and gift shops, and my souviners were tax free! Then we walked down the stairs and saw for the first time just how high the flood waters were:

See that space between the bottom of the stairs and where the flags are? Thats a street.  See the pedestrian crossing sign? See that little yellow topped thing? A fire hydrant. Adam got down to the bottom step at the water's edge to take pics. Of course the kids followed. They sat on the bottom step and stuck their feet in - it ws only up to their ankles. Then Arianna got a lesson in showing off - she stood up, and started doing a little "Look at me" dance - and promptly fell on her bottom in that debris filled water.  Apparently, she fell off her step and onto the street - of course she was fine, but it did surprise her - and wet her.

Anyhow, after all that fun, we go back to our poor over-worked van and Adam decides to put the donut tire on. It's like at least 90 degrees and no shade in the parking lot, so the kids and I decide to wait in the hotel lobby - a swanky Four Seasons. A very nice gentleman helped me get my stroller up the stairs, and I later learned that 2 nice guys helped  DH with the tire - Thanks St. Loius!

We get on the interstate and V-E-R-Y slowly make our way 20 miles down the road to Costco, where they fix members' flats for FREE. Unfortunately, there are 7 cars in front of us, and only 2 hours till closing. Fortunately, killing two hours at Costco is NOT hard for us to do. We ate a pizza and looked around, making a few essential purchases (12 lbs of popcorn kernals) and they called us back in an hour and a half:

Sorry, we can't fix your tire. Oh and, seeing as how it's a *wierd* size, we don't have any in stock either.

Alrighty then.  So two hours and no new tire later, we pray, then get back on the road (VERY SLOWLY, of course) and try to make it the 250 miles to Adam's aunt's house. Of course we do, and get to witness a spectacularly spectacular thunder and lightning show on the way. Here's his aunt and uncle's farm (well part of it) - ain't it perty? 

The girls had a blast and right away wanted to ride the 4-wheeler and the tractor - their Uncle was happy to oblige. Zeke loves all things vehicle, but he wasn't too sure of being near all that noise. So he started small -

on the ride-on mower, and worked his way up -

to the 'parts' tractor in the barn. He eventually rode in a tractor (on my lap) and loved the 4-wheeler with Papa  

Whew! For some reason this post has taken me FOR-ever. So - Part II next time!

Two weeks ago we set off for Missouri - a 17 hour, 1090 mile trip. Here are our kiddos in the car, in no particular order. They're smiling because we hadn't yet discovered that the DVD player was broken

Emi's first road trip!

This one made me take her picture half a dozen times before I got a decent shot,

But this one posed willingly :)

And this guy couldn't get any cuter if he tried, IMHO :)

Our drive took us thru West Virginia, Kentucky, Indianna, and Illinois -4 states we had never been in before. At a Kentucky rest stop, the kids spotted out this cool looking moth:

It's dead of course (see the big piece missing from it's wing right above my thumb?) But I took a picture anyway, planning to look up it's name when we got home. Um yeah, haven't done that yet  If any of my illustrious readers can name it, they'll win, um...well,... something cool for sure . I'll spare you the pics of the dead cicadas littering the ground. Crunch, crunch.

We made it to Louisville, KY the first night, and after eating at The Old Spaghetti Factory  we went to the Waterfront Park  - it was so cool! If you're ever in the area I highly recommend it. There was TONS of playground equipment and a Splash Park all in one big area (probably an acre or more) with plenty of seating for parents. I know what you're thinking, but it was surprisingly un-overwhelming considering it's size and the amount of kids there. There are grown-up things too, if you find yourself sans children.

One of the playgrounds.

We did not feel like digging though our suitcases for bathing suits,

so we got a little wet.

Not the best shot, I know. But I have this thing for bridges and train trestles - I don't know why. The park is along the Ohio River (get it - Waterfront?), So those houses you see on the other side are in Ohio, a state we unfortunately didn't get to visit on this trip.

So that's it for day 1. Stay tuned for Part II - St Loius, MO here we come!

*Edited to add: good catch, Kathy D.! That is indeed the Ohio River, but that is INDIANA on the other side, NOT Ohio. And I'm sorry we missed you, maybe next time... :)

Not ours, but somebody's:

I'll post more pictures of our trip to MO tomorrow

My bags are packed.

Our boarding passes printed.

My house is clean picked up.

My refridgerator is nearly empty.

My appliances are unplugged.

By this time tomorrow, I will be in California.

Don't be jealous, it's not anywhere glamourous (did I spell that right, Mom?) only Moreno Valley. I know you've never heard of it, that's how you know it's no where you want to be... Anyway, I'll write.

Catch you on the flip side.