Brussels with Paul Scherbel

Mark discovered that his high school friend, Paul Scherbel, currently resides in Brussels, Belgium. Paul is about to go stateside, so we made a short weekend trip up to Belgium to see him and explore a little of the area. We went downtown to the popular La Grande Place and saw the famous buildings in the square, along with the famous Manneken-Pis statue not too far away. We enjoyed some fried food, a belgian waffle, and got ourselves a box of Belgian chocolates at the Chocopolis. After a short little nap for some of us, and a few rain showers, the sun came out and we headed to a local park near his house in Overjise. Layne loved the fast zip-line and was on that whenever there wasn't a line. Liam loved being everywhere else and really enjoyed the large and fast slide. We then went to the pond and fed the ducks; but only had a few pieces of bread and by the time the flock came along, the bread was gone. Mark and Paul had a great time catching up on high school memories and viewing the high school year book. It was a great 'get away' visit to Belgium.

Dinosaur Park Fun Day

It took two days to enjoy this park, but we did have a great time at the Dinosaur Park in downtown Kaiserslautern at the well known Gartenschau, japanese garden park. It rained the first time we went, but we did get some mini golf in before it rained. At the next trip, it was a hot and sunny day, where the kids got to explore the bigger playground attractions. Brenne and I sat in the nice shade, so I didn't get as many pictures of Layne and Liam. We, of course, enjoyed our time with close friends and look forward to another warm day when we can explore it again.

Brenne-7 months

Brenne is getting around and enjoying playtime much more. She is now able to get herself into a sitting position when she is on her tummy. She also is scooting along on her tummy more and will most definitely be crawling around by months end. Brenne also has cut her left bottom tooth and her right tooth is coming in as well. She has discovered some food options and enjoys eating a variety of vegetables and fruits, as well as the bitter biscuits and juice.

Exploring Germany

We took a one day trip to Heidelberg with our close friends, the Woods family, to see the Heidelberg Castle (Heidelberger Schloss). They were our tour guide, as they had lived in Heidelberg before. The castle is currently undergoing preservation, but it was a beautiful day to be out and exploring. The kids enjoyed the beautiful and spacious courtyard, even getting to climb a few trees. The view was amazing and it was great to enjoy the experience with friends. After our tour of the castle we went to Ladenburg to the very kid friendly Jump In; an indoor park with trampolines, jungle gym with huge slide, etc. that is big enough even for the adults to play along with the kids. With Brenne being older, she even was able to play in the infant section.