Lago Di Braies 9/3/16

Sept 3, 2016

Lago Di Braies

As we were looking for the lake, we found an antique market that also acted as our parking for the lake. We quickly walked through and mommy was able to buy a copper bucket as part of her Italian antique collection. Jace was very excited to swim in the lake as soon as it was within our sight. Unfortunately, we didn’t see anyone swimming in the lake so we had to walk a little to find our own spot away from other people so you boys could enjoy being in the lake. Even though the lake was ice cold, you boys did not hesitate to get your feet wet and throw rocks over and over into the lake. We also rented a row boat and took turns rowing the boat! The dolomites surrounding the lake was magnificent to see! Jace and mommy were definitely challenged learning to work the oars to row the boat but we had fun trying! It was definitely a great trip to take before Jace started school that following week! 

Lichtenstein Castle (Germany) 8/2/16

August 2, 2016

Lichtenstein castle in Germany

This castle was crazy gorgeous. It's a relatively unknown castle and wasn't overrun with tourists. It was pretty far off the beaten path and away from the crowds. We had to drive a couple hours out of the way to get there, but it was well worth it. There is a guided tour to go inside the castle but only done in German. However, we were able to see this amazing castle that is located right at the edge of the cliff. We walked the castle grounds and of course found another hidden treasure for Jace there! It wasn’t very big but big enough for you boys to run around and have some fun looking for “treasure.” 

Strasbourg France 8/1/16

August 1, 2016

Strasbourg France

Daddy picked Strasbourg since it was only a few hours away from where we were in Germany recently.  We have always wanted to take you boys to France so we took this opportunity to do a quick day trip there.  Such a beautiful city! The Roman gothic architecture made us feel like time travelers. We started our day by eating at a very cute pizza place. By daddy’s standards, it was the best pizza he’s had since we arrived in Europe!  You boys enjoyed it as well J We visited the Cathedral of Our Lady of Strasbourg, which contains a crypt that is over a thousand years old. We also visited the archaeological museum in the basement of the Rohan Palace, which is one of the richest National Antiquities Museums in France. Since we have been to quite a number of museums since we arrived last year, it was very comforting to know that you boys would enjoy walking through another awesome museum.  You both liked looking for “bad guys” (any type of armored statue exhibits) and of course skeleton remains! We all enjoyed learning more about the past together! It was an incredibly fun day in France! We plan to go back to France in the winter to bring you boys to Paris!

Heidelberg Germany 7/31/16

July 31, 2016

Heidelberg Germany

Daddy found another AMAZING castle for us to visit here in Germany.  We are getting use to not taking a stroller for Jace and Jace was getting use to walking quite a bit up to the castle grounds now. Although we needed to bribe him with treasure, as usual, once we arrived in the castle the fun began! You boys were running around the entire castle grounds and enjoyed looking into all the “dark” corners of the castle. It was one of the most beautifully kept castles we have seen so far without too much renovation to it. Of course, the ghost had a message for daddy for Jace to find another hidden treasure here! Walking through the town of Heidelberg was just as nice as well. It was a very cute town and we enjoyed our visit here!

Salzburg Austria (7/30/16)

July 30, 2016

Salzburg Austria

This was our pitstop before reaching our final destination to Vogelwey Air Base in Germany. As we drove through the center, we saw many booths set up near the river and naturally we wanted to check it out. It turned out to be a mini market filled with different vendors selling craft like goods. We ended up eating lunch at a thai booth that was very good! We continued to walk and granted Jace’s wish of gelato in order to see more of the center of Salzburg.  We also saw the cathedral here and it was absolutely beautiful! Daddy checked out the crypt there as well but you boys were so tired and just layed down on mommy’s lap as we sat in one of the pews waiting for daddy.  Unfortunately, Jace was running a fever this day so our sightseeing of Salzburg was cut shorter than we would have liked. However, we saw enough to know that we would definitely come back for the Christmas market here!

Salzburg Austria (Eagles Nest) 7/1/16

July 1, 2016

Salzburg Austria-Eagles Nest

Our long awaited trip to Eagles Nest has finally come. Daddy has been wanting to see Hitler’s hide out since he found out about it last year! We had to take a bus ride to the top of the mountain and from there walk through this long tunnel and into the brass elevator to the top where Hitler’s hideout was located. It was definitely in the middle of nowhere and made perfect sense for a hideout to be located. However, it was NOT safe to just let you boys run around once at the top. There were NO RAILINGS near the edge so a tight grip was a must when walking around the top of the mountain with both of you. We also ate at the restaurant there and enjoyed taking in the breath taking scenery around us. And of course, there was treasure hidden for Jace to find near the rocks as we walked further up the mountain but definitely away from the edge!

Partnach Gorge (Germany) 6/30/16

June 30, 2016

Partnach Gorge-Garmisch Germany

We’ve been to a gorge near our house in Sacile but not like the gorge here in Germany. Jace was a little nervous to enter the gorge because it was extremely dark once we went through the different enclosed parts but once daddy and sissy made “friendly” ghost noises, it was time to do the usual treasure hunt. It was quite a walk for us to do the entire gorge but it was definitely beautiful to see and fun for you boys. The raging water that flowed through the gorge was exciting to see for all of us.  It was actually cold to walk through because of how far down the gorge was located so it was nice to have the cooler temperature as we walked through.  As usual, Jace was waiting for the ghost to message daddy to tell us where the treasure was hidden. Since we didn’t bring a stroller with us, this was the only motivational tool that worked to bring Jace a burst of energy for the walk back to the car. It was absolutely the best gorge we have been to yet and we had the best time walking through together and enjoying the natural beauty of it all! 

Neuschwanstein Castle (Germany) 6/27/16

June 27, 2016

Neuschwanstein Castle-Germany

This castle is in Bavaria, near the town of Fussen. It was built by King Ludwig II. Neuschwanstein castle inspirted Walt Disney to create the castle we love to see in Disney World. As usual, there was a looooong walk to the castle but we have always enjoyed our walks up to all the castles we've ever been to. This was our second attempt to see the castle since the first time we were rained out. We went later in the day so we were unable to do a horse carriage ride up to the castle. Sissy had never hiked up to a castle so it was even a challenge for her ;) Once we arrived at the castle, it was truly as spectacular as we had hoped it would be based on the pictures we had seen online. We had read online that to tour the castle itself was not worth the money or time. Unfortunately, many people who have toured the castle have said that only a small portion of the castle is available for tourists to see and the rest of the castle was not available for tours. This did not stop us from wanting to see the infamous view of the castle from a bridge that was quite a walk to get to. As we hiked through the windy trails of wooded areas behind the castle, we discovered that the bridge to see the entire castle was under renovation :( Of course, this did NOT stop daddy! He took sissy and Jace past enclosed areas to get as close as possible to a spot where they could take a picture of the entire castle. Mommy stayed with Jordy despite Mommy's disapproval of having Jace go with daddy. After awhile, daddy came back safely with sissy and Jace and showed mommy all the pictures of the DANGEROUS spot they had to go to in order to get the pictures of the castle. They were near the EDGE of a cliff!!!! Daddy and his pictures......;) We enjoyed our walk back down from the castle and we were so happy to have been able to see the famous "Disney Castle." :)

Highline 178 and Erinburg Castle (Germany) 6/26/16

June 26, 2016

Highline 178 and Erinburg castle

Daddy found this extremely insane longest suspension bridge in the world! When daddy showed me a youtube video of this bridge before we arrived here, I told him NO WAY was I going to let you boys walk on that bridge. I adamantly told daddy that you boys and I would stay in the car while Daddy and sissy crossed the bridge themselves. Of course, daddy talked me into it and we all braved the bridge! Initially we were all scared!!!! It was VERY windy and foggy this day. Daddy even tried to shake the bridge to give us an extra scare! We were all holding onto each other very tightly especially Jace and Sissy! We wanted to just run to the other side but it was a VERY LONG bridge to get through. Half way through we started to enjoy the view and even the height of our adventure! It was very scary and amazing to see the highway beneath us as we walked. Once we reached the end, we were all so happy and actually ran as we got close to the end ;p However, we knew we had to walk the entire way back AGAIN! By this time, Jace was very brave and was even bragging about how fun it was to Jenna. Despite the wind, fog, and cool weather we greatly enjoyed this once in a lifetime suspension bridge challenge ;) 

To top of this great accomplishment for us, we had to make sure to "look" for Jace's treasure from the ghost at Erinburg castle. The castle ruins were truly untouched and kept all its original structure. It was getting too cold for mommy and Jordy so we weren't as encouraged as daddy, Jace and Jenna to tour the castle in its entirety. However, we still posed for our usual castle family pics and looked at Jace's treasure map from the ghost and had him find his treasure. Jace was too excited and immediately ran too quickly to find his treasure and took a great fall AND on camera :( After a great pep talk and reassuring words from daddy, Jace continued his treasure hunt and successfully found his treasure :) 

We were all so glad that daddy convinced/forced us to go on this great adventure today! ;p

Germany 6/25/16 (Innsbruck & Garmisch)

Innsbruck Germany

One of our first places to take Jenna while she visited us for the summer was Innsbruck Germany. The last time we went to Innsbruck was for their Christmas market and we absolutely fell in love with the city! We were still very much excited to see Innsbruck during the summertime. Although it was a quick day trip to Innsbruck, we enjoyed touring the city center once again and strolling through the streets filled with various shops, cafes, and restaurants.

Garmisch Germany-Edelweiss resort

We have been wanting to go to Edelweiss resort since last year! It is an exclusive resort just for military and their families. We were very fortunate to have joined Daddy during his TDY here in Germany! You boys were so excited to enter the grand lobby of the hotel and quickly let the entire hotel lobby know that the Hebert boys have arrived ;) It was the biggest hotel/resort lobby we have ever seen! Our room was the perfect size for all five of us and had a beautiful view of the mountains! We quickly dropped off all our things in the room and toured the rest of the resort. We saw the pool area, hot tub, two restaurants, café, kids arcade area, adults mini casino, laundry facility, and of course gift shops. I immediately knew that even though there were days daddy had to be in his TDY course, we had plenty of things to do to entertain ourselves in the meantime!