Wow, I think I'm first! Please include a segment on traveling with children....any tricks? We are preparing to take a two-year work assignment in London, and I want to travel in the UK & Europe as much as we can once we're there. The little ones are now 3.5 & 1.5, so I want to make sure that I don't have unreasonable expectations! I am so looking forward to reading about your vacation!!!!!
ah - i love it. so many places i wished i'd been able to see while i was there and couldn't because of my visa or being pregnant and ready to burst! shane used to snowboard on his downtime at jungfrau! how fun to see it in the background! we are so hoping to go back to europe sometime in the next few years. :)
WOW!! I can not wait to read and see more! Excellent guidelines and thoughts to get you blogging.. now get to work :o) I am ready to read more and more about your fabulous trip!!
1:48 PM
Anonymous said...
Wow, I really can't wait to hear about your trip and read all the answers to your questions. I think it's great that you are taking advantage of this time to do these great things.
And it made me laugh to read that you thought you looked pregnant in that picture. I was just thinking to myself how fit and happy and wonderful you look in all these pictures. Beautiful!
Oh my word, you don't look pregnant, you goofball! You always look beautiful. I'm glad you got to go to Strasbourg -- I cannot believe you squeezed in 6 countries! You guys are amazing. I can't wait to hear all about it, and I think your idea of breaking it down into doable chunks is just right.
I still am in awe that you traveled with the 3 littles!! That is such a big deal to me. I would love to take advantage of the discounts too (if we were military)-so smart! I am curious about your list - the castles, and the 1 bad thing that happened, etc.
Our friend's neighbor has 3 littles who are homeschooled so they can all travel around the world! The dad retired at like 40! Paid cash for the very nice house, and they are gone all the time. The kids have lap tops,etc. they take everywhere. I think would be way cool -minus the homeschooling part!!heehee
I love reading your blog and all of the fun things that you do with your girls! They are so adorable! I hope that one day when I have children that I am blessed to do all the fun things you do. I am excited to hear all about your trip.
I know it's so hard to document such a long vacation with so many stops! I love that you took in so much, your trip sounds a lot like how Craig and I used to travel in Europe - come to think of it - anywhere we go! Here are some questions for you! Did you try to communicate in the countries language? How excited were the girls at the Neuschwanstein castle? What inspiring and creative ideas did you find along the way? What was your favorite moment?
Okay, I have never seen you in person but you certainly DO NOT look pregnant in that photo or any others!!!! I look forward to hearing more about this amazing trip - I have never been to Europe!What an opportunity for your babies - think of all the European experiences and mementos Annie Kate will have for share days at school. WOW!
oh you don't look pg! you look great! I am so excited like everyone else to just read about your trip and just experience thru you! I too wonder how you would pack for a trip like that!
Welcome home! I haven't been to your blog in a little while and wow, I have missed a lot! So great you got to go on such a fun adventure. What lucky girls you have.
Oh my goodness, I knew about the great deal you were getting with your flight, but didn't know about the perks with lodging and your car rental. How amazing!
You inspire me to be more adventuresome - It amazes me that you guys just opened yourselves up to this experience. I loved to hear that you took an unplanned trip to France. I find it hard to take an unplanned exit off the interstate! I can't wait to hear more.
Wow, Kristi it looks like such an amazing time you had with such beautiful pictures! I am so jealous! My husband has been there countless times on missions for the Air Force and has always told me how much he would love to be statined there. We were actually just offered an assignment there and he decided to turn it down because it just didn't seem to be the best course of action at this time. We are now possibly moving to Dover, Delaware for a reservist job with the C-17s, kind of like the C-5 you flew, just a little newer and probably a few less missing screws.
7:11 AM
[Image]writing on the sand next to the river in Garmisch Germany
Here is my attempt to start a series of posts summarizing our amazing trip of a lifetime to Europe this summer.
[Image]Ramstein Germany Air Force Base the plane in the back is a C5 which is what we flew on.
I guess I should start at the beginning, how and why this was even possible for our family. Never did I ever even dream I would take a trip like this in my lifetime, which was maybe a blessing because I had so little expectations that every discovery seemed like such a gift for our family. Because my husband is active duty in the Army we were able to fly "Space Available" on military flights going over to Europe. The cost is free, but you have to be really flexible to as what time and date you will travel. In May we came up with the idea of trying to do this, but still never really thought it would happen - in case we couldn't get a flight. Thus why I never blogged about it, because it still kind of seemed like a dream. The fact we live on the East coast also was a blessing as we probably would not have done this if we had to fly commercial to even get to the free flight.
[Image]me holding up the passports as we drove across the border from Austria to Italy
We turned in our passport applications for me and the girls exactly 2 months before we were hoping to leave. Luckily we got them in only 5 weeks. This was another huge blessing.
Because Jeff's practice is associated with the military being able to take two weeks off in a row was possible and he had ample help to cover his patients. This would have been a little tricky for him after his first year of private practice, so again another blessing and even more reason why I need to write my bishop a thank you note for his incredible wisdom given to be a year before, "Don't be fooled into thinking your life is not turning out just the way you want it to".
[Image]me at the welcome sign at Edelweiss the military resort in Garmisch, Germany, and please don't ask me if I am pregnant because i am not even though this shirt and photo totally makes me look like I am.
Another huge blessing is how much the military offers while we were over there. We stayed in 4 different hotels across our journey and two were associated with the military. One was an incredible resort for only about $100 dollars a night and the other was a mini apartment with a full kitchen for $48 a night (this was our kids favorite hotel) This also is what made this so much more doable for us. Our rental car was a great deal too, because we were able to rent if off the military base. We missed the boat on getting gas tickets to use throughout the different countries and this would have really helped considering gas was about $5.00 a gallon... yikes!.If you are active duty military I can't say enough about how worth it is looking into traveling abroad.[Image]The girls in Germany dragging their "soupies" along the river bank
We went to 6 countries.GermanyAustriaLichtensteinItalyFranceSwitzerlandWe had planned to go to three, so again it was a bonus to discover more then we expected.[Image]me in Strasbourg, France. Pulling in at 8:00 pm after driving all day not knowing that the next 24 hours would be some of the most memorable.
The major cities we went to in order were: Garmisch, GermanyOberammergau, Germany Innsbruck, AustriaBrixen, ItalySalzburg, AustriaMunich, GermanyVaduz, LichtensteinWengen, SwitzerlandInterlocken, SwitzerlandStrasbourg, FranceRamstein, GermanyI have really struggled with how to document our trip for our memories as well as to share our experiences with others. I feel like I am trying to eat an elephant and have to just keep taking one bite off at a time. I was talking to Jill yesterday asking her if I could borrow her questions asked to her about her Paris trip as an outline to document ours, she gracefully agreed. I printed them out but they seemed to be so personal to her trip. So I have come up with my own outline for myself to take it day by day to try not to miss anything.
Where we rested our heads What the travel was like (the airline experience added so much to our trip. We flew home with over 200 military troops coming home from Iraq - can you even imagine the emotion as we landed on US soil? and yes - I was teary)What filled our tummies What I bought or wish I hadSome of my favorite finds with websites so you can see them too!The castlesThe churchesOur vacation from our vacation - SwitzerlandWhat I loved about Europe and what I learned to appreciate about the United States.The one bad thing that happened on our tripWhat we would have done different How I have changed because of this tripHow our family has changed from this tripour tips and tricks for traveling with kids and would we take them next time- for Marla Where we want to go next. We only have three years left of Uncle Sam's Airline discount and want to make the most of it.[Image]Caroline and I eating Pizza in Switzerland, with the Jungfrau in the distance
So, I shall begin my list. If there is anything else you are interested in or think I might be missing feel free to add it in my comments.
posted by everything pink! at 10:44 AM on Aug 7, 2007
Untitled
21 Comments -
Wow, I think I'm first! Please include a segment on traveling with children....any tricks? We are preparing to take a two-year work assignment in London, and I want to travel in the UK & Europe as much as we can once we're there. The little ones are now 3.5 & 1.5, so I want to make sure that I don't have unreasonable expectations! I am so looking forward to reading about your vacation!!!!!
12:44 PM
ah - i love it. so many places i wished i'd been able to see while i was there and couldn't because of my visa or being pregnant and ready to burst!
shane used to snowboard on his downtime at jungfrau! how fun to see it in the background!
we are so hoping to go back to europe sometime in the next few years. :)
1:26 PM
Great questions, Kristi, I can't wait to hear the answers.
1:27 PM
WOW!! I can not wait to read and see more! Excellent guidelines and thoughts to get you blogging.. now get to work :o) I am ready to read more and more about your fabulous trip!!
1:48 PM
Wow, I really can't wait to hear about your trip and read all the answers to your questions. I think it's great that you are taking advantage of this time to do these great things.
And it made me laugh to read that you thought you looked pregnant in that picture. I was just thinking to myself how fit and happy and wonderful you look in all these pictures. Beautiful!
1:49 PM
i'm so glad that i have vacation time coming up so that i will be able to spend time reading all of your upcoming vacation posts!!!
2:01 PM
Oh my word, you don't look pregnant, you goofball! You always look beautiful. I'm glad you got to go to Strasbourg -- I cannot believe you squeezed in 6 countries! You guys are amazing. I can't wait to hear all about it, and I think your idea of breaking it down into doable chunks is just right.
2:27 PM
I am so glad you are planning to document it so throughly hear. I am eating it all up.
I can't wait to hear about the great 24 hours in France.
4:01 PM
How did you pack for such an excursion? I have a hard time packing for camping, much less Europe for five. How did you do it?
4:41 PM
this was great and i can't wait to read more! what a fantastic adventure. you are so blessed!
6:36 PM
I still am in awe that you traveled with the 3 littles!! That is such a big deal to me. I would love to take advantage of the discounts too (if we were military)-so smart! I am curious about your list - the castles, and the 1 bad thing that happened, etc.
Our friend's neighbor has 3 littles who are homeschooled so they can all travel around the world! The dad retired at like 40!
Paid cash for the very nice house, and they are gone all the time. The kids have lap tops,etc. they take everywhere.
I think would be way cool -minus the homeschooling part!!heehee
7:33 PM
I love reading your blog and all of the fun things that you do with your girls! They are so adorable! I hope that one day when I have children that I am blessed to do all the fun things you do. I am excited to hear all about your trip.
8:10 PM
I know it's so hard to document such a long vacation with so many stops! I love that you took in so much, your trip sounds a lot like how Craig and I used to travel in Europe - come to think of it - anywhere we go! Here are some questions for you! Did you try to communicate in the countries language? How excited were the girls at the Neuschwanstein castle? What inspiring and creative ideas did you find along the way? What was your favorite moment?
Can't wait for your next post! Such fun!
8:40 PM
Okay, I have never seen you in person but you certainly DO NOT look pregnant in that photo or any others!!!! I look forward to hearing more about this amazing trip - I have never been to Europe!What an opportunity for your babies - think of all the European experiences and mementos Annie Kate will have for share days at school. WOW!
8:59 PM
Fabulous list of questions. Most of them are ones you will forget down the road. So smart to document them all here.
Your photos are great and you DO. NOT. look pg. You look happy and wonderful!
9:23 PM
oh you don't look pg! you look great! I am so excited like everyone else to just read about your trip and just experience thru you! I too wonder how you would pack for a trip like that!
10:48 PM
Welcome home! I haven't been to your blog in a little while and wow, I have missed a lot! So great you got to go on such a fun adventure. What lucky girls you have.
10:56 PM
You went to Lichtenstein? So how did it feel to know that the presence of all 5 of you had 0.017% impact on the country's population?
2:11 PM
Oh my goodness, I knew about the great deal you were getting with your flight, but didn't know about the perks with lodging and your car rental. How amazing!
You do NOT look pregnant!
2:25 PM
You inspire me to be more adventuresome - It amazes me that you guys just opened yourselves up to this experience. I loved to hear that you took an unplanned trip to France. I find it hard to take an unplanned exit off the interstate! I can't wait to hear more.
6:49 PM
Wow, Kristi it looks like such an amazing time you had with such beautiful pictures! I am so jealous! My husband has been there countless times on missions for the Air Force and has always told me how much he would love to be statined there. We were actually just offered an assignment there and he decided to turn it down because it just didn't seem to be the best course of action at this time. We are now possibly moving to Dover, Delaware for a reservist job with the C-17s, kind of like the C-5 you flew, just a little newer and probably a few less missing screws.
7:11 AM