GERMANY

The Eifal
The Mosel River with some awesome clouds

The Mosel,Vineyards and Villages

The Beautiful Mosel

LegoLand

For Joshua's pre-birthday present, we all decided to hop in the car and travel four hours south to LegoLand. We were pleasantly surprised to find that the park was nearly empty of patrons. This allowed us to jump on and off rides without a "Disney World" line. Navigating half the park in only a couple of hours before dark was a new phenomenon for the Thompson family. Once dark, we spent the night in a lego race house, with a loft that the kids adored! After a long slumber (like our kids would allow that at LegoLand), we were able to complete our tour of the park. For example, we rode the remaining rides, built lego race cars, and watched Bob the Builder in 4D along with a couple of other shows in Deutsche. All in all, we had a GREAT time and where able to make life long family memories.

PARIS

Traveling in Europe is always an ADVENTURE...from the people you meet to the places you see. On the way down the Autobahn we detoured at a rest stop and experienced a true European (your-a-pee'n) bathroom (see picture). When sitting down for a bite to eat we entertain ourselves by playing "guess that language"..."is it Portuguese, NO! Spanish, but certainly NOT French!" No matter how hard we try to adapt to the various cultures, one of the toughest things to overcome for an American is enduring the offensive BODY ODOR of non-hygienic individuals crammed into a small cubical of personal space.

Sit back and enjoy our trip to Paris.

Things that I have learned

Here are a few things I have learned since moving to Gemany:

1. Don't worry about what the street signs say because you can't read them anyway! (It has made me realize what my children see when they look at a sign. Nothing that makes sense! Now who wants a ride? :0)

2. Not all trash is trash (You have a yellow bag, blue bucket, brown bucket and glass. It truly has the Thompson children confused! I hear all day long, "Mommy what does this go in?"

3. Sprechen Sie Englisch? (Do you speak English?) This has now become my favorite sentence.

4. Yes you can fit your Mini Van into small spaces I didn't say you wouldn't have any marks or dents. :0 Yes our van will need a paint job by the time we leave this place in three years.

5. I am perfecting the 5 point turn, just to back out of a parking space Have not hit a car yet! :)

6. Just because a road is narrow does not mean it is one way! Most roads around here look like they are only wide enough for one car, but two drive on them. EEEKKK!

7. Air conditioning is a privilege and not a right so bring a fan if you are going to stay in a hotel!

8. Be careful of the magazines when you go into a gas station!

9. Dogs are favored more then children at the dinner table at Restaurants.

10. That the slower life style is not all bad! We are really enjoying our time here! Don't get me wrong I miss "home" (America), but feel honored to be here in Germany!

Here are just a few pictures of our adventures here.