Neuschwanstein Castle

During our stay in Munich we made the 1.5 hour drive outside of Munich into the Bavarian mountains to see Neuschwanstein castle. This castle was built for the Bavarian King Ludwig II. The castle was begun in 1868 but never fully completed. It is considered one of the most famous historical buildings in the world. We did get to tour the inside of this castle, however they would not allow us to take pictures. So unfortunately we can't share with you how beautiful and magnificent the inside actually was. Ericka pretty much sums up our views of this place when she says: "this is my favorite castle!"

Munich Germany

Well we've finally returned from our first 2 week vacation and we've seen quite the sights. The first stop for us was Munich Germany. Unfortunately we had cold and rain for most of the time that we were there, but we tried to make the most of it. The first day we arrived we couldn't figure out why it was so crowded and there were people drinking beer, eating sausages and dressed in traditional german clothing everywhere!!! Well it just happened to be the 850th birthday of Munich.

Here are some pictures of the sights of Munich. The first pictures are of the birthday party we experienced on our day of arrival. The next set of pictures are from Nymphenburg Palace. The girls are sitting in front of one of the many fountains in the gardens of this beautiful palace. The last picture was taken in the Marienplatz- also known as the heart of the old city of Munich.

Disneyland Paris

We all went to Disneyland Paris with grandma bug for three days this past week. The girls had a good time, although Lauren was scared of all of the characters whenever they got close to her. Ericka enjoyed dressing up like a princess and getting all of the characters and princesses autographs.

Lauren's favorite ride was "It's a small world" and Ericka's favorite ride was "Buzz lightyear laser blast". Grandma bug's favorite was the carrousel. Thankfully we had good weather and the crowds weren't too terrible. We just had two very tired girls by the time we went home.

Castles of Luxembourg

Mark's mom (Grandma Bug) was here visiting us this past week. We took her to many sights around Luxembourg and to see two of the castles of Luxembourg. The first picture is of Vianden Castle, which is the largest castle in Luxembourg. It was constructed between the 11th and 14th centuries.

The 2nd picture is of the grand ducal palace in Luxembourg city. This was the residence of the royal family from 1895 until the 1950's. The royal family now lives outside the city of Luxembourg and this palace now houses many government offices.

The third picture is of Ericka and grandma bug at one of the parks in Luxembourg city.

Holland: Tulips and Windmills

Finally, our vacation wouldn't be complete to Holland without seeing fields of tulips and windmills. These pictures cannot truely capture how beautiful it was! AMAZING!!!

The coast of Holland- Noordwijk

We stayed along the coast of Holland in Noordwijk the last two nights of our vacation. We were very lucky to have nice weather and Ericka loved playing in the sand and putting her feet in the ocean. We just relaxed, enjoyed the nice weather, watched Lauren dance to live music, and ate dinner outside along the boulevard!

The Flower Parade

On Saturday April 26th we went to the annual Flower Parade of the Bollenstreek. This parade takes a 40km route and is the largest, most famous flower parade in the world. The parade has more than twenty floats and cars decorated with flowers.