Day trippin' our way through Germany....Bonn and Drachenburg Castle

We love day trips! Germany is so rich with history and so much of it is just a few hours away. This weekend we decided to visit Drachenburg Castle. Usually big Isaac is the castle fanatic but apparently I've pinned Drachenburg Castle three times on my "Must See" board. It also happened to be a mere six miles from Beethoven's house. Win, win!

Unfortunately pictures are not allowed in the actual house so there are not many pictures. It was still really neat to see the house. The line of the day was from lil Isaac when Big Isaac was explaining who Beethoven was and how long ago he lived while they were listening to some of his music...

"  But if he's dead how did Beethoven make it on Little Einsteins!?"

 

On our way back to the parking garage we heard a bongo drums and went to investigate. There was a guy that was doing the limbo, on the lowest rung, and the rung was on fire!

 

After the random entertainment we went to Drachenburg. The hike up was a little bit of an incline. Lucky for us there was a vendor at the top selling Brauts and ice-cream. It made for a tasty break. Once we were inside I was in castle heaven. It was so, so, so pretty! There wasn't much history about hit...mainly just amazing architect. After we walked the grounds and explored the castle we had coffee's and a waffle, checked out the gift shop, and then headed back down to the car. Isaac got the boys wooden swords and they had a fun time "fighting" on the way down. By then it was diner time and we were all hangry ( So hungry we were angry).  Big Isaac was so hangry that he told me I had to pick the place to eat....I never pick bc I never know what I want ha ha. So back we went to Bonn. After walking for a bit I decided on pizza hut. You read that right. It was just what we all needed. There also happened to be a Starbucks across the street so we got frapps for the road. It was a wonderful day. And I loved every minute...even the hangry moments :)

 

** Random story...on our last few trips lil Isaac has been telling me some pictures I should take. I found my old camera and gave it to him. He had a blast taking pictures...super duper cute!

 

** photo disclaimer...Israel did not want his picture taken today...I do have one picture that he looks happy in...he also happens to be picking his nose. So that's why there's a lack of photos of my cutie :)

left: part of the outside of Beethovens house
top: sign infront of the house
bottom: random art before entering a tunnel

Bonn. It was so pretty!
* The bottom right picture is the limbo guy

lil Isaac capturing some picts

ice cream break at the entrance of the castle

I was in castle heaven

is it not a stunning castle!?

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Israel was really into his ice cream.

life's more fun when you have a brother to sword fight with

pizza and fraps...perfect way to end the day <3 td="">

Haarlem NL & Keukenhof Flowers

This was the first weekend in a month that Big Isaac didn't have to work on a Master's paper or fly. So we went on a day trip. We usually like to plan our trips wayyyy ahead of time. This time we kind of winged it. It was a learning experience but also lots of fun.

 

Both Isaac and I learned about Corrie Ten Boom growing up. Corrie Ten Boom is a Dutch Holocaust survivor. Her family also hid many Jews in a wall in their home (You can read all about this amazing family and Corrie Ten Boom here, http://tenboom.org/).

 

The Museum is located in Haarlem, Netherlands.We arrived an hour before the next English tour started. We also didn't put much time on our parking meter and had to go back to add some mulah. However, two restaurants, two stores, and multiple people later we were Euroless (what we needed to put in the meter). Apparently, euros were just hard to find that day. I sent Isaac with the boys back to the museum so that they wouldn't miss the tour with the promise that I would be there shortly to catch it. Zero luck later and very frustrated I decided to do the unthinkable (for me)...drive outside our tiny villages. I had no choice. Time was up on the meter and I didn't have change to put in. My second to worst European driving  fear happened. I got lost and went down a one way street (thanks a lot GPS). What surprised me is that I didn't panic. I simply did a very tight U-turn and got back on track. I finally found a parking garage and then raced to the Museum. The tour had all ready started. We had downloaded Corrie Ten Booms devotionals and listened to a few on the way over. Her devotionals talk about love, forgiveness, patience, family, some of her horrible experiences while being in a concentration camp.  That can make a very big difference in ones attitude. I decided instead of being upset I would say a quick prayer that the boys would behave for Isaac and I spent almost two hours exploring shops. It turned out to be a huge blessing. I had been needing some alone time. I went into makeup stores, perfume shops, decor shops, etc. It was a little piece of heaven. The boys did behave really well on the tour. Isaac said he received many compliments. Isaac also had a really good time learning about the history of the Ten Booms.

After Isaac's tour and my shopping adventures we hit the city center for some food at the market. I decided to give Donner Kebabs another try and found it to be delish! Isaac had a real Dutch mini apple pie and the boys ate egg rolls till their tummy's hurt (parenting fail). With very full tummy's we got back in the car for the second part of our day trip....

 

We also thought it would be cool to see the Tulips in Keukenhof, Netherlands on the way back home. While googleing how to spell, Keukenhof, I found out there's a whole garden we didn't see. Looks like we'll have to plan another trip next year ha ha. Anwyhoo, we winded up seeing field upon field of beautiful flowers. After some photos we headed home.

 

All though the trip didn't go as planned we have many happy memories and pictures from it :)

pretty sure lil Isaac can actually reach the pedals in this car ha ha

Top pict: Corrie Ten Boom infront of the closet that went to the hiding place
Bottom: Some pictures Isaac took of the tour



some random picts I took while exploring fun shops.

First I was like...Yum! Coffee
Then I was like...Yum, giant burrito!
JUST KIDDING! I did NOT have coffee at that place.

Isaac having real Dutch Apple Pie!

Isaac was sweet enough to drive and look for some purple flowers...my fav color :)



The tulip fields were so beautiful!