Europe- Day 11/12

 Okay, let's just face reality...

A bit of food talk...

(at least I'm getting it out of the way in the beginning, right?!)

(pasta sauce imported from Italy...yes please!

btw...they also sold sauce made by "Kraft" :)

I went to the grocery store.

Low an behold, there were 3 located (or there abouts)

 in the bottom floor of a 5 story shopping mall!

That's exactly the way it was when we were in Japan.

Maybe Americans are the only ones who waste space by giving supermarkets their own lots.

Or MAYBE, it's because their markets aren't very "super" as far as size goes.

(I don't really know what I'm talking about...I'm just making up as I go along)

But their markets ARE super as far as I'm concerned.

Fortunately Unfortunately, you only get to see one measly picture...

Clint came with us during his lunch break, so we were in a bit of a hurry.

Also...My camera battery died after this photo.

Alas...I went grocery shopping in a foreign land unprepared!

Lucky YOU!

I'm going again today or tomorrow... 

Don't fret!

(Starbucks is the same here!  No Jelly Frappes like Japan ;)

Starbucks Lady:  "May I interest you in a Dessert?"

Clint:  "No thank you, but you may interest me in two!"

Silly hubbers...oops...

I meant to say...

PURE GENIUS, hubbers!

That means caramel for me!

For the past two days, Liam and I have been relaxing.

Isn't that what you're supposed to do on vacation 

while your valiant husband 

is off at work running around like a crazy person,

 trying to communicate with angry guards, noting all import details of a machine, 

reporting back to the USA, 

all-the-while trying to save a struggling AM branch in little, ol' Kalispell, MT, 

thereby retaining over 1,000 employees' jobs, 

so they can keep feeding their families

and have a roof over their heads...

Uhhem...where was I, again?

Oh, yes...

relaxing while my hubbers works like the Superhero that he is.

Side Note:

Industrial Engineers DO have super powers...just not capes...

Additional Side Note:

I should TOTALLY make him a cape!

Moving on...

Liam and I have been walking around aimlessly.

Clint, I did "get in" the map you left me once yesterday...

*insert my proud smile here*

Liam was a HUGE fan of the Gellato!

This is the face of, "More please, Mama!"

Here's some of what we've seen so far...

I don't know what any of these buildings are, but they sure look neat!

And in the mid-afternoon, 

we both go to our home-away-from-home 

(away-from-home, yes...WA, I still miss you dealy),

and take a snooze!

Liam looks like this while sleeping.

Not sure what I look like...

I've taken naps two days in a row with Baby Fin!

Forget cramming in sightseeing...

I'm living every mother's fantasy just by napping!

Can I get an, "Amen" ladies!?

The Frauenkirsche is DIRECTLY across the way from us.

As I was walking by yesterday, I overheard a tour guide...

SPEAKING ENGLISH!

So naturally I...

 slowed down, started walking in circles, and eavesdropped on her speech...

(Don't pretend you wouldn't have done the same ;)

She said after WWII, the rubble pile of this church was left untouched as a reminder that war is painful.  

They didn't start rebuilding until 1992.  

The workers had a special computer program that heled calculate EACH stone and determine where it fell from.  

Each stone was taken away and accounted for one by one!  

By taking careful consideration and time, they were able to use 3,800 original stones and put them in their original location.

AMAZING!

 (this is why some of the church is darker in color...it's the original pieces).  

The guide also said that part of the funding came from a portion of all lottery tickets sold in between 1992-2005!  

The Structure was completed in 2005.

That's 13 years WITH modern-day convenience...

I wonder what it was like before :)

The Church's ringing bells wake Baby Fin up every morning, 

so he gets to see Daddy before he leaves for work.

This is unusual for Liam.  

At home, Clint is always gone before Liam wakes.

Breakfast with Daddy.

We don't have child appropriate chairs in our apt.

Therefore, Liam eats all his meals standing by the coffee table and running 

crawling around like a crazy person while he's supposed to be eating!

Still working on encouraging walking more :)

Here is the outside of our hotel.

We are the three windows by/in-between the vertical sign.

As I was reading our Welcome Packet from the Hotel, 

I came across this sentence, 

"If you are in need of a babysitter, please contact the front desk and we will find reliable accommodations for your child."

Genius Parenting Tip #2 from the Finlaysons:

It's probably best not to leave your child with "reliable" babysitters provided by your hotel.

WHO WOULD DO THAT?!

Seriously people, THINK!

Today, Day #13, Liam and I are going to take a city tour via a steamboat on the River Elbe :)

Ciao-Ciao!

Europe- Day 9/10

I'm sitting here in our tiny flat listening to a guy play his accordion for tips.

He's pretty good.

He just finished the theme song from the original Tetras game.  

I liked that he gradually sped up to the end, as if "Game Over" was in order.

Clint is at work and 

Liam is taking his very first "scheduled nap" since leaving home.

Baby Fin has been doing great sleeping in the stroller, 

but it is really nice to have a day off and rest up.

Some of the things Liam and I have planned for the days while Clint is working are:

Going to the zoo, 

taking a steamboat ride, 

piddling around Old-Town Dresden, 

Going to the park to play with our "Da Boe,"

(we need to buy a new one...we left it at our LAST stop!)

And whatever else seems kid friendly.

We spent most of yesterday in the car traveling from Bayerisch E. to Dresden.

We drove through Czech, and got a bit lost, so it took longer than 3.5 hours.

We actually bought a map this time.

Note to self:

Next time you rent a car for multiple countries, make sure the GPS works everywhere you are going.

We made it...

 eventually.

One foot in Germany, One foot in Czech Republic

One of the many sleeping poses of Liam

Workin' the camera even when he's napping :)

Love it when he wakes up happy!

Day 10 today...

We spent the ENTIRE morning chasing little balls around.

I think Liam enjoyed himself.

This guy doesn't care about taking in the city sites!

Our little flat is located in Old-Town Dresden, 

so everything is in walking distance for Baby Fin and me.

YAY!

I thought today would be a good day to rest up.

While Liam naps, I'm people watching through our windows.

I don't mean to sound like a creep-ster, but...

  I LOVE watching people!

Who's with me?!

Anyone?

Through our windows...

Here's what I can see...

Okay...now who's with me?!

No?

Only plans for the day...

Go to the grocery store.

We plan to eat in most of the week.

Not only does eating out 3 meals a day for 3 weeks

(that's 63 meals not including snacks)

get EXPEN$IVE...

BUT...

Sometimes cooking is less work than eating out with an 18 month old.

You parents know what I'm talking about.

PLUS!

I have a weird faddish with grocery shopping...

I LOVE IT!

I'm kind of giddy to see what they have here!

We don't have an oven, so I'll need to get a little creative :)

Europe- Day 7/8

The Last stop on the "Holiday" portion of this trip was at a blip in the road:

Bayerisch Eisenstein, Germany...

...A little town that borders the Czech Republic and is nestled in the Black Forest.

It was SO beautiful!

Here's the view from our back window.

Liam thought that the door opening from the room to the balcony was pretty sweet.

He got to go in and out all he wanted...

ALL by himself!

because it was child proof. 

Nothing like a balcony to boost a one-year-olds ego :) 

One of the things we did was take a hike through the Bavarian Forest.

We took a fun family hike which leads to a restaurant about three miles in.

What is is with food?

I feel like all I write about is the food we are eating.

I guess we like to eat :)

Liam slept through most of the hike, so we 

Clint did a lot of pushing the stroller up a mountain...

We both agreed it was worth it for him to work so hard!

"Hi, Mom!"

On the way down we got caught in a rain storm.  

Half way down we finally found a rain shelter.  

when we made our way to the shelter...

it stopped raining...

Of course it did!

We also spent part of a day at a local park.  

Handsome boy!

I think this is probably the most fun Liam has had.  

It was a great park!  

All of the "play stuff" was handmade.

Cheese!

WEEEEEEEEEEE!

Liam crashed after that busy day!

Clint and I watched The Sound of Music!

About time Clint!

I don't want to sound like a broken record....

but here we go again with food.

I was all excited to order "dumplings."

Dumplings are just plain old bread here...I've tried twice.

Grandma Mona, your dumplings are 

FAR SUPERIOR! 

Clint's favorite meal!

 Meal Time Entertainment.

"More dessert bitte, Dad."

Good night.

We are now in Dresden, Germany.

Clint starts work in the morning.

Liam and I are taking a day off from sight seeing and resting up.

We'll look for a park and maybe splash it up in the fountain outside the hotel if it's nice.

Ciao-ciao!  

(Liam's newest word/s!)

Europe- Day 5/6

We spent 2 days in Salzburg, Austria, 

and they were splendid!

What made them so great?

Well, for starters, 

Liam got back on track with sleeping through the night!

Yahoo!  

We also had some REALLY good food.

(Although the service at this place left something to be desired, the food was great)  

I'm pretty sure I've already gained about 10 pounds.

(fried bread and dessert at every meal may or may not have something to do with this)

Clint "In his map."

(oh, Friends, funny one-liners applicable to all life's situations.)

Although, his obsession with "where we are" can be annoying at times, 

he has proved it useful too many times for me not to put up with it.

He must be my other half.

MOZART!!!!  

We visited his birthplace and family home.

Both are museums...

Liam did fairly well okay.

Good thing he's cute, or we may have gotten kicked out at one point.

And that is all I will say on this topic...

You can only take pictures at the entrance an exit.

Here are Clint and Liam at the exit of Mozart's Birthplace.

Salzburg, Austria

My handsome hubbers.

Besides Mozart what's so great about Austria?

THE SOUND OF MUSIC!!!

Here we are in the abby!

I was seriously giddy going to all the film spots

 for one of my all time favorite movies!

Thank you Grandma Haynes for introducing it to me and watching it with my every time I spent the night at your house!

Also...

Thank you for the all-you-can-eat ice cream and popcorn!

Liam:  "What's up with Mom?

Have you seen this movie she seems to be obsessing over?"

Clint:  "Actually...No."

ME:   "BAAAHHHHHHHH! 

 This situation MUST be rectified!"

Julie Andrews...I LOVE YOU!

In the Abby Court.

See...other people were having fun too :)

T.H.E. house...

Pink in real life...who knew?! 

We walked around looking for the house in the rain for about thirty minutes.

We felt pretty silly when we realized we parked right across the street from it!

Have I mentioned that Liam hasn't been eating very well on this trip?

We've been trying to find "kid-friendly" food at every stop.

He just doesn't seem too hungry.

On our way to Bayerisch Eisenstein, Germany, 

we stopped at a pizzeria thinking it would be very safe.

We couldn't figure out the menu/toppings 

(it was all greek to me...uh...I mean german...)

so we ordered the specialty pizza and spaghetti.

Sounds good.

The spaghetti was loaded with shrimp, muscles, octopus, and calamari!

NOT what we were expecting!

Specialty Pizza:

Olives (WITH pitts), corn, 1/2 cooked eggs, and a few other, somewhat recognizable, ingredients)

Poor Liam...

OH WAIT!  

He ate the best he's eaten on the whole trip!

Liam was Gnawing on the Calamari like they were french fries from McDonalds.

I think we have a 60 year-old trapped in a 1 year-old's body.