Life as we know it.....

The winds of change are in the air.  I'm two weeks from my due date.  I am "nesting" right now.  Scott and I sanded, repaired and painted a second hand crib and changing table.  I've been washing all the baby linens, and taking tags off of the new clothes.  For some reason when I pulled the clothing out of the dryer this morning and saw these enormous handfuls of bright pink lint, it suddenly dawned on me, "Life as we know it is about to change."

The Morgan Epic Adventure!

The baby comes in just a few weeks, so I need to finish journaling the summer, or I won't ever finish! :)   Pardon the notes.  Just some things I want to remember.

Days 1-3 - Bacharach, Rhine Valley, St. Goar Tour, & Burg Eltz Tour (Fri/Sat).  Church in Aachen and a little walk around Laurensberg/Castle Park. (Sunday)

The Morgans visit this summer was "epic" for both Melissa and I.  When do you get 5 weeks of time out to be with your sister....ever?  Never!  This never happens!  But it did!   And I was super-proud of us for planning it and making it happen.    Had we had all the money and time and energy in the world, this might not be a big deal, but...we have 3 kids each (one of mine in the belly, but that is still a factor!) and live on different continents.  So, that is quite a feat!

We both spent so much time planning the trip all year, which was both really fun......and time sucking.  What we both realized was that when you have researched something in March, it's hard to remember in August what the details were. :)
Also, it's impossible to plan out perfectly what you will do with Rick Steve's, trip advisor, restaurants, and keeping in mind budget, kid-friendly activities, and the ever unpredictable weather.

So, we didn't go for "perfect," but we did do the best we could to make it do-able and enjoyable for the kids, within our budgets, and at the same time, see something of Europe and the area ourselves, fulfilling our interests in history, art, etc.  Along with the kids, we also had to be careful of my pregnancy (swelling and dehydration go together, for example), and Melissa's health.  She was on a very strict diet regimen, which on vacation was not possible to follow 100%.  So we had to go for "good enough" and not "perfect" on that too.

And I think we did a bang-up job of  a family-friendly vacation!   The kids had a great time together.  Luke was the oldest, and therefore the most patient with activities.  He did well reading his nook when things were slow.  I think the younger kids did well with getting out for 4-5 hours of fun and then hanging out in the apartment playing together for the afternoon.

Timmy and Aaron are in LOVE with Luke, Kinley and Seth.  Timmy was obsessed for a while about drawing, taping and reading his handmade nooks like the cousins.  He had a "French-a-lots" nook and an English nook and a German nook.

Before the cousins came, he was obsessed with making his "Theatre" which was just mostly scribbling pretend writing on a paper and taping it to the wall.   But after seeing the cousins making comics and reading their nooks, that became the new obsession.   I had to make him a binder for all his comics, nooks and Mcdonald's smurf papers. :)   He would know if some scrap of paper was missing!

I have to give my hat off to Adam, who after returning to work, sacrificed his family staying here for 3 weeks, and was home by himself.  Apparently he worked a ton and got lots of projects done.  Good job Adam!  Thanks for letting us enjoy your fam!

Scott was also a trooper and super supportive.  We made plans with the idea in mind that our boys would be in Kindergarten during the last few days, when we went to Paris.  When we realized they would be in summer vacation, we planned to all go together.  Scott realized close to the trip that it would be too stressful for all of us in Paris with 5 kids, and decided to keep his work time off and entertain our little ones at home. That ended up being for the best.  They were really too little to enjoy Paris, so thanks to Scott for that sacrifice.  It made our Paris trip more flexible.  We were able to stay out later ( You've got to see the Eifel Tower twinkle lights!) and be more mobile.

I had wished I kept a journal of all the funny moments!  It was amazing how many teeth came our on this trip for example.  The Morgan kids lost at least 6 teeth between the three of them, didn't they?  There were teeth coming out all over the place! :)

Aarons awake - guess this will have to do for a summary. :)

Day 3, 4 & 5 (Aachen & Monschau)

On Sunday, we attended church and had a recovery/planning day for the week.   We also visited the castle park, and gave the Morgans a little taste of Laurensberg.

Day 4 (monday) we spent in Aachen checking out the cathedral and downtown.  The kids especially enjoyed the Teddy and Co. Toy store.  It was crazy-hot, so we also spent quite a while playing in the fountain behind Elizianbrunnen.

 Hot Spring water on a hot day anyone??

The Teddy and Co. Slide

On Day 5, we headed to Monschau.  Very interesting weather!   It was super hot at first, and we stayed as much as possible in the shade.  Then we had a glorious hour at the park where the weather was cool and lovely.   Then it started to rain cats and dogs!  And it didn't let up!  The boys had to make a run for it to the cars, and were soaked in the first 10 seconds.  What an adventure!

Day 6 & 7 (Brugge)

Melissa and Adam took a little overnight trip to Brugge.  

The kids and I went to the gym on Wednesday, and then swimming.  On Thursday we had a park day and played at the house.  They seemed to enjoy a break from "touring."

Day 8 (Kletterwald)

This was the Morgan family's most favorite activity I believe.  Being strung up to obstacles up high in the trees!  And it wasn't hot!  The kids had a great time and did really well trying some tough obstacles.

Days 9, 10, 11 (Luxumbourg, Church and Maastricht)

Day 10 was forcasted as HOT!  But we decided to forge ahead, armed with lots of water bottles and battle the heat in Luxumbourg. 

We toured the Casemates one of the largest fortresses ever built.

Sadly, historically, they destroyed most of it in order to prove that they were not a threat.

  Now you can tour a portion, and even with the little part left, it is still impressive.

  

Sunday was a recovery day.  We went to church and laid low.

On Monday (Day 12) we toured the American Military Cemetary, and Maastricht.

 The kids enjoyed the cannons and the English tunnel tour.

The tunnel system under Maastricht is huge, and was dug over the course of two thousand years for mining.

Great history of how they have been used during war later.

Day 12 (Amsterdam)

Aaron affectionately refers to Amsterdam as AmsterHAM.  I love it!

We visited Amsterdam quickly with a boat tour, lunch and then with insane rain, and tired kids, decided to forgo any further museums and book it up to Edam for a little more relaxing evening.