A straight trip thru the vines

The color of the vineyards has been so beautiful we thought we would let the girls go a little crazy, and run in a straight line as far as they could thru the vines.  There were a few grapes left, gorgeous leaves, a bit of grass to play with, and fun…

Bubble Blessings

We find that bubbles solve a lot of problems for us both on the road & in parks around Europe.  One of the hardest things to do at a new park is to make friends, and if Sophia is in charge of the bubbles, you can be sure she will meet all of the kids on the play ground.  Plus, they are harmless, and won’t break anything in hotel rooms…

Anyway, while walking around Colmar, we came across a toy shop hidden down a side road.  In order to make it’s presence known, the owner had placed an automatic bubble blower on the outside & bubbles were flying down the street attracting children from all over the square.  Alexandra was in the zone in her stroller, but Sophia was delighted. 

And we think she held a few angels while playing.

Absolute Joy…

Colmar views

Half term break

or Fall Break for all of our US friends…  Troy has been traveling so much, and Sophia had a week off of school this week so we decided to head back to France for a few days of wine, markets, and some shopping.  The Alsace is quickly becoming one of our favorite places in France for all the things we like most about France (wine, markets & shopping!) plus it is a medium drive from Munich (about 5 hours) and we feel like we can easily get there for a long weekend.    

We went last year at the same time, but I had an eye infection, and it rained most of the week, so we were looking forward to a bit of a different experience this time, and boy did we get it.  A beautiful drive, amazing fall colors (Munich went straight from Summer to Winter & all of the leaves froze green on the trees & then dropped off), and sunshine for the first couple days. 

Our base was just outside of Colmar, and we thoroughly enjoyed our first day at the market, and then wandering around the town until lunch time.   The girls were a little bored with our photo taking at the market, so we took turns at the play structure next to the market.  Unfortunately, Alexandra was more interested in the wooden boxes and pallets that were lying around than playing on the slide, but at least we all had a good time.

A fall walk

Saturday we took advantage of a wonderful fall day in Munich to walk (and sometimes run) the gardens of Nymphenburg palace.  We had never walked the entire length of the canal, and Alexandra was sleeping, so we had a great afternoon on the sunny side of the water, running thru the few leaves that have fallen, and basically just trying to get as much out of the warm day as possible. It reminds us of our afternoons at Versailles, of course… (I sounds like a snob!)

Alexandra eventually did wake up, but didn’t really become herself until snack time at the Palm Haus Cafe.  It was wonderful sitting outside in the sun, but I could see going there for a coffee on a cold day in March or April, just to feel like spring is coming.

playtime at the Palm Haus

on the grass I might mention.

Sophia is really into attack hugs right now.

The winter covers for the statues & fountains are already on.

Alexandra doesn’t mind any kind of attention from Sophia,

and tries to be just like her most of the time!

Dancing in puddles was great fun, along with dragging her mittens, and attempting to throw rocks.