The Germany Trip, finale

This was our last stop on the Germany tour. We were visiting with friends who are stationed there. They just happen to have twin girls who are almost exactly one year younger than ours. That's how we first met in the US - because of our twins!

Our first day together was pretty low key. We ate lunch and let the kids play for the first few hours, then headed to a nearby Air Force base to have dinner and do a little shopping. This is a pretty large base so they had a nice selection of American things, like a Chili's restaurant! I ate a half-rack of baby back ribs, and enjoyed every single bite. Husband had a New York strip, and I think he enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed mine. I know part of the joy was being with friends, and part of it was the fact that we had ice in our drinks, the glasses were bottomless, and the staff was friendly.

After dinner, we went to the Commissary. I had a short list of American things that I have been missing. We have adjusted to life in France pretty well, and have found substitutions for most of the things that we miss from the US. There are just some things that you can't replace. So I bought Miracle Whip, marinades, chili powder, Goldfish crackers, and few more things. It was fun, and filled the pantry.

Our last day together was just as much fun as the day before. We went to a nature/wild park that seemed to be a cross between a petting zoo and a regular zoo. We bought bags of corn for the kids to feed to the animals. The goats must have known that we were coming. I am not sure exactly how it happened, but one of the bags of corn ended up on the ground, and we were surrounded by goats. One of them even ate the bag!

The greedy goats at the gate, and Miss S, MC, and EA feeding a baby goat.

We walked a little farther and met a lady with a bird. This was a very tame bird, and all of the girls were able to pet it. All four of them were very careful, and gentle.

After a long walk through the park, we found a picnic table in a shady spot and shared a snack of madelines and raisins. Then the girls fed the last of the corn to the pig that had been following us through the park. She was the only animal there so was able to have quite a feast.

After lunch and a little rest, we took all of the kids out to the playground behind the apartment building. This was almost as much fun for me as the animal park was for the kids! They were having such fun together. EA decided that this was the day to conquer the slides, and she tried all of them. W decided he liked the slides so much that he needed to climb the steps to get to the one for kids his size. MC and the Misses M and S just ran all over and played on as many toys as they could.

W climbing stairs for the first time ever. EA and Miss M

MC and Miss S on the slide, and all 4 of the girls on the slide together.

New friends - ES, Miss S, MC, and Miss M

This is the castle that was on the hill across from our last hotel. We didn't make it over to explore, but enjoyed the view at breakfast everyday.