Germany Update: All Caught Up

Get ready for another MASSIVE post! We are trying to get all caught up so that we can do weekly posts instead of one monthly monster post. So we hope you all enjoy the pictures and the update on how our family is doing here in Deutschland.

 Cosette is becoming quite the toddler. She loves to do things her way and I am glad that I am raising a strong daughter but at the same time it is hard to get her to listen at times. I know there is much for me to learn as a mother. I am happy that Cosette is mine and we can learn together.

 Tyrus is growing so fast. He was about 6 months in this picture (now 7 months). He loves to laugh at Cosette and her silly little dances. He also rolls everywhere! I think he will be an early crawler / walker. Watch out world!

 These following pictures are from our trip to Goslar Germany. Goslar was the capital of the Holy Roman Empire here in Germany. This is one of the old churches that we went to see.

 The town had lots of half-timbered buildings. Very German. It was really beautiful out that day too.

 Another view of the church.

 In the town center there was a fountain with a gold Griffin on the top. Keep an eye out for this little guy later in the post. He is an important symbol for the town of Goslar.

 The church had beautiful glass windows.

 A baptismal font in the church.

 This man playing the organ in the church was so talented. The music was so angelic. He was very talented.

 The Emperor's Palace in Goslar.

 The view from to top of the hill, where the Palace was located, was amazing.

 This is a picture showing how they heated the Palace. They would put hot coals in the holes in the floor and it would keep the Palace warm. Early version of heated floors.

 This is the throne.

 Help us!

 Coco standing on a stone pillar piece in the Palace museum.

 Here is the Goslar Griffin again.

 There was a room in the upstairs of the Palace that had the most breathtaking murals I have ever seen. They showed history and folk tales. Pictures were not allowed but I sneaked this one from the doorway. I cannot explain how beautiful it was to be surrounded by such art. It was a masterpiece. They were painted in the late 1400's.

 These are the stairs leading down to the crypt in the Palace.

 The ceiling of the crypt.

 Back up we go. Tyrus is getting too big for me to carry.

 Here is another church in Goslar.

 This statue made us laugh. Cosette saw it and said he was going potty. Looks intense for going potty.

 These next set of pictures are from Goslar's Mining Museum in Rammelsburg. It was another winner of an adventure. The mountain has been mined for over 3000 years. Nathan was able to take a tour of the actual mine. Tyrus and Cosette were too young to go so I stayed with them and walked around the other museum exhibits. All of us had a good time and we hope you enjoy the pictures.

 There were displays showing the variety of minerals that were mined there.

 In one area they had sand. Cosette called it a beach. She was sad to leave the "beach" behind and look at something else.

 I wonder what happens when you press the red button!

 This slightly creepy picture is of the miners uniforms. To save room the uniforms and mining baskets are all placed on hooks that are lifted up and stored above your head in the changing room.

 This picture shows the mine and the various levels and water table.

 Our friend Nakita also went on the tour with Nate through the mine. She took these pictures of Nathan.

 These types of water wheels helped power the mine. Some of these water wheels are over 300 years old! The mining operations was very sophisticated.

 How would you like to climb down that ladder into a dark and cold mine with only a candle on your head? Not me.

 Another shot of the creepy uniforms above the floor hangin out.

 Here is a picture of me carrying Tyrus on my back and holding Coco's hand. This is how we explored the grounds and walked through the buildings waiting for Nathan to finish his tour.

 This is a view of Celle from our hotel room. We were on the top floor suite. It was a really nice hotel and we enjoyed our stay there but we are glad to have a place to settle into for a while. We will post more about our new place soon. For now soak in the Celle view!

 Cosette loved the patio! She is pictured here in her dress from church. She danced on the patio for like 20 minutes that day. It was cold too but when it comes to dancing there is no stopping this girl.

 NATHAN IS 30 YEARS OLD! That's right Nathan turned 30 on March 4th. Instead of getting one cake I got him a sampler. Cosette helped me pick out a platter of different delicious treats from the bakery. We enjoyed having lots of different flavors. Nate is excited for another fun year!

 I try to get pictures of the kids as often as I can because I cannot believe how fast they are growing. Oh I just love them so much. Even if they do keep me up all night and say my name a million times a day.

 Coco loves to read books.

 Here is a picture of Coco with Nakita. Nakita turned 22 on March 7th. We got her a sampler of treats too. It was fun to sing to her and wish her another happy year. Cosette calls her Ikea. It's so funny to hear her talk about Ikea. She tells me they are best friends.

 This is Coco on the train. She was reading our Germany book. Nathan loves this book and now wants one for the USA so that we can experience the sites more wherever we live. Cosette gets very concerned about the Germany book and always asks if we have it. She does not want to lose it.

 Ty on the train to Hamburg. Or as Cosette calls it Hamburger.

 Here we are in Hamburg.

 I love this picture. Nathan is directing the way. Nakita is searching the Germany Book and Coco is waiting.

 Here is a picture of a church in Hamburg.

 Beautiful stained glass windows.

 And amazing carved doors.

 This is a picture of the Hamburg town hall.

 Nathan chillin in the town hall getting warm.

 A fountain in the town hall area.

 The town hall from the garden area in the middle.

 This is a picture of a fountain in the town hall. Nathan saw a kid drinking from it. Not sure if that was the purpose for it but it would have been funny to see.

 Hamburg has knights.

 This is a church that was destroyed from the war bombings. Some of the church remains but most of it was completely destroyed.

 Beautiful canals in Hamburg. Hamburg is known as the Venice of the north.

 Forgive me if this says anything vulgar. I just thought that the picture was a good representation of the graffiti that we see all over Germany on our trips.

 Here is another church in Hamburg.

 This one had a statue of Martin Luther outside.

 Inside view of the church.

 The tide must be out in this picture because the boat is sitting in the mud.

 View of the Hamburg harbor.

 Tyrus loves to play with Rachael's hair when he is in the backpack.

 Old German lady feeding the ducks.

 This watch was over 79000 Euros. Let me know if someone can buy this watch for Nathan.

 Talented music man on the street. He reminded me of Dick Van Dyke on Mary Poppins. He was even blowing bubbles.

 Coco as cute as can be. She wears a dress with a tutu anytime she gets the chance. She loves being a princess. I even call her Princess Cosette now...sometimes.

Tyrus now has three teeth. He is working on number four. You can kind of see the bottom two in this picture. 

 In this picture you can see Kangaroo Cosette. She pretended to be a mama kangaroo and her baby doll was her joey. The scarf was her pouch.

 The next set of pictures are from our latest trip to Sleeping Beauty's Castle and Rapunzel's Tower. These are all from the Fairly Tale Route here in Germany.

 First here is a picture of a church in Gottingen.

 It was the last day for the Gottingen Easter Market. We must have missed out because it was a tiny little setup of about only 8 booths max. It was also VERY VERY cold that day so not too many people willing to go out to a market that day.

 This is Nate and I in front of the famous Goose Girl fountain. Nate told me that kissing there was good luck for the local university students. (they kiss the statue of the Goose Girl after exams) So I decided to give him a kiss.

 I love the many talented street performers all over Germany. It brings such joy to a town to have local people sharing their talents.

 Gottingen was also the location where a lot of important scientific developments occurred. Quantum mechanics for example.

 Here is the inside of the town hall. Now this is how you do wood paneling!

 Good smile Cosette!

 A close up of the goose girl statue.

 Walking to Rapunzel's tower. It was so cold there but we are glad we took the hike because it was a beautiful little tower.

 Cosette was so excited to see Rapunzel's house.

 This is actually known as Bismarck Tower. It looks like Rapunzel's tower though and we like to think of it as her home.

 Look who came home!

 Coco holding her Fisher Price Rapunzel doll.

 Now this is Sleeping Beauty's Castle. Germany had a Fairy Tale Route and this is known as Sleeping Beauty's Castle or the Castle that inspired the Grimm Brothers to write the tale of Sleeping Beauty.

 This was the Ladies Room.

 And the Men's Room.

 Small statue of the Grimm Brothers.

 She also had her Sleeping beauty doll with her.

 Sleeping Beauty's Castle is actually a hotel now so anyone can sleep there if they are willing to pay the 100+ euros to stay there for a night.

 Now this is actually Rapunzel's Tower, according to the Fairly Tale Route map. It's also a hotel now but we just loved the long hair (yellow rope) going down the tower.

 A sweet little cottage outside the tower.

We found this pool of water outside Rapunzel's Tower. At first glance we thought that it was frozen water and the fish were either dead or fake. Nope, just the top of the water is frozen and the fish were moving and very much alive. For now. If if does not get warmer soon they might freeze. Let me tell you this winter is just dragging on forever this year. 

Thanks for checking out our blog. We hope to be better about posting now that we are all caught up. We just need to take some pictures of our new place and post those. It's a nice little garden house right in downtown Celle. It's very nice to just walk into town each day and explore with the kids while Nathan is at work. So I will work on taking some pictures of the kids and the new place. Hope you enjoyed looking at our pictures.