Deutschland mit der Familie!

This was the part of our trip we've looked forward to since January.  Mike's brother, Mark, and family took a two week trip to Europe, and we planned to join them for their last few days.

First the long flight from Beijing to Frankfurt.  But we spotted another area for the travel list--somewhere in southern Turkey, I think.

We finally met up at Mark & Sue's hotel in Kaub, Germany along the Rhine River.  This was within minutes of reconnecting.  Anyone look a little happy?!!

Sunset on the Rhine River

Gotta love the autobahn when you're in a hurry to see cousins!

And what can I say--I'm just a European girl at heart.  Seeing all this cheese made me so happy.

Bacon, eggs, cappuccino--how I've missed you!

We spent our first day traveling along the Rhine River with lots of views like this.

We traveled south from Germany into Switzerland.  Mark and Sue had made plans to stay in Murren, Switzerland, a small town high in the Alps and only accessible by cable car.  One of the more beautiful places I've ever seen, although we were chanting a little "rain, rain, go away" after our first two days.

Our first day we took a damp hike across to the neighboring town of Gimmelwald.  We definitely hit wildflower season.

The kids were pretty reluctant hikers and happy to see the sign pointing the way back home.

Yes, those white balls are hail!

Walking through wildflowers on the side of a mountain while cowbells tinkle?  Just call me Heidi.

Success!  We're on the homestretch back to Murren.

Each of our four girls has a special bond with each of these four kids which made things especially fun.  Trina was so happy to have a playmate in Jonas.

Our second morning, the sun came out and this was the view I woke up to from our hotel window.

On our second day we planned a big hike up to the top of the mountain.  Enroute we found out that there was still too much snow to go that far but we went as close as we could.  It was a nearly three hour, pretty intense hike requiring much encouragement, but we were rewarded with these awesome views.

We didn't completely miss out on snow during our trip!  Celia, Trina, and Anna got to build a snowman.

By the time we reached Birg, our end point, the clouds were rolling in.

And this is what I woke up to the following morning--the sunrise reflecting off the mountains.

It was such a gift to spend these few days with Mark, Sue, Kylie, Maddie, Anna, and Jonas.  We enjoyed some adult time while listening to the kids chatter and laugh nonstop.  This was the end of their European adventure so we had fun hearing about their travels and getting some tips for future stops.  After looking forward to this for six months, those short three days together just went by too quickly.  The morning we parted felt like kind of a punch to the gut, but on to new adventures...