The Secret of Grocery Shopping.....

After what seems like a thousand traumatic trips to the grocery store that all ended in tears (mostly Parker's), half-opened food, and promises of a "dog" in the car I have discovered the secret to successful shopping.....child labor.  The first couple of times I felt guilty about lying about the "dog", but hey, you do what you have to do!

So today as we entered the store I all but tripped over the answer to all our drama........  Apparently since our last visit to the commissary the powers that be decided to provide their pint-sized shoppers with their own carts.  I am telling myself that the appearance of these little beauties had nothing to do with our weekly (sometimes bi-weekly) take-overs of the store.....

We started with a few groceries....

By the time we were through, Parker had very a full buggy :)

We concluded this trip with only a "minor" tantrum when it was time to return the buggy....

On a different note, last weekend when John took Bailey out before bed he came running back in telling me to come outside with the camera.  I wasn't sure exactly what I was going to be taking a picture of, but as always I went camera in tow.  He had found a hedgehog hanging out on the side of our house.  "He" was friendly, or so John said, I didn't dare touch him for fear of Rabies and other German animal diseases, but John went over and petted him.

Egg Hunt 2011

Since we had to have Ebby at the Munich airport by 7:30 am on Easter morning we decide to have “Easter” once we got back home.  So…….a naptime later, we awoke refreshed and ready for an egg hunt! 

Munich (Munchen) April 2011

This week we have spent a lot of time unpacking, and I am happy (SO happy) to say that all  boxes are unpacked!  Everyone helped out and it went....well, it went!  Parker was a huge help to John as he assembled a storage rack for the garage.... (be sure to notice ALL the bolts in ALL the holes!)

Early Friday morning we left for Munich (in Europe it’s called Munchen), which is about an hour and a half from where we live in Beratzhausen.  We went straight Dachau (the first concentration camp of WWII), and explored for the rest of the morning.   

Next, we headed into downtown Munich to find our hotel.   Luckily, we had no issues with our reservations this time and we were able to get our room quickly!  Our hotel was right downtown within walking distance of everything.   We spent the rest of the weekend traveling, shopping, eating and drinking……... to say that we enjoyed ourselves would be an understatement!  Everyone was sad to say good-bye to Ebby on Sunday morning :(.

Prague (Praha) April 2011

My mom arrived in Bavaria last Friday morning with our beloved boxer, Bailey.  Parker was SO glad to have her "doooog".  She loved on her (with kisses) and danced around her most of the day!

 We got up on Saturday morning and after dropping Bailey off at the kennel, we headed for Prague (or as it's called here, Praha).  Prague is about 2.5 hours from where we live, so we got there about 1:00pm.  There was some kind of mix-up with our hotel reservations, so while we waited for John to sort out the problem we got out to stretch our legs......

After all was said and done we ended up with a better room, in a better hotel, in a WAY better location!  The Odyssey even got a fabulous parking spot in a monastery, yes, where the monks live.  The hotel was VERY nice and did all they could to make up for the mistake.  Once we parked the car we made our way down the hill to our new hotel.

We wondered around our part of town and across the Charles Bridge most of the afternoon and into the evening.  The weather was nice, and for the most part Parker did well....

Day 2 in Prague began with exploring the castle (and with cheese!)

Next, we took a short break for adult beverages and a snack.  Parker enjoyed playing with the pretty flowers while we enjoyed what the Czech is known for....the beer :).

After our break we headed for Kutna Hora, a small town about an hour outside of Prague.  We spent the rest of the afternoon touring this small, quiet town made famous by it's silver mines and mint.  We saw the Bone church in the morning, where it's estimated that the bones of 40,000 people "rest". 

After the Bone Church, we toured around the city....mom found a wine shop, and Parker FINALLY fell asleep!

We ended our day with dinner at the Monastery Brewery (the same one the Odyssey was staying at)! Dinner and Easter beer, what a way to end a day!

Day 3 in Prague:  We wrapped up our world wind tour with a trip to the Old Town Square to see the astronomical clock and the Easter Market.  Parker enjoyed feeding the sheep, petting the horses, and chasing the pigeons.