Wiesbaden

On Friday, the boys last weekend off before going back to school, we went down to visit some really good friends who's husband was home on R & R.  It was so great to see all of them and have some wonderful quality time.  David made his famous ribs and I my chocolate chip cookies and headed down there.  We spent Friday just chatting and playing cards.  I learned a new game called Egyptian Rat Screw and let me tell you we were laughing and howling 'til the wee hours of the morning.  The kids didn't get to bed till about midnight.  They were also excited to be with our great friends!!!  After a couple hours of sleep we got up and headed into downtown Wiesbaden.   We went there for the Christmas market, but it looked really different with all the booths gone.

We parked up at the shoppette on base and then walked down to the town, it is a long walk, but we enjoyed it.  We stopped at a park to let the kids play a little bit.

This is a merry-go-round type toy.  It spins and can get going very quickly.  The boys LOVED it!!!!

                                                              Can you tell?

This was when Michael successfully crossing all of the obstacles, at the end of play time he missed a step and slammed his face into one of those wooden poles.  He split his lip, on the inside and out.  That effectively ended park play and we continued down the road with Michael riding on David's shoulders.

                                                    AJ's turn, luckily he didn't miss any steps

This is one of the local churches in Wiesbaden.  It is truly amazing how many churches there are in the towns.

I am not sure which building this was - I think back in the old days it was their government building.

The boys were being really silly on the step and wanting me to take pictures of them!  Part of why I love digital!!!

These two pictures were from the front side of the building on the road or sidewalk since vehicles aren't supposed to drive in the market square

I really liked these bike racks - so different.  They are supposed to be able to handle more bikes than regular ones.

They have these markets every Saturday and there is some really good, fresh foods of all kinds down there.  They also had some FANTASTIC brats that we had for lunch!!!

                                      Daddy and Michael goofing around like usual!!!  :-)

                                                           A street scene of downtown

This was a small version of Wiesbaden showing everyone of the buildings, the boys thought it was pretty cool




This is called Marktkirche (Market Church) is the main Protestant church in Wiesbaden.  It is a neo-gothic church in the center of downtown and was built between 1853-1862.  The Marktkirche has a carillon, installed in the main tower that is about 65 m high.  The mechanical keyboard is reached by stairs containing 290 steps.  The carillon consists of 49 bronze bells.  The biggest one weighs 2.2 tons, the smallest at 13 kg.  All bells, including the steel structure housing them, weigh 11 tons.

After our meandering trip downtown we went over to the bowling alley to celebrate our friend's youngest son's 1st birthday.  It was cosmic bowling so the black lights were lighting us up!  The boys hadn't been cosmic bowling before and they thought it was pretty cool!!!

            Michael is trying to tilt his bowling ball with his head and body - just like his mama!

AJ is really concentrating on getting his form right.  He bowled 114!  He can beat me that is for sure!

                                                                 Aren't we cute?!?

The family!!!  It was so great having family time.  I really cherish the time we have together because you never know how long you have.  We are trying to make everyday count and really enjoy each other and the new experiences that Germany has to offer.