Poland day 2

Saturday was my morning to go and look for Polish Pottery.  I was very nice to my three men and was only going to stop at one store.  There are about 15 or more there.

It was very foggy that morning, the GPS wasn't working in Poland and we were working off a very poor map, and all of a sudden we came upon this sign and missed it.  It literally was at the road, there was no time to turn, if you saw this sign and you weren't turning you were too late. :-)  But that is what u-turns are for.  We made it there and I was the only one in there and it was so nice!!  David stayed outside with the boys and played soccer to keep them entertained for me.  I had the store to myself for awhile, but then came the hordes.  It was okay though because I was almost done.

Then after getting my Polish Pottery we headed over to another store that did glass blowing.  This was one of the top two stores to visit while you were in town, the other was Andy's.  :-)  These are some of their creations that were outside.

I really liked this guy and wanted him, but I don't think it would travel well.  But it was so cute!

We were able to go and watch them actually make a few items.  They say the glass has to be heated to 500 degrees Celsius to be pliable. 

Here they are making part of the elephant.  He is pushing the hot glass into a metal plate to shape it.

Here the guy on top is blowing the glass to get the shape that he wants.  After they get it just right, they have to put it in special containers that helps is cool down slowly so the glass doesn't break or crack.  It takes a lot of time just to make one piece and I totally understand why these are more expensive.  We did end up buying a piece that is awesome!!!  And of course I forgot to take a picture, but it is a chameleon and really cool!!!

After that it was lunch time.  So we headed into town, Boleslawiec.  It was a quaint little town with the nickname of "Ceramics City". This is one of the oldest in Lower Silesia Local Weather Station that dates back to 1882. 

Such a beautiful day and three very handsome men!!!

I thought this fountain was interesting.

There were still walls up around this city.  The windows are all barred up, but it is truly amazing how these walls have survived as intact as they are.

This is the Town Hall.  It is in the central part of town.  The original building was built by Wendel Roskopf in 1552.

We all were really hungry so we stopped at a donner place for lunch because we knew everybody would love it!!  They also gave us some AWESOME Turkish apple tea.  I could have drank it by the gallon it was so tasty!!!

A view of the market square from our lunch spot.

This Gothic church, St Mary Church in Boleslawiec, was built between 1442-1492.  During WWII the structure was destroyed and it remained unused for a long time.  Not until the 1960s was the church rebuilt again.

 

My boys at the back of the church!

The door is open and inviting, though my boys weren't very excited about going into another church.  :-)

The interior of the church is decorated in the Baroque style: an architectural main altar from the Dominican church.

Of course I have to have a picture of the organ!!!

A picture from a little farther back of the alter and the rest of the church, there was a lot of gold in there.

I really liked the ceilings in there - there are statues on either side and paintings near them.

 

This is in front of the formal Royal Orphanage, the first location of the "Jesus, the Friend of the Children" monument from 1902.

The boys enjoying their ice cream while I take a few photos!

This is part of the old Boleslawiec Castle which was built in the second half of the thirteenth century.  The castle was built in the shape of a horseshoe.

Michael mediating in front of the castle wall.

The boys in front of Mikhail Kutuzov's Monument, a monument of the Russian Field Marshal was erected in 1819.  Initially it was in the Marketplace.  The two pairs of lions at its foot, originally looking eastwards and westwards, is drawn from ancient Egyptian art.  It  conveys the courage that would withstand the passage of time.

I just really liked the way this wall looked with the leaves and the iron on it.

After our time in town we decided to head out to a castle that was supposed to be really cool!  This was part of our drive, it was so beautiful!

The boys at the entrance of the old castle Grodziec Castle.

David decided to try and "clean" AJ, an Olympic lift move, and he succeeded even though AJ had a hard time staying straight as a board.

It was first mentioned in 1155 and was built out of wood and wasn't replaced with brick until years later.

We all thought this guy was cool - especially Michael!

AJ was being the king and Michael was staring him down with the backing of the knight!

AJ was our official tour guide through the castle.

David heading up the stairs, they were so small and curvy.

Their bathroom in the castle - love their indoor plumbing.

The boys really loved the bear rugs!!!

Their furniture back then were so beautiful, who knows how comfortable, but they looked nice!!

Showing some of the beds and dining room tables.

My monkeys, if they can climb (or even if they aren't supposed to) up they go!

My boys and me!!!!

They must have been really short back then, David really had to duck to make it through here.

A beautiful view across Poland!

I love the leaves changing, fall is one of my favorite seasons!!!

I thought this was really funny, an old castle with lots of new technology.

The boys - Michael was afraid David would drop him and he would fall.  But he was perfectly safe!

Another tunnel that was really, really short I almost didn't make it through let alone David.

The outer walls where they set up their defenses.

AJ in the stocks getting "yelled" at by Michael and David!

David's turn, I threatened to leave him there, but decided I should take him home.

I really liked this door!!  After seeing the castle we headed back to our hotel for a little rest before dinner and more games that night.  It was a fun filled day, lots of great buys and great family time!!!

Poland here we come!

So the next day bright and early we headed for Poland.  It is about a 8 hour drive.  It turned into almost ten because a semi was on fire on the autobahn.  It was awful.  But we did make it up to Poland and were so excited to get out of the car!!!!

We stayed at this wonderful hotel called the Blue Beetroot Hotel.  It is one of the best ones there!!!  I have heard about it since before I came to Germany and had to stay there.  The boys out on one of the balconies there.

Michael was so excited that there was a Michael sized door out onto that balcony!

Since we had been in the car for so long we decided to take a walk.  This horse was squaring off with AJ and talking to him.

And they are off!!!  I was going to try and run off as much energy as possible before we headed in.

This horse was okay being petted, he was the one male there and named Prince.

My wonderful boys being so silly out in the woods!!  Thankfully this was right behind the hotel so no driving necessary.

My three men!!!  I love them so much!!!!

Boys and their sticks, you can't keep them out of their hands - but I love that my boys are boys!!

We found some great places to climb and have some fun in the woods.

There is David up on the hill, over looking his pride!

They were so proud of themselves climbing up the hill!

LOOK OUT!!  They are coming after me!!!!

More rocks, more climbing - my monkey boys!

We found a neat little fort, I think it said to stay out but wasn't sure, we left it just the way we found it.

David and I on the walk - so nice to just be a family, walking out in God's beautiful country!

It started to sprinkle so we decided to head back to the hotel, you can see it in the distance.  We headed in, had a wonderful dinner there and played a few card games to end the night!!

16th Sustainment Ball

On Thursday, October 9th, the 16 Sustainment Brigade had their military ball.  So David and I got all dressed up and ready for a good time.  :-)  It was all the way out in Baumholder, where David works, which is about a 40-45 minute drive. 

The 16th is the Knights, so of course they had to have one show up for the ball!!  This is actually his own suit that he wears to different medieval events.

  

They were making grog - each different MOS (job) put in something to the grog.  Some put alcohol, some put juice, some coffee, one put in a dirty sock with sand in it (it was really brown sugar), I am telling you there was a little bit of everything in there.

 So of course they all had to try it!  Here is David with a few of his co-workers getting ready to try the grog.  I was surprised how many people actually wanted to drink it, so many that they ran out before everybody who wanted some received some.

 

 David and his friend Ty.  Ty is David's new workout buddy and boy do they push each other in the gym, it is awesome!!!

 

Here they are with the boss, Major Flores.

 

 They decided to get down on his "level."  :-)  Another warrant officer (Keven who is also in the same career field as David and is a friend too) jumped in the picture in the back.

And there we are, I decided I couldn't wear the same dress two times in a row, so I went back to my black and white one.

And of course more knights!!!  We had a really good time, luckily David's section was in part of the planning so we got to with people I knew and liked!!!  We didn't stay long after all the ceremonies because we were leaving for Poland the next morning bright and early.

Sports!!

We have had a few trips during this fall so we haven't been to a lot of our games, but we made in on Oct 4th.  We started out with soccer.

 

It was such a beautiful morning, a little cold though.  Michael is ready to go play forward for the first quarter!

 

He was always so good about being aggressive and going for the ball!

 

He really enjoyed playing as you can see by his smile!

 

He also was so great in trying to pass so other players had a chance to score. 

 

Then we headed over to another base for some football.  AJ is number 13 in the huddle listening to the play.

 

Here AJ gets the ball on a double reverse, he did a great job running!

 

Here AJ is with a fantastic defensive play, grabbing those flags!!!

 

They always had cheerleaders and the cheerleaders made a tunnel at the end.  AJ is doing so well in football and showing great improvement!!!