Trier

Sometime in mid-November, Nathan's parents decided they were going to come out for Christmas!!  We were SOO excited!  We couldn't wait for them to get here so we could show them our new life take them to all the Christmas Markets.  And the kids were ecstatic that they were going to see Grandma & Grandpa again.  They arrived on December 18th, and two days later we decided they'd had enough time to get over their jet-lag and start touring!  Our first stop was Trier.  We hadn't been yet, either, so we were looking forward to it.  It is one of the closest 'touristy' destinations, so I'm sure we will be back again.  But we loved it.  Trier is most known for the Porta Nigra, which are old, large Roman Gates that are very dark in color (as a result of dirt/aging).  We also visited a Cathedral and an old Roman Bath.  It's just so crazy how old everything is Europe is.  Especially compared to what we are used to in the States.  Mind boggling, sometimes.  And of course we spent a lot of time wandering around the Christmas Market and trying traditional German food.  I pretty much would just buy one of everything and have everyone try it.  We decided that was better than everyone trying to decide on one or two things they wanted.  One thing that is very popular at Christmas Markets is called gluwein (which is essentially warm wine).  Since we don't drink alcohol, we always opted for the alcohol-free version, Kinderpunsch.  It is a grape/orange flavored cider.  They are always served in real mugs, and then you can return the mug and get 1 euro back (or whatever the deposit was).  But you can choose to keep the mug as a souvenir as well.  We got some great mugs at the Trier Christmas Market for Ned & Julianne to take home.  It was just so much fun having their company and enjoying the Christmas atmosphere together.  We won't ever forget it.

Inside the Porta Nigra...

At the Christmas Market...

These swings were attached...super fun actually

Getting some shut-eye

Later that weekend we visited the Wild Animal Park up behind our house.  For some reason a big old screwdriver goat got in the pen with the little goats.  And it was MEAN!  Stupid thing butted Violet in the back for no reason.  She was just standing there.  Scared her (and probably hurt her too!) half to death! Nathan almost killed the thing.

Julianne has gotten really good at her balloon creations, and the kids were overjoyed when they saw that Grandma had brought all her balloon stuff along!