Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Much Love from Germany,
The Parker Family
Showing posts with label Family. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Family. Show all posts
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Monday, September 26, 2011
Ava-isms
The other day Ava asked for some cheese. All I had in the fridge was a new German variety that she hadn't tried before. As I handed it to her, I waited patiently for her response. We've really been trying to work on manners lately. Hoping that she would thank me for stopping what I was doing to fix her a snack, I waited and waited. So finally I said, "Ava, what do you say?"
From the other room she yelled back, "I say this is YUCK!"
Oh Ava, how dull life would be without your sweet sassiness! How I love you little bug.
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Lauren and Dad's Frankfurt bicycle trip
After some quick planning, Lauren and Dad set off on an overnight bike ride to Frankfurt. We stopped and ate some wild blackberrys along the way. Lauren is wearing her custom cycling skirt outfit. We took "Double Trouble" aka our black Bike Friday Tandem Two'sday. We were able to pack light as we planned on staying in a youth hostel in Frankfurt.
As we were riding towards Frankfurt some very dark clouds rolled in and it began to rain very hard. Lauren was cute and started pedaling harder shouting the whole way, "Parkers Never Quit". I emphatically agreed with her but decided it was a nice time to take an ice cream break under a covered patio. After the rain subsided we started back on our trip.
There was nice paths all of the way there. We rode through the Frankfurt Airport to get to Frankfurt. We finally ended up riding along the beautiful Main River. We thought this floating Imbiss/Doner shop was cool.
It was a beautiful day and the Frankfurt Youth Hostel was right on the river. This is on the bridge that is in front of the Hostel. After checking into the hostel we went for a walk to expore town. There is a video clip after this post that shows the inside of the Hostel. It was 30 euros for both of us for one night (that included a German style breakfast).
It was staggering to see the tragic loss that was suffered. This is a section of one of the walls. These walls surrounded the cemetary.
The gates were locked and one could only look into the cemetary from the outside. Below is a view from the closed gate of the old Jewish Cemetary in Frankfurt.
Here is an informational sign about the cemetary.
Next door was a giant Jewish Museum. Lauren and I decided to check it out. They had relocated a large amount of Jewish buildings that were excavated when they were found during a construction project. There was a large exhibit about the Milkwe. The Milkwe is a bath were women undergo a ceremonial cleansing before getting married. It was a nice museum and interesting. We were able to set up a visit to the cemetary from the museum
The cemetary was mostly destroyed by Hitler during WWII. There is a small section remaning and it is protected. The headstones are beautiful and very close together. The writings are in Yidish and most of them had an interesting picture associated with them (animal, windmill, etc...)
After the cemetary we walked over the old town of Frankfurt. There is a beautiful square with some amazing half-timber buildings. We went inside of the cathedral and there was beautiful organ music being played. In the gift shop across from the cathedral Lauren bought a snow globe from Frankfurt. She has a nice snowglobe collection started.
We were getting hungry and started walking back to the hostel. We saw a cruise boat and Lauren really wanted to go on it. It was either a 50 minute or 100 minute boat ride. Lauren wanted the 100 minute one. I thought it might be a bit long but we decided to give it a go. We cruised along the Main River learning about Frankfurt. The tour was in German/English. We had a great time.
We got hungry and ate on the boat. The food was pretty good. We rode home the next morning. It was about 24 miles home and we did it in about 2.5 hours. We got turned around at one point as the route along the river is not always user friendly. This is especially true as one is approaching Raunheim on the South side of the Main river. It is near the Airport and an industrial area. We were riding by some factories and ran into a man made port where they have giant gas tanks. I think it is a fuel reserve for the airport. That cost us an extra 30 minutes as we had to backtrack and find a new route.
As we were riding towards Frankfurt some very dark clouds rolled in and it began to rain very hard. Lauren was cute and started pedaling harder shouting the whole way, "Parkers Never Quit". I emphatically agreed with her but decided it was a nice time to take an ice cream break under a covered patio. After the rain subsided we started back on our trip.
There was nice paths all of the way there. We rode through the Frankfurt Airport to get to Frankfurt. We finally ended up riding along the beautiful Main River. We thought this floating Imbiss/Doner shop was cool.
It was a beautiful day and the Frankfurt Youth Hostel was right on the river. This is on the bridge that is in front of the Hostel. After checking into the hostel we went for a walk to expore town. There is a video clip after this post that shows the inside of the Hostel. It was 30 euros for both of us for one night (that included a German style breakfast).
I had heard about a Jewish Cemetary in Frankfurt and I wanted to see it. We found the cemetary but it was locked. On the wall around the cemetary is a memorial to all of the Jewish people from Frankfurt that were killed in the Holocaust. There were little metal blocks protruding from the wall. Each block had a name, dates, and concentration camp.
It was staggering to see the tragic loss that was suffered. This is a section of one of the walls. These walls surrounded the cemetary.
The gates were locked and one could only look into the cemetary from the outside. Below is a view from the closed gate of the old Jewish Cemetary in Frankfurt.
Here is an informational sign about the cemetary.
Next door was a giant Jewish Museum. Lauren and I decided to check it out. They had relocated a large amount of Jewish buildings that were excavated when they were found during a construction project. There was a large exhibit about the Milkwe. The Milkwe is a bath were women undergo a ceremonial cleansing before getting married. It was a nice museum and interesting. We were able to set up a visit to the cemetary from the museum
The cemetary was mostly destroyed by Hitler during WWII. There is a small section remaning and it is protected. The headstones are beautiful and very close together. The writings are in Yidish and most of them had an interesting picture associated with them (animal, windmill, etc...)
After the cemetary we walked over the old town of Frankfurt. There is a beautiful square with some amazing half-timber buildings. We went inside of the cathedral and there was beautiful organ music being played. In the gift shop across from the cathedral Lauren bought a snow globe from Frankfurt. She has a nice snowglobe collection started.
We were getting hungry and started walking back to the hostel. We saw a cruise boat and Lauren really wanted to go on it. It was either a 50 minute or 100 minute boat ride. Lauren wanted the 100 minute one. I thought it might be a bit long but we decided to give it a go. We cruised along the Main River learning about Frankfurt. The tour was in German/English. We had a great time.
We got hungry and ate on the boat. The food was pretty good. We rode home the next morning. It was about 24 miles home and we did it in about 2.5 hours. We got turned around at one point as the route along the river is not always user friendly. This is especially true as one is approaching Raunheim on the South side of the Main river. It is near the Airport and an industrial area. We were riding by some factories and ran into a man made port where they have giant gas tanks. I think it is a fuel reserve for the airport. That cost us an extra 30 minutes as we had to backtrack and find a new route.
We had a great time and Lauren is pretty tough and a great stoker (person on the rear of the tandem. The person on the front is called the captain).
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Monday, August 22, 2011
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Medieval Times Dinner & Tournament
We wanted to do something memorable to celebrate grandpa's 64th birthday, which was just a few days after Christmas. Kevin took me to Medieval Times almost two years ago when we first moved to Texas, and we thought grandpa would enjoy it as well. It was fun keeping our celebration a mystery. Kevin kept saying things like, "I hope you don't mind getting wet" or "Do lasers bother you?" My personal favorite was, "Dad, just to give you the heads up; you'll be wearing a wet suit tonight".
The dinner theater and show takes you back to the 11th century.
From high above, King Philippe and his daughter-in-law, Princess Leonore, preside over a four-course feast. Below, privileged royal guests are transported to faraway lands including a romantic snowy rendezvous in the woods and an authentic medieval tournament -- with the help of Hollywood-caliber special effects, of course.
We purchased a special "Knighting Ceremony" for grandpa. It was a complete surprise to him to be called out of the crowd and be made a knight of the realm.
Lauren received so much attention. It appeared that every single person that saw her or walked past us had to comment on what a beautiful princess she was. She, of course, loved all of the praise and was more than willing to pose and bat her eyelashes in response.
Sir Kaden and Princess Lauren
My handsome photographer and knight complete with cheesy paper crown
Kaden and Lauren posing in front of the torture chamber.
Grandma and Grandpa Parker
Once the tournament and show began, Kaden was completely enthralled. He would hardly look away and was completely disinterested in his dinner. I knew he would love it.
Our knight the "Blue Knight" kissing a carnation just before he threw it to Lauren. Good thing for her that her daddy was willing to climb under the bleachers to retrieve it for her. She
I have to admit that Lauren, grandma, and I all had a bit of a crush on our knight. He was so suave and pretty good at knighting too! We actually think he looks a little bit like our friend Tyler Jensen. What do you think Candice?
The horses were magnificent.
The display of skills during the tournament was quite impressive. In the photo above, you can actually see our knight breaking his lance on his opponent's shield. The screens were a much needed safety precaution. Probably my favorite event was the sword fighting though. The knights actually came at their opponents so forcefully that you could see sparks as the blades met.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
BBQ and a MOVIE
I'm keeping it real here. Kaden is obviously upset over something, but I thought Lauren looked so cute. Such a contrast of emotion in this photo! Besides, what is a dining out experience without someone losing it over something?
Grandpa told us he wanted to do two things while in Dallas. The first was take everyone out to BBQ. Yum!
The second was see a 3-D Movie. We discovered that "Bolt" was playing in Dallas. Here is the fam displaying their sexy glasses! I took Ava shopping since I was certain that I would have spent my time at the movie in the foyer with her anyways.Thursday, August 28, 2008
Grandpa Finally Meets Ava!
We had a very special visit this past June from my parents. My mom came out to Texas last summer, shortly after we moved here, for the birth of our daughter Ava. My dad however, wasn't able to come with her. So this was the first time that my dad was able to meet his newest grand-daughter. We had such a great visit!
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