Munich Color Run

What a fun day we had this past Sunday. The popular Color Run series came to Munich. AJ, Stefanie, Rachel and I all took part in "The Happiest 5K on the Planet". Dominic and Steve were our official photographer and support crew! We also met a whole bunch of friends there which made the day even better.

Pre Run Photos:

Stefanie, Julia & Tasha

Cheryl & Missy

The adult runners - Marc, Lana, Cheryl & Missy

This is not a race. It is a fun run and every kilometer or so whole groups of people squirt colored powder all over you. There was of course a water stop but since it's Germany there was also a bier stop, about 500m before the finish. At first we thought the race had finished because everyone was standing around drinking their bier.

Missy & Cheryl

My friend Cheryl and I ran together and decided to go for as much color as possible. We finished completely multi-colored. 

Missy & Cheryl

Missy

Everyone finished!!!

Tasha, Julia & Stefanie

Missy & AJ staging a finish for Steve

Rachel and her girlfriends

Rachel & Missy

AJ - even color on his teeth!

The adults at the finish - Missy, Marc, Lana & Cheryl

Julia, Dominic & Tasha

Afterwards there was a big dance party that the kids had a great time at with their friends. The crowd was huge and fun to watch.

Climbing the Olympic Stadium Roof!

Missy & Dominic

Dominic and I got the chance to climb the roof of the Olympic Stadium in Munich. The PTV from our school had organized a group to climb. Steve was supposed to go with me but had to work instead. Dominic wasn't necessarily thrilled to be accompanying me and a group of moms but once we got on the roof he was much happier. It didn't hurt that it was a beautiful, blue sky, Bavarian day!

Dominic and I are at the end

Most of the walk was along the edge of the roof. It wasn't too scary at all and we were hooked into a safety system if we somehow managed to fall. Although, it really would have been hard to fall, honestly you would have had to jump!

Dominic (he doesn't look too unhappy)

About halfway around the roof we were able to climb to one of the peaks. The guide Dominic and I had was fun. She had us jump up and down once we reached the peak and we were able to make the entire roof vibrate and shake. Dominic definitely thought that was cool.

Dominic and I are second and third from the top

70th Anniversary of D-Day

Steve & Dominic

A guest post from Dominic. The trip to Normandy was a graduation present, he and Steve also stopped in Paris before their flight home! Enjoy! ~M

As readers of my mother's blog and facebook page may know, I recently went to Normandy

on the 70th anniversary of D-Day. My father and I flew into Paris the Wednesday before D-Day.

Villedieu-les-Poêles

The first stage of the trip was renting the car and driving to Normandy. This took longer than expected due to traffic and a frank underestimation of the distances involved. Once we arrived, check-in was a breeze and we walked around the town where we were staying. Despite being over an hour from the beaches involved, the town was still decked out in American, British and Canadian flags and there was even a small exhibit to D-Day in the town square. That night we were thrown off by the sun not setting until nearly 10:30 at night. 

Ranger Monument - Pointe du Hoc

German observation point under Ranger Monument

Toruck - a tank turret would sit on top

Gun emplacement

The next day we left the hotel at 8 to head to the beaches. The first day we headed towards Omaha Beach and while driving there we were shocked to see a genuine WWII jeep driving along the road. We first visited Pointe du Hoc and saw some re-enactors there as well as the vast scale of the landings and defenses. The landings took place on beaches spanning miles upon miles (<50 miles), with Pointe du Hoc in between the two American beaches on high cliffs. 

Jeep at Omaha Beach

Deuce and a halfs on Omaha

Encampment above Omaha

Evening at Omaha Beach

Sherman Tank

C47 being chased by C130

After this we went to Omaha beach and then what we saw kind of blew our minds. Hundreds of re-enactors, hundreds of antique jeeps, deuce and half trucks, tanks, and even an old C-47 plane. This was to be a continuing trend for the entirety of the trip.

Steve and Dominic at Utah Beach

Re-enactors in St-Marie-du-Mont

The second day we spent time visiting towns where paratroopers jumped into. Due to traffic slowly increasing we decided to walk from town to Utah beach. On this walk we found the statue memorializing Captain Winters from Easy Company, featured in Band of Brothers. 

Captain Winters

After a long walk and tour of the museum we began the walk back. However we soon decided to try and hitch hike our way back. This worked out better than expected when a WWII jeep driven by a nice French couple stopped and picked us up, after a limited conversation in German they dropped us off in town and right by our car. 

On the road to Utah Beach

Our last day there we visited the American cemetery. It was an extremely humbling experience to visit the cemetery.

American Cemetery

Dominic at American Cemetery above Omaha Beach

On the way out however we hit some traffic that can only be described as severe. While my Dad sat in the car in traffic, I walked up the road to buy some sausages. After a couple hours to cross about a mile we finally managed to begin moving at a more appropriate pace. Due to justified fears of more traffic we took a "back road" which rapidly turned into something little more than a trail. It did however have the noticeable benefit of having no traffic upon it.

Traffic Free!

In summary the trip was a blast for me and my Dad. We not only learned a lot but also sampled the local Norman cuisine and brought back some cider and Calvados, not so big a hit with the family.

Dominic and Steve - Eiffel Tower

Dominic

Dominic - Arc de Triomphe

The Kelleys Visit!

Missy, Erica, John & Steve

We had a fun quick weekend visit with the Kelley's! Erica and I went to Ohio State together. It was fun to see them and get to visit and go out with them. It was also great that our kids who have seen each other over the years as they grew up got along just as well as their parents! We were glad they were able to spend some time with us on their European vacation!

They were busy touring Munich and visiting the famous castles but we had time to spend an evening at Steve's favorite place - Andechs Monastery. It was a beautiful night to sit on their patio overlooking the fields and mountains. Some friends and their kids joined us so the teens had a table and the adults had a table - everyone was happy!

Missy & Erica at Andechs

Before they left we were able to stroll around Lake Starnberg and enjoy gelatto! The Kelleys totally lucked out with beautiful weather for their entire visit!

Erica & Missy

Grandma & Aunt Vicki's Visit

We just had a great 10 days with Steve's mom and sister Vicki. They officially came for Dominic's graduation but we managed to show them a fair bit of Bavaria while they were here too! Using the theory of a picture is worth a thousand words this post will be filled with photos with a few details.

Kay and Vicki arrived on a lovely day. The kids all had Saturday night plans so we headed to Tutzing for dinner on the lake, introducing Vicki to her first Wiener Schnitzel!

Vicki, Steve, Grandma & Missy

Dominic had a lunch scheduled in Augsburg the next day to meet his West Point Sponsor. So we took Vicki and Kay with us. 

Dominic outside the Augsburg Cathedral

Grandma & Dominic

Goldener Saal - Golden Hall in Augsburg City Hall

Monday brought a trip to Ettal Monastery and  Linderhof Palace and Oberammergau. While Kay had been here before it was nice for her to go when the weather was beautiful and not cold and snowy. The highlight of this day though was meeting Steve and Vicki's cousin Terry and her family for lunch. So fun to visit and get to see them.

Vicki & Grandma

Grandma, Vicki, Terry & Missy

Tuesday brought a visit to Dachau. Dachau is a sobering place to visit. We spent most of the day here listening to the audio guide and reading through the information. 

The sign at the gate - Work makes you Free

Memorial - behind it is a rebuilt barrack

Dominic joined us Wednesday morning for lunch before his Graduation practice. We had lunch at the Glockenspiel Cafe after watching the famous Munich Glockenspiel do its thing. Kay, Vicki and I then did two different bus tours around Munich, an easier way for them to see most of the city. We had fun trying to get great shots through the windows, not always easy to time. That evening we went to Steve's favorite place, Andechs Monastery for dinner. This time Rachel joined us.

Dominic, Vicki & Grandma

Vicki & Grandma photographing the Olympic Stadium

Grandma & Steve

Vicki - working through her "Have a bier for me" list

Rachel & Grandma

Thursday was a holiday so we went back to Munich for a little more touring. Although the weather didn't totally cooperate with us we did get to the spots we wanted to see and we saw the surfers in the English Garden. Also, we had lunch at the most famous of all the bierhalls - Hofbrähaus.

This woman was the most talented surfer out there.

Prost!

Vicki, Grandma & Missy

Hofbräuhaus

Missy, Vicki & Grandma

Vicki & Missy in Marienplatz

Friday, their seventh day in Germany, we spent in Dießen at their annual pottery market. This is supposedly one of the largest pottery markets in Europe and it does not disappoint. Also? There is this magnificent church there, Marienmünster. Absolutely stunning, definitely one of the most beautiful churches we have seen here. And that is really saying something, we have seen a lot of churches! (ask the kids)

Grandma, Vicki & Missy

We stayed a little closer to home on Saturday, enjoying Starnberg, the lake and the French Festival taking place in our town. Stefanie joined us too! We were taking it easy getting ready for Dominic's graduation day!

Vicki, Grandma, Stefanie & Missy at Lake Starnberg

Vicki & Grandma at the Church Square enjoying a Hugo!

Monday found us all more than a little tired so we headed back to Oberammergau to do a little shopping. It is the best place to go for Bavarian souvenirs. Tuesday was Kay and Vicki's last day in Germany. Steve took them to see Bavaria's most famous castle Neuschwanstein and the castle "next door" Hohenschwangau.

Vicki at Hohenschwangau

Grandma & Vicki overlooking Hohenschwangau

Grandma & Vicki at Neuschwanstein

One last bier and pretzel!

What a terrific visit we had with both of them! It was so awesome that they could make the trip for Dominic's graduation and see a little of Germany too!