Sunday Mass and a Hike

On Sunday morning we left our apartment and drove half way to our new destination, Garmisch, and stopped at another beautiful Baroque/Rococo style church in the middle of nowhere called Wieskirche.  We has Mass here and had some brats at an Imbiss nearby.  We also stopped in the shops by the Imbiss and got Brotzeit (bread time) plates engraved with the kid's names on them.  This is a custom in Germany to eat a warm meal for lunch and a light dinner of bread, cheese, meat, and fruits and fresh veggies on wooden "plates."  We have started doing this frequently when the kids have late sports.  I can pack it all in a picnic basket.

Eating at the Imbiss, which is a "fast food" type stall.

After driving the rest of the way to our destination, we got situated at our two separate apartments first.  This part of the trip was for a conference for Brian and so he had to stay at the hotel where his conference was held.  We almost got an 8 person room there, but decided that might just be too much togetherness for five days.  Most nights two of the kids would stay with him and the rest with me in a two bedroom apartment.  Brian quickly hurried us over to the gorge.  We have hiked in the gorge twice before, but Hannah and Genevieve were so little the last time that they did not remember it.  The first time was in 2007.  Here's two pictures I dug up from that trip.





My, my, we were in better shape then.  Anyway, here we were back again with a bigger crew...

Bob rode in the Ergo for the whole hike because he is slow enough on flat, dry, and well lit ground, and this was none of those things.

This was a really enjoyable part of our trip.  I think hiking together is right up there with reading together as my favorite things to do together.  I like playing games too, but not as much because there is usually some kind of competitive arguing that interferes with my happiness factor during a family game. 

The end of the hike is where it opens up to a valley where you can go down by the river.  This was the highlight for me.  The kids all ran to skip rocks and it was so utterly peaceful.  I sat with Bob and just listened to two of my favorite sounds ever in harmony with each other, my children laughing and a rushing river.  River sounds are majorly nostalgic for me because our yearly summer vacation was to Red River, NM and that sound was a favorite even as a child.  My mom loves the sound of the waves at the beach, and so do I, but the sound of a river is just so much more my thing. 

Precious moments that I hope to never forget.

Then you get to hike all the way back!