Schloss Heidelberg

One of my absolute most favorite places on Earth is Heidelberg, Germany.  Don't get me wrong, Germany is beautiful EVERYWHERE, but for some reason, my heart seriously longs for Heidelberg.  We only live 1 hour from Heidelberg now, so I'm probably going to make several day trips out there while the kids are in school, just to sit, relax, & enjoy the majesty that it is.

Fall is starting here in Germany & it's indescribable. You imagine in your wildest dreams what fall should look like, & everything you ever imagined is real.  The colors are breathtaking.  It's just beautiful.

The earliest mention of the castle in Heidelberg (in history books) was in the 1100's.  Since then, the schloss (palace) has been destroyed & reconstructed several times, each time bigger & better than before.  It's one of the largest remaining castles in Germany & I just adore it there.  Most of the castle is in ruins, but it's still remarkable to see.  There are areas of it that are still in tact, & you can take a tour of the inside.  We LOVED our tour guide this time around.  He told us the love story of Frederick V & Elizabeth & how he built the palace for her.  I loved it & the kids really enjoyed it too.

The largest wine barrel in the world resides in the castle.  It holds hundreds of thousands of gallons of  wine.  We took some pictures just to remember how HUGE it was.

My favorite part of the castle is the gardens/grounds.  They are huge & they are gorgeous.  You can walk for over an hour & still not cover all the grounds.  The views over the Heidelberg Valley are amazing.  It all just makes my heart happy.

While we were here this visit, we re-created some photos of the girls from when we visited Heidelberg 12 years ago.  The girls thought it would be funny & we are laughing at how they turned out.

12 years ago

Today

My handsome prince who treats me like a princess every day.
We are living our fairy tale.

12 years ago.
Taya was only a few days old.

Today!

We also visited the old bridge in Heidelberg city.  You get a great view of the castle from the bridge.

There's also several beautiful churches & shops in Heidelberg village.

We ate lunch inside the castle which is always fun.  Our lunch ranged from chocolate muffins to bratwurst to pretzels to soup.  It was delicious.

12 Years Ago

Today.
Still a dork dot.  But I love him.

Our small, but growing family 12 years ago.

Our happy BIG family today.

I love Heidelberg!!!

Adventure is Out There!!!

History of Heidelberg

Heidelberg Website

Heidelberg Castle Info/Prices/Location

We love Heidelberg because they do tours of the castle in English.  It costs 8 Euro for Adults & 4 Euro for kids to get into the courtyard & gardens.  If you want a tour of the inside it's an additional 5 Euro for adults & 2,50 Euro for kids or 12,50 Euro for an entire family (which is what we do).

Powderpuff Football Fun

I was SO surprised when Cadence came home asking if she could play powderpuff football for Homecoming.  Standing tall at a whopping 4 foot 11 inches, I couldn't help but chuckle at her request.  Cadence is tiny, like tiny tiny, but first impressions can be deceiving.  Trek & I went to both of her powderpuff games & we were amazed at how fast & fierce she is on the field.  Her name was being called from the grandstand over the loud speaker over & over & over again.  Nobody could get past her.  She may be small, but she is NOT going to let you take that ball past her.  She sneaks in & goes for the tackle (aka she grabs the flag & pulls).  I couldn't believe how many plays she actually stopped the person with the ball.  GO CADENCE!!!

Cadence is the tiny one with the blond blond hair in a ponytail.

I also loved that ALL of Cadence's boy "friends" signed up to be powderpuff cheerleaders.  I absolutely LOVE her friends.  They are great guys & really look out for her.  They had me cracking up with their cheers & their stunts.  They all did a really great job.  I'm proud of them like they're my own kids.

Here's some short clips of Cadence in action:

Video #1

Video #2

Video #3 (Cadence throws the ball in)

Video #4

I love how Lorien went to every game to support her sister too.  They are such good sisters.

For the Homecoming game, Cadence played in the pep band.  Pep band doesn't allow oboes so she did percussion again this year.  She ended up playing the bells/xylophone for pep band & had a blast.

Great job Cadence.  We are always SO proud of everything you do.