Our trip to Edelweiss!!

Noah's "first family vacation", apart from going home to the states in December!

We had a such a lovely time :) even though the weather turned from beautiful to chilly the day we arrived!! and then back to beautiful the day we left!! haha

Short summary: We arrived Tuesday evening and got settled into our room and had a look around the resort. Wednesday we looked at the tours being offered and signed up for the Bavarian Brotzeit/Ettal Tour - cheese factory and Monastery visit. We also walked over to the Army base - basically across the street - and checked out some of the shops. On Thursday we went on the tour, met a nice family; Thursday night we went on a horse and carriage ride through the town; then relaxed in the outdoor hot tub which was pretty big but it was also pretty cold out! so it was a bit strange being really warm even though our head felt chilly. Friday we went to the top of the Zugspitze with the family we met on Thursday! Saturday we had breakfast with our new friends and then left for the airport... I hope we can go back - in the summer though! :)

Pictures of the resort:

Front entrance

Beautiful lounge from front entrance!

View from our room

Thursday tour:
We learned how local farmers make cheese and other yummy dairy products (cheesecake and yogurt...); we then had lots of samples of cheese... and I had cheese soup for lunch - very salty, wouldn't recommend it! Dave had sausage and a pretzel.

Then we walked over to the Ettal Monastery to see the exquisite Basilica; learned about the Monk's famous home-made beers and liqueurs which we could have tasted and purchased (but we didn't...).

After we got back... time for a snooze!!

Checking out the rocking chairs before dinner...

A staff member kindly took our photo :)

Horse and carriage ride around Garmisch!

Not gonna lie... it was pretty cold!!

We saw a few houses made of only wood!

Many houses have beautiful paintings on the walls

Friday adventure up the Zugspitze:

Walking to the train station...

They have wood piled up everywhere!!
And they are all cut to the same length so they fit in their containers just right!

On the train going up the mountain... 

Sam to the right - Noah's new best friend!!
Sam got so excited every time he saw Noah and gave him a hug... it was really sweet!

A church on top of the mountain?
we didn't venture up to it... 

We made it to the top!!
As you can see... it wasn't the best day to go as we couldn't see much!
When it is clear, you can see about 100 kilometres away!

Close up! My baby is so handsome!!!

Beautiful lake we could see on the way back down

Train stop that took us to (almost) the top of the mountain...
that is Erica on the left - from the family we met :)

On our way back home...

Pictures from the car on the way to the airport... 

Clever boy pulled himself up to stand in his car seat!!

and thought it was really funny!

Waiting for everyone else to board... sitting on the tray, also very funny! :o)

checking out the view!

Hope you enjoyed the pictures!! :)

P.S. We sent a few post cards out :) If you aren't going to keep it, we would like to put them in a scrapbook when you are done with it! Oh and let us know when you get yours! :) I could only send them to the addresses I have memorized so I'm so sorry if you didn't get one! :-/

9 Months!!!

It's hard to believe that Noah is the same age as the time he spent growing inside my belly. I think this is an emotional time for mothers and I find myself just watching Noah, amazed at how much he can do on his own, happy that he still needs me though, and awed by how he is fascinated by little things that I barely notice! It seems as if Noah does something new everyday!! Here are a few of the most recent :)

• Noah shares!!! It is soooo cute! He will chew on a toy or object and then put it to my mouth for me or daddy to have a go :o) I'm sure if he ate more food he would do the same with the food... maybe... lol
• Noah has found his pouty face!! I think it is just another expression and I don't really think he is sad or trying to make mummy give in to his every want... especially because I'm pretty sure I already do that!! :-D

• Noah gives hugs and kisses - he's actually been doing this for a while but just yesterday Hayden (Dianna's son) was talking to his mum, Noah was intently listening, and when he finished Hayden said hello to Noah, then Noah reached out his arms, Hayden leaned in and Noah gave him a hug and an open mouth kiss lol it was the sweetest!!! Here are two pictures of Hayden and Noah (from about 2 months ago) :)

• Noah is almost on the move! He can go from sitting up to the crawling position like a pro but hasn't quite figured out how to go anywhere so he usually ends up sliding his legs down and going on his belly; then he will fuss after a few minutes because he doesn't want to be on his belly!

• Noah is my little yoga baby... he will sit with his knees bent and feet touching, then will reach for toys with his belly almost touching the floor and sit back up. 

• When Noah is done playing with a toy, he will throw it out of his way (usually behind him) to get a new one!
• Noah is such a chatterbox!! He is very vocal and always has something to say - or sing about :o) 
• Noah laughs when I change his nappy... and now that he has found his little pee bug... sheesh! every time I change him, his hands go straight for it! and he laughs and laughs!! and then I laugh of course... I do always tell him "its not a toy" and daddy usually says "that's not for you" and then I respond "who's it for?" and I don't always get an answer... haha

• Noah has 6 teeth! :) bottom two teeth first - and before they were all the way up, top front 2 broke through - and before his top front were all the way through, the two on each side of his top teeth broke through! I may do a separate post on his teeth with lots of pictures... or is that weird?

• Oh and Noah also grinds his teeth... which we don't particularly like!!! 

I may add some more tomorrow... but wanted to publish as its been a little while since I've posted! Hope you enjoy!! :)