Summer in the USA 2012

The Vittone family - 3 generations.

Grandma Jeager being taught to play the card game trash, by none other than the Queen of Trash - Kate.

Lake fun at the Little House in Northern Wisconsin.

Cousin Hallie Marker and Auntie Jenn came to Beaver Creek.

We took the chair up for lunch of burgers and fries at Spruce Saddle.

Hiking Royal Elk path.

Beaver Lake.

Hiking Down from Beaver Lake.

At Beaver Creek mini-golf with Uncle Eric.

Settling in with cabin mate at Geneva Glen.

Anna and counselor at Geneva Glen.

Anna, Auntie Jenn and Grandma Jean at drop-off. Anna was a Crimson Cross this year.

A visit with Laurie, Jack and Tate. Nice they are so near by for an annual visit. Great to see Tate doing so well.

Happy cabin mates at pick-up. Amanda was with Kate this year.

Grandma picks-up the grandkids.

The next generation at the Marker's house. Pearl and Kevin posing with the kids.

Fun day out in Wisconsin.

Taking it easy in the shade. 

Proud hikers!

Old friends and new at Shadyview Lane!

As always, it is always so wonderful to head back to the good ole USA for a few weeks- actually six weeks for Maria and the girls. Steve's visit overlapped with the family for two weeks (although he did have the problem of a job, so we really only really saw him for one of those weeks.)

Our first week landed us at Grandma and Grandpa Jan/Gordie's home and little house in Northern Wisconsin. It was all lake time with tubing, swimming, and jet skiing. We also got to visit with Great Grandma Jaeger who turned 99 this year!

Colorado occupied our next three weeks, staying mainly in Beaver Creek. The four of us met Aunt Jenn and Uncle Erik there. Grandma Jean and cousin Amanda arrived later in the week. We hiked, biked, introduced the girls to LaCrosse, and just lazed around the village. Cousin Hallie from Denver joined the girls for a few days.

Then it was off to Geneva Glenn Camp for Anna and Kate and two of their cousins for two weeks. By that time, Steve was headed home (via Mexico), and Jean and Maria held down the fort in Beaver Creek. We hiked each day, and spent time with cousin Michelle and her family. Our two weeks was punctuated by a trip to Estes Park since we both have friends in the area. It was then time to picked up some pretty happy and slightly dirty kids by then! They made great friends and memories. We heard all about it on the 18 hour car ride home.

Once back from Colorado, the girls spent five days in Ripon with Grandma Jean and Grandpa Bill. Although Kate ended up with a case of strep throat and the weather was yucky Wisconsin summer hot, they managed some swimming, the movies, a trip to the Green Lake County Fair, Cookie Daze, and keeping up with the Olympics at night.

The girls finished off the summer back in the old neighborhood visiting with friends. It was a great way to cap off the summer! 

Luxembourg and Trier Germany with the Vierkes!

Trier Center

Porta Negra

Luxembourg 

Luxembourg from the Fortress

And the bunnies....

The month of May brought a couple of holidays for us (and we love those)! We took the opportunity to meet up with some of our German friends that we met in Dubai- Uli, Karsten, Lena-Marie, and Leonard. With them coming from Hamburg, we chose a halfway point: Luxembourg (Luxembourg) and Trier, Germany. The cities are only 1/2 hour away from each other. We stayed in a very small German town on the boarder of the two countries. Nestled in the rolling hills of the Mosel Valley, it made for a quiet get-away after a busy day of sightseeing. There was plenty of space for the kids to run between our two holiday apartments. The owners kept bunnies which fascinated the kids between their soccer and running games.

Trier is one of Germany's oldest cities dating back to before 16 BC. The old Roman gate, called Porta Negra as well as the Roman baths and amphitheater still stand in good form, and were likely built at the end of the 1st century. The Vierkes and Woolleys toured the Porta Negra, took a city tour by train, and had a leisurely lunch in the main square.

Luxembourg is a small country (pop +500,00) bordering Germany, France, and Belgium. Like Switzerland, it is mostly known now for it's banking industry. Again, evidence of Roman architecture abounds.We toured the fortress- the remains carved into the cliffs along the river. There were some marvelous churches, the Grand Duke's palace, and a very upbeat feel to the town as we wandered the streets. Turns out, it was the day of the Marathon so we needed to get out of town before we couldn't!  (We even made a stop to see our Australian friends that we met on ski trip to Austria this year!) We were back to our apartments in the evening to watch a very important soccer game which sadly didn't turn out the way our German friends had hoped.

Before we drove back to Switzerland, we made a detour at the American Cemetery and Memorial- which was very moving for for the adults. The kids might have appreciated it a bit less, but Steve made sure to give them a lesson on it's importance in their life. We hope one day it will stick.

Did I mention the schnitzel? Steve would still be eating it if we hadn't left!

Our families are planning to meet again next May-- likely Munich. We love traveling with them and can't wait! 

Russia 2012: Moscow City

Bolshoi Ballet.

Anton Chekov's final resting place.

Kate in front of the tree where Russian couples put locks to commemorate their upcoming weddings.

Sculpture depicting the innocence of children under attack by various vices - parents, it's up to us.

Make Way For Ducks statue - gift from Elizabeth Bush.

Kate and huge matroyshka doll.

The family at the Moscow Circus.

Painting matroyska dolls.

Sample of traditional Russian architecture - all made without using nails.

Moscow metro station!

Kids at the circus. 

Quite the big top!! The Moscow Circus at night.

One of Stalin's 7 Sisters of Moscow.

GUM - Russia's most famous shopping mall. 

There is so much to see in Moscow. In our short time there we covered a lot of ground - from GUM department store, to famous statues and artwork, to a cemetery for notable figures in Russian history. For the kids, we took in the Moscow Circus at night - what a treat that was. We saw bears that could walk and ride bikes (no kidding!!) and other amazing feats. The master of ceremony was funny, even if we couldn't understand everything he said. We had heard from Steve's dad that the subways were beautiful so we took a look - amazing. We knew Red Square and the Kremlin would be amazing, we know feel the same thing about the rest of Moscow. What a treat to spend time in this truly great capital city.

Russia 2012: Moscow Kremlin

Our Russian adventure started in Moscow. We flew Air France to Paris, then boarded Aeroflot for the 3 hour flight to Moscow. Steve thought he booked Air France all the way to Moscow; we only learned we were flying Aeroflot as we boarded the plane and noticed the different color of the fuselage. With some trepidation we buckled-up. Russia isn't known for air traffic safety. But the flight was easy and the service was good. We did find it odd that the passengers all clapped when the wheels touched down....

Moscow is a lovely city, though it did not benefit like St. Petersburg from having 200 years of Tsars building palaces, and imported Italian and French architects to design city streets and houses. However, its skyline has the 7 Sisters, plenty of gilded church domes, and of course it has Red Square and the Kremlin, plus many other attractions that make it one of Europe's great capital cities.

Moscow and its people have endured a lot over the years. The city's history seems to have an endless cycle of being built, conquered, burned, re-built, re-conquered, and re-burned - and a plague and purge or two to fill in between. We were warned the Russians seem cold to Westerners - who can blame them. But once we left immigration, we found Muscovites welcoming and doing their best to make us feel welcome. They succeeded.

We are sure Anna and Kate got tired of hearing Maria and Steve say "I can't believe we are here", but standing in front of Lenin's tomb in Red Square was simply incredible. Our hotel was only a 10 minute walk from Red Square. We weren't able to visit during our first day because it was closed due to a demonstration, so we walked to it at night and took in the sites in the darkness - simply spectacular. The next we visited again before our tour started and enjoyed it during the day. 

Waiting to get access to the Kremlin. 

The girls from inside the Kremlin walls.

Dormition Cathedral - where Tsars were crowned and burried up to Peter I.

Cathedral of the Annunciation - former personal chapel of Russian Tsars.

Tsar Bell is one big bell. 450K lbs - it broke after being casted and was never rung.

Tsar Cannon - at 80K lbs much lighter than the bell. 

Anna in Cathedral Square inside the Kremlin.

Maria on the Kremlin walls

Kremlin Armory building.

Kremlin Walls and cathedrals in background.

Kremlin Armory

The tour of the Kremlin, with its ancient city walls, armory and churches containing the tombs of Russian Tsars before Peter the Great was fantastic. Steve is reading War and Peace (still.....) and particularly enjoyed seeing the Tsar's cannon, which was featured during his reading that week.