Rhine River

So what did you guys do today? Or I should ask, what would you guys do if you had four kids, a free Saturday, rainy weather, and some awesome friends? A trip along the Rhine River to see some amazing castles? Well, ME TOO!! That is how we spent our day today, following the greatest people in Deutschland up to some beautiful sights along the Rhine River. We started off taking a ferry to get from one side of the Rhine to the other. Castles line both sides and we wanted to get to the other side to see Marksburg castle. The cool thing about the ferry is that we got to drive our car on it, and stay inside the whole time. All for 5 euros! Very cool. The kids thought it was so fun to be in our car, on a boat. The ride took a whopping five minutes, but it was great. We found the castle, climbed up the stairs, (do you ever notice how all castles are built up on something and to get to them, stair climbing is involved?), bought tickets for all All German tour since that is the only kind of tour they have, and waited patiently in the rain to be admitted to the castle. The kids were running around while we were waiting. I kept losing one or another of them. Then the little old lady with the big key came and unlocked the castle doors and let us inside to start the tour. Great, right? Yeah, except I had lost one of my kids by this point and couldn't find him. We were ushered into the castle and the tour started and I still didn't have one of my sons! No, not Mason, no, not even Colton, it was the big one! JAXON! Yup, the one who is supposed to be Mr. Responsible, Mr. I Will Help My Mom, Mr. Don't Worry About Me Because I'm So Grown Up, was not with us!! The tour was almost an hour, and the whole time I am worried about where Jaxon is. Now, after 12 1/2 years, I can kinda think like that kid, so I knew he was fine, just wandered off, and was probably waiting down the hill at the car for us. So, we tour the castle, see some cool stuff, especially the armory, and then leave. No Jaxon. Not outside the castle doors, not in the restaurant, souvenir shop, no where. At the car? Nope. Dennis goes back to search for him. 5 minutes later, guess who comes down the hill all by himself? Jaxon.
Mom: "Uh, WHERE WERE YOU?"
Jaxon: "I took the tour of the castle."
Mom: "There was no other tour. They only have one every hour! What tour?"
Jaxon pointing to two tour buses: "I went on a tour of the castle with the people from those buses. The armory was COOL!"
Mom: "So, you didn't have a ticket, and just walked in with some German people for a tour?"
Jaxon: "Yup!"
By this point, Mason was crying because he thought Jaxon was missing, and that I was going to kill Jaxon if he ever showed up for leaving us. But, all is well that ends well, Jaxon was safe, realized he should probably keep me in his field of vision when we are miles away from home, and we had cookies waiting for us in the car, so everything worked out alright. Here we are following the Turner's onto the ferry:

Bottom of the castle hill:


Mason looking out one of the tower windows while Mom is ready to grab him any second since Germans don't believe in safety nets, fences, glass coverings, or anything to prevent immanent death from occurring while looking out castle holes or over castle walls:

Mason and Colton sharing an umbrella during the tour:

Picture of the Rhine from on top of the castle:

Ella and Colton in the armory:


I tried to take a picture of Marksburg castle as we were driving away because it is a really cool looking castle but it didn't really turn out. So, do me a favor: google Castles Along the Rhine River so you can get a feel for what we saw today, and a sense of intense jealousy that I get to live in this awesome country!!


Then we were off to Rheinstein Castle.
But first, you're probably asking, hey Angela, since you went on an All German tour of the castle, and have been taking German lessons for the past two months, did you understand anything?
Well,
NO!! And I am mad about it!! I understood three words: schlafzimmer (bedroom), essen (eat) and Sie (you). Pathetic!! I want a refund for my German lessons!
Ok, back to the next castle. This one was really cool because you could just walk around it on your own, no tour required. After bothering the lady who sells the tickets and souvenirs because one of my children touched a sword in the shop (guess which one, no...not Colton... YUP! JAXON! Again! Making mischief!) we were off to explore the castle and its grounds. Very cool. This is the stuff boys live for! My boys were in heaven climbing around, exploring, looking at different things and pretending to be princes and knights hundreds of years ago. And, of course, Ella was ready to assume the role of princess of the castle.
Here are some pictures of us storming the castle:












Yes, I went back inside the souvenir shop on the way out, spoke in German to the lady and bought my kids some cool things that probably require consent forms and waiting periods if purchased in the US. But Jaxon was so happy and Colton was ecstatic, and every one but Mason was all smiles on the way home. (Mason wanted to shoot Colton's cross bow, uh, sorry, no). And Jaxon, my way too cool and laid back preteen said he had a great day and LOVED exploring the castles. Yup folks, memories are being made. Family ties are getting tighter. And hopefully no ER visits are in the near future because of the weapons I bought my sons this afternoon.