South Carolina - 2009

It seemed were were barely home from Europe, and we had to repack for our annual trip to Hilton Head, SC. We traveled a bit heavier on this trip, needed to carry our golf clubs with us! Again, we had beautiful sunny days to enjoy on the golf course and on the beach. Our friends, Rexene and Arnie joined us in Hilton Head on this trip, and after they left we drove to Charleston and spent a few days with Glenn and July. Stephanie and Derek brought their children over, and we had a ball playing with them!

Last Day - Return to Franfurt

Our last day in Germany! We bid our hosts, Frau Bridget and Herr Karl good bye, and said a sad farewell to our favorite kitten on the farm. We stopped at Kriebstein Castle, supposedly Saxony's most beautiful knight's castle built high aboe the River Zschopau. We also stopped at Gleichen Castle near Erfurt, which built in 1088, but is now in ruins. We had our final dinner near the city, and then found the Holiday Inn near the airport, and got ready for the flight home early in the morning!

Day 13 - Kaditzsch

This day was one of the highlights of our trip for me because we visited the home of my great-great grandparents, the Wenzels in the samll village of Kaditzsch, which is near Grimma in Saxony. After spending some time in Wermsdorf and Kollmichen, previous homes to the Wenzel ancestors, we arrived at our destination. Our host for the day was the current owner of the house, Herr Weide, who had been the mayor of Grimma. He had located the original records of the family in the church, and then he escorted us on a fantastic tour of Grimma and Kaditzsch giving us a lot of history of the area, as well of the Wenzel family. We were able to see places that most tourist would not have been able to view, such as the attic and bell tower in old village hall, and the ancient mill in town. What a fantastic day, and we both wished we had more time to spend. Another return to this area of Saxony is on order!

Day 12 - Return to Frankfurt

We awoke to a rather overcast day in Schiltach, I think our first in Germany! Perhaps a sign that it is time to start thinking about returning to the US? We decided to take the side roads back to Frankfurt, which can be a bit stressful for the driver because of the twists, turns, and narrow lanes. We stopped briefly in Baden-Baden, which is an old Roman town famous for its baths. We took a peek at the "Neues Schloss", which only dates to the 15th century and then continued on to Frankfurt. Wes and I bid "Auf Wiedersehen" to Don and Leigh, and continued our journey to Saxony.

Day 11 - Strassbourg, France

Off again early, this time to France! Strassbourgh is the home to the Cathedral of Our Lady of Strasbourg, a very large and beautiful church that dates to 1176. We decided to take a boat ride on the River Ill in order to see the major sites of the city, which is the home of the Council of Europe. After a relaxing lunch, we headed back to Schitach, for our last night with Celky, Lisa and Michael at the Alte Brucke.

Day 10 - Schwartzwald

We arrived in Schiltach in the Black Forest a day earlier than planned, and awoke in our hotel, the Gasthof zur alten Brucke to another beautiful, sunny day. We took our host's advice, and headed to Wolfach, a city that predates the 1100's. From there we continued on to the Schwarzwälder Freilichtmuseum Vogtsbauernhof, the Black Forest Open Air Museum, that has six fully furnished farmhouses dating from 1612. We arrived in Triberg, wehre the tallest waterfalls in Germany are located, and also a lot of Cuckoo clocks are to be found, including the world's largest!

Day - 9 Sattel, Switzerland

In Sattel, we woke to the sounds of bells - bells dinging on the cows and bells ringing in the churches! What a delightful cacophony of music! After breakfast and a ride on the Alpine slide, we headed down the hill on a road NOT recommended by "Nancy", and the descent was much easier. We passed right by the original Ulrich farm! In the village, we met Herr Moser, the town administrator who took us to St. Peter and Paul Church. It is the church that all of the Ulrich ancestors were baptized in, and we were able to view the original record book showing the dates of the baptisms of Melchior and Frank X!! It indicated who the parents were, as well as who the sponsors were! We were invited to go to a neighboring town to see the legal records, but time was too short. Definitely a return trip is in order!

Day 8 - To Switzerland

Another beautiful day in Europe, sunny and warm. After a European breakfast of crusty rolls,sliced meats and cheeses, as well as fruits and juices, we again hit the road! Another long day of driving in order to reach to Sattel, Switzerland before dark! Didn't trust "Nancy" to get us to the very final destination without a few problems! The highlight of our day was stopping at Lake Como for lunch, a beautiful city on the lake. Speed boats were racing on the lake as we ate, zooming to their finish line with loud roars of their engines!
After lunch we continued climbing the Alps toward Sattel, stopping by the shore of Lake Lucerne for a visit with a friendly kitty. We reached Sattel in the late afternoon and a long winding climb up a very narrow road to the top of the mountain. Once again, we followed "Nancy's advice and took the wrong road! We were greeted by brown swiss cows ringing their bells, probably inc celebration of our safe navigation of the Alps.

Day 7 - Venice

We arrived in Dolo, just west of west of Venice in the dark last night, and finally found our hotel, Villa Gasparini after "Nancy", as we have named the voice on our GPS unit, had difficulty navigating us accurately on the roads in Italy. In the morning we took a boat across to Venice, a most beautiful city! When we arrived in St. Mark's Square, we discovered a ceremony honoring the firefighters of Italy was taking place, and they were lowering the flag of Italy down the Campanile, the Bell Tower. The piazza was crowded, since there were so many cruise ships anchored off the Grand Canal. Saint Mark's Basilica was closed to the public, unfortunately, however, we were able to tour the Doge's Palace, which dates to 1300's.

Day 6 - Off to Venice

We left Punzelweg in Berchtesgaden, early in the morning and headed off to Venice. We drove through Austria, literally!! Some of the tunnels we passed through under the Alps were 10 miles long! We saw a castle, schloss, from the highway that beckoned us to stop, and as it turned out, it was a well worthwhile visit. Burg Hohenwerfen, which dates back to the 11th century, was used as the castle 'Schloss Adler' in the film Where Eagles Dare, aWorld War II spy film with Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood. Appropriately, the castle is now home to a Historic Falconry, complete with an American Eagle. Later in the day, we stopped in Gmund, Austria, with the ruins of smaller castle from the 13th century. And after driving through the winding roads of Austria and northern Italy, we arrived in Dolo, Italy for the next stage of our journey.

Day 5 - Muchen

On the morning after our second night at Punzelweg, we ventured off to Muchen (Munich) for Oktoberfest! What a festival of bier!! Twelve tents holding 10,000 people each, full of folks drinking beer from LARGE steins! There were a lot of very happy, happy people from all over the world enjoying Lowenbrau, Paulander, Hofbrau, Pschorr, etc. We didn't try them all, but did sample a few! Think I liked the horse drawn wagons the best, the horses were all decked out in elaborate harnesses. Very cool.

Day 4 - Berchestgaden & Salzburg

In the morning we decided to visit the Kehlsteinhaus,also known as the Eagle's Nest, built by the Nazis in the mountains as an official 50th birthday present for Adolf Hitler. Eva Braun spent a lot of time here, though Hitler did not, which is why it was saved from destruction at the end of WW II! The views were spectacular!
The afternoon brought us to Salzburg, Austria, where we visited the Hohensalzburg Castle, Motzart's Home and enjoyed Ocktoberfest, Austrian style.

Day 3 - Schloß Mespelbrunn & Schloß Neunhof

On our third day in Germany, we picked Don and Leigh up at the airport in Frankfort and drove to Berchtesgaden, in the German Bavarian Alps. We stopped at several "schlosses", castles, on the way. Some were small, some not so small! The first, Mespelbrunn, was a wasserschloss, and was built between 1412 and 1569. The second stop was at Schloß Neunhof, a much smaller schloss close to Nuremberg. It had a very delightful garden!

Day 2 - Eberbach - Rothenburg

After a good night's sleep in a guesthouse in Eberbach, we continued driving next to the Neckar River, which is one of the towns on "Castle Road" in Germany. We spent most of the morning in Bad Wimpfen, which is an ancient Roman market town that can be traced back to the first century. The Schloss, or castle goes back to the 10th century. In the afternoon we traveled on to Rothenburg ob der Tauber, an idyllic medieval town that overlooks the Tauber River.

Day 1 - Heidelberg

We landed in Frankfurt in the rain, but by the time we reached Heidelberg on the river Neckar, the sun was shining! We spent most of the day investigating one of the oldest university towns in Europe and Heidelberger Schloss. Then we found a quiet "gasthaus" nearby in Eberbach, and retired VERY early. We were asleep by seven.

We're starting to think about our trip to Germany, Switzerland, and Austria in September, and a distant cousin of Wes' has given us some contacts, tips and previews of what we can expect once we arrive in Sattel, Switzerland, home of the Ulrich's. Enjoy Jon's trip to Sattel, and hope we can do as well!

We spent the Fourth of July in Wisconsin this year, no trip to Minnesota, couldn't face another long car ride!
We played a little golf in the early in the day, and spend the evening watching the fireworks in Brookfield. Kevin and Kristen brought their cousin from Brussels along for this American holiday experience. We think he enjoyed the fireworks!

Scenic Shore 150

Wes rode in the the Scenic Shore 150 with his friend Bruce. It is the largest locally organized and supported event for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. This is a 2 day bike event that starts in Mequon and finishes in Sturgeon Bay, and the route takes them along the shores of Lake Michigan. They do 75 miles each day, and stop in Manitowoc for the night.

July Birthdays

July brings two very important birthdays! Mikey turned two on July 14th, and Maia turned 5 on July 20th!! They are growing up so fast!! Great Grandma and Grandpa even made the trip from Florida to help celebrate. Since the two birthdays are so close, the celebrations were held on the same day, Maia celebrated at the park with all of her friends, and Mike enjoyed chocolate cake with the family at home. What a fun day!

Mary Beth's Surprise Party

Cousin Mary Beth is turning 50 in July, so her fantastic husband threw a surprise party for her on June 27th, which is actually their anniversary! It was held at the White Rhino in Dyer, Indiana, and the surprise guests were two very funny clowns!

It is finally done, two and a half months later, and we love our new kitchen. It is so much better layed out, it seems bigger and lighter! The granite counter tops are the best, no more tile grout to clean! We had my great grandparent's (Haenke) light over the table repaired, it was done with copper foil, and was a little tricky to fix. It came out beautifully, you can barely tell which pieces of glass were replaced. We found a smaller light for the peninsula area which compliments it well! We really like the new bar area in the family room, a special refrigerator, just for the beverages!!

Ride the Rockies - The Finish Line

He did it!! Finished 380 miles in 6 days, climbing Independence Pass, Monarch Pass, and McClure Pass..long steep climbs, and treacherous downhill switchbacks! What a guy...my hero!! Rocky and I acted as the support team, giving Wes much needed cheers and sustenance at the end of each day. We're home, none the worse for the wear!! Though Rocky may be the one most in need of rest!

II left Wes at Tent City in Glenwood Springs, CO last night as he prepared to crawl into his tent to get a good night's sleep for his 80 ride from Glenwood Springs to Hotchkiss. This leg of the 380 mile journey goes over McClurg Pass at 8755 ft. Tomorrow is another 80 miles from Hotchkiss to Gunnison, which is where I will catch up with him again!

Kindergarten Graduation

Ella graduated from kindergarten!! She's moving on to First Grade!!! Somehow it seems as though her daddy just graduated from kindergarten a mere few years ago. It was a very impressive ceremony. The children sang, and accompanied their voices with sign language. Of course, grandparents, aunts and parents thought Ella was the star of the show. Her teachers put together a DVD of their kindergarten school year, and each child in the class made a statement about what they liked best. When asked what she wanted to be when she grew up, Ella announced that she wanted to be a race car driver! No princess stuff for her! She accepted her diploma from the parish priest at St. Andrews with aplomb, and then proceeded to play with her sister and classmates and eat cake to celebrate! Everyone, especially Michael, was so proud of her!

Kristen Graduates from UW

Kristen graduated with honors from the University of Wisconsin at Madison on May 17th! What a proud occasion for the entire family!

The ceremony was at 10:00 in the morning, and everyone was on time, even Bucky Badger! There were over 1500 students receiving their degrees at this ceremony and Kevin calclated that they handed out about 25 diplomas per minute. After the ceremony was over, everyone walked to one of Madison's favorite Italian restaurants for lunch with Alex's entire family. The food was great, and the conversation lively!
It was a perfect day for a special graduation!

Uncle Rod & Aunt Sharon's 50th Anniversary

On May 9th, we traveled to Flint, Michigan, where my parents grew up, to celebrate my mother's youngest brother's wedding anniversary. Rod and Sharon have been married for 50 years! It was a grand celebration, in a true McDonald style, with lots of cousins, lots of stories, lots of pictures, and many memories. Sister Karen flew in from Minneapolis to drive with us to Michigan. She had to put up with a few days of our chaos, since the kitchen is still torn up, but we had a great visit. We arrived at cousin Candy's house, just in time to change and head out to the celebration in Grand Blanc. There were lots of aunts, uncles and cousins to catch up with, considering that Grandpa McDonald had 100 descendents on his 100th birthday, we had a good representation of the clan attending the fete!

Spring Sleep Over

Ella and Maia and had different Spring Break than their mom this year, so they spent part of their vacation with Gee and Wes! We did a lot of fun things! We spent the first afternoon at the pool where Maia made a new friend, whose name was Maia, too! They had a great deal of fun jumping into the water and splashing everyone. Following the water fun, the three of us visited Gee's orthopedic doctor, and had a good look at the x-ray of my knee. The two girls made a hit with the staff, and were given a thorough explanation of bones,how they work by Dr. Wickmann, and why mine doesn't work as it should! Think they got it?? Because they were so beautiful and good they were able to choose a sucker at the end of the lecture!
One night we went to Chucky Cheese for dinner...what a great place to play and eat. I'm not sure who had more fun, Wes or the girls!! They girls rode the rides, climbed the jungle gym, took pictures of themselves and ate a lot of pizza. Wes found a pin ball game, and I don't know if it was harder to tear him away from his game or to drag the girls away from their fun. On the way home we had to stop at Oscars for ice cream, or custard as we say in Milwaukee.
They had a lot of fun drawing on the patio with chalk, playing with their jumpropes, and trying to naviagate around the totally discombobulated house....it was like camping in the northwoods!And since it was impossible to cook because we had no stove and no kitchen sink, we got to eat out everynight! No dishes to do!

Kitchen Remodleling

It has begun!! The long awaited kitchen redo! They have taken out the soffit that made the kitchen seem so dark, and it already is a huge improvement! They have put in new lights, four cans instead of that horrible flourescent light in the midlle of the room. I don't feel as though I am walking into a cave anymore!

Joe's Birthday

Joe had another birthday, can I really have a son that is well into his 30's???
We celebrated at PizzaBella in Roscoe Village, near Evan's house. Joe's girlfriend, Collette and his old friend, Chris, joined the rest of our family for dinner. Ella, Maia rode their scooters to the restaurant and Michael rode in his red truck! And we all shared a tierra misu for dessert. Yum!!!

 

March Skiing in Breckenridge

The first week in March brought our second trip to Breckenridge, and our week at the Skier's Edge at the base of Mount Quandry, which is 14,265 feet at the summit, one of the tallest in Summit County. It was a perfect week in the mountains, the sky was azure blue, and almost everyday was sunny and warm. Couldn't have asked for better skiing weather.

 

The highlight of our week was lunch at the Alpenglow Stube, a very fine restaurant that offers cuisine with a Bavarian accent, and spectacular views. It can only be accessed by riding the gondola up to the North Peak at Keystone, so ski wear is appropriate. The host takes all of your equipment, boots, helmet, ski pants, parka and gives you cozy slippers to wear instead. There's a warm fire in the fireplace, how romantic!!
 

Skiing at Granite Peak

Wes & I met my brother Rod and his son, Brody at Granite Peak near Wausau, WI, the weekend of February 28th for more skiing! It was cold on Saturday, especially for night skiing, which Rod and Brody stayed for. Brrrr.....

 

Valentine's Day

We spent Valentine's Day with the Shuh's and the Barrera's in Chicago,
 

Kristen Turns 22!

We were finally able to celebrate Kristen's 22 birthday with her today! We drove to Madison and met her at her place of employment, the Wisconsin Historical Society. Wes and I got there before her shift was done, so we were able to finally take a tour of the museum, their most interesting exhibit was Odd Wisconsin . Wes found the most interesting collectible to be a piggy bank from WWII that squealed when money was deposited into it. It was painted with the face of Adolph Hitler, and it was intented to encourage kids to save their coins to buy war bonds!
After Kristen was done working we picked up Alex and went to dinner at a restauant famous for their special hamburgers, yum!!! After dinner we all went back to her apartment for the gift opening, not sure if her most favorite gift was the blanket, the wisk, or the weights!! You'll have to ask her!
 

Breckenridge - January 2009

We just got back from our annual trip to Breckenridge, CO. We decided to try the train this year, since skiing requires so much luggage...boots, skis, poles, and layers of warm clothes. Amtrack doesn't charge extra for luggage! We left on New Year's Day at 2:00 pm and arrived in Denver about 8:00 the next morning. A bottle of wine and a great meal on board, helped us get through the night. Although we spend a week in Breckenridge, we were only able to get out to ski on four days becasue Wes was on the phone half the time with people from work trying to get the negotiations organized for the merger. I was glad I had my new little notebook with me! Except for the Ullr Fest Parade, it was a pretty quiet week with just the two of us there! A second honeymoon?? .... Tahiti was a lot warmer!
 

Old Car - New Car

Well, I said goodbye to my Taurus after 9 great years and 125,000 miles!!

Someone decided he wanted to be in the same spot I was on the Edens Expressway, and I lost the turf battle. Rocky the dog and I sat facing oncoming traffic for 10 - 15 minutes while we waited for the police and the tow truck to arrive...quite a harrowing! Needless to say, it didn't take much to total the vehicle, though the adjusters said the car was in perfect shape. Drat, time for a new car - picked it up today. We bought another Ford, a Fusion. It's a pretty nice vehicle, and Consumer Reports rates it as one of the safest on the road in its class.....very important for me!