Berlin

Thanksgiving morning we woke up and headed up to Berlin.  It was a 6.5 hour drive, but turned into a 10 hour trip...yikes!  The drive up went smooth until we reached the outskirts of Berlin.  We were stuck in a Stau (a German traffic jam).  In Germany, when a Stau is mentioned, it's usually pretty bad.  This was no exception, we were in it for 2 hours to go 15 minutes!  It took 1 hour just to go the first mile...no joke!  The kids woke up when we hit the Stau because the car came to a stand still and of course they think it's time to get out.  The screamed, fussed, and screamed some more.  They were done being strapped in.  I don't blame them, I wanted to be done too.  Because we got there much later than we expected, we decided to change our plans to just go to the hotel, eat dinner, and lets the kids play/run instead of strapping them in the stroller.  It was needed!  Friday morning we woke up bright and early, got ready for the day, ate breakfast, and headed out for 4 hours of walking around the city to see the sights.  We went back to the hotel for an hour and a half to let the kids release some of their crappy attitudes.  We went back out because I really wanted to see the city at night along the river walk.  I love night views.  It was beautiful.  It was much colder, but we knew to dress warm so we were okay.  The kids actually napped in the stroller for the 1st 1.5 hours...nice!  I didn't get very many pictures with us together out in front of sights, but someone has to be behind the camera. 

It was a fun trip and I'm glad we finally went somewhere!  The kids did not do too well sleeping.  It's expected.  They were somewhere new and not in their own beds.  We got up early Saturday morning (5am) so we would miss any Stau's on the way home.  It took 7 hours exactly to get home.  Not bad, but we were tired!

 

This was along the autobahn during our Stau

 

playing in the hotel releasing some energy after the long drive

 

hotel sink bath

 

how cool was our floor!?!

 

double riding and crying...ha!

 

Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe

 

 

Bradenburg Gate (in the day)

 

walking through a park so Xander can run around

 

parts of the Berlin wall

 

Xander was having an "off" day

 

"cheese"

 

family photo on the way out

 

night walk along the river

 

Not too sure what this was but thought it was cool looking

 

They were setting up the Christmas market along our walk and I loved how this building was lite up

 

Brandenburg Gate (at night)