Rolling With It: Let's start with...Opa's visit

We all traveled to pick up Opa, although I was planning to stay home with Sterling because she had her 9 month visit and I didn't think we'd be done before we had to leave to Frankfurt (an hour away). Very surprisingly, the doctors office was on it that day. We were checked in and sent right back to the doctor's office (15 minutes early). She was examined by the technician and at 915, her appt time, the doctor was in and doing her exam! We were done at 925 and home at 935! I called Nick and him and Xander would be outside and we could just go. It worked out. Funny side story...we thought Opa was arriving Monday (17th), but Sunday morning I woke up thinking...when we leave on one day, we always arrive the next day. So, I checked his itinerary and sure enough, he was arriving on the 18th. It was actually sort of a relief, because we had an extra day to get everything done. So we didn't rush and enjoyed getting things ready for his arrival.

The visit was nice. He's a real nice guy and I'm glad he was able to come all this way to come visit, even if it was for the babies. He allowed Nick and I to get away for the weekend, all by ourselves! We all took 2 trips. Our first was to Germany's third largest city, Cologne. It was beautiful. The cathedral was breathtaking and stunning. The Christmas market was packed. The river-walk had beautiful scenery. It was cold, but we were able to spend a few hours and enjoy ourselves. I wished to stay longer and be nosey, taking it all in, but it was already dark and a 3 hour drive home. Our second trip was to Triberg. It's a quaint village that is known for the Germany cuckoo clocks. Much to our surprise, Nick's dad wanted to buy us one, and was the reason he was so determined to get there. Triberg is also known for the tallest waterfall in Germany. We wanted to check it out, but you had to pay to get in the area. Ridiculous...in my opinion. And it wasn't cheap. So, we took pictures of the water flowing through the streams that passed through the village. It was beautiful and Xander loved to stand over the bridges and watch the water flow, fast! My ONLY disappointment of the visit was he slept A LOT! I was sad that he came all this way and he slept so much that he was only awake for like 4 hours before the kids went down for bed. I'm sure he was just adjusting to the new time. I guess we all do things different to adjust. I was also really worried when Nick and I left for our getaway Friday morning. I was afraid he wouldn't be able to stay awake. I cried half the way to our getaway at any mention of the babies. This was my first time leaving them for more than 4 hours. I knew they were in great hands, even if he couldn't stay awake all day, maybe he just put them to bed so he could go to bed? Whatever he did with them, they were fine and looking healthy when we returned Sunday morning.

Opa loves to shop! We spend a few hours in our mall on base, he bought a lot and browsed casually. Because he loves to shop so much, Nick mentioned the outlet mall to him. Of course he was interested in going! So we went the day before he headed back home. That trip was cut short because Sterling was not having it. She's been cutting teeth for a solid 3 weeks now and does not do well with the irritation that comes with it. She started screaming and wouldn't stop (about an hour total), until we got home and I held her. So, maybe if I would have just picked her up there she would have been fine? Hard to say, but it was pouring rain and I didn't want her drenched. Poor Opa, I think he was most looking forward to this trip and the babies had to ruin it. Sorry!