Prost

If there's something we lack in life, it's spontaneity. We are not a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants family. Mainly, because I'm the family travel agent, and I'm a Type-A perfectionist. That means I plan. I like planning. Planning is my thing. Ha! So, typically by the time we're actually enjoying a vacation, I've been planning it for almost year, and find it quite hard to believe that we're finally on the trip! This vacation has to be the most extreme case yet because I feel as if I've been planning this trip since my childhood, and all as a result of the stories from my father's childhood.

As a "military brat," my dad was born in Germany and spent a large chunk of his childhood exploring Bavaria on family vacations. My brother, sister, and I grew up hearing these stories. Quite often, the stories were shared as we traveled on our own little family adventures.  I always thought it would be fun to plan a trip back to Germany with my dad. I wanted to see if the country really lived up to his perception. For example, when we took my parents to Disney World a few years ago, we spent a day at EPCOT's World Showcase. Once we made it to "Germany" which is towards the beginning of the circuit, my dad refused to leave! I'm so not kidding! Well, in a nutshell, Germany does live up to my father's hype. I'm far from a world traveler, but I have been to few countries. Bavaria is hands down the only place I've visited where I can actually imagine living. It suits my Type-A personality perfectly! It would seem I have my dad to thank for those genes!

So, when planning a trip to Munich and Bavaria, what immediately comes to mind? Oktoberfest!!! Loved it! Loved it! Loved it! The Germans know how to celebrate!

I don't think any of us knew what to expect besides large tents filled with beer-guzzling Germans. I can honestly say, I did not expect the carnival. I'm not sure who thought it was a good idea to combine patrons drinking massive steins (Yes, multiple steins!) of beer with dizzying carnival rides, but somehow it works. I didn't personally see the negative side effects, but I'm certain they were suffered by many.

As first-timers, we preferred to explore the numerous tents. Each has it's own unique feel. Anyone is welcome to enter, but you can only eat & drink if you are seated at a table. You can make reservations (a year in advance) with a group of 10 or more, but we had no problem finding a seat when we arrived before Noon. That's around the time the party gets started, but things don't truly get "lively" until much later in the evening. Still, the tables were far from deserted! Hundreds of people were already enjoying the festivities & beer. Maybe they were actually late partiers from the night before?!

It was also a bit of a surprise to discover that Oktoberfest is not only for adults. It's really more of a family affair. It's very similar to our State or County fairs just with massive, and I do mean MASSIVE consumption of beer. It's SUPERB! I, personally, have zero plans to take my children. At least, not for another 2 decades!

After wandering the midway and tents for hours, we succumbed to our jet lag, and made our way back towards our hotel. Our hotel was ideally situated across from the Hauptbahnhof, central train station. We knew that would make day trips throughout the region easy. What we didn't realize was the Hauptbahnhof was the sight of the Oktoberfest "after party." People travel from all over the region to participate in the daily festivities. The Hauptbahnhof was buzzing with energy at all hours. Not only because of the many trains and passengers, but also because of the incredible food court. I'm not exaggerating when I say we all looked forward to dining at the train station!!!

Sure, we enjoyed dining at the various restaurants and taverns as well, but I don't think anything topped the train station. Yes, I realize how ridiculous that sounds, but it's true! There were so many options. My dad discovered what would become his favorite sausage stand. Anh, Kelly, and I discovered the Donner sandwich which I still think about almost daily. There was even a Vietnamese restaurant! I'm telling you, it was foodie heaven. I miss it so much!

The excitement of the first day was a bit of a surprise. I knew the trip would be meaningful because it was a true family adventure. I don't think I expected to enjoy the city as much as we did. What a fabulous surprise!

What's Old is New Again

Look familiar? It should. This was our rental house for 2 years when we first moved to Northern Florida. Then, a bunch of CRAZINESS went down, and we decided to move. Before the crazy struck, we loved living in that house. It was brand new and gave us plenty of room to entertain with all of the outdoor space. It was a nice home.

When we packed up and moved out, we never expected to return. Well, never say never! This house is once again home, and this time, it's really ours. We bought the home from the bank as a foreclosure and then promptly ripped it apart! Technically, I believe the term is remodeling, but I call things like I see it. We tore our new house to shreds, and then, slowly rebuilt it to be even better. For two years, we casually commented on what we would do with the house if it was ours. Never in a million years did we actually believe it one day would be. It's funny how life works.

I really couldn't even begin to showcase all of the work that went into our remodel, but I will show off some of the more dramatic changes. The stairs were one of the first things to go. Maybe not the best plan since their removal cut off access to the second floor for about 2 weeks. The contractors had to scale ladders outside to access the second floor. I'm fairly certain our painters hated us for that.

Good-bye, carpet! Hello, hard wood!

We (Okay, the painting crew) painted every single surface in the house and changed every light fixture.   We had a crew of 7-8 painters at our house Monday - Friday for about a month. Affordable it was not, but WOW what a difference a little (errr...a lot of) paint makes. The paint alone made the house new again.

All of the carpet on the first floor had to go. It's just not a good choice when you have 3 boys!

Continuing the improvements, we designed some custom built-ins that better reflected our personal style. Our general contractor tried multiple times to talk me out of removing our overly ornate stone fireplace. I understand that it was expensive stone, but it just didn't suit our house. It was carefully taken apart and will no doubt make some new owner quite happy.

What do you think? I LOVE it! Even our contractor admitted I was right when the project was completed. Of course, the customer is always right.

The stairs and fireplace wall changes made a HUGE statement, but my favorite carpentry project was the addition of our lockers.

These lockers are going to be my saving grace! I am a neat-freak. I don't like clutter. However, Anh doesn't hesitate to point out that I do like stuff. A minimalist I am NOT! Anh calls me an organized pack rat, and while I don't necessarily agree with that label, I will admit that we have a lot of stuff. That's okay as long as everything is organized. These lockers keep all of our day-to-day necessities (purses, backpacks, diaper bags, briefcases, hoodies, sports gear, etc) neat & tidy! If I was only allowed to have one thing, it would have been these lockers!

Another fun addition, is our patio screen. We don't have much of a backyard, but we wanted to have access to our patch of grass. This electric screen seemed like the ideal solution. We can lower it if we want to enjoy a meal on the screened porch rather than be a meal for the mosquitoes or we can raise it if we want to play on the grass. The best of both worlds!

The kitchen wasn't originally on the remodeling list, but things/ideas started to spiral out of control, and we definitely adopted that "Oh what the hell!" mentality. You know, it really is easy to get all wrapped up in the pursuit of perfection. When you've already blown your budget completely, what's a little more, right?! LOL

We decided to test the new look on the bar...

SOLD! I loved it. Full steam ahead!

While my favorite spot in the house is the kitchen, the theatre room is by far the hands-down winner for the boys, and do mean all the boys!

Of course, that was before we completed the pool!

 

Originally, we had planned to build our dream home, but then decided against it in favor of remodeling this house and making it our own. I remember thinking on a daily basis during our 9 month long remodeling adventure, "Thank God we didn't decide to build!" Now as I reflect back on the nightmare of remodeling a home while living in it with 3 small children, I think, "Why didn't we just build?!" Remodeling definitely wasn't an easy or cheap or even sane decision, but in the end, we are sooooo happy with the result. This really is our HOME. It always was. It just took a bit of drama/crazy to realize it. Here's to many more years of memories under this roof!!!