The Essigs Invade Europe (and our house!)

Ok, so my dad tells me it's been too long since I've put pictures up, so this should make him happy for a day or two until I get more on here! I've just been super busy taking Robyn, my old buddy of 25 years, and her family all over Europe! It has been awesome! They got here June 5th and stay until June 30. So, stay tuned! I'll keep adding to this posting until they are gone. Four countries, with lots of shots of kids (and grownups) doing crazy things. Here goes ... first up, a day in VENICE! Here are the Essigs -- Robyn, George, Grace and Sophia, in the Campanile tower overlooking Venice...


Me and the kids in front of St. Mark's...





Next up was our big adventure to Salzburg, Munich, and Garmisch. First we drove to Salzburg to spend 2 nights and to celebrate Robyn's 40th birthday there. Last time I saw Salzburg was in winter (for our anniversary) and it was covered in snow and fog. This time was very different. It was beautiful. Here are some of the views.








We stayed at our favorite hotel there, and got to see Marianne, the sweet Austrian fraulein who, along with her parents, runs the hotel.


Marianne was so awesome, when I told her we were celebrating Robyn's birthday, she set Robyn up for birthday surprises all over town! You sure don't get service like that in the states! Here's how she treated Robyn at breakfast...


And here's the surprise Robyn got at dinner that night...


And at the Sound of Salzburg show later that night, she got a birthday serenade from the cast. (This pic is actually not the birthday singing, but of when they pulled the kids up on stage)...


Salzburg is all about Mozart and the Sound of Music. Here's the kiddos with the chocolate-selling Mozart...


And, well, Robyn and I are Sound of Music geeks, so we had to see all the sights in Mirabel Gardens where they filmed the movie. Here's the famous "do-re-mi" steps...


And the Pegasus fountain the movie kids run around...


And the statues from the movie...


And the vine tunnel the movie kids run and sing through. (Our poor children were forced to do all of this crazy stuff to appease their crazy mothers)


And we just couldn't help ourselves -- we had to find a green field where we could sing "The hills are alive with the sound of music"....(we're lucky we weren't arrested, though, I'm quite sure we aren't the ONLY crazies who do this stuff here in Austria.)



It wasn't all singing and dancing -- there was also BEER! We had beer everywhere we went. Here's us at the Augustiner Brew House...



Here's a very talented and sneaky street performer. He actually deserved a contribution for his ingenuity...


So that's it for Salzburg. After 2 nights there, we headed to Munich... stay tuned!