Summer 2013 - Munich and Tennis Camp

I have come to really enjoy the shortened summer break of only 6 weeks. We were able to plan a week of activities balanced out by a week of downtime at home. Just as we start to run out of things for the kids to keep them busy, school starts up again and I never hear I'm bored.

A favorite photo of MJ

This summer we made a new family friend - the Lee's from Minnesota. Dr.Kendall Lee was assigned to Landstuhl as his deployment for 6 months. He is a Neurosurgeon who felt called to serve his country in the Navy  despite being one of the most successful neurosurgeons in the world. After being here for a few months his family decided they missed him a little too much and came over to spend 2 months seeing Europe, oh and Dad too. His wife Sam and three children: Kristen, Alex and Elliot were immediately welcomed into our close circle of friends. The two oldest are 12 and 9; while the youngest is 4. Sam, his wife, has all of the joy and energy that one could ask for in a friend with a kind and gentle manner only surpassed by her amazing smile.
After an evening of BBQ, we decided that we needed to travel together and would all meet in Munich as soon as our Clark and MJ finished school.
As it turned out we were able to get to Munich a few days early, sort of get to know the city and

crown jewels

identify the best spots for kids.  Much to my delight we got to Munich just in time to spend the evening with our great friends Benny and Colleen. The next day the kids and I took the train out to the  Olympic Park from the 1972 olympics and were amazed by all of the open space and seeing the main events areas still being utilized.  Even with the main stadium and swimming hall, the two biggest hits were the aquarium and the bubbles that floated on the lake - with them inside. We knew we were going to be bringing the Lee kids here when they arrived!
Our next day we spent exploring Munich and seeing the Munich Residenz (Münchner Residenz) is the former royal palace of the Bavarian monarchs in the centre of the city of Munich, Germany. This has the most amazing and extensive collection of crown jewels, and we have seen a lot of crown jewels. The palace is expansive and done in a Rococo style, a little too much for our taste. That afternoon we headed to the train station and met Sean and then that evening we headed over to the train station one last time to pick-up the Lee's. The rest of our trip was spent wandering around the city, going to BMW world and Sean "shopping" for cars, kids playing in the bubbles on the lake, enjoying the view from the Olympic tower and then seeing the Cathedral that was home to Pope Benedict, the one who decided to retire. The neat thing about the cathedral is that supposedly the devil tried to set foot into it and was vaporized only leaving his footprint behind.
I can't imagine the city at Oktoberfest, it was full and fun in the summer, great food and drinks. It is a very easy city to navigate and the kids really enjoyed it. Best part is that the train ride is relatively short from our place, so we can return. A couple of other observations about Munich is that it has more bicycles than cars, so if you love to cycle, come here!!! There are bike trails everywhere. There is also an amazing museum dedicated to technology and we even went into a area where they showed us how lightening is produced and the different types of lightening, plus the noise lightening makes. I'm so glad that we can't normally hear it - we'd all be deaf.

The next week we spent at home, the kids ended up playing together almost every day, nothing better than having a house full of children laughing and playing!!

The next week Clark and MJ improved their soccer skills with a day skills camp.  It is a great way to have them stay busy, but not overdo it plus continuously improve their skills
The following weeks we took off for our family vacation in the south of Germany, about 20 minutes from Salzburg - tennis camp on a lake.  We played twice a day.  MJ has gone from thinking we are crazy to wanting to play as much as the rest of us.  Sean finally learned how to serve and I got a back-hand.  Clark, improved overall and this year he will be taking lessons three times a week understanding better the amount of time it really takes to get better.  Each day we spent time either swimming in the lake, taking walks, or going into Salzburg where they have outdoor concerts all summer.  So, each summer they have their music festivals and they record them.  Anyone who wants to see the performance live, must pay and get all dressed up, but if you are there on a lark from tennis camp then you can sit outside and enjoy a recorded performance from years gone by.
We also took the kids to see a "Sound of Salzburg" production with songs that are from "The Sound of Music" but also real Austrian folk songs.  While the food was not anything really enjoyable, the music and performers were wonderful.  It has put Salzburg on the must return list and we will have to do it in conjunction with Vienna.
Upon our return to Landstuhl the kids had a week of tennis camp at our local tennis club with lunches and an overnight camping session included. Then back to school.  What a great summer!