The One when Malm, Allie & Tanya Visited

So.... back in APRIL.... my mom, sister, and sister-in-law (Malm, Allie, and Tanya) came out to visit! First thing's first - Edeka for the wall of gummy candy! She's literally like a kid in a candy store hehe.

That first night while I was sitting at my computer with my back turned to my family responding to some emails, Fox walked over and handed me an ultrasound! For just a split second I thought it was mine but then quickly ruled out that possibility. So then I turned around faster than lightening and screamed, "WHOSE IS IT?!?!?" Cuz both Allie and Tanya are married ya know, it could have been either of theirs! Then Tanya chimed in and said, "It's a girl!" I'm sooooo happy to finally get a neice on the Taylor side of the family! And she's due the same day Fox was - October 15th. Special day! I can't wait to meet little baby girl Taylor. Congrats Tanya and Eric - you're going to be awesome parents! This is how Tanya announced her pregnancy on social media - so cute!

Rewinding a bit, on the way to pick the girlies up from the Nuremberg airport I stopped at IKEA and got some things including this mint green Fabrikör cabinet for storing scrapbooks. While we were laying low for a couple days for my family to get over jetlag, Allie helped me build it. It's now a centerpiece in our dining room which is only fitting since scrapbooking is such an integral part of my life!

And then I put Allie and Tanya to work helping me assemble Minc foiled flowers for a layout that was due. 

Not only did they help me with that fun project, they also helped me stylize the promo shots for Paige's Pages 02! They have the designer's eye and I'm wanting them back soooo badly to style my layouts for Paige's Pages 03 coming out in July!

SPEINSHART 

One morning while Fox was at school we drove a few minutes to the Speinshart Monastery. There was a skull sign taped to the door - that's never a good sign. So I busted out google translate and realized they were fumigating the chapel. Bummer. We came back a few days later though and it was open, yay!

 The interior gets me every time.

PRAGUE

On one of the days we packed up, just the girls (well, minus Jane), and drove just a couple hours to Prauge. We parked at the IKEA outside of town and took the train into the city. Here are Tanya and Allie meandering up Wenceslas Square.

Reminds me of the Bridge of Sighs in Venice.

Powder Tower.

Cute buildings are in abundance in Prague, that's for sure.

We took an elevator up the clock tower for magnificent views of the City of 1000 Spires. Looking down at the crowds waiting for the Astronomical Clock to do its thing.

Looking out. I love all the red roofs.

Me'n'Allie.

We could smell these cinnamony treats all the way down the street. So Allie popped in and ordered us a couple. Which reminds me of a funny story - Malm accidentally pulled out like $300 from the ATM because we didn't look to see the conversion rate :) Oops!

Chowing down!

Girly selfie!

Charles Bridge and the cathedral in the background. Walking across Charles Bridge.

Walking back to the train after a fun day.

POLAND It was Friday evening - peak traffic time. So it took us about an hour longer than it should have to drive from Prague to our "hotel" in Poland. The drive was absolutely breathtaking. I wish I would have taken pictures, but alas, I was driving, and I was soooo scared that our GPS was leading us astray like it's been known to do on several occasions. Luckily about 5 minutes away from our final destination I saw a grocery store I recognized and my mom let out a loud exclamation of relief. We stayed at the Elim Mission Center where I stayed with a bunch of girlfriends last year.  It's only 12 euros a person (all proceeds go to helping the poor) for a room.

It's not the Ritz Carlton, but it's everything we need! Beautiful Polish countryside.

Textured doors.

Love this place.

We took a lap around the building before driving into Boleslawiec for pottery.

You know you're in pottery land when there are HUGE polish pottery jugs in the center of roundabouts. The first place we went to was Andys. We spotted these fun dishes and decided if we couldn't find something similar we liked better elsewhere, we'd come back. My mom liked the colorful set on top and I liked the traditional blue/white set on the bottom. Well, we didn't find anything like it, so after lunch we went back. There was a huge bus outside - a group of ladies all the way from Vicenza, Italy. Uh oh. Literally, honestly, and truly, the second we walked inside we saw a lady grab the colorful bowl, and ONLY the bowl, not the rest of the set. We told her we wanted the entire set so then she said she might get the blue/white bowl instead, but then we said I wanted that set. We said it wasn't a big deal (but really it was), and she said she felt bad, but SHE BOUGHT IT ANYWAY. Allie overheard her say it was for her step-mom-in-law or something like that. REALLY?? Now comes the worst part. My mom bought the rest of the dishes anyway and paid to have a new bowl made and shipped to me. 15 euros just for shipping. It's been SIX WEEKS and the bowl hasn't come. I've emailed them numerous times, Facebook messaged them, sent them emails through their website. Nothing. Zilch. Nada. I'm so sad and mad. A friend of mine is going pottery shopping at the end of June and I've asked her to look into it for me - I hope she raises hell and is able to bring back a bowl for me for my mom. The bowl completes the set! Otherwise it's just random connecting dishes! Anyway. I'm bitter. I really love the pieces in Andy's, but they totally screwed us over.

Allie, me, and Tanya in front of a pottery painted wall.

I didn't even know what half these things were (thankfully some ladies on instagram did!), but I wanted one of each!

We went to a whole bunch of different pottery shops. Allie bought something at every single place haha. I got a couple butter dishes, a cupcake tin (which bakes cupcakes to PERFECTION I might add! I'm TOTALLY a believer in the amazingness that is Polish pottery!), a mint cup (from the top right photo below), and a bunch more Halloween pottery, my favorite :)

Oooooooh!!! Aaaaaaah!!!

Back at home we put the dishes to good use for Taco Tuesday! So cute! We've also had curry in these dishes and have thought of other things like a waffle bar, ice cream bar, snack bar, baked potato bar, etc. So many possibilities!

HERMITAGE Another day we drove about a half hour to the Hermitage and Court Gardens in Bayreuth.

The rock stucco all on the New Palace is simply stunning. The time and effort!

Us in front of the New Palace.

Photo cred: Tanya. Cute Jane. We were the only ones there (so were we when we went a long time ago! What's with that? This place is a gem!) so we meandered around at a leisurely pace, stopping to take photos often.

The Old Palace.

Jane was in heaven chasing every bird she could see.

WEIDEN

When Malm and Allie left, Eric came in. We took a morning trip to Weiden and gawked at all the colorful buildings.

Children can smell playgrounds from miles away. Thanks for taking photos Tanya :)

Then we took the trip to France, which I already blogged about a few weeks ago. 

It was soooo fun to have my family here, even if it was only for two weeks! This is one of the hardest parts of living abroad - separation from family. I'm used to seeing them 2, 3, sometimes 4 times a year. Now it's only once a year, if that. And yet, we just asked to extend our time in Germany for another year to make it 4 instead of 3 years. I'm hoping people will just keep flying out to see us or that we can make a trip back home one of these days!

Miss ya Eric, Tanya, Allie, and Malm! (And Dald!) Come back soooooon!