Monthly Archives: July 2025

Courtney in Paris

18 Friday Jul 2025

Posted by in Germany

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How did I forget to post this?!? Court has a special skill – the pole trick. Any pole she sees is a potential prop. She wanted to be the last one off the gondola in Switzerland to get this photo.
After sending Adelle on her way, Jay, Court and I had dinner at Valentinos. Our favorite.
Court loved it so much she wanted to go back for a drink the next night. 🙂

Jay was on solo kid duty while I was Court’s tour guide in Paris for the weekend. Thanks Jay!!!

Court’s 1st European train ride
All aboard!!
It was HOT in Paris. Like ugh. But we had places to see and things to do, so we powered through. We checked into our hotel near Champs Elysee and walked to the Galeries Lafayette mall.
There is a rooftop with an amazing view of the city. I spy the Eiffel Tower.
Court at Court.
We meandered through the Palace Gardens. I didn’t take a picture, but we stood in this spot for several minutes watching a lady who was taking a nap standing up hugging a tree. She looked so peaceful. I’ve never seen that before, but the hustle and bustle and noise of the city tends to leave you amped up. This lady found her serenity amongst the sounds of the city.
We arrived at Notre Dame about an hour before they closed for the day. It was perfect timing – they weren’t letting anyone in after we left. The other times I have been to Paris, the church had been hiding behind scaffolding while they continued the 5-year renovation after a devastating fire. It has only been open about a month, so I feel blessed that we got to go inside. Amazing.
There she is – in all her glory.
Mass was in session while we were there. I’m not a good Catholic so I didn’t partake in Communion, and I didn’t understand a word that was said, but it was a beautiful experience.
Many of you know that I grew up on a farm between Perry and Ogden, Iowa. Perry address, Ogden school district. What you may NOT know is that the closest “town” is Berkeley. Not sure if it is even considered a town, more of a little rural community. I wonder if the restaurant owner got their inspiration from there?
Crossing the Champs Elysee and we stopped midway to snap a super quick selfie with the Arc de Triomphe photo bombing us.
Oh hey. There’s the Eiffel Tower.
Let’s ride the elevator up.
This view never gets old
Speaking of photo bombs. Court snapped a selfie (isn’t she gorgeous?!?) and didn’t realize that there was a couple smooching in the background. Paris is the city of love.
The pole at the top of the Eiffel Tower was Court’s next victim
Not my best angle, but it’s too cool of a shot to not post it.
We decided to take a Seine River Hop On Hop Off ferry to travel from the Eiffel Tower to the Louvre. We had a couple hours to kill before out Louvre entrance time, so this was a nice way to see Paris from a different mode of transport.
Fun fact. Court is basically McGyver. She dropped her sunscreen lid through a the deck. I would have walked away and thrown out the sunscreen with no lid. Not Courtney. She rifled through her bag until she found something that she could use to get the lid close enough to where she could fit two fingers in a crack. SUCCESS!!!
Made it to the Louvre! I didn’t get any pictures inside, but she saw the Mona Lisa. 🙂
Wishing Emily were with us
The other times I have been to Paris, we have been tuckered out by sunset to go back to the Eiffel Tower at night. Every hour there is a beautiful light show for about 5 minutes. So glad we found a second wind and went to see it!
I think everyone single person in Paris was in our bus after the tower light show. Packed in like sardines, but luckily we were crammed against the front window.
Court took lots of pictures during that bus ride. None of them turned out – they were all partially covered by a black screen. Mystery solved.

Court has had a hell of a year. She has shown strength, resilience, tenacity, and class when many others would crumble. I have hated the fact that I have not been able to physically be there for her. I am so thankful that we got to spend this time together making happy, hilarious, healing, amazing new memories. It’s a big world out there, and I loved being able to show her a part of it.

Court & Adelle in Switzerland

14 Monday Jul 2025

Posted by in Germany

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I’m WAY behind on my updates, so bear with me as I try to get caught up.

In early June, we had a couple friends visit us, so naturally we had to book some weekend trips. Twist my arm.

Blog readers, meet Adelle. I met Adelle when our daughters played 7U softball together. She is one of the most badass women I have ever met. She lived in Germany with the military several years ago and tacked on a solo trip to a work trip.
I asked Lily to mow the yard. You can see how well that worked out once Adelle saw what she was doing…. Still in her work clothes!
We relived some awesome softball coaching memories with Deanna one night.
Blog readers, meet Courtney. She has been my bestie since 4th grade. Life of the party, always up for an adventure, and all around cool chica.
We dropped Ty off at baseball and grabbed a beer at Waldgeist after taking Kaycee for a forest hike.
Probst!!!

Court and Adelle have never met. I started a group text to introduce them to each other and start to make some plans since their visits overlapped. I knew they would get along great. During one of our pre-trip chats, Adelle mentioned wanting to get a tattoo. Next thing you know, they decided to get matching tattoos. So we made it happen. About a half hour after Adelle and Court met in person, we headed to the tattoo shop. It was hilarious to tell the tattoo artist that the two of them only met an hour earlier and were getting identical tats.

I was more than a little nervous – this was my first time getting inked. But it ended up being super relaxing and only hurt a little bit. I will definitely go for round two.
The artwork is complete!

Immediately after, the three of us hopped in the car and headed to our favorite holiday home in Sisikon, Switzerland. I posted about this place last spring and was waiting for the perfect opportunity to have a repeat visit. Jay waited for the kids to get out of school then the 3 of them met us.

Not a photoshopped or AI background…just raw Alpine beauty
We went on a new adventure. Thanks to Adelle’s determination to figure out the ferry routes and tickets, she got us all squared away and we rode the boat 2 hours to Lucerne. We thought we would ride for a bit then hop off and take a train the rest of the way, but we were having such a great time on the boat so we just stayed.
Unfortunately when we got to Lucerne it started to rain. After Jay and I spent hundreds of dollars on new rain coats (Adelle bought a 5 EUR poncho), the rain stopped. Figures.

A little rain didn’t slow us down! We walked around, did a little shopping, and ate some yummy fondue.

Jay helped water the river
The next day we took a gondola up to Mount Pilatus. We soaked in the views, and ate lunch before heading back down. We caught the gondola from the peak to the first stop. The line was crazy long so we decided to hike down to the next gondola stop.
Court taught Lily how to make napkin origami

Jay, Court and Adelle hiked down (not from the very top) and beat Ty, Lily, and I who waited in line for a gondola.

While traveling in a foreign country, you learn a lot about yourself. You adapt to many things that are outside of your comfort zone, but you also realize what things you absolutely cannot live without. For Court, that thing is ice. She MUST have ice in her drinks. Surprisingly most waiters/waitresses gave her what she wanted when she asked for it. We had to stop at a gas station on our way to the holiday home so she could buy a bag. 10 EUR later on e got this tiny little bag, but her drinks were cold!
Court loves to paddleboard. Our home had one available, so despite the frigid water temperatures, she took it out for a float.
That view…
Wine, chocolate, pizza, and Code Names
Did I mention that Court is an adrenaline junky? She wanted to go paragliding, and since Ty wasn’t able to go when Aunt Jekka visited, he was quick to agree to jump with her.
Adelle and I dropped them off to make their way up the mountain and we ran into town to find a toilet. Here is Adelle’s recap of her experience.

Most memorable toiletten experience. May be TMI for some, sorry but I have to share.

Went to the cutest Backerei today in hopes we could get breakfast and I could use the RR before we hit the road.

The lady handed us a key and said there was no wasser (water) but to go around the building and it was there.

I walked up and was a little hesitant to open the door. Inside there was a pisser and a seat with mulch next to it. I was a little confused but then I saw the sign with the instructions. Basically when you’re done doing your business you put some mulch on it and it reduces the smell and keeps the bathroom clean.

I went ahead and completed the full experience and can confirm the mulch works. 😂

Meanwhile, Ty and Court were ready to jump!
Ty doesn’t get too excited about things, but “bruh, it was pretty cool”.
Court was jealous that Ty got to take control of the steering for a bit.
Super pumped, happy, and all in one piece!
Court was offered a job if she could carry the pack back. She made it. Very tempting job offer….

I told you these ladies are awesome. :). I have the BEST friends. A weekend in the Alps, full of good times and laughter. These memories will last as long as our tattoos!

When we got back to Frankfurt, we said goodbye to Adelle (boo) and rested up for the next weekend’s adventure with Courtney. Stay tuned!!