a quick trip out west

Hey All! Brenda and I ended up having a great time in Door County this past week. The weather was cooperative most days which allowed us to spend a lot of time being active outdoors. And we needed to be active to offset all of the delicious food and frozen custard we ate. We have many pictures to share with you but they will have to wait until my next post because we are still on the road.

After spending two wonderful summers in a row in Santa Fe, we felt the urge to head out west again this year. We arrived yesterday afternoon and headed straight to the Santa Fe Opera box office to get tickets to the opera that night - Donizetti's "The Daughter of the Regiment." Today and tomorrow we're planning on hiking, although we're going to take it easy because we're not acclimated to the high altitude, and tomorrow night we'll see another opera - "Cold Mountain." No doubt we will have loads of pictures to share with you in the next post. Until then, have a great week!

Door County

Hey Folks! Yesterday Brenda and I began the solo (or perhaps duo?) phase of our vacation. We'll be spending the next several days hiking, biking, kayaking, mini-golfing, dining, and most important of all, relaxing. In the event of rain, we'll add reading to that list and spend some quality time indoors at our comfy B&B. We're determined to enjoy ourselves and that's typically not too difficult to do in Door County.

This isn't really a vacation pic but I thought you'd be interested to see it anyway. Earlier this week a storm came through Wisconsin that managed to knock over one of Brenda's parents' trees. We were able to cut the toppled portion into smaller pieces and move it off the neighbors' lawn within a few hours.

Brenda took this shortly after we arrived at our B&B yesterday.

We didn't stay in our room long. We were ready to hike.

We woke up to another beautiful day this morning and enjoyed breakfast on the balcony.

So that's what we've been up to. Next Tuesday and Wednesday are travel days for us so I'm afraid the blog entry will be late again next week. We'll get back on track one of these weeks. Until next time, have a great week!

extra post: vacation pics

Hey all! Brenda and I made our way to a coffee shop today so we could share a few pictures with you from our recent escapades...

 When I was in Iowa last week, my parents and I went for a walk along the High Trestle Trail to check out the views from the trestle bridge.

 The bridge is about half a mile long.

 Later in the week we had fun playing tennis with my niece and nephews.

Brenda, Drew and I went up to Door County yesterday. We had breakfast, albeit at lunchtime, at one of our favorite Door County restaurants.

 Afterwards we spent some time on the shores of Lake Michigan.

 It can be hard for me to find a hat that fits, but this one was perfect.

Brenda and Drew enjoying the sunset.

Just to give you a heads up, our blog post will probably be a day late next week. This darn vacationing is getting in the way of our blogging! Until next time, have a great weekend!

in Wisconsin

Hey all! There's not much to report this week other than Brenda and I are thoroughly enjoying our time with our families. I spent much of the day today driving to Wisconsin to be with Brenda and her family, and shortly after I arrived I was treated to a delicious home cooked meal. I've got some pictures to share from this past week in Iowa but they'll have to wait until I have a high-speed internet connection (I'm writing this on my phone). Until then, I hope you all have a great week!

stateside

Greetings from Iowa! Brenda and I are back in America and our summer vacation has officially begun. On our first full day back in the U.S. we acclimated to being home by enjoying the quintessential American pastime - baseball. My oldest nephew had his twelfth birthday on Saturday and he invited us to join him and his friends at an Iowa Cubs game. It had been ages since we'd been to a baseball game. We had a lot of fun (and the Cubs won).

 Brenda and Drew watching the game.

My brother and sister-in-law were also there.

Brenda and Drew went up to Wisconsin yesterday while I stayed behind to spend some time with my parents. One of my favorite family activities growing up was golfing, and we still try to play at least once a year. We hit the links today and enjoyed a few good shots and some great weather.

A couple of pros getting ready to take their second shots.

After we finished our round we went to a nearby park that is home to several bison. 

My jet-leg is encouraging me to go to bed so I think I'll call it a night. I hope you all have a great week, and we'll talk to you next Tuesday!

last opera of the season

Hey all! Sorry for the delayed post this week. As I mentioned yesterday, Brenda and I were entertaining last night and we didn't have time to write the blog entry. We've been doing quite a bit of socializing the past few days because we're finally back in Frankfurt and we want to see as many of our friends as possible before we all head out of town for summer vacation. Of course, Brenda's been working too. She had the first performance of her final production of the season on Sunday. In spite of very limited rehearsal, it was a great evening of opera. Her next and final opera performance of the season is tomorrow night, which means her summer vacation begins on Friday. She has definitely earned some time off.

On our last free day in Munich Brenda and I visited the Pinakothek der Moderne, a modern museum not far from where we were staying. We were there for at least a few hours and saw a lot of interesting artwork.

 Brenda with her art appreciation face on.

 Paintings and sculptures comprised most of the artwork in the museum, but there was an exhibition that featured technology. I think I learned how to type on some of these machines.

 More technology.

I mentioned last week that friends of ours came to see Brenda perform in Munich. They were kind enough to send us a photo of all of us at dinner after the performance, which I thought I'd share with you.

Me, Andi, Brenda, Michael, and Monika.

As much as we're enjoying being back in Frankfurt, we can't wait to be back in the U.S. for a while. It's been far too long since we've seen our families. I hope you're able to enjoy some time off this summer with your families, too. Until next time, have a great week!

Tune in tomorrow!

Hey all! We had some friends over this evening and ran out of time to write the blog. I'll write a full post tomorrow so please check back then!