February 24th. We came home from church, ate lunch, took a family nap (family naps are no joke at our house! Every single last one of us, waking 2 hours later in the pool of drool, foggy-brained for half a minute... but totally revitalized!) and then decided to go on a family walk. Of course, every great walk begins by leaping walls. Eli and Zae are in the picture above. Our house is in the background behind them. (Weren't you all getting about 40 feet of snow or something like that at about this same time?)

I recall seeing the box covers of jigsaw puzzles with panoramas like this... Of course, they didn't have my Zeke being his charming self, though!

Speaking of charm... Yep, that would be my sweet little girl being her fiercesome ninja warrior self...

We kept stopping to admire the view of our village, looking north.

There's something so incredibly therapuetic and soothing about walking down a country lane! So contemplative and worry-free!

"Hey Mom! Let's follow this path!"

Sure. Why not.

Eli running to catch up? No... He waited until there was enough space so that he could leap down the old stone stairs and run full speed down the path.

LeRoy and I both stopped to admire this tree... and contemplate climbing it.

However, we decided to move on since we could hear our children making all kinds of discoveries down by the creek.

Forget what direction the sign says, the children are all about exploring off the beatean path.

That's LeRoy, our fearless leader, up ahead. He's waiting for us no doubt. With an endless foray of fascinating rocks, sticks, bugs, and plants to examine these walks are more mosey than an actual walk (for me and LeRoy anyway).

Of course, sometimes LeRoy disappears altogether. Then it's an all-out hunt for the fugitive in which Dad and the children try to outwit each other.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon? Or something like that...

We didn't really know where we were, but we passed these steps down to another bridge and the wooden sign said Seinsfeld, so we decided to walk a little further before returning to this place to follow it home.

The four adventurers!

It's so dreamy to walk through the woods on a path that follows a meandering, "babbling brook!" If you look closely, you can see Ezekiel down by the creek on a little "island."

Okay, so I just have to tell you; Before we left the house, I psyched myself up for the cold by putting on like 5 layers of shirts, 3 layers of pants, my heavy winter coat, gloves, and an ear warmer. Before long Ezekiel was asking me to carry his winter coat for him and his brothers were telling him that next time he just shouldn't wear it! How do these boys get so steaming hot in this frigid weather?! But there's Isaiah with his sweaty hair and cheeks the color of his shirt! Amazing!

Zeke and Zae playing in the creek.

Dusk set in and we finally crossed the bridge and followed this path toward our village, (hoping this path was more direct than indirect).

More gorgeous views of our area!

Since we saw no signs of our village, Israel and Zeke said they would run to the top of this hill and "scout it out for us," and see if they could see our village.

These hunting platforms are everywhere in the fields! The hunters sit in them and wait for wild boar or foxes.

"Love is enough: though the World be a-waning,

And the woods have no voice but the voice of complaining,

Though the skies be too dark for dim eyes to discover

The gold-cups and daisies fair blooming thereunder,

Though the hills be held shadows, and the sea a dark wonder,

And the day a veil over all deeds pass'd over,..."

-- By William Morris (1834-1896)

Me!

Rounding the bend we saw the steeple of our village church! Just in time!

Eli!

I think this is what gratitude looks like...

View of our village from the south-east.

Just a couple more blocks... This is walking up the main street that goes by the restaurant and hotel in our village.

The Bitburg Brewery is famous in our area and the locals maintain a fierce loyalty to Bitburger Beer. You'll notice "Bitte ein Bit" above the 'burger' on the top right corner -- this slogan is as famous in this part of Germany as Coca Cola's "It's the Real Thing." (Little piece of trivia for you.)

We returned home just as the sky turned dark! We had been gone for a little over two hours! So fun!

Anyway, hopefully this gave you a little taste of our Sunday afternoon walks. (Did it make you want to come visit and go on a walk with us??!) I'll share more later.

Blessings,

Sharon