Christmas BLAHbug, Are we there yet? Where is everyone?

Yes, it has been a few days since the last post. There was nothing to write about unless you include the stomach bug that 3 of the 9 received for Christmas this year. I will spare you all the details and fill in the good blanks.

Christmas was a fun filled day of play with the kids enjoying the snow and toys. We decided to stick to our original plan and leave for Prague CZ on Saturday. The other 6 Dove's seemed to escape the "bug" so we took off in the BMW and the ever so amazing KIA. To describe our journey would be best done by playing the number game... so our journey to Prague went about like this:

3- The number of hours it took for us to get to Prague and the number of our 3 hour tour (yes it did include a boat)
2- The number of KFC'S that Jerry thought about stopping at to get a 3 piece.. (everyone knows Jerry loves KFC and imagine how excited we all were to see two.
90- The speed Amy like driving on the Autobahn.
50- The times Jakob asked per hour if we were there yet??? (ie Uncle Bumper is this Prague?)
75- The times Ella and Allison told us they DID NOT want to go to Prague followed by are we there yet?
80- The times Allison asked if we were staying at a hotel
100- The times someone does not matter who, would say they were hungry
200- The times someone would WHINE that they were tired... or could not walk anymore
250- The times that we lost Jerry (only to find him at the currency exchange)
255- The times someone would ask how many EURO it was from one CZ Krone. Then ask how many DOLLARS equal the EURO... the answer... and it was the same every time.. $250.00 Krones equal 10 EURO...
500- The number of times someone would ask "where is everyone?" Do we have all the kids? Where is Granny?
4 - The number of Dramamine Amy and Laure took on the bus/boat tour.. (note to self do not drink wine and take Dramamine)
1000- The times someone said ooohhh look at that (it really was amazing)

As with most of our adventures this one was not very different, filled with whining , laughing, cracking jokes, wine, and beer... Most of the tour guides carry a long sign or umbrella to let the people in the tour keep up in the crowds. After watching "Hangover" on Christmas night we have the Dove sign... (enclosed picture) It is the 2 finger walking pose as you yell TOOOT a LOOOO..(if you have watched the movie you will know the end of this) if not just enjoy the two finger toot a loo! Whoever was in front would hold up their fingers and that is how we stayed together! (funny but it worked) of course we received many looks and I am sure many comments that went like this"idiot Americans"

Lessons learned on this trip!

1. Walking up hills (not fun)
2. Dressing warm (a must)
3. Food (needed to keep kids quiet)
4. Wine (needed to keep girls quiet)
5. Beer (needed to keep boys quiet)
6. KFC (needed to keep Jerry quiet)
7. Heating pad (needed to keep Granny quiet)

Memories for a lifetime $250.00 Krones ;)

Our next adventure........................ Tomorrow and our 3 day Alps, Munich adventure....

Much love!

Clampets ride the train in Germany

I have made jokes for years about the Dove's being the Texas version of the Clampets. We laugh about how we take our Texas Redneck roots and incorporated them into not so redneck places... New Zealand, Germany, average restaurants, trips to mall etc...........

Well, yesterday it was the Clampets take the train to Nernberg. It is a must if you are in Germany to attend the VERY OVER CROWDED but very WELL worth the trip to the Christmas Market. After our fun fill Bier, wien experience at the Greek restaurant the night prior..Bob, Amy, Mike and I were feeling the "cheer" of the night prior... It took "several hours" to get all 9 of us up and out of the house we had to make the train (the train that only makes one stop) at 1:45. Well, as you may guess we missed the train....... as we were driving up it was leaving.......... so we had to take the next train (the one that STOPS at EVERY STOP) after we got some wrong information about having to "change" trains in Neumarkt we ended up on our way to the famous Christmas Market. At every stop Jakob would say "Uncle Bumper is this it?" the same answer NO Jakob this is not it... when we FINALLY made it he said nothing and we said Jakob we are here and he said wow that was fast.......go figure! Keeping up with 9 people 3 of which are under 4ft tall is not an easy task (no I am not talking about me) so Mike made the decision that if we got split up we would meet in a certain place at 6:45PM it took about 30 seconds for us to get split up... Amy and Ella together, Me, Granny and Allison, All the boys together (gee wonder if that was a plan) so off we go... It was an amazing time and it was so much fun to see the wonder on Granny's face as she walked through the market.. she had some gluhwein (I stuck to kinderpuch) Believe it or not we all made it back and did not miss the SHORT train (bet you thought we were going to miss it huh?).... on the ride back, Jakob, Allison, Granny and I were all riding together.. as we were leaving, Jakob said.. "I always get stuck with Granny" on the plane on the bus now on the train.. Granny and I got a laugh out of how he tried to get out of that one....

Other than that it was a slow day to quote Jerry Dove "I was on my best behavior" (how long do you think that will last) We ended the day with a couple of lessons.
1. Wien is good but it make you feel really bad!
2. Don't miss the train!!!! 3. There is nothing like the Clampet's for Christmas.

Merry Christmas EVE everyone!!

Snow tires...Gluhwein....and snow

Well, we have made it through day one and day two.... Took a little longer at the airport than expected so we were unable to do the exploring what we intended to do on Monday however, there were a couple of things that started the Peace, Dove and Love tour 2009 off to a great start....

1. RENT CAR - there will never be a trip that we do not have some sort of issue with the rent car.. Amy reserved the car however, when we arrived to pick up the car the answer to every question was $120.00 Euro. Such as DO YOU WANT SNOW TIRES??? Mind you this question as we are looking outside at the SNOW and it is also the LAW in Germany...so YES we would like snow tires.. I would have liked to have asked what opposed to "Beach tires"??????? Then we needed to add Mike, so to add drivers it was you guessed it $120.00 Euro....... We were supposed to have a AUDI but the AUDI did not have snow tires..(go figure) we are now the proud driver of a KIA and when you pass a truck you are blown to the side of the road (no kidding) not the fun AUDI autobahn drive Mike was expecting...

2. Jerry gets into the rent car but can't get out... so after what seemed like a long time and a few words that would get soap in his mouth... it was found that the child lock was on... HEE HEE HEE child lock turned off Jerry got out... have to admit got a real good laugh out of this.

3. Christmas Market number 1 Regensberg. Weather is better up to the 30's which is making a icky mess! Decide that we are going to start on the Gluhwein, it is good and hot. Amy decides to get the kids some "Kinderpunch" it is like hot apple cider.. She gives Jakob and Ella a cup and they both have a horrible expression on their face... and I quote Jakob "this taste like vomit" Amy tells the kids "Its really good you should just drink it" this did not work and Amy gives the cup to Granny and Granny says this taste like wine... yep you guessed it they gave Amy Gluhwein instead of Kinderpunch. So Jakob and Ella have had a taste of a good ol German tradition... Gluhwein! Good thing it tasted like vomit..

4. We had to go to a function at the Greek Restaurant for Mike's Company. Granny and Paw pa stayed home to keep the kids.. (just found out they had some issues going to bed so we are in TROUBLE) we walked since it in downtown Velburg (in the frozen snow that is now ICE) Well........... the beir and wein were really good at this Greek restaurant and needless to say Bob (whom all of Mike's guys think look like Chuck Norris) VERY FUNNY!!! decided to challenge the 24 year old Capt to a drinking match... everyone knows not to challenge Chuck so I must admit I was impressed that Chuck was still standing .... oh that is until the walk home at 12:30 AM......It was a very GOOD NIGHT... however, this morning not so good.......

So day one and two busy and fun! We are going to Nurnberg today on the train. We are taking notes and will update as needed...

Merry Almost Christmas everyone from the DOVE'S German Christmas Vacation!!!!

Peace, Dove and Love tour Christmas 2009

I decided that I will stop using facebook notes and attempt to blog on the occasion that I have something interesting to talk about. Most of you know that I blog about vacations and items that either make me angry or touch my heart. I had a wonderful experience with the Dove family in 2008 on our Peace, Love and Dove tour New Zealand. My father-in-law is a wonder and gives me hours of material to write about. I can only imagine how Christmas is going to be this year. In less than 48 hours we will drive 3.5 hours to Frankfurt to pick up the in-laws. The mother-in-law, father-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, nephew and niece. I will give background as I go but to start, I am sure the Texas natives are going to love the 12 degree 4 inches of snow on the ground weather. We are hoping that it will warm up a bit the next few days so they can all enjoy the sites and tradition of this beautiful Country. Sit back and enjoy the Dove Christmas Vacation: in my experience Chevy Chase has nothing on Jerry Dove. Enjoy!