Shameless Bribery (a.k.a. Back from Bavaria pt. 1)

This weekend was a long one for Ben and Ian (one perk of army life is that Ben gets a 4 day weekend for every federal holiday  - even minor ones like Columbus Day) so we studied our maps, packed up our bags and headed to Garmisch.  Determined to cram as many unbelievable sight-seeing experiences into four days without compromising our childrens' ability to behave or our sanity, we scheduled as many child friendly activities as we could.  And resorted to shameless bribery.  It started out so innocently.  "If you guys are really good today, maybe we'll stop for a pastry at the bakery," and "Please remember that you have to hold one of our hands at ALL TIMES if you want to earn your treat tonight."  By day two phrases such as "It is time to put on Castle Manners - if you can be really good today we'll stop at that Chocolaterie we passed last night and get some really fancy chocolates" were heard on occasion.  As day two waned it was more like "If you can be really, really good during this tour of the castle, you can have a treat as soon as we get back to the car - please keep on walking."  And after four days of hiking, touring castles, visiting churches, and traipsing through museums, we made the unfortunate mistake of taking the scenic route home.  Now, I acknowledge that using food as a reward is not the greatest parenting strategy, and as a general rule, I try to avoid doing it.  However, after a few hours in the car, and hearing one too many high pitched shriek, my parenting devolved into, "If you will just use polite voices and not require any parental intervention for the next hour, I'll give you a mint from my purse."  Shameless. 

All kidding aside, the kids were amazingly well behaved and we had a great time.  The weather was beautiful, we didn't get lost, our hotel wasn't a dive, and really, the kids were excellent.  They were troopers.  We walked A LOT, and we saw A LOT in a short amount of time, and they, for the most part, were cheerful, obedient, and excited to see and do new things. It really wasn't until day 4 that their ability to restrain themselves really declined.  So, as Ben and I realized, next time we travel (especially when we take longer trips) we'll need to have a day or two where we do nothing but play in a park or stay at the hotel and color, or watch movies.  Taking a tram up a mountain doesn't count as kid time. 

Okay, enough with the jabber - here are some pictures.  I'm posting this in two parts because there are just too many pictures to include in one post.  So, for today you will see documentation of our trip up the Zugspitze (the highest mountain in Germany) and sometime soon you will be treated to a tour through the castles of Mad King Ludwig - Patterson style.

Here are Ben and the kids ready for a trip up the mountain...

                                          

...at a stop along the way...

                                                          

...and at the Glacier (just below the summit).

                                            

                                

And, to prove I was there too....

                                            

And finally, some pictures of pretty mountains (okay, I'd call them spectacular)...

             

...and the view from the top.