Alex 4th Birthday - April 2009

Alex Birthday - 4 years old - 25 April 2009

Mom rushed home early from work to help to prepare the house for a 6 children between the ages of 2 and 4.. Fortunately granny arrived just a couple of days earlier to help with the preparations and make the cake. Alex decided that she wanted a butterly cake - guess she has not realised yet that all her mom can make is Milktart!
Anyway I prepared many activites and games - necklace making, creating butterfly pictures and pass the parcel. It is quite difficult to explain to a 3 and 4 year old how to do something when you dont actually speak the same language. The kids were not too concerned about all the activities and opted to spend the time between the playroom, Alexs room and our massive backyard. Actually all kids were really well behaved and Alex had a wonderful party.

..... the only thing missing from the day with Granny and Granpa (and the rest of the family as well...)

Easter in Austria - Bregenz Apr 2009

Easter In Bregenz, Austria

When Shaun heard that the new James Bond movie(Quantam of Solace) was set so close to us, he decided it was somewhere he really had to see. So off we went to Austria for Easter Weekend. Day one we spend on Lake Constance in a paddelo, at the opera house where the movie was filmed and taking in the beautiful views.
Day 2 found us once again at Ravensburger Spieleland. Once again a great day - it is absolutely perfect for Alex as there was loads to do.
Day 3 was Easter Sunday and Alex was amazed that the Easter Bunny could actually find her in Austria. Shaun put something out the window to help the search...
Sunday morning we took a trip on a cable car up the Pfander Mountain. Can you believe it... More Snow... Just when we were packing away our winter woolies... out they came again. Fortunately though it was only for a short period.
Roll on summer....

Euro Disney March 2009

Eurodisney - A perfect Birthday present for a big kid!

WOW ... every little girls dream... and the little girl that I am talking about here is not Alex. However.. Alex loved it as much as I did.
We spend 4 days in the park and 1 day trip through to Paris. Shaun even managed to fit in one round of golf.
Alex has many pictures with the disney characters to remind her of the experience. On the last night at Disneyland we took Alex to a restuarant where the characters visit everynight and a pizza costs around R160!!! Anyway it was worth every cent - we saw more character in those 3 hours then we saw in 4 days. Not true actually, however at least in the restuarant Alex could actually get close enough for a photo.

Paris March 2009

The day trip to Paris was awesome as well. To be able to stand beneath the Eiffel Tower was one of the most incredible experiences. We explored Paris in one day and on foot... which was a little interesting with a 4 year old - minus a pram!
We took a train from Eurodisney to Paris - as we walked out of the station to the front of the Arc de Triomphe all we saw was chaos. The driving in Paris was certainly an eye-opener and we were really happy to be on foot. We started a journey down the Champs-Elysees which is a famous Shopping Street. However there was no time for actual shopping. We also took a boat trip down the river Seine and stoppped over at the Eiffel Tower and the Notre Dame.

London-Madame Taussauds

London January 2009

News Years in London

We set out for London at about 5am on the moring of the 31st - Destination - London!
What an incredible holiday...
In 5 days we saw some of the top tourist sites in London - Madame Tussauds, Buckingham Palace, Tower Bridge, Tower of London, Buckingham Palace, Kensington Palace, Hyde Park, The London Eye, Big Ben, Trafalgar Square, Hamleys and the Ripleys Believe it or not Museum.
The first two days went spend going from one place to another.. it was rather interesting on the open deck in a London Bus in Winter... The weather was rather cold!
Hopefully we will be able to return to London again...

White Christmas in Austria 2008 - updated in Aug 2009

On the 19th of December we departed for the much awaited White Christmas Ski Holiday! The drive, to say the least, was a nightmare. About 3 hours into the trip we decided to take a shortcut due to Stow on the Autobahn. BAD IDEA. Within another 2 hours after driving about 30 kms, Shaun was a nervous wreck. Driving in Snow, rain and on a mountain pass is not the most fun we have ever had! After 9 hours (for about 400kms) we arrived in the most beautiful little village called Krosbach. After unpacking and settling in we decided to explore the area. So the Krull family set out in MANY layers of clothes - as we stepped into the snow Alex almost disappeared.

By Day 3 we decided to hit the slopes... literally! Once again dressed up in layers we went up the Stubaital Glacier for our lessons. Shaun and I armed with Snowboards and Alex will miniture skis. Our lessons was a lot of fun - giving us just enough confidence to stay on the kiddies slope. Alex decided Skiing was not for her and that it was much more fun in the Kindergarden.
So moving on... skiied, fell, got the scars, moving on...

The rest of our holiday was spend Sledding, eating, relaxing, playing in the snow and swimming in the heated pool will looking out at the snow. On average it was about -6 degrees.

We went for a day trip to Innesbruck (see pics above) - really beautiful place to visit. Check the pic above for our transport - The Red Train.

Christmas was really lonely as we missed our family a lot! The one thing that I can say is at least once in my life I woke up Christmas morning to a fresh snowfall. It was great to be able to enjoy it with Shaun and Alex!

Winter Time in Germany - 2008

Well winter has really hit us hard this side. When we knew we were going to Germany, we wished and prayed for a cold, snowy European Winter. Something that we have never experienced before in SA. Well according to the locals, this is the coldest winter Germany has experienced for 50yrs, thanks to the wishes of the KRULLS!!!!!!!!!

Either way it is an amazing experience, can get a bit annoying at times as we are confined to inside. The temperatures have droppped as low as -18 in Weil Im Schonbuch/Stuttgart area. On average temps over night go down to -12, midday they soar to a whopping -5 if we are lucky! When Alex and walk to school at about 07h30, it is normally about -10.

we have learnt to dress in layers this side. You have to because you have heating in the houses and shops etc, so inside you are in shorts and T-shirt, then outside is -15!!!! WEIRD!

Either way, it is a fantastic experience and something that I am sure we will not experience again in a hurry! We have decided however that we will go home next winter for Christmas....SA Summer by the pool with Christmas is still the BEST!

Neuschwanstein Castle Oct 2008