Writing about this right now makes me feel a little sad! I don't know the next time I'll get to see these three now that this trip is over and our Utah summer has passed. But WOW, what a fun, memorable, special time we had.
We had been planning on Courtlyn, Natalie, and Andrew visiting us in Berlin for months. The countdown started before Courtlyn was home for her mission.
I'll never forget my phone call with Courtlyn in the parking lot of the airport, trying to figure out where they were. Then, finally finding them & jumping up and down as they ran to our car. THE HAPPIEST MOMENT.
I feel so grateful that these three traveled across the world together to come and see us!!
I loved the drive home to our apartment! It was full of bright eyes, comments about this and that, and "I can't believe we're here!!" over and over.
Justin and Logan were standing on the balcony waving to us when we got to the courtyard. It was so surreal watching the three of them see Logan. He warmed up pretty quick to his aunts and uncle with high fives and kisses.
It felt like a dream that first night being together in Berlin. And right now, it feels like a dream that the whole experience even happened. I miss you all!!!!
We've spoiled Logan (& myself) by driving everywhere. We decided it was time for an U-bahn ride to our first stop of the week.
Natalie commented the subway was much cleaner than New York & we rode a few stops with Justin's teammate who was headed to the practice facility. Justin's season ended a couple of days before everyone got to Berlin. SO LUCKY that he was able to be with us & not have to worry about basketball affecting our time together.
Tearing up looking at these. <3 My siblings mean the world to me. They're my best friends. I truly can't express what these days spent in our foreign home mean to me.
Brandenburg Gate!
Logan (& I) were in heaven with all of these new helping hands and people to play with. He ate it all up.
Courtlyn made sure to take lots of elevator selfies since they've seen so many pictures from us over the years in this same spot.
Shopping at Kaufland
The Berlin Wall
The Reichstag
A random highlight was stumbling upon a potato tornado stand in the middle of May!! This is our favorite food item we get at the Christmas markets and I've never seen them anywhere else. We're still not true locals because we don't carry around cash everywhere, even though most places don't accept card.
Justin saved the day, ran to an ATM, and everyone got to try the potato tornado.
Custom Berlin Nike!
Sunday was special, as always. I loved introducing them to our friends and watching them experience an international ward. <3
Church is right by Tiergarten so we took the prettiest Sunday walk, admiring all of the beautiful greenery.
We rented a couple of cars and headed up north to Rostock and the Baltic Sea. Rostock is the cutest town with beautiful buildings. We shopped at H&M and ate Italian cannoli samples.
The sand at the beach we went to was white and so soft. It reminded me of our Gulf Shores trip. We set up our sheets we brought (since we didn't have any big beach blankets haha) and enjoyed ourselves for about 30 minutes before the storm clouds rolled in.
Courtlyn & Justin were convinced it wouldn't rain. One by one, people started clearing the beach until we were pretty much the only ones there. We were bundled up, eating our stroopwafels in the wind. As soon as the first rain drop fell, we grabbed our stuff and made a mad dash for shelter.
It was hilarious! We couldn't stop laughing. I was running with Logan. Justin and Andrew were stumbling in the sand carrying backpacks and the stroller. Courtlyn and Natalie grabbed the sheets and our shoes. We ran across the street to a little overhang in front of a boutique.
About five other people had the same idea. We stayed there for 15 minutes laughing and singing Logan's favorite nursery rhymes. He was in a pretty funny mood too.
The rain lightened up for a short amount of time and we ran again, this time down the sidewalk to get some burgers before we headed home. The best memory!!
We were all beat by the time we got off the tram at our apartment. We brought our beach gear, car seat, and backpacks back home and continued our Hunger Games marathon. It was such a fun day.
Justin took everyone to the Olympic Stadium while I did some last minute things to get us ready to head home for the summer.
We went to our favorite schnitzel place & the weather was perfect for outdoor dining! Almost every restaurant in Berlin has outdoor seating & I love it. With some gelato to follow of course.
I can't believe they were THERE, at our home. <3
Our last full day was spent eating the BEST brunch, seeing East Gallery, Museum Island, and climbing up to the Victory Column.
The best time ever, ever, ever. & what made it even better is that we didn't have to say goodbye after. Maik picked us up in a huge van the next morning at 3:40 AM to take us & our mountains of luggage to the airport. We had a layover in Paris where Logan did snow angels all over the floor, then made it home to SLC where the rest of our family was waiting.
The best way I could've imagined wrapping up the season. Let RowFam summer begin!
