The big 2-8

On May 4th it was my birthday! (Happy Birthday, self!) I love birthdays and think they're pretty fun so, I was excited to celebrate with my big man and little man!

They woke me up and gave me some presents (a quote from the Friend, copied by Kason; a necklace Kason picked out; and Brad got me a camera a couple months ago that counted as my birthday gift) then Brad made us pancakes for breakfast. That afternoon we headed off to Pottenstein, Germany. 

Cutest little town ever! 

First, we explored the caves there. They are called the "devil caves". Unfortunately, everything was in German. I guess you can get the tours in English but we missed out on that memo until afterwards. It was pretty fun, despite not knowing anything that was going on! 

(See Brad & Kason paying for parking...?) 

This is the entrance to the caves:

So many stalactites & stalagmites!!

As we walked out of the cave we were greeted with this - so beautiful!!

Cutest little spelunker ever!!

Then Kason fed some fish ... 

Next up, we headed over to rodelbahn (aka: alpine slides)

This was easily Kason's favorite part of the whole day. It was pretty stinkin' fun!

Riding up with Mom:

Up ... & up ... & up ...

Brad & Kason went down a third time ... 

I just loved this picture so much, they are both having a blast!! 

They also had little paddle boats you could rent. 6 euro for 30 minutes? You better bet we took advantage!

Kason was really, REALLY excited!

I took over Kason's spot ... the view was much better up front ;) 

(Major cheesball-age right there!) 

Okay, but seriously? So pretty! They have hiking trails that you can wander through the woods on.

Kason got to navigate around while we peddled. 

Ignore that this looks like a JAMI picture and that it's not in focus but hey, it's the best we got of all three of us. 

As we were heading back to the docks, we decided to chase the ducks. Is that inhuman of us? Because it was kind of fun and Kason really got a kick out of it. The ducks ... not so much. 

After we docked our boat, Kason kept complaining about how hot he was (even though it was probably in the 60's) and he asked if he could just go jump in the river to cool off. I told him, "Sure! Go for it!" I didn't actually think he WOULD! But, with Brad's help, he jumped right in a pool of water to cool off. Afterwards he told me, "That probably wasn't a very smart idea ..." Ha! 

Planning the attack ... 

On his was down to the river he slipped and got his arm in some stinging nettle (kinda like ... poison ivy) and it actually hurts and stings for a good long while. I didn't have any trusty doTERRA oils with me (lavender would have been nice to have right about then!) so, Brad said they could put some mud on it. I guess as Brad was scooping up the mud to put on his arm he was pretty squeamish and was saying, "ew, ew, EW!" Kason hates having his hands dirty, so mud on his arm was a pretty big move for him!

He was also embarrassed that he had accidentally fallen in Stinging Nettle. 

Right as we left, it started raining ... so glad it waited! Then we got home, picked up some pizza and watched a movie. We watched 'A Monster in Paris' as a family (not worth the money ...) and then Brad and I watched 'The Impossible' and oh man - I loved it. It was a pretty intense, powerful movie. But, it reminded me that there is still so much good in the world and that we need to cherish every single moment with those we love! I definitely recommend it. 

And, that was my 28th birthday. It was a perfect day!