hello dinkelsbuhl

… tonight marks the final moments of my summer staycation, and the sunday blues have planted deep roots in my head and heart. as much as i love our “trips of a lifetime” to the amazing corners of europe,  i may actually enjoy a staycation almost as much. almost. there’s something so sweet about extended time with all 4 of us at home – sleeping in, lazy mornings, little adventures here and there. home projects, making dinner with the girls, long walks and little house on the prairie marathons in the afternoon, simply because we can. 

one such lovely little moment on this staycation was a day trip we took to the most adorable little village, dinkelsbuhl. we arrived just in time for the girls and i to hop aboard a horse-drawn wagon giving tours around the town – while the excitement of such an activity wore off relatively quickly (the tour was all in german, and bitty’s attention span is quite limited even in english!) it was such a fun way to see the city. after the tour we joined back up with wen and frankie for a long stroll around the village. every corner was more adorable than the next – my favorite was a sweet little house aptly named “kleine haus,” (small house). it couldn’t be more charming, truly.

we ended the day at a gorgeous little spot outside of the village walls, right along the river. the girls sat down on the riverbank, conveniently next to a beautiful young couple who had brought a couple of bags of bread to feed the ducks. after a few moments and very little prompting (well, stella MIGHT have stated something to the effect of, “i sure wish we had some bread to feed the ducks!”), the couple handed the girls one of their bags.  wen and i sat a few feet back, just watching the girls delight in such a fun and  unexpected moment, all at the hands of generosity of this couple. i took a mental snapshot (plus a few for instagram) to hold onto the image. big, fat, yummy, simply joy. the very best kind.