A day in Cologne (15 August)

We drove up to Cologne (Koln) for a day trip. I had always wanted to see this cathedral (dom), the largest in Germany. It is a good example of a Gothic cathedral, as you can see with all the vertical lines in the architecture. My favorite part was going up to the top, even though it was a lot of steps in very close quarters, going two directions. There were 533 steps and Reese did the whole thing by herself! What a trooper. Finn went the distance, too, but he was on Nathan’s back.

Super-dad! How precious. Mom, be proud of your little boy.

I saw a pillar of light . . . me outside of the Koln dom

It's too big to fit in pictures.

Bell tower, a welcome break on the way up

Our stalwart stair-climber points out a distant object of interest

Our other main stop was the zoo. We spent the most time at the aquarium, which was really neat. It was the first aquarium I’ve been to (within my memory, at least), and I thought it was awesome! I think the highlight was being Reese’s lifter-uper because it meant I benefited from her excitement over fish, I remained the favorite aunt (sorry, my dear sisters, but let’s face it . . .), and got a good arm workout.

;

Then we zipped through the actual zoo. Jessica had a good strategy because we were all tired: we set mini zoo-goals. First goal: giraffes. We saw many interesting specimens along the way, but we felt very accomplished when we got to the giraffes. Next goal: elephants. Next goal: monkeys (which morphed into a baboon goal). Anyway, I was pretty impressed with this zoo and I’m glad we went.

Look out! The fish is coming!!!

You're never too young for an aquarium, I guess.

Black Nemo in "an anemone - an anenemonenimy, - an anenenen . . . don't hurt yourself, kid."

Some fish were bigger and scarier than others.

AWESOME chameleons!

Goal: Giraffes. Check.

Goal: monkeys/baboons. Check. Our noses led us here. This place REAKED. I'm surprised our faces aren't green in this photo.

Brett Favre in Cologne? This is for you, Maren.