Things you hear while on vacation with my family

"You can really feel your butt muscles right now." -Mom, as we walked down a mountain.

"Ellie, the sign says no dogs are allowed, that means we can't bring you!" -Hannah, while we entered Neuschwanstein castle.

"This is no mine, this is a tomb." -Abby, on entering the Catacombs

"In order to enter our room you have to knock the National Treasure theme song, and answer any question we ask you with 'milk, and a warm blanket'." -Hannah and I, at the hostel in Munich.

"I don't think so, Tim." -Abby and Hannah, whenever I suggest something dumb.

"I feel like Katniss right now . . .I have burns on my back, my legs ache, and I'm dead tired." -Hannah in the car after a not-so-good night's sleep. (Dad's response: "Well, at least we know that ended well," with tons of sarcasm included.)

"We should write a murder mystery where the only clue is blood in the Scrabble tiles." -Hannah, while playing Scrabble.

"I don't think we're in Kansas anymore." Abby, as our plane landed in Rome.

"Hannah, she finds the flaws in all your dreams" -me, because it's true

"Oh, we're just going to get a beer." -Mom and Dad, who then showed up an hour and a half later having eaten steak and other such delicacies.

"Okay guys, walk down this path holding hands. No! Pretend like you like each other! Now freeze! Stop fighting!" -Hannah, trying to get a photo of Abby and Sam.

"We should write a spoof cover of 'Part of Me' by Katy Perry, 'cept it should be 'This is mahogany' all about Effie Trinket." Me, after hearing Part of Me in an Italian restaurant.

Every Lord of the Rings quote imaginable - Hannah, Abby, or I. Hannah has one for every occasion, which shouldn't surprised me.

"Hannah is sixteen, going on seventeen, she'll take care of you." -Me, in front of the original Sound of Music gazebo.

"But that can't be true! Martin Luther wasn't in Augsburg in 1518, and he didn't even go to the Diet of Augsburg..., he stayed behind, Melancthon went instead. And he wasn't under persecution, the imperial band wasn't even written until 1521!" -Dad, on a painting in Hohenschwangau. The painting implied that Luther stayed there while fleeing from persecution in Augsburg in 1518. You should have seen the tour guide's face, she was so surprised.

"And I'll include poetry for all the people obsessed with romance" "So mostly you" - me and Dad talking about the book I'm writing.

Ellie