Eis Cafe

A glimpse at the menu.....

The kids love to go to the Eis Cafe! We made a pit stop by the local cafe on our way to the fireworks on the 4th.

We have the Minnie Mouse....

The Snowman.....
Cherry Delight....

...and Schoko Spaghetti Eis (my favorite)

Such a YUMMY place to spend a little time!

Sunday Flower Picking

This is one of the many things I love about living in Germany! Farmers plant fields of beautiful flowers that are open for people to stop and pick. The best part is that they are on the HONOR system. There seems to be one of these fields in most Villages. The one we visited today is near our house which makes it really convenient to have fresh flowers!

They all have a sign posted with the flower prices.
The little yellow arrow is pointing to where you slip your payment into the can.

The kids were ready!
There are knives left out to help cut the flowers.

There were still a few sunflowers left so we went searching for a few to pick!

This Gladiola has a new home today!

My friend CeCe gave me this vase before she moved to Ansbach last year.

.....and it was perfect for these sunflowers!

I'm so glad we stopped today!!
All of our flowers only cost 4,80 Euro.

Happy VERY BELATED 4th of July!

We usually spend the day at a festival at one of the local bases, but not this year! We spent the day relaxing, went to dinner INSIDE Chilis which is a real treat if you were to ask the kids, and then ventured off to the fireworks display around 10:30 at Baumholder.

It was GREAT!!!! It has been like 95 degrees here lately and there is NO air conditioning so it has been miserable (to say the least). Skipping the daytime festivities was nice for a change....less cranky kiddos (always a plus!).

Fun piggyback rides were going on......

However, it was still impossible to get all of the kids in one picture AND look at the camera AND smile! Really, it was just asking too much! So, here is what we got......

I'm out of here!

....come back Ian!

The fireworks and music were fantastic!

I'd say this was a wonderful 4th of July!!

The video below was filmed by my 8 year old Sarah (has camera around her neck in picture above). There is some commentary and at times she thought it would be fun to have the camera dance to the music....enjoy:)

TP fun!

Luckily this is not my vehicle, but it could look something like this on the morning of May 1st!!
Hexennacht fun occurs every year on April 30th! In Germany, Walpurgisnacht, the night from April 30 to May 1, is the night when witches are reputed to hold a large celebration and await the arrival of Spring. My neighbors warned me on our first Hexennacht to take in everything from outside the house that could be moved. Didn't really get why, but followed their advice and soon figured it out the next day.

On this evening each year it is ok to play pranks in the neighborhood. AKA...hide people's belongings that are mistakenly left outside, toilet paper anything, ring doorbells, and my favorite......toothpaste carefully wrapped in toilet paper and strategically placed so that it can be stepped on.....well you get the idea.

My kids were very excited and looking forward to the mischief! As soon as we got home, Sarah was having a great time moving everything inside. I was glad she volunteered herself so I wasn't questioning the pots and lanterns that were now in our foyer. Last year I forgot to bring in the door mat and it was found on the side of our house and this year the strawberry pot was next to our neighbor's house (oops, she missed that one).

So I did as any good parent does and I sent the kids off with a roll of toilet paper to decorate the neighborhood....and this is completely acceptable behavior on THIS night. Germans are VERY tidy so this is a lot of fun for the kids!!

What are they ever going to do when we move back to the states???

On our last day of Spring Break......

We visited the Potzberg Wildpark on April 16. The kids really love going and it was a beautiful day. The goats are always a hit and happen to be the first stop along the path. The older kids were in with the goats, but Jacque and Ian just fed them through the fence. Goats are always a little pushy, but today they were exceptionally pushy!! I think they were hungry since we were the first visitors feeding them!!

Next stop were the horses.
The colt was less than 24 hours old!

As we were heading down the path we saw a peacock showing off his feathers. He was doing a little dance and then........ it was like he knew I was going for my camera!

Here he is acting all innocent!

Sarah was VERY prepared to feed more horses and deer....

Ate lunch at here.....beautiful and peaceful up here!
This is the backside of the castle.
Colton's JROTC Ball was also held here.

Our day ended back at the playground over by the goats.

The kids had a great time playing with each other.

Great ending to a wonderful day!

Not an ordinary wall....

My husband is stationed in Baumholder which happens to be one of Hitler's old training grounds. This is a closeup of one of the buildings that is currently being renovated.

Well, here it is a little closer....

Do you see it now?

I had heard that there was a swastika on one of the buildings, but I have to admit that I was looking for something more like this....

It took a couple of trips around the building and then my husband asking one of the German construction workers where it was located before we found it. I just assumed it would be painted on, but instead it is a little more permanent!

I love surprises!

My husband left for training almost 4 weeks ago just before our 11th anniversary which was April 8th. This is the 3rd anniversary IN A ROW that he has missed (2 while deployed to Iraq and now Grafenwoehr). I guess it comes with the territory:)

Anyway, he is very thoughtful and wanted to surprise me with a little gift while he was away that he knew I'd been wanting, but probably wouldn't just order myself (and he'd be right). He went to all the trouble of having someone else place the order so I wouldn't see the charges to our bank account or possibly pick it up from the post office before he could get there since I seem to be obsessive about checking the mail!

He is horrible about keeping gifts a secret so he was doing awesome so far because I had no idea. He had a plan to hide it and then send me on a little "treasure hunt" until........the package arrived! So, what does he do???

Gave it to me as soon as he gets home!!!

I love it!

He knew I had been checking out this French handmade rolling pin on Etsy. This was a real surprise because I didn't even think he knew what Etsy was...sorry Babe:)

I love you...you're the best!