Mother's Day Antique Weekend

Whereas April was mostly devoid of any travel, we more than made up for it in May! My first trip was actually a girls' weekend over Mother's Day with my friend Laurel. We drove to Belgium for the popular Sunday antique market in Tongeren. We overnighted at Ramstein Air Force Base on Friday to break up the drive and stop at a few antique stores in the area before driving into Belgium. The only downside to our weekend was that driving was somewhat of a nightmare, with staus and construction all over the place. On the bright side, we had no shortage of things to talk about and with no little ones in the car to keep entertained, the time ended up going pretty quickly!

After checking into our B&B in Belgium, we drove into Tongeren to have dinner and scope out parking for the next morning. It was so nice to have a quiet, leisurely dinner with uninterrupted conversation. Another town, another gorgeous church!

After a somewhat fitful night's sleep (maybe we were too excited!), we woke up just before 6 to hit the road and get a good parking spot! We lucked out with rock-star parking at the lot recommended by other market-goers. Ready to load up the car with our finds!

We heard that most vendors are set-up or just about finished around 6:45 or 7, and although many were still setting up when we arrived around 6:45, we started perusing immediately. Laurel and I each had a wish-list of things we were hoping to find. I was looking for a front-entryway bench, antique sled and old windows that I could possibly make into a mirror or just to hang on the wall. Laurel was on the look-out for a demijohn and antique farm door to turn into a coffee table. Laurel found her demijohn within minutes of getting to the market for a steal! I found my sled for a great price and we both ended up buying antique bread dough bowls. Although we didn't score our big ticket antiques, we had a great time looking around and seeing things we never would otherwise (like a huge antique camera)... aaaaand, to my husband's relief, we didn't break the bank either. :)

Laurel and I left the market as it was starting to rain and made it back to our B&B just in time for their delicious breakfast. The drive home, although a little long, was sunny and scenic!

Upon arriving home, I was met with lots of excited squealing -- and my 3-year-old was pretty happy to see me too (ha!). I also had these waiting for me. The flowers were from Ellie and Brian, and Brian helped her with the homemade card.

This year marked the first Mother's Day in which I received a handmade gift from Ellie that she made at school. Coincidentally, Germans celebrate Mother's Day on the same day that we do in the States, so Ellie had come home with her gift on Friday. She could barely contain her excitement about the gift on the way home, although initially she said it was her present (I think because she has shown a recent rock fascination).

This is a rough translation of the German card:

"For Mothers' Day

Your eyes are laughing
and make not worry
I love you and give you
a big kiss from me."

Doesn't get much better than that. :)

Frühlingsfest, Take 2

Before our first, spontaneous trip to Frühlingsfest, Brian had planned on taking a day off of work to enjoy the family day at Frühlingsfest. Family days are every Wednesday (hence the day off) and offer discounts on food and rides so we went ahead and picked Ellie up from school early on the last family day.

On our way to the fest!



Ellie shied away from going on any rides even though we gave her plenty of opportunities. One thing she did not shy away from was food. Her first request -- ice cream!

We also had an "American"-style cheeseburger (with curry ketchup... no thanks) and chocolate-covered fruit kabobs (yes, please!).

The Tell-Tale Musical Elephant, or When Good Toys Go Bad

Before Ellie was born we were gifted a small, pink elephant that plays "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" and whose cheeks light up pink when the little "press" button on its tummy is pushed. Somehow it escaped the cull of baby toys that were put into storage but, as it happens every now and again, Ellie would rediscover it, push the button a half dozen times then forget about it until the next time.

Ellie unearthed this elephant from her bin of stuffed animals yesterday but unlike previous occasions, brought it to me and, pressing the button on its tummy, said, "It won't play Mommy!" I told her the battery must have died and that it probably wouldn't play again when, all of a sudden out of nowhere, it played it's familiar "Twinkle Twinkle" melody not once, but two times in a row. Ellie went back to playing and I thought nothing of it.

Until...

Around 1:45 am last night I awoke suddenly to the sound of Ellie crying out in her room. I immediately hopped out of bed to get my phone from the kitchen for light if I needed to go into Ellie's room. Most nights she goes right back to sleep on her own and, thinking/hoping it was one of those nights, passed her room when she started yelling even louder so I sprinted in to see what the problem was. I assumed it was a bad dream but then she said, "I want my elephant!" I thought it was just middle-of-the-night babbling and told her that it was time to go back to sleep, to which she replied frantically, "No! My elephant won't stop singing!!!"

That's when I heard it -- the tinny,metallic sound of "Twinkle, Twinkle" coming from her tub of stuffed animals accompanied by the eerie glow of those pink elephant cheeks blinking through the plastic. As I attempted to comfort my obviously distressed child, Brian shuffled in and I told him to just get rid of the offending toy so I could get Ellie calmed down. After a few minutes of soothing, Ellie was back asleep and I made my way back to bed. 

As I laid my head on the pillow and started drifting back to sleep, I heard it again. The faint strains of "Twinkle, Twinkle" coming from the living room. I rolled over and asked Brian what he did with it. He had stuffed it in the couch cushions and covered it with a pillow, but since that didn't seem to muffle the noise enough he said resolutely, "I'm cutting that elephant open." A few minutes later he was back in bed, having successfully cut the music player out along with all the wires, and we assumed that was the end of it.

Not two minutes later -- "Twinkle Twinkle." Three times in rapid succession. I again rolled over to Brian who cut me off before I even opened my mouth, saying, "I've already been up twice with that damn thing. It's your turn." Accepting the challenge, I went out into the kitchen and quickly realized that cutting the wires had only cut off the power supply to the light-up elephant cheeks and done nothing to stop the incessant playing of that now not-so-soothing lullaby. Naturally I accidentally pressed the stupid button, as if we hadn't heard it enough already, and heard Ellie stirring restlessly down the hall. Seeing what I was up against, I decided to just throw the small disc out on the front step and deal with it in the morning.

As I laid wide awake in bed, I swore I could hear that melody again and asked Brian if it was just me. He heard it too... "Twinkle, Twinkle" coming through our triple-paned bedroom windows that happen to be right around the corner from the front door where I had thrown the music disc. I started to think we were either in the middle of an Edgar Allen Poe story or an episode of the "Twilight Zone." Determined to make it end, Brian got out of bed and I heard him go outside then come back in to the kitchen. Then... WHACK WHACK WHACK! He had taken the handle of a pair of scissors to the music disc. I guess we all tend to get a little desperate in the wee hours of the morning.

I laid in bed giggling because it was all so ridiculous (and because our in-utero child decided it was a good time to start doing some serious gymnastics in the womb), then got up to make sure everything (mostly Brian's sanity) was okay. I found Brian prying the batteries out of the now mutilated sound disc, muttering choice words under his breath. With the last battery out and without another word, he stalked back into the bedroom and got into bed. I settled into bed as well, trying to convince him that he would eventually find this as hilarious as it already was to me. That said, it did take a good 30 minutes to fall asleep -- partly because of the jumping jacks going on in my belly, but mostly because (despite the knowledge that it wasn't remotely possible) I thought I could still hear "Twinkle Twinkle" coming from kitchen counter.

Poor Brian was already out of the house and on his way to work by the time I got up this morning. When I walked into the kitchen I had to laugh again as I found the tattered remains of that poor elephant sitting right where we had left them the night before.

Something tells me "Twinkle, Twinkle" will never be the same.

Frühlingsfest, Take 1

While out and about on the last Saturday of April we found ourselves in Bad Cannstatt and near the Cannstatter Wasen, where the annual Volksfest (Stuttgart's fall beer fest) is held. It just so happened to be the second weekend of Frühlingsfest, the spring-time version of Volksfest and held at the same place. It was providence: immediately cravings for fest food hit just as we approached a parking lot right across the street from the fest grounds. We found a seat outside at one of the beer tents and devoured a plate of chicken and bread. So basic, yet so delicious. Ellie and I shared an Apfelschorle (apple juice mixed with carbonated water) while I gazed longingly at Brian's liter of fest beer.

Popping into the tent for a rousing chorus of "Ein Prosit."

Fest also means lots of rides, so Brian offered to take Ellie on the "Super Rutsche (Slide)." I stayed on the ground and took this video.

It's difficult to tell in the video but Ellie had the most surprised look on her face the entire way down with her arms stretched out, like she was holding her breath until she reached the bottom. The video cuts off right before she caught her breath and started yelling that she did not want to ride it again. Needless to say, she was not a fan.

Later we we found a more mild-mannered looking ride that Ellie seemed interested in trying. However, one time up and down the (teeny) hill and she started screaming to get off. Brian told me later (I didn't hear it) that after the woman stopped the ride for Ellie to get off there was a loud, "Whaaa-whaaaa" sound when the ride stopped. The whole thing was kind of hilarious and luckily Ellie didn't seem too traumatized by the experience.

Notice the death grip on the windshield of that poor boat.

Seeing as Brian and I are both huge fans of roller coasters and other thrill rides, I can only hope we are able to turn Ellie into a lover a rides as well... but we're not off to the best start. Of course as soon as Ellie was off the ride she pointed to the biggest, scariest looking ride and shouted, "I want to try THAT!" Maybe there's hope after all. :)

Easter 2014

Yes, yes, I am blogging about Easter in June. I can pull the pregnancy card, right? Easter this year was lovely, laid back and spent with friends and our family of three. We went to the Jolly's house for brunch and an egg hunt. I have no pictures of the brunch (which was fabulous), but took plenty of egg hunting pictures.

Ellie diligently listening to directions about how many eggs the Easter bunny had hidden for each child.

After the kids devoured the contents of their eggs, we let them burn off some of that sugar by running around in the field near the Jolly's house for an hour or so while we sat around and chatted. We headed home in the early afternoon and, seeing as it's become habit, this happened (sugar crash?).

She was sleeping so soundly that we actually left her in the car (windows open, it was a cool day) for about 20 minutes before she woke up. Even then she sleepily let Brian carry her into the house and onto the couch where we thought she would continue to nap, but she promptly woke up and hopped off the couch asking to go outside and play. I grabbed an old egg carton and asked if she wanted to go on a nature walk and put things into the egg carton -- she was more than willing!

About five minutes in and a few flowers later, she asked to go to the park instead.

We cooked out later that evening for dinner and were treated to this beautiful pre-sunset sky!

Mimi and Papa Come to Deutschland! {Part 2}

The rest of my parents' trip was spent hanging out around town with a few day trips sprinkled in. They so enjoyed the day-to-day "German" activities: walking to the bakery to get fresh bread...

... going downtown with my mom to the weekly farmers market...

... and picking Ellie up from kindergarten. She was always so thrilled to see her Mimi and Papa!

There was lots of fun hanging out at the house and play time. Papa was a master builder with the blocks!

With the weather so nice and sunny just about every day, my mom and I also spent a lot of time outdoors pulling the weeds around our bushes. I'd like to think Brian enjoys when his mother-in-law comes to town... things get done!

We got the entire bed cleaned out and mulched -- success! We also had a few picnics outside with Ellie running around the yard playing soccer with her Papa.

The last weekend of March we all piled in the car and drove up to Rothenburg ob der Tauber, a picturesque walled city and a popular stop along Germany's Romantic Road.

More beautiful, sunny weather!

We found a restaurant with an outdoor biergarten. The food was delicious!

Dad got a little silly (notice the empty beer glass). :)

I have heard great things about Rothenburg, but it was even better in person!

Although we didn't go in, we stopped by the Rothenburg Criminal Museum and found these two delinquents in the stocks.

The charge? Too much German beer consumption (is there such a thing?). We also found this little culprit as well.

Her crime? Giving her mother so much grief and then pulling such an adorable face!

The last stop on our trip was to the cuckoo clock store. Having wanted one for years, my mom and dad bit the bullet and ordered a clock and aside from trying to keep Ellie from pulling the chains on all the clocks, she couldn't get enough of the hourly chiming and music coming from all the clocks.

On the way home, this happened.

It's becoming a regular occurrence when we do day trips -- it's the only place she will ever sleep when the sun is still up. We haven't used the stroller since last year's Christmas markets and Ellie is more than happy to walk with us. We've also gotten smart and started traveling with a little potty since Ellie potty trained, knowing that she tends to fall asleep on the ride home after long days with lots of walking. Seems to be working in our favor!

Our last little trip with my parents was taking them to the Wilhelma Zoo here in Stuttgart. We took the train there -- our favorite method of travel in the city.

It was our first time at the zoo, and I foresee us going back in the near future! Our first stop was the greenhouse. Ellie loves plants and flowers so it was right up her alley... maybe.

A older German man commented to us that these barrel cacti are colloquially referred to as the "Mother-in-law's Chair":

The plants and trees were all in bloom! I still can't get over the weather we had during my parents' visit.

I'm just now realizing that I have no pictures of the actual animals from our zoo trip -- this was as close as we got.

Afterwards, we took the train downtown for a walk down Königstrasse for some ice cream and then to to the Schlossplatz to see the fountains back up and running after the winter!

A few family pictures.

Then during our attempt at a family picture, things got real.

Oh, life with a three-year-old (I can't even remember what the issue was).

As we expected, we had a great time hosting my mom and dad in our new home and it's always hard o see them leave. That said, we are eagerly anticipating their next visit -- with a new granddaughter in the house!