Oktoberfest 2011

 Saturday we decided to check out Oktoberfest with the kids. I've heard quite a few stories about Okoberfest, so I was a little nervous about taking the kids. But we figured if we went early enough in the day things couldn't be too crazy.

 I really didn't know what I expected, but I was pleasantly surprised. Sure there was the smell of beer everywhere and lots of people, but they had some really fun kids things and for the most part the beer and people were in other parts of the Oktoberfest.

The first ride we found was perfect for James. It was full of "race" cars for him to "drive." I don't know how many times we rode it, but even as we were leaving he was wanting more.

 We also found bumper cars that they let both kids go on. Oktoberfest isn't quite like the US amusement parks. There are so size, weight or age limits for any of the rides we saw. It was a little crazy, but for the most part James and I avoided to many crazy bumps and both kids loved it. When Todd picked up James from the car his little heart was beating wildly.

Hailee surprised us all with how brave she was. She saw this next ride and just had to go on it. It went up so high over the city and spun her all around. The next ride she saw was one that flipped you around in circles and upside down. Surprisingly enough she couldn't wait to go on it. There wasn't a size limit, but both Todd and I were a little worried that she would slip around too much so we decided to skip it. Usually Hailee is my cautious little girl, but today she was up for anything.

It's safe to say that next year the kids will be counting down the days until Oktoberfest. Maybe next year we'll have leiderhosen and dirndl's so we can fit in a little better. A lot of the people there were all dressed up in their traditional clothes. It really is a fun festival, if they would just get rid of all the drinking it would be perfect. But then I guess it wouldn't bring $1,000,000 in revenue for the city every year.

Girl's Night

We have had Todd's cousin, Rachelle, and her friend, Ashley here visiting us the last few days. They have been touring around Europe and we were so excited they made the trip up to see us in Germany. One night we decided to go to dinner at our favorite "German" food restaurant here in Munich. As it worked out, Todd was a little under the weather and James was sleeping when it was time to meet up. Hailee and I decided to meet up with the girls without the boys and have a fun "Girl's Only" dinner.

Hailee loved it. Sometimes it is just nice to get a break from the boys. :)

We have really enjoyed having Rachelle and Ashley visiting us. They have been busy touring around, but we were able to have some down time with them as well. After they left today Hailee was in tears because it's not fair that they didn't get enough "play" time with them. Both Rachelle and Ashley were so cute with our kids.

The rest of our Eibsee trip....

We have given Eibsee a second weekend and have decided that we like it just as much the second time as we did the first. We originally planned to go on the cable car ride by Eibsee but when we got there and found out it would be over $150 and the leaves weren't changing like we wanted to see, we decided to wait. So plan B was to take a little rowboat on Eibsee again. Once we got down to the lake we found out that they had put the boats away for the season. Plan C, we decided to walk around the lake on the trail. I'm not sure we would have done this if Plan A and B would have worked out and I am so glad we did. It was a perfect little hike for our kids and they had so much fun exploring the area around the trails.

We have found that in Germany there aren't a lot of "wild" place. We joke that the only animals we see are other Germans. They have hikes that when you get to the top there is a restaurant waiting for you to eat at. People pick hikes based on how good the Apfel Studel is at the top.

Eibsee is definitely not like backpacking in the backcountry, but to our kids there are plenty of places to explore off the trail. And small enough that we don't mind letting them go off and explore. So far, it's our favorite natural place in Germany.

 Hailee and James loved chasing all of the butterflies in this meadow. They ran and ran and ran until all the butterflies had escaped to quieter places.

It was absolutely a wonderful day. The kids had so much fun playing in the wild of Eibsee. I've decided that when I'm rich I want to retire in a little cabin at Eibsee. 

A Little Euro

I've heard it said that the younger you are the easier it is to adapt to a new culture. I don't know who said it or if there is any legitimate proof backing it. I'm pretty sure on Saturday James has proven it as fact in my mind anyway.

He woke up and the first thing he asked for was mango juice. This isn't out of the ordinary at all, he loves a nice glass of mango juice first thing in the morning. It isn't particularly German either. But what was German was the glass he asked for. After several failed of trying to figure out which one he wanted, I finally found it.

He wanted the "too big" cup. Yes, that is James drinking his morning "May-no Juica" in a beer mug. It looks like the Oktoberfest parade taught him a few too many things.

Later in the day we decided to go to one of our favorite lakes, Eibsee. We were hoping to see the Fall colors. Unfortunately the leaves weren't changing as much as I would have liked and the boats were put away for the season. Rather than go home and ruin a Saturday afternoon we decided to make the most of it and check out the hiking trail. It was absolutely lovely. Early in our walk we came to a little beach. Hailee really wanted to stick in her feet. I knew James would want to join right in, so we got both of their shoes and sock off and their pants rolled up. Unfortunately, the European James showed up as well and it wasn't long until I saw this running towards the water.

He can strip down faster than anything and he didn't mind the freezing cold water at all. He loved it. Hailee was absolutely horrified. "Mom you're not going to put those pictures on the blog are you?" Um, yes I am. And if James has a problem with it, I will just remind him how quickly he adapted to the European lifestyle.

After we dragged him out of the water (kicking, screaming, and turning blue) we walked a little more and found a bigger beach with people sun tanning. The kids had a lovely time chasing butterflies in the little meadow by the beach. I was really glad they were distracted by that because at one point I turned around and saw a guy just changing into dry clothes right in front of everyone. No big deal.

Later I was talking to a new friend of mine and she laughed and laughed when I repeated the story. She told me "You can always tell an American at the beach."  I wonder why America has still held on to their sense of modesty. Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge fan of it and I'm glad it's stuck around. I think it will be a littler harder for me to adjust to the European lifestyle than it has taken James. Now we just need to really work on teaching him about modesty. Family Home Evening lessons are going to be easy for a while with this kid. It looks like  "Word of Wisdom" and "Our Body is a Temple" will be some family favorites for a while.

Oktoberfest Parade

I was a little surprised to find out that this year Oktoberfest was actually starting in September. A guy at work recommended the parade for the kids. We met up with a family from Hailee's school and had a very enjoyable time experiencing our first German Parade.

Todd and I do not really enjoy parades. In fact I think we've only been to one parade together since we've been married. But this one was surprisingly nice. We didn't have a long time to wait, it was fun to see a German version of a parade, and it wasn't too long. 

 The parade itself included important people....like the mayor of Munich in this little carriage. It also included all the local brewers and several traditional marching bands. Every thing was pulled by horse and carriage, except for the marching bands.

 Hailee had a great front row seat and loved seeing all the wagons come by. They would also throw flowers and candy, she was happy to get both.

James got a little tired towards the end, but he absolutely loved watching the horses. They were beautiful. They had so many decorations and bells. Some even had their hair braided, which was Hailee's favorite. Overall it was a successful start to Oktoberfest.

I didn't really know what to expect at Oktoberfest but it has been completely entertaining. I would say half of the people walking around are wearing drindl and leiderhosen. I thought it would be "touristy" but the Germans really get into wearing their traditional costumes, which I think is just great. I think we're getting leiderhosen and drindl's for next year. I'm feeling completely left out.

Todd's work also got a table for employee's at Oktoberfest. He went on Tuesday and was pleasantly surprised. He was expecting the worst when he got his ticket, there was one coupon for food and two coupons for beer. And not just a glass of beer....they sell a "glass" by the liter. I should have him write about it, but for now I'll write how he described it to me.

The tables he went to were set up in this huge "tent" with tables all around and a live band. Everyone ate and were drinking the "liters" of beer. Most people were wearing their leiderhosen and drindl's and everyone was just chatting as the band played. Then there were times that the band played a sing-a-long song and everyone jumped up on the benches and sang along. Todd was it was the friendliest drinking party he's ever been to (not that he's been to a lot of drinking parties). He said it felt more like a little kids camp than a "drinking" party. He left about the time people were starting their 3rd liter of beer, so who knows how it ended up, but he said for the most part things were still under control.

2 Weeks

We are back from our two weeks home....or was it two weeks abroad. I'm really not sure, jet lag is killing me at this point. It was a busy two weeks and I've just resigned myself to the fact that when I'm putting together my book from 2011 this section is going to require the most work. I've decided to just sum it up right now so I can keep going forward and not miss anything. It was the busiest 14 days straight I've had in a while (thankfully). It's not something I want to have to repeat anytime soon. We figured we had over 27 hours in a plane (not counting all the hours spend in airports) and over 23 hours in a car (I didn't count any time in the car unless it was at least 1 hour). As far as cities go it went like this... Munich, Chicago, Portland, Salt Lake area (from Woods Cross to Sandy), Orem,  St. George, Las Vegas, Reno, Portland, Chicago, Paris, Munich. Throw in packing up our house, attending a wedding, shopping for coming back, and visiting family. It was absolutely crazy. We didn't get everything done that we wanted to, but I suppose that is to be expected, especially because the last half of our trip was slowed down by a nasty cold. So here is the day by day breakdown of what we did.

Day 1:  Traveling to Portland. Todd figured it took about 17 hours from beginning to end and that is not counting the packing and getting ready the morning before we left. That is just travel time. The kids did awesome. It definitely helps that James thinks airports and planes are about coolest thing ever, and he was good about staying in his stroller while on the move. Both kids are used to airport security checks and what their job is while going through them. On overseas flights we definitely have to pack a lot more carry-ons that I would prefer, but both kids know exactly what to do while going through security. We are in and out and on our way as quickly as possible.

Day 2: Culture shock day. It actually started the day before once we got to the US. It was strange hearing everything in English. We got in early enough that I sent Todd to the grocery store, he came back completely lost without much food. It's weird grocery shopping the US after tiny little supermarkets in Germany. Instead of 8 choices of toothpaste, you have almost an entire aisle. It really just feels like wasted space.

We also got to go to church and work on our car a little bit. At one point I was in the garage chatting with Todd and I realized that an hour or two had passed. It was so nice to have a minute to chat with out interruptions. When I commented that it never happens in Munich, Todd said it was because the kids have toys in Oregon. Kids toys were then put on our list of things to take back to Germany. We brought back a whole suitcase full and after just a few days back, it was well worth the limited travel space. I had forgotten how a box of legos can keep the kids entertained for hours on end.

Day 3: The kids discovered real milk again. In Germany we usually get boxed milk. It's just easier. When Todd when to the store he got 2 half gallons of milk. One for the kids and one for us. The kids quickly went through the "red" milk and started on ours. James didn't even miss his mango juice as much as I thought he would.

We also got a good start on our house. Todd was busy with work and car things and I tackled our closets. The goal was to get through as much as we could to pack up and give away. I was also amazed at our little Camry. It's no secret that I think it's the most boring car in the entire world and that I'm secretly hoping for it's demise so we can get a fun car. But I might have to re-think things. After sitting for over 5 months we got home and all it needed was a new battery. It started right up and worked great for us the remainder of our time. Maybe we'll just have to look at getting a fun second car.

Day 4: More clearing things out. We were able to get through a few more things. Todd had more work stuff to do. And the other thing was we found shoes for the wedding for Hailee. Overall a fairly productive day.

Day 5: Traveling to Utah. We decided to do the 12 hour drive in one shot. Usually we break it into 2 days, but since Todd and I were still suffering with a little jet lag (were waking up by 4 am anyway) we decided to get an early start and get it over with. The kids couldn't have been better and I think that is what we'll be doing from here on out. James slept for a good part of the morning and the rest of the time he was on his best behavior.

You just have to love the beautiful views along the way from Eastern Oregon to Northern Utah. There are just really a lot of ugly places in the US. Granted there are some incredibly beautiful places, but there are definitely a lot of places I would prefer not to live.

We also found a farm stand with fresh Utah peaches. They were heavenly. Hailee had to eat them over the sink they were that juicy and delicious.

Day 6: The day before the wedding. Most of the day was spend getting ready for the wedding. That evening Carl's parents invited us over to their home for dinner. It was so nice to get to meet them. Kristy couldn't have found a better new family. They are so nice and welcoming and I'm sure Kristy is going to love living by them. That evening after the dinner Kristy let Hailee help with the flowers. She was so thrilled. Hailee absolutely loved being involved in everything she could about the wedding.

Day 7: Kristy and Carl. When Hailee found out Kristy was getting her first question was "Do I get to wear a great dress?" It was a little crazy finding one, but thanks to Louise for introducing me to a couple of great stores from the UK, we finally found her "great" dress. She was thrilled with it.

The wedding was beautiful and it was so nice to see everyone that came. Getting together with family was so nice.

During the reception James did his best to have fun while wearing pants and a tie. He also got to spend some quality time with Grandpa Cunningham,

Aunt Kristen wasn't going to be able to make it to St. George so she came and spend some time with us while we were doing wedding things. She was a lifesaver and a great babysitter while we were at the temple. James loves playing and wrestling her, but when it came time to put on his wedding clothes he wasn't too sure if their relationship was that good. At first he refused. Then when Kristen told him they could come find me if he got dressed he agreed. But when she pulled out wedding clothes, he told her "No, not that one, soccer shirt." It was another little struggle with a very tired little runt, but she got them on him. The he fell asleep on the 5 minute drive to the temple. Kristen is such a great sport with the kids. They both absolutely love her. It cracked me up on Saturday morning when they all got dressed and they were all wearing stripes.

Day 8: On our way down to St. George we stopped at Aunt Brenda's house and were excited to meet baby Mason, my cousin's little boy. This whole trip felt like we kept going home. First Oregon, then Orem, then St. George. While living in Provo I spent quite a bit of time at Brenda's house. It was fun to see them and catch up. They talked about coming to see us in Germany, so hopefully we'll see them again soon.

Once we got to St. George we had a party waiting for us. My parents had my Uncle and Aunt, Cousins (and kids) and Grandpa all over for dinner. It was so fun to catch up. It's crazy how quickly the time goes and how fast the kids grow.

Day 9: A little church. It is always so fun to go to church to my old ward. But I'm finding after 15 years I'm recognizing fewer and fewer people. We had so much fun hanging out with family, even though little Addie got a little jealous of Hailee hanging out with "her" grandpa.  Addie isn't used to sharing her Grandpa's attention. She was so adorable. James wasn't sure what to do with her. She would take things from him and climb on top of him and he would just get a little sad, but never fought back.

Sunday we also caught colds. Agh,  it was miserable.I'm sure it's the lack of sleep and the crazy madness of packing, but it hit us pretty hard.

Day 10: Fantasy Football and Little Mermaid. For the last few years my family has had a Fantasy Football league. We were so excited to find out draft day was happening when we would be in St. George. It was so fun to be in the room with most of the people that we were drafting with. 

James and Addie became good little friends and James began the friendship by teaching her a little mischief. He taught her how to play the piano. A skill which she is still practicing at Grandma's house.

That night Grandma took us all to see the Little Mermaid. The weather could not have been better. It had been a hot weekend, but Monday morning came with clouds and they lasted all day. Which made the evening completely lovely. Hailee of course absolutely loved every second of the show. James was tired and loved the entire first act and half of the second before things got "lovey dovey" and he fell asleep. Without the action what was the point of staying awake.

Day 11: Shopping. Because I felt miserable on Monday we did very little shopping, so Tuesday before our flight home there was a lot to do and very little time to do it. Thankfully we got the most important things taken care of and the rest we can do in Munich.

Day 12 & 13: Dentist, doctors, and getting read. We were down to 2 days of getting ready, all of which included: packing our house, packing for Germany, going to the dentist, and getting to the doctors. It was beyond crazy. It didn't help that I was still feeling pretty crummy and completely exhausted. We did all make it to the dentist and Hailee got a little play time in with one of her best friends, Isabel. She gave Hailee a matching Build-A-Bear that when you push it's hand it says "Have a great day Hailee" in Isabel's voice. Hailee absolutely loves it.

We also made it to the doctors. Hailee and James seemed to be getting better, but then they both had a bad night so I wanted to get theirs ears checked. We also needed to get a refill for their fluoride. Thankfully both their ears were just a little red. Our doctor gave us a prescription just in case they got worse, but thankfully they didn't.


In the end we didn't get our house packed nearly as much as I would have liked. We did go though quite a few things and had seven huge boxes to donate. But there is still a lot to do. We hired my friend to finish packing up the rest and I hope she's still my friend when we get home.

Day 14: Back again. We didn't get everything done that we wanted to, but the time came to get back on the plane. We were packed and ready to go. The rental car was as full as it possibly could be. Here is what we took back...

3 big suitcases
    1 with the stuff we brought from Germany
    1 with new stuff we bought
    1 with fun stuff- toys, camping stuff, etc...
1 bike
1 car seat
2 duffel bags - basically stuff that was too heavy or didn't fit in our big three bags, thankfully they checked them at the gate at no cost.
Todds work bag
Hailee's backpack
James' backpack
Nicole's purse
1 bag with treats/games/books

It was the hardest trip we've made overseas so far. I'm sure being completely exhausted didn't help matters. There were so many near disastrous things that happened. In Portland we almost had to pay $200 to get Hailee's bike on. In Chicago our plane was late due to high winds and we had to run for our plane. In Paris they hadn't printed our boarding passes for our last flight. We just assumed we could do it at the gate, but in order to get through security we needed our boarding pass. Thankfully they were very nice and helped us out. Then on all the flights James decided he didn't want to wear his clothes for most of the way there. I think we were all just tired. We made it and I'm we're all happy to be back. Now we just need to get over jet lag and get Hailee's school figured out.

A quick update

We are back in the US and have been very busy with packing and cleaning up our house. We did stop to have a little fun. We were so excited to go to Kristy's wedding. I have so much to catch up on from before our trip and during our trip, but I wanted to post a few pictures from Kristy's wedding. It was so much fun to go and see family and meet new family.

Kristy and Carl's wedding was beautiful. The sealing was so nice. I loved looking at seeing Kristy and Carl and then looking over and seeing Grandpa and Grandma Layer. They have been married 65 years.

They are the cutest couple and still so happily in love.

The kids loved seeing family and having some time together.

Hailee was, of course, in heaven helping in any way she could. It brought back so many memories from my childhood. I had so many aunts and uncles get married in my childhood. I loved helping in any way they would let me.

Todd said his memories were more like James. They went along the lines of .... "Why am I wearing these clothes and what fun can I have in them?" He hated getting dressed, but was a fairly good sport once he settled into wearing a tie.

Over all it was a beautiful day and we are so happy that Carl has joined the family. I'll blog more once we're back in Germany and a little more settled.