Five Months!

A few days late, but he's five months old!!

He loves taking pictures!

Sucking his thumb AND the burp cloth? Too much ...

Trying to talk to Lola, but she's not having it ...

All three of the babies. Poor Roscoe ... so depressed.

Volksfest ...

I have fallen way behind with updating this thing. Mostly it is due to us not doing much (still saving for Berlin), and we have been dealing with a crazed-teething/sick baby. Since I updated last, the Volksfest has come and gone. It was pretty awesome, and we managed to go a few times - mostly for the food and beer.

   Strangest thing by far is the fish on the stick. I'm still not sure how this is consumed, and I'm not sure I want to know.

This is the world's largest mobile log ride. I passed on riding this death-trap. 

On the first weekend of the Volksfest, Vic and I went out for a night while a lovely babysitter stayed with Eli.  After watching the Germany vs. Portugal soccer game and having a few beers at our favorite spot, Brazil, we headed over to ride some rides. Now, either Vic and I are getting old, and had one too many beers ... or Germany has different standards on how fast their carnival rides can go. We were both so dizzy and sick by the end of the night. 

Side note on our favorite spot to eat. It is called Brazil, but they serve German and Mexican food, and play reggae music. Confused? So are we ... 

This ride was my favorite, and not a vomit-inducing one. 

Same ride, but from inside our neighborhood. Another side note ... this is the security-detail to get into Askren Manor .... talk about a gated-community, huh?

This was the particular ride that almost killed us. It was a spinning-whirling nightmare that seemed like it was never going to end. You can't tell from the picture, but the ride was decorated with Michael Jackson (sporting the red leather jacket and sparkly glove, before he turned white), and the Gremlins. Several other rides had similar themes, one with Mr. T, Alf, and David Hasselhoff as Knightrider ... it was almost like they salvaged all of their rides from an old 80's American carnival. 

Huge ferris wheel .. it was really pretty at night. 

On the second weekend, we went during the day to enjoy a couple drinks and some German food. The beers were a meal in themselves ...

We are guessing these massive mugs are about three pints of beer. 

It took us so long to drink the beers, that Eli fell asleep. 

Eli is currently teething, and it is not a pleasurable experience for anyone involved. We went though two particularly rough days ... and sleepless nights. He is still a little fussy, and very drooly, but seems to be a little more comfortable. 

This is his pissed off face ... not in the mood for pictures! 

A peaceful moment. Please note the burp cloth ... he's still obsessed, and won't sleep without one. 

Starting to feel a little better. He loves to be propped up on the couch while Vic is on the computer ... he's always very curious as to what daddy is doing ... 

Eli seems to have outgrown his swing ... so we invested in this cool-looking jump seat. He still isn't tall enough to bounce, but he will sit in it and watch Baby Einstein. 

That's about the extent of excitement going on over here. My dad and Reagan come in about 3 weeks, so I have been researching and planning our trip. We have three day trips planned while they are in Schweinfurt, and then three days in Berlin ... very busy, but it will be a lot of fun! 

Rollin'

Please excuse my obnoxious voice in this video, but I had to show of E's newest trick. I went to get him up from his nap last Friday, and he was on his belly with the biggest smile on his face. We were a little sad we missed the first one, but he spent the whole weekend rolling around. He struggles a bit here, but he's a pro at it now!

He's also eating cereal - without spitting it back out ... it's been a busy week!

Just Checking In ...

I have nothing too interesting to say, I just thought I would update this thing so everyone knows that we are alive and well! We don't have any trips planned in the near future. My dad and Reagan will be here in seven weeks, so we are saving up money for Berlin!

We attempted to start Eli on baby cereal, but he isn't too fond of it yet ... maybe in another month or so ...

He is so close to rolling from his back to his stomach. He can get his whole body around, but just can't seem to lift his big head up ...

These two are inseparable ...

His obsession with his feet has reached a whole new level ...

Roscoe is battling a severe case of depression. I think he misses the yard that we had at Ft. Gordon, plus the windows are too high here - so he can't even look outside. Anyway, after a particularly rough week and some outlandish behavior ... we decided to create a makeshift window seat for him out of an old trunk that Vic salvaged from work. It isn't the prettiest thing to look at, but he seems a little happier already.

The weather here has turned back to crap, so I have spent the past few days fighting boredom. We have a babysitter coming on Saturday, so we can get out of the house for a bit. This weekend starts the Volksfest, which is a festival that is supposed to be a mini-version of Oktoberfest. It is right across the street from us, so it should be a good time!