Grafenwoehr Volksfest

Last weekend we decide to brave the Volksfest. We went later in the evening on Sunday - hoping the crowds would have died down. Wrong. It was still, very much, packed - probably with more Germans than Americans, but we still had fun. Elliott was in heaven - he loves all things involved in the Volksfests ... and Vic and I just like the beer and food.

They didn't have a ton of kid's rides, but we put him on every one of them ...

They had a great display of German and American military equipment, and E could have spent all day checking it out. This is a massive German tank, and the soldiers lifted him up on top, and then let him sit inside for a bit.

Not sure what this was ... think it was American though ...

The German tank again ...

Some more rides ...

We didn't stay too long, and were still hungry when we left, so we headed to our favorite schnitzel stand right in our neighborhood. They have all these animals carved out of wood, so Elliott spends most of the time running around like a crazy person.

I started work this week and Elliott went back to his full-time slot in daycare. He did so great, and I love my position so far. It's very laid-back, and I don't have a ton of responsibility - which is exactly what I was looking for! In the next couple weeks I'll get to choose what room I want to be in, and I'm torn between infants and preschoolers! It is great to work in the same building as Elliott - although it will take some getting used to on his end.

We are on the eve of our big vacation with Vanessa, Boris and Lili!! I can't wait to post pictures of our adventures :)

Getting Brave ...

Another week of laying low. I start work later this week, and E will be back to school ... I'm not really sure what to expect from this job, but it will be great to see Elliott back together with his old friends. No matter how bad the job stinks - it will be nice to work in the same building as him, and be able to walk to work ... and it's only for six months!

Elliott is getting so brave ... I can barely keep up with him at the park sometimes ... you can tell by my heavy breathing at the start of this video ... haha ...

He loves feeding the ducks ... this morning there were a ton of them, and several geese too ... he had so much fun ...

We went to the pool yesterday, and he finally got brave enough to run under the fountain. The past two times we've gone - he wouldn't go near it, and yesterday I couldn't keep him away from it!

We took some long walks this week. Vic had to take the car every day to go to class on another post, so we had to figure out how to entertain ourselves for a full day. On one of the walks we found a caterpillar and Elliott was completely amazed with this thing. We spent twenty minutes watching it ... and talking about it. Elliott thought he might have a bellyache - just like the caterpillar in the book we read. Anyway, the next day we went on the same walk and we ran into the same caterpillar - or it's identical twin! Of course, we had to spend another 20 minutes discussing our furry friend ...

E can't stop talking about going back to London ... which is funny because he slept through about 80 percent of that vacation. Every morning this week he woke up talking about taking a bus to London ... "we gotta go to London Mommy. We gotta get on the bus." Haha ... he got this map out the other day and was planning his trip ... sadly, this is a map of Rome, but he didn't seem to mind.

This picture just makes me laugh ... he loves to drink his morning smoothies, and it's the only way I can get him to 'eat' vegetables. I load them up with spinach, and he doesn't notice at all. Today he drank all of his and then came over to steal the rest of mine ...

We may head to the Volksfest later today. It's the big annual fair that they set up on post ... I'm kind of the grinch of the Volksfest. It annoys me how crowded and crazy post gets, and people act like lunatics. If we decide to brave it - it will only be because they are selling funnel cakes, and Vic is dying for one. Vic had staff duty last night - which is a 24-hour overnight duty, so he is currently catching up on his sleep.

Vanessa, Boris and Lili come next Monday!!! We're going to pick them up in Nuremberg, and head to Prague for the night. After that we are going to stay in a cute little cottage in Austria and use that as our home base to hit Italy, Neuschwanstein Castle, Salzburg, and Eagle's Nest. We're also going to see the Dachau Concentration Camp. That is all during the first week they are here! The second week will be cities in Germany, and some sights around Grafenwoehr. Hopefully all of my plans work out and the weather stays nice!

Taking it Easy.

We are enjoying our three weeks of no traveling, and no big plans. Vic starts the ACAP process tomorrow - which is basically a week of classes from 8:00-5:00 on transitioning out of the Army. Sounds like a ton of fun, but it is a big sign that our time in Germany is coming to a close! It's crazy to think that in less than three months our stuff will be gone! I'm already getting nervous about our belongings making it safely to Florida! I think we have a good plan on how to get ourselves and the dogs home - we just hope the Army cooperates with said plans!

I booked our last trip this week, and I'm officially done. Our last six months look like: a quick weekend in Amsterdam and our Greece cruise in October, the beaches of Normandy in November and Spain in December. In between there we'll figure out a date for Oktoberfest, and we still want to see a soccer game. Busy, busy, busy ... time is going to fly!

Here are a few videos from the past week or so ...

We read a couple of books before bed each night, and The Monster at the End of the Book is one of his favorites. My dad used to read this to my brother and I, so it makes me laugh that he loves it so much ...

He's been really into singing lately. He'll follow along to some of the songs on the movies he watches, and it cracks me up because he can usually only catch every other word and then he mumbles stuff in between. This is Let it Go from Frozen ...

We headed to the zoo in Nuremberg on Saturday. It was perfect weather and we had a great day.

The goats were really aggressive ... Elliott gets rammed at one point! Excuse Vic's cursing ... he's not a farm-animal-type person ...

Check out the enormous pretzel we scored for 3 euro ... hilarious ... it was half the size of E.

Checking out the donkeys ...

We have no big plans for this week, and Vic has duty this weekend - which should give me time to start getting the house in order for Vanessa, Boris and Lili's big visit!!

Budapest

We're home from Budapest and our first, and probably last, 'express' trip. We left Friday night at 8:00pm and arrived in Budapest at 7:00am ... we spent all day Saturday in Budapest and left at 9:00pm to get home in Grafenwoehr at 6:30am on Sunday. Whew - what a trip. My main concern was Elliott and how he would be have, but he did so great ... he was actually the least of our worries. At 2.5-years-old he made it through 20+ hours on a bus and a full-day of sightseeing without having a single accident! He also slept great on the bus and didn't make a peep otherwise. I'm so proud of him.

Vic and I were the ones who we're struggling. We didn't sleep great on the bus, and then the extreme heat in Budapest made us very stinky tourists by the end of the day! I developed a gross heat rash on my legs and my feet were so swollen I couldn't even see my ankles by the time we got to the bus to go home. Not the most comfortable trip, but we made the most of it!

Budapest is a beautiful city - it reminded me of a quieter Prauge and a cleaner Paris. We started the day with a walking tour where we knocked out many of the popular sights.

Saint Stephen's Basilica ...

The currency conversion was fantastic ... as you can see by the 20,000 bill!

The boys ... this is a typical face that I get from Vic ...

Hanging with Ronald ... Reagan played a large role in ending communism, so they honored him with this statue in Freedom Square. It faces the U.S Embassy - pretty cool.

Parliament Building ...

Raising of the flag ...

Building across the street, not sure what it was, but very cool.

Our whole little group.

 Looking out into the Buda side of the Danube ...

The boys ...

The girls ... I don't know what I would do without these normal ladies in my life!!

Elliott taking in the views.

 Castle Hill ... and the Chain Bridge.

Chain Bridge ...

It looks like he's hanging over the edge, but I swear he wasn't going anywhere!

Walking with 'Uncle' Segura ... Elliott loves loves loves the Seguras ... mostly because Vanessa is always sneaking him cupcakes and candy!

The city had these awesome fresh water fountains all over the city ... very refreshing on such a hot day ...

Looking over to the Pest side of the city ...

More water breaks ...

Budapest Castle ...

One last view ...

After the walking tour we separated from the group to find a spot for lunch. We settled for a place right on the Danube - close to a fan. Vic ordered Hungarian Langos - basically a giant piece of fried dough covered in cheese with a garlic sauce. I ordered a club sandwich and it was amazing.

Once we felt rested we headed to find the Market Hall. This is the place to go if you're looking for traditional Hungarian goodies, spices and wine. I would have liked to spend more time here, but there was no a/c and it was too crowded to be enjoyable. Vic grabbed his stein and I grabbed a Christmas decoration ... and we headed for a nearby cafe for our 'nap time' beers. It's a vacation tradition - whenever Elliott passes out ... it's beer time.

He didn't sleep too long due to the heat, but it was enough time for a couple cold ones. We jumped in a cab and headed to the Budapest Zoo ... we love zoos, and more so love to see Elliott enjoy the animals. He had so much fun. In retrospect I wish we would have skipped the market altogether and headed to the zoo earlier in the day - it was the highlight of our trip.

Blankie made the trip to Budapest ...

They had this awesome kangaroo enclosure where you could pet baby 'roos! They were a little skeptical of Elliott, but Vic and I were able to sit down and pet a few ...

This one is hiding under the bench from Elliott ... poor thing ...

Another water break!

E loved the bear ...

These sea lions were putting on a great show for us ... except Elliott was convinced they were sharks ...

Stopping for a break at the park ...

The beginning of my gross rash and swollen ankles. I have the knobiest/boniest ankles, and as you can see ... they are pretty much gone at this point.

He could have played in this mister all day ...

Love this ...

We had to leave in order to give ourselves enough time to navigate back to the city center - we opted for the subway, which was much cheaper than the taxi.

We made a stop by Hero's Square - a huge monument, and our favorite sight of the day.

We didn't have much time to shop around for a dinner spot, so we took a seat at the first outdoor cafe we came across. We ordered a couple pizzas and tried to relax before the eleven hour bus ride home.

I never thought I would say it, but we are actually looking forward to three weeks of no travelling - we may have overdone it in July! We are going to be busy getting the house ready and planning our big trip with Vanessa, Boris and Lili during the second week of August! Right now we are planning on Prague, Austria, Italy and several stops in Germany ... so we should be plenty busy and entertained! We are so excited to show them around!

I'm waiting on some paperwork to clear, and it looks like I am going to take a flex position at Elliott's daycare ... easy hours and it will allow him to go to the daycare program - which he loves. Vic is looking into school options when we return, and utilizing his Post-9/11 GI Bill. It's free money to get his Master's, so it would be a great transitional option. Hopefully we'll hear some new on that shortly! We are finally under our 6 month mark, and I think the time will fly from here on out!