Wordless Wednesday: Late Afternoon Family Ruck/Hike/Photowalk

Six Ways to Describe Otterberg's Frülingfest

1.  Long walk.  After the parade in town, we all (the whole village and then some) take a walk together.  One of the oom-pa-paa bands stands in the farthest traffic circle down the road... to play us all up the hill for about two miles.  It's kind of a long walk, but we figure if the cute old ladies can do it, we can too.  Only pansies take the shuttle bus ;o)  A big thanks to Jesse and Dana for carrying the girls in the ergos.  Sam was able to power nap on the way up the hill.  must be nice to be a munchkin.

Once we get to the fair grounds in the woods... you walk down into a magical little clearing where everyone gets ready to celebrate the coming of Spring.

2.  May pole.  I'm not sure if the Germans actually call it a May pole... but it's essentially the same idea.  There's a pole in the middle of the fair grounds and if the kids can climb to the top, they get their choice of a prize.  These are my landlady's daughter's... Lilo's granddaughters Hannah and Nora.

They made it look easy.

3.  Good food and drink.  We ate so much delicious food.  Brats with brötchen.  Gyros (yes, not quite German fare, but so so good) and flammkuchen.  Also not German fare... it's a very thin crust pizza of sorts.  It hails from France and is a heavenly concoction of a creamy sauce, onions, and bacon.  We definitely enjoyed some German beer and the girls had their first cotton candy experience thanks to Aunt Kississ.

4.  Beautiful forest.  Nothing says "Spring is FINALLY here" like beautiful weather and a magical clearing in the middle of the woods.  They carve steps into the dirt hill and put tables everywhere they can balance them.  There are band tents, beer tents, and food tents.  They cut down greenery and weave it into every part of the decorations.  The theme is definitely "bye-bye winter blues, hello green things!"

5.  Music and entertainment.  Drums, bands, the Otterberg Princess, games, pony rides into the woods... we've got it all!  It's so fun to have the carnival feeling in the middle of the woods.

6.  Friends and family.  This fest was a blast for me.  Of the ten Germans I know in Otterberg, I think I saw eight of them!  My hairdresser Nina came up and gave me a huge hug and finally got to meet Jesse. And she was sitting near enough to us that Lily kept going over to her to say hi, which of course awarded me "Mom of the cute kid" points ;o)  At various points, we also saw our "upstairs neighbor" and our across-the-street neighbors.  All of whom greeted us very cheerfully, though only in German.

I really enjoyed hanging with Kirsten and Dana, as well as K's awesome friend Tabatha who was visiting for a couple weeks.  It was so fun to have close friends with us.  When you're this far from family, close friends ARE your family.

We also got to hang out with Attila the Hun (that adorable dog) who graciously and patiently entertained Lily and Sam... and coincidentally belonged to our local mechanic who has worked on the Mercedes a few times ("it's a small town after all...")  Dogs totally count as friends when you're under the age of five, right?

And I'm going to add a seventh way to describe Frülingfest...

7.  My favorite German festival.  

Wordless Wednesday: Frülingfest Parade

Our Last Otterberg Frühlingfest

Last weekend, in between with Bethany left and Uncle Floyd & Josh arrived, we attended our last Spring Festival in Otterberg.  Here are some pictures of the festival two years ago... can you believe how different the girls are?

The first night of the fest, everyone goes down into the square in front of the church for music, food, and beer. It's a blast.  The weather was beautiful and the girls were relatively entertained, so we stayed quite awhile.  One highlight for me was that we bumped into two our our neighbors and they were so excited to see us!  We only know about ten people in this village but it's super fun to be recognized while out and about.  I like to imagine that they think we're the "cool American neighbors" because we run into them while we're out enjoying life in their village.

As previously complained about mentioned, German winters are long, dark, cold affairs.  You can tell that the Germans feel the same, as they celebrate Spring's arrival with great gusto!

I couldn't help but feel super nostalgic at this year's festival.  The Spring Fest only happens every other year, so this will be the last time we get to enjoy it.  It was the first German festival we attended in Germany.  And it's one of my favorites that we've been to our entire time here.

I know it's mid-June and most of you are on the final countdown for summer vacation... but over here in Germany, we're finally experiencing Spring weather and we are tickled pink to see the sun again!

I'm going to miss our perfect little German village so so so much.  I'm so glad to be able to soak up as much of the fun of fest season as we can this year!  Enjoy your Spring/Summer everyone!

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PS: Happy Father's Day to My Love... the father of my beautiful children and the love of my life.  And also to my wonderful Dad and Dad-in-law.  I love you all so much.  

Wordless Wednesday: Snow

Imagining a War, Through Their Eyes...

Sometimes when I look out over Otterberg, or when I walk through the older parts of the village, I imagine the World War II era.  And I think about the people of Germany during that time.

Because I am sure that, just as in our own dear country, there were many who didn't agree with their government's decisions.  And there must have been moms like me that lived here in this very same village 70 years ago... moms of small children are generally pretty clueless about current events.  Or maybe that's just me.  But there must have been moms so busy caring for little ones, cooking meals, and running a household as best they could that there was little time to take an active role in global political affairs.

Young women who worried about and prayed for their military husbands as they wiped noses and changed diapers.

My WWII history is a little rusty... and I have no clue if the civilians would have stayed or fled as the American forces advanced on this area.  But I know that Lilo told me much of the village of Morlautern was destroyed by incendiary bombs, including her family home.  Morlautern is about seven minutes away from here by car.  I have friends who live there now... and it was actually the first German village I spent any time in because we hung out at the Oglevee's the second weekend we were here.

I can't be certain, but I bet a young woman in Otterberg would have been able to stand in her living room or on her front porch and see the bombs.  She could probably hear the sound of the explosions.  With each faint blaze of destruction over the horizon, what was she thinking?  She had no idea if the bombs would reach her home in Otterberg.  Would she have tried to run?  Hidden somewhere safe?

Imagine it.  Imagine the fear.  The pain.  The loss.  Homes gone... husbands never coming home from war.  Family or friends lost in bombings.  A country in shambles because of the evil greed of a handful of men.

It challenges my old stereotypes of "the Germans."  The pictures painted in my high school history books are so different from the picture I get when I walk down my street.  Or go to my favorite German stores or restaurants... the smiles and kindess, the diligence and pride in their homes, yards, gardens.  Their love of country, despite it's dark past.  

When I think of the young German mother of two who may or may not have lived and worked and worried and cried in one of the beautiful old homes in my village during that awful time...

...my heart hurts for her.   

When Fireworks, Mud, and Hippie Carpet Cleaner Collide

Guys, this is Otterberg at midnight on New Year's.  Isn't it just amazing?  Photo credit goes to Kirsten, who was so smart and set up her camera on a tripod... this is a two minute exposure from our side patio.  We all watched in amazement as Otterberg went up in flames... until we got distracted by setting off our own fireworks...

Please imagine with me a group of about 10 guys who are seriously enjoying their alcoholic beverages on New Year's Eve. Then imagine with me that they live in a country where you can buy fireworks at just about any German store to celebrate.  Now imagine that it has been kind of wet and rainy that day, some of them have never lit off fireworks before, they are setting them off from my garden, and they are ecstatic!  AND imagine that I forgot about the champagne so we all frantically run inside to get it and toast to 2013.  With our shoes still on.

I'm seriously kicking myself for not taking a picture of my floors before I cleaned them!  The majority of my flooring is tile, which obviously cleans up pretty easy (though the mop water was black in about two seconds) but the carpet in the living room was just covered in mud!  Oh, and we've also been dumping ash from the fire in the garden, so it was sooty-mud.  Yum.

So what do I do?  Check out Pinterest for a DIY cleaner, DUH.  We only paid $50 for this floor rug but I still don't want to spend the next 15 months enjoying a stained carpet!  Also my kids sit and play on it, so I wanted to clean it without harmful chemicals.  Also I'm cheap frugal so I didn't want to have to rent a steam cleaner or what-not.

Here's what I used.  Baking soda, vinegar, and water... why am I not surprised?  Seriously, this recipe worked like a charm.  It was only two-day-old mud, but still.  Came right out!

Quick!  Someone go spill a mug of coffee or a glass of red wine on your carpet and let me know how it works! Bonus points if you let it sit for a few days and test how it works on a real set-in stain ;o)  You are so welcome for the tip and thanks in advance for your dedication to experimental carpet cleaning!

Our First Snow Brought Me Some Perspective

The girls came downstairs from nap yesterday to see their first German snow!

Lily noticed it right away... she said "Oh!" and I said "Snow!" and she said "Shhnow!" :o)  

And then Sam even figured out that something was amiss out there!  They sat in front of the door forever.  

Seriously, it was at least two whole minutes :o)

And I'm pretty sure Sam licked the window a few times.

Unfortunately for them (and me!) it didn't snow very long.  But it certainly was pretty while it lasted.

Though the day didn't end with a "winter wonderland" it was definitely a beautiful ending!

Which was nice considering it started rather lamely with me accidentally chucking my iPod Touch across the floor and cracking the corner of the screen.  I was really grumpy for most of the morning over it... plus the fact that both girls seem to have come down with nasty coughs... PLUS the fact that I had a ton of catching up on chores and kitchen projects.  I was feeling sorry for myself over the iPod and long to-do list and sorry for the girls because I'm pretty certain I got them sick being way too busy last week. 

But then the snow started to fall.  And, as anticipated, the view from our wall of windows overlooking Otterberg was breathtaking :o)  I forced myself to stop my grumping and bustling around and just sit on the couch for a few minutes to enjoy it.  

iPods break.  Kids get sick.  But that doesn't mean your day has to be bad.  It just means life happens and it isn't always awesome... but you can still enjoy the parts that are!  Like peacefully falling snow. 

And excited crusty-nosed kids with their pudgy fingers all over your window. 

A New Trail to Blaze

Jesse showed me a great new trail to walk/run.  (No running, yet... still waiting on my wheel for the double jogger)  It goes all the way between Otterberg and Otterbach, the next village over. 

I like it because it gives the illusion of being secluded, while still being "in town" so to speak.  It's runs parallel to the main road between the towns.  And it's really popular.  (My pictures are people-less because I'm just that strategic!)

If I park at Wasgau, I can get the whole thing done in under an hour.  It takes about ten minutes just for me to walk down to the path from our house.  So I like to park and walk that way we get to enjoy nature for the majority of the walk.  And it's only about a 2.5 second drive to Wasgau!

So peaceful to feel the leaves crunching.  And Lily just loves when we pass the "Wa" because of course she must SHOUT OUT WORDS now that she knows (and says!) them! 

Lily also loves passing this guy.  

I don't know what's up with the seemingly random assortment of animals lining both sides of the path.  But hey, I'm in another country.  Anything goes!  Aren't they so cute?  

It's fun to have an opportunity to talk to Lily about the different kinds of animals.  She likes it so much that she throws a mini-tantrum every time I decide we must move on.  (They're only about ten minutes in for heaven's sake!  We have some exercise to work in kiddo!)  We pass right by them again on our way back anyways.  What a drama queen :o) 

This is Otterbach.  "Hi, Otterbach!  You are so pretty in the misty late afternoon light, but I have to turn around and head back now...

...my kids are cold.  And so are my hands."

Wordless Wednesday: More from the Church