There are moments when my adult-self gets to remember how awesome childhood is. And it's usually when I'm watching my children almost pee their pants with excitement about some super cool experience.
"You mean we're having ice cream for DINNER?"
"We're going to snuggle and watch movies the WHOLE afternoon?"
"I can have AS MANY fake tattoos as I WANT?"
You know, stuff like that.
Last week Kirsten took us on a little adventure to a summer toboggan track about an hour from us. The track itself was an absolute blast. But this bungee-trampoline business was probably even MORE exciting to Lily and Sam.
My cheeks started hurting from laughing and smiling at them having the time of their lives! Observe...
Lily learned how to flip over and Sammy kept squealing that it was tickling her tummy!
Made me think about how awesome play is. And how I need to do it more. It really is great to jump and flip and twirl and dance and giggle and smile till your cheeks hurt.
If there's anything my little Monkeys are teaching me lately it's just that:
Check out my post over at Jesse's Girl Photography for some pictures of our 7th Anniversary trip! It was such a welcome getaway... two nights without kids!
In typical Aiduk fashion, we crammed as much as we could into said kid-free time. To include a zipline, camping, a theme park, and a spa. WHEW!
If you want, you can watch this video of me on one of the ziplines. I will warn you, however, to turn your volume way down. And you probably should watch it if you get easily seasick. I couldn't help but spin around. WEEEEE ;o) How's that for a marriage adventure?
Our first day trip of the season was to Rothenburg (ob der Tauber)... a charming little medieval town about two hours from us in Bavaria. This gem has a the coolest little altstadt (old town) that I've seen in Germany, complete with a medieval wall around it!
The architecture was stunning...
It was a momentous occasion for us because it was our first day trip with the girls that did not include a stroller or Ergo
. I'm not as sappy as some, but it was still strange for me... being as it's been four years of strollers and/or baby carriers. So yay for preschoolers that can walk considerable distances!
(That's not to say they didn't spend copious amounts of time being held throughout the day... all four adults got suckered into it!) (PS we went with Pedro and Julia)
Please note that Lily is holding a map and "leading the way" in that top pic haha. And that carousel was only 50 cents AND it was conveniently located in the courtyard of the hotel we had dinner at! Guess who rode that sucker? a. lot.
So here's the wall... you can see that you walk along the inside of it.
I liked the views of all the houses and the buildings in the altstadt. If we hadn't been pansies we might have walked the whole thing and seen other views (like of the river valley) from the windows. But for some reason we were tuckered out after the walk.
I won't name any names, but the smallest and most adorable members of our group almost gave us old farts 25,000 heart attacks as they ran around like the crazy little people they are.
An ice cream stop was definitely in order after that. And some caffeine for Momma.
We did a lot of walking around and meandering... the city isn't very large so it's pretty easy to find the major landmarks. Rothenburg is known for some pretty cool museums like a toy museum, a Christmas museum, a medieval museum, and even a torture museum! Unfortunately, we stopped trying to find them after the first two we found were closed.
But we did make sure to check out something else Rothenburg is famous for...
The pastry is called Schneeball, or snowball. It's basically a semi-sweet cookie dusted with sugar. Or coated with chocolate. Or filled with stuff... but we didn't try any of those ones. Lily and Sam thought they were fantastic, obviously, but I wasn't too impressed. I kind of feel like France ruined me for desserts, but whatever. Gold star to Rothenburg for making these little pastries for a couple hundred years!
And gold star to us for (accidentally) finding a playground just outside the city wall that we had all to ourselves for part of the afternoon!
It was a lovely day spent wandering, talking, laughing, and eating. I adored our picnic lunch... even more than our delicious dinner out! Thanks so much Pedro and Julia (and Jesse and Lily and Sam) for the fun memories!
TheJesses vs. Rothenburg = CHECK. Here's the facebook album if you want to see all the pics.
So we went on an AMAZING cruise down the Rhine River with Mom and Dad. Jesse and I have been saying we want to do this for awhile but it was Dad who said he basically couldn't leave Germany without checking out one of these famous Rhine River cruises. So that's what we did!
Come to find out, it's a super easy day trip with kids, so I don't know why we never did it before. But that's besides the point. The point is it was a blast. And I put a whole bunch of pictures up in a Jesse's Girl post that you can check out!
The other point is that we bumped into a funny "Germans are always on time" example. In which the first boat we were getting on almost left without Jesse!
So we thought we had built in plenty of extra time just in case. And I think a half an hour extra for an hour and a half commute is pretty safe. But not on this fateful morning... when there would be two different instances of sloooooow construction traffic and more than one confusing mix up with our GPS.
Let's just say, by the time we got to the dock, Jesse's adrenaline was through the roof and everyone in the back of the van was feeling a little car sick. German back roads + running late = blech.
As we're pulling up, we have about 10 minutes before the boat leaves. Jesse basically does a drive by drop off so we can purchase the tickets and get on board while he scoots around the corner to the parking garage we had spotted on our way up. Dad and I rush to the ticket counter and everyone else nervously watches back and forth between the boat and the corner where Jesse should be appearing any moment.
We finally get paid and rush down the dock to the boat. I'm frantically telling the guy who's trying to rush us inside that my husband is just parking the car and will be RIGHT HERE. And I can hear him jibbering back and forth in German with his coworkers (and possibly the captain of the ship) telling them the situation.
And they all look at me. And I can tell. They aren't going to wait. The man I was talking to looks incredulously at me and says "But we have a timetable."
His message was clear: Get on or be left behind. We aren't waiting for anyone.
Thankfully, at the last minute, Dad shouts "there he is!" and we all breathe a sigh of relief while simultaneously screaming at Jesse to run faster! They wouldn't leave him when we can see him, right, RIGHT? I bet the guys on the boat were relieved that the crazy American lady and her family were finally going to get on the dang boat so they could push off and stick to the timetable without her throwing a freakin temper tantrum ;o)
So he made it. And we all get on the boat, out of breath and a little flustered. As I'm telling Jesse the story of how they almost left without us, he chimes in "I thought I told you to just get on and I'd catch the boat at the next village down the river?"
Oops.
Then we all had a good laugh. It had totally slipped my mind in that moment of panic that we could just board and even if the boat left without him, he could meet up with it later down the river without much problem.
So the "when in Rome" lesson of the day is: The Germans really do stick to their beloved timetables and you better be ready when the boat is ready!
And the second lesson is: have a backup plan if you're running late and remember said plan that you and your husband discuss in the car as you rush up to the ticket counter!
Here's the facebook album of all the pics. Enjoy your virtual Rhine River tour ;o)
Check out today's blog post over at Jesse's Girl Photography. I had so much fun with Kirsten and Alex at the wine fest. Such a perfect summer memory!
I hope you guys have some equally amazing summer memories to look back on as we plunge into fall! I already busted out my wool socks, slippers, and wedge boots! Bring on the leggings and scarves so I can extend my summer wardrobe!
But he broke his right thumb on his second pass down the mountain. NOT COOL BABE.
And then, as if I hadn't had enough heart-attack-phone-calls for one weekend, he and Chase were in a really bad car accident on their way home! Thankfully they weren't hurt, but instead of getting home early from their trip so we could try to get J in to see the doctor's at LRMC (our US military hospital), they waited around for hours taking care of the probably totaled car, then took the train all the way home and didn't get in till well after midnight. Super super SUPER NOT COOL!
So yesterday was a fun fun visit to the hospital for the orthopedic doctors to confirm what the German doctors in Garmisch said: My Love needs thumb surgery.
While we wait for the swelling to go down (he gets to spend most of the day giving us all a thumbs up) we have another appointment with the doctor tomorrow where we'll find out whether they can get him in for surgery on Friday or Monday.
In the meantime the girls are really excited that we brought them home a new "toy" cast to play with ;o)
Just some thoughts that are wandering around in my head these days...
1. Being part of the Air Force means we have to be ready for anything. You would think this would be obvious to me by now, but it's not. I was reminded of it last week when Jesse was "recalled" to the squadron during his time off. It was only a drill, but the reality of it kind of stuck with me the rest of that day and into the next... my husband could be called up at any moment to go do whatever Uncle Sam requires of him. Last minute deployment or TDY? Working round the clock in a crisis situation? I don't know... stuff like that never really enters my mind because we live in the reality of a pretty normal daily rhythm. One where, besides putting on a uniform, my husband just goes to work and comes home like he always did. I'm not saying I want to freak myself out by trying to mentally prepare myself for every bad situation that could come my way... I'm mostly just saying I had a moment where I thought "Oh yeah, my husband works for the Air Force and he's technically on call at all times. Huh."
2. Traveling all over the place is way harder for us than we thought. Dudes we've seen so much already and have totally had awesome travel experiences. But we definitely thought we'd travel more. Apparently we also thought that living in the middle of Europe would automatically make travel easy and cheap. But, we live here. And traveling still costs money. This isn't a three year vacation. Oh yeah and we have two kids who I DO NOT like to travel with. So the reality of "Oh you have a three day weekend? Cool let's go to the BX and run errands, order a pizza, and watch a movie on the couch" happens far more frequently than our imagined "Oh you have a three day weekend? Cool let's hop the train to Paris! Or Berlin! Or London!"
And along the same lines...
3. Being half a world away from your country and family can leave you feeling really disconnected from "it all." I hate to say it, but in the back of my mind I'm already counting down till our PCS... which I hope will be back to the States. But "449 days left" would make a mighty long paper chain and would also make me look like a loser who's wishing away her time in GERMANY for cryin out loud! So I'm still sticking to enjoying what time I have left here! I'm just being honest with you that I've hit "the wall" and I want to go home. Home to where I have a phone and can text my family when I'm feeling lonely cause my husband works weird shifts and my kids are driving me nuts. Home to where there's a drive-through EVERYTHING. Home to where I understand the language and can watch the Superbowl at not-the-middle-of-the-night. One more winter here is almost over (I know, wishful thinking haha) and then we're really down to one year left... with many adventures to be had, I'm sure! And for anyone stuck in what they think is "the middle of Nowhere, USA" and "Man that Jessica girl is so crazy I would totally love to live in Germany for three years" just remember what I'm trying to remember... the grass is always greener.
We had a leisurely morning. These three weren't up till about 9:30am. (And Jesse was only a half hour earlier than them!) After eating and reading, we dragged J out of his sweats so we could go as a family and walk around Kaiserslautern.
The market was fantastic, as usual.
And the fountain outside the church was quite a hit.
This knife "block" was added to the "to-get someday" list.
Apparently you haven't seen a candy store until you've been in a German candy store. The stuff we got was absolutely delicious... the stuff we didn't get looked just as good :o)
It was a super fun day with Grandpa. Some of us were more sleepy than others by the end ;o) But those of us who were super sleepy got to bed early (Sam and Lily) and those of us who were kind of sleep are about to enjoy some chocolate (me)!
And we're back :o) That was such a great weekend! Jesse and I haven't been very good about going on regular dates, but we seem to be making up for it just fine with these "date weekends" about every other month or so!
After we dropped the girls and all their gear off at Paula and Brandon's on Friday night, we came back home and walked down to one of our favorite restaurants in Otterberg for a nice, quiet meal.
I'm kicking myself for forgetting to take a picture of the huge pile of pack 'n plays, booster seats, car seats, clothes, toys, diapers, and food we lugged up into the Amrein's house. Those two little girls certainly don't pack light ;o)
I dragged Jesse's butt out of bed around 5:30am on Saturday. We were trying to hit the road in time to catch the opening parade at noon, but we hit a lot of traffic on the way in, so no dice. Not to worry friends, there was still plenty of fun to be had!
Let's start with the food: GIANT pretzels, huge gingerbread heart necklaces, super super long hot dogs, platters of meats and cheeses, and of course, plenty of beer!
I was really impressed with the actual Oktoberfest brew at our beer hall... it tasted so much better than the Sam Adam's I'm used to ;o) Jesse disagrees, though. He still misses his Sam.
Now on to the rides. This surprised us a little! We didn't realize that it's set up as a huge carnival, too! There were four roller coaster's people! I haven't been on a coaster since before Jesse and I got married (more on this in my next post!) so I was super excited about that.
You have to pay for each ride separately (and they ain't cheap!) so we hit up the ferris wheel for the view and then the best looking roller coaster.
Here's the bird's eye view from the top of the ferris wheel. I read that sometimes they can have up to 500,000 visitors in a day! The long buildings are the "beer tents" but they look more like... long buildings ;o) If you don't buy tickets in advance you have to wait in long lines to get in, if you get in at all.
And there's the Bavaria Statue overlooking the fair grounds. It's massive!
We were too late to get tickets to the beer tents at the actual fest, but our friend found tickets to a table at a beer hall that was only a couple blocks from Oktoberfest. We waited for a little bit for the doors to open and I admired the adorable little kids dressed in their traditional Bavarian garb!
Once inside the eight of us shared a deliciously massive platter of food and our first round of refreshing Oktoberfest beer! They serve it in ginormous one liter glass mugs... insane!
Once the band really got going was when the real fun started. I'm not usually super big on partying and even dancing, cause I feel like a dweeb... but it's impossible not to join in on the fun!
When we first started talking about going to Oktoberfest I wasn't really into it... I just imagined it to be a crazy drunken frat party and I didn't think it sounded that fun (as we're not the crazy drunken type!). But I wanted to go at least check it out. Seems silly to live four and a half hours from Munich and not check out the world's biggest beer fest!
Needless to say, we ended up having a ball! One thing I'd read/heard about Oktoberfest is the feeling that everyone in your tent is your friend. And it was true! I'll never forget how fun it was to be standing up on the benches (with what felt like the whole hall by the end of the night) and giving everyone around me a "Prost" (German toast). The age range in the crowd went from teens up to little old ladies. We ended the night with a group of Italians at our table.
I think my favorite memory was everyone dancing at singing at the top of their lungs to "Sweet Caroline" :o) The German's seriously know how to party!
So I didn't know it was on my bucket list, but I'm happy I can now say, "Oktoberfest, CHECK!"
. I'm not as sappy as some, but it was still strange for me... being as it's been four years of strollers and/or baby carriers. So yay for preschoolers that can walk considerable distances! 
