Growing and Gardening

It seems that I have fall babies and when this happens I hit my second trimester around spring time. I get the incredible urge to garden. I usually always have some pretty flowers planted outside in the spring/summer but something about pregnancy makes me want to go over the top. So 2 weeks ago or so we bought up a whole bunch of pretty colorful flowers and redid are backyard pot garden.

Ariana had so much fun digging in the dirt with her hands and finding earthworms. She cooed at them and gave them names and put them in our pots after we planted all our flowers.

And of course since it was a nice day out (rare in Germany these days) we took a few outside shots of the 19 week baby belly!

Das Praehistorium

Over the winter break we went to visit Das Praehistorium about 40 minutes away here in Germany. It was a very impressive museum and even though everything was in German of course, they offered headsets in English. There were lots of robotic dinosaurs and information as well as fossils. Ariana loves dinosaurs and even though most of it was over her head, she still really enjoyed the outing.

 The giant puzzle was a hit since we like doing puzzles.

The flood room was my favorite. There was calm and peaceful and then a storm started building and their was lightening and mist in the air and then suddenly water comes pouring down the valley.

Ariana wasn't much of a fan of the T-rex eating another dinosaur but in general she loved the robotic dinosaurs, they were pretty lifelike and did a lot of moving, breathing, and noises. 

They also had a movie about evolution and a 3-d movie about dinosaurs. We thought it was all put together very well.

If you want to go there yourself, you can check out the website here. We would definitely go again and there is also an indoor gym area for kids to play in another part of the building.

Snowflake Macros

These photos were taken with my Nikon D7000 and my Nikkor 105mm/f2.8G Micro Lens.

It's been snowing here in Germany and I'm still working on perfecting the art of snowflake macro photography. They are just so dang hard for me to capture. So beautiful though. You'll always find me outside on a snowy day trying to get that perfect snowflake photo.

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2013

As the end of 2012 approached last night I was feeling a little down. I was sitting at home alone. My husband was at work all night until 7 am. Our daughter was sleeping. It was just me and my glass of Moscato ringing in the new year. But then it struck midnight and that magical thing happened in Germany. The thing that I always downplay in my head and "almost" forget about. The fireworks start going off. Everyone in our little German village is shooting off their own fireworks and they light up the night sky. The church bells start chiming too. "Ringing" in the new year with gusto! For a solid 20 minutes at least this goes on. Fireworks bursting and church bells ringing. It's hard not to smile. As I lean outside the window looking into our backyard and take in this magical moment, I realize this year brings new joy and new promises. Why not celebrate that. 

Thank you Germany for that magical moment. And thank you Moscato for my midnight kiss!

So, goodbye 2012. Happy New 2013 friends! With love and gusto from Germany!

Christmas in Germany!

Christmas is upon us and with it brings one of my favorite things. It's probably my favorite part of living in Germany, Christmas Markets! I just love these outdoor street markets. Little shops, and food stalls are set up in most cities here in Germany. They have lots of gluhwein (spiced mulled wine) wooden handmade goods, ornaments, decorations for your house, crocheted and knitted delights, knick knacks, all kinds of food, little rides, and some even have ice skating. 

All with twinkling lights against the beautiful German buildings, churches and the occasional castle! What is there not to love! This year we've been going to lots of different markets: Trier, Saarbrucken, Kaiserslautern, Heidelberg, Landstuhl and Bernkastel-Kues. Each one has it's own unique feel. With only a week left until Christmas, we are hoping to sneak in one last trip before they are gone for another year.

For me I love having hot kartoffelpuffer (fried potato cakes served with applesauce) and gluhwein is a must. Eeirpunsch  (egg punch) is not like the egg nog that we are used to.

And most places have their own mugs made for each year. They are collectable so of course I have one from each place! We really enjoyed Saarbrucken, it's a nice big market and they even decorate the trash cans. Heidelberg is one of my favorites though. I love that city!

Seriously my favorite! These photos were taken at the various markets. I hope this gave you a good feel of the market atmosphere!

Bad Durkheim Wurstmarkt (and Wine Fest)

The Bad Durkheim Wurstmarkt and Wine Fest is the largest wine festival in the world and it's held every year in the town of Bad Durkheim in Germany. 

We went for a day trip out there on September 8th. It was like Oktoberfest for wine! The glasses of wine they had were huge. And by huge I mean 1/2 a liter, per glass!!

It's a lot like a fair. Rides, games, fun houses (sort of) and of course music and drinking. We went during the day so it was fun for our family but I'm sure at night it really comes to life!

Brats of course!

 Lots of fun kid rides.

 The largest wine barrel in the world. It holds 1.7 million liters of wine!

 Lebkuchenherzen - German gingerbread cookies with phrases on them. These say "Ich liebe Dich" which means I love you!

 My husband took this picture of me, he's pretty proud of it!

 Food and wine!

 These glasses of wine are huge!

 Ariana loves carousels!

 Practicing her shots like Meridia from Brave!

 Fun music.

Rheinland Pfalz is wine country!