Legoland Deutschland

On Saturday we went to Legoland Deutschland. Wow! What an incredible place. We all had so much fun. Chris has wanted to go to Legoland since he was a Caden's age, but I don't think he would have ever imagined going to Legoland in Germany! We spent 8 hours there, which was just about enough before we were all exhausted. We were able to do everything the boys could do (some of the attractions had height restrictions).

We rode the lego train around the park.

We toured the factory and got to each take a freshly made lego.

We headed to Pirate Land where Caden and I rode the pirate ship and got soaking wet.

We took a Safari tour, complete with Lego animals.
The boys rode a canoe and saw Lego dinosaurs.

We spent time in Imagination where there was a great little Duplo playground. Caleb and I rode the Duplo train while Chris and Caden rode the Duplo pedal cars.

We all played with legoes in the Test Area.

We walked through Knight's Kingdom (the boys were too little to ride anything).

We took a tour of Mini City (major European cities made of legoes).

At the end of our day, we ate at the Dino Grill, where Caleb layed right down on the booth seat and fell asleep!

We are already thinking about a trip to Legoland America! This time we plan to make it a 2 day event and stay at the hotel on site.

While Chris Was Gone

Last week Chris was gone for 3 days for business. Karin did not want us stuck in the flat the whole time, so took us to Larissa's horse riding lessons on Monday. The boys got to sit on the horses and watch a little. We also went on a walk following them until the horses started running. The boys really enjoyed the time.



















On Tuesday Karin took us to a walking path through the forest. The path goes into the forest along a stream and ends at a restaurant. It took us over an hour to get their, then we ate then walked back. We were gone over 4 hours! We also went on that same path on Friday night with all of Chris' co-workers. It is a beautiful path and a great walk.

4th of July in Germany

Obviously, the 4th is not celebrated here, but we did our best to celebrate. Most of the morning was cold and rainy, so the boys enjoyed the blow up pool and accessories indoors (that's the only way we've enjoyed it so far, since it just hasn't gotten warm enough), which actually proved to be quite fun for them!
Chris got off work before 2 and headed home to sleeping boys and a sleeping mom! Once everyone was awake, we headed to a field for a 4th of July barbecue with the other Americans and a few of the Germans. Lucky for us, the rain cleared out and it actually got warm. They had hot dogs, hamburgers (although all ground meat here is 1/2 beef, 1/2 pork!), chips, sodas, beer (of course!)
and









even made s'mores (although you can't get graham crackers here, so we had to put the chocolate and marshmallows on wafers-not bad, but not a true s'more).


We were right near some ponds, so the boys got to see frogs and fish while mom enjoyed a few moments visiting with the others.
They even had a game of American football, which was hilarious! It was new to the Germans and they really enjoyed it! The boys even made their way into the game a few times.

Caden became the life of the party, too. He was making everyone laugh and taking TONS of pictures-some of them not too bad (like the one of Caleb eating the roasted marshmallows).

No fireworks, though, because they are illegal in Germany. Oh well, maybe next year.

What Bavaia Has to Offer

We are the in state of Bavaria, which is what you probably think of when you think of Germany-the beer, brats, pretzels, traditional German clothing. It is full of forests and lakes (so, as you can imagine, doesn't get very warm and rains a lot-a far cry from New Mexico!). People here speak a different dialect than the German you would learn in school or from a book or computer program-as if being in a foreign country wasn't enough! So, we are trying our best to learn not only German, but also "Bavarian". So far we have done our best to enjoy what the area has to offer, which is mainly other small villages with some larger villages.
Our first full weekend here we went to a medieval festival in a nearby village with Karin and her family.
We have also made it to the pool in Mitterteich a few times, but it just hasn't been warm enough to go very often.
The next weekend we went to a larger village, Weiden, where we walked around the Saturday market. They had so many fruit, vegetable and food stands, as well as shops along the street. They close off the street to cars in this old area of the village, so it is very pedestrian friendly.


That night and the following day we went to "Borgerfest" in Fuchsmuel. What this basically means, is a village festival where people can bring what they do in the village (for example Larissa and her grandpa raise rabbits, so they brought these for people to see), and of course there is tons of food and beer and music. They even had an "American" stand with hot dogs, ribs, french fries and a purple Statue of Liberty holding a German flag!

The next weekend we had a 4th of July celebration with the other Americans, (see a separate post for detail), and we did Alpine Slides, Mini Golf and shopping at a "mall" and outdoor shops in a nearby village.
The following weekend we went to Regensberg on Saturday. It is one of the largest cities in the area and one of the few places not bombed in World War II. If you get a chance, you'll have to do some reading on it-amazing! We ate a a wonderful Pizzeria (they are everywhere here-and delicious too!), went to a candy shop and saw St. Peter's Cathedral and The Stone Bridge. We were only able to stay a few hours because of the rain, so we'd love to make it back.
Sunday we went to a carnival in the village of Selb. It is a huge carnival that is held every year. Anyone who grew up anywhere near comes back, and everyone from the area comes to this. Chris had gone with co-workers Friday night and wanted to take us. The boys rode ponies and some rides, we all rode the ferris wheel, and we had LOTS to eat (and me to drink-see pic).There is certainly TONS more to do, and we hope to do more in this area, throughout Germany, and make it to some other European countries. Time just seems to be flying by! We will keep you "posted" on all we do! Now that I am (almost) caught up, I will try to post things as we do them. Thanks for your patience in getting this up!