October update

In my continued attempt to catch up on this blog I am giving a brief overview of October. I get so bogged down because life is so busy and then when I do have the time to sit down to update the blog I have so many pictures to choose from. I really should just be more picky and post the real highlights, but since this ends up being a sort of journal of our lives I end up adding more than I probably need.  Anyhow, here is what was going on in our lives in October.

We figured if Elly was going to be going on bike rides with Daddy (and even for her tricycle) she needed to have the proper gear to keep her safe.  So, we picked out a helmet and pads at the PX.  In the end they haven't gotten much use, but as you can see they were great additions to her stash of dress up clothes. Sometimes I really have no words..... :)

Over Veteran's day we decided to drive to Nürnberg (or Nuremberg to us Americans) to check it out.  There are so many places to see in Germany (not to mention all of Europe) that we like it when we can check one off of our list. 

Nuremberg held great significance during the Nazi Germany era as it was chosen by the Nazi Party to be the site of huge Nazi Party conventions - the Nuremberg Rallies.  It was at the 1935 rally where Hitler passed the anti-Semitic Nuremberg Laws, which revoked German citizenship for all Jews.

Also, after the war, German officials involved in the Holocaust and other war crimes were brought before an international tribunal in the Nuremberg Trials. So, there is a lot of history to be seen.  Unfortunately, we didn't end up having much time in Nuremberg.  We should have spent the night, but we didn't so we just saw all that we could in the time we had. Nuremberg is also known for their Bratwurst and Lebkuchen.  Sam had read about this restaurant, Zum Guldenen Stern, which claims to be the oldest Bratwurst restaurant in the world.  It has been in business since 1419, so of course we decided to have lunch there.  Honesty, it wasn't my favorite food.  The brats just tasted like breakfast sausage and it came with a side of German potato salad, but it was a cute little restaurant and the brats were cooked over an open flame.  It all seemed very "old world" and unique. 

 

Since we were short on time, it was quite chilly and Elly wouldn't be able to get much ground covered with her short little legs, we decided to get a bicycle tour.  It was a great way to see around the city and have some of the history explained to us.  I wish I would have taken a picture of us in our bicycle, but you'll just have to use your imagination.  We three were all snuggled in the back seat under a blanket and our guide peddled away (with the help of a battery back up).  It was a nice experience. However, due to being in the bicycle I wasn't able to get any great photos around town.  Here are just a few snapshots on the tour.

One weekend we decided to check out Tripsdrill, which is a local amusement park.  Sam had been to it a number of times when he worked at SAS, but Elly and I had never been.  It was a fun day.  True to German style, Elly was allowed to ride these cars completely on her own.  I was a little nervous since I couldn't see her the entire time, but she did fine and had a great time.

 

Sam wanted to ride on the roller coaster.  It was made completely of wood and rattled something terrible.  I had no desire to get on that thing.  Roller coasters are not for me.

 

Sam is in the very front seat having a great time.

 

 

Our first snow fall came in October this year.  Back in Alaska that is nothing unusual, but here it was a little bit early.  Elly had a lot of fun playing in it.

The snow all melted off by Halloween.  In the past I have been together enough to order Elly a costume online.  The PX gets some in, but every other American child is picking from the same ones.  This year it kind of sneaked up on me and I ran out of time, so I bought her costume at the PX.  She ended up being a Ballerina Kitty (I have no idea what those two things have in common, but that's what we had to choose from). 

She was a pretty cute little kitty!

Elly and Sydney Trick or Treating on Patch

Checking out her loot when she got home that evening. 

Our visit with Aunt Kim and Uncle Keith

I mentioned in an earlier post how many visitors we had this year. We were very blessed with having lots of Sam's family visit. The last of those visitors came in September, just two days after my friend's baby shower. Sam's aunt and uncle stayed with us for a couple of weeks and we loved having them here. 

I think we've taken every person who's visited us to Garmisch. We just LOVE that place! We love it and think everyone should go there, so that's always on our agenda.  One of our favorite things to do there is hike the gorge.  It's just beautiful.  Sam wanted to ride bicycles to the gorge, so he and Keith rented some from the Edelweiss.  He also rented a tag-along for Elly, but in the end switched it out for a seat because she was just a little too young for it yet.  She was a little shaky.  We've since bought one for ourselves and she does great on it, but at this point she wasn't ready.  Here she was all ready for her bike ride.

The mandatory potty break before heading out.

Waiting to catch the cable car to the top.  Sometimes we hike up, but this time we took the cable car up and hiked down.

The beautiful rushing water in the gorge.

Sam, Elly and I had an afternoon to ourselves so we took an old cable car to the top of one hill.  I was a little nervous since it was wide open and they seemed rather old, but we enjoyed ourselves and survived.  Elly had to sit on our laps since the cable car was so small and had just two seats facing each other.  My stomach did several flips when I looked down and realized how easily she could fall out.  It always amazes me how relaxed the Germans are about safety.  I think America goes overboard for sure, but the Germans pretty much let you do what you want.  There would be so many lawsuits in America.  Not sure why that doesn't happen here.

On another trip to Garmisch we want to to maybe take a cable car up the mountain and hike down.  There's not much at the top, but it's so beautiful and serene. This day we didn't have that much time so we just walked around up top and took an ice cream break with Elly.  It had started raining so we got out some ponchos.  Elly was wanting Sam to carry her, so we fixed one to go over both of them.  It was a nice time. 

 

We stopped at a restaurant and had an ice cream break for Elly. She's at the age where every picture is her trying out a different look. She's so silly, but it can be a little frustrating at times when I really would like to have a nice picture. They are few and far between these days.

 

The view out the back door of the apartment we stayed in. 

 

Elly with Aunt Kim and Uncle Keith the night before they left. 

A baby shower for a friend

I was home from Alaska for just a couple of weeks when I threw a baby shower for a friend on September 15th.  I'm always nervous giving a party. There are many reason, but I guess primarily, because I'm just shy by nature and don't want the attention.  Also, I worry that it won't all come together and be the way I want it to be.  I was glad to have had the opportunity to be back in the states and buy some supplies to bring back with me. Mom helped me get all the big pom poms folded and stapled so I just had to fluff them for the party.  I think overall it turned out very nice.  There were about 15 ladies that came and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.  I went (loosly) with a clothesline theme because it was the design of the plates I bought.  My friend was having a little girl (her third), but does not like pink, so I didn't make that the primary color theme.  Anyhow, here are a few pictures from the shower. 

Gift basket for games

Door prize that we did a drawing for.

I wasn't sure what I was going to do about a cake for the shower, buy it or make it, but in the end I decided to make it myself. I'm just never happy with cakes that I buy.  Either they don't taste very good or the decoration is lacking.  I don't consider myself a cake decorator AT ALL, but figured I could do a simple cake justice.  I intended to do the entire cake with fondant, but was not impressed with the flavor of regular fondant and the buttercream fondant just didn't hold up that well, so I did it mostly in buttercream and did the accents in fondant.  I could pick it apart, but I think over all I was pleased with how it turned out.  The party turned out nice, but I was relieved when it was over :)