Mainz Trip & Wine Fest

Mainz Trip & Wine Fest

Saturday morning we headed to Mainz, which is a little over an hour from where we live. It is right on the Rhine River and in the middle of wine country. (It seems like most of Germany I have seen so far is wine country). There were some sightseeing things to check out and also a big wine festival I wanted to go to. Mainz isn't as old as Trier but it's close and it's claim to fame is that Johannes Gutenberg was born there. Gutenberg is the creator of the first mechanical printing press. There is a museum there dedicated to him but we didn't go see it. Instead we wandered through the city which was very busy.

There was a huge farmer's market going on where you could buy just about anything you'd want. There were fresh flowers, fresh herbs and spices, fresh fruits and veggies, cheese vendors, meat vendors, bakery goods, jellies and sauces...you name it. It was like a temporary grocery store in the center of town. The first stop we made was at the Mainz Cathedral. You'd think all these churches would start to get old and look the same after a while, but they don't. Each one has different history and details to admire. We passed another church that we didn't go into on our way to Old Town Mainz. Some of the homes standing in the Old City date back to the 15th Century and are true half timbered style houses. One of the houses we saw was built in 1450! The houses are absolutely gorgeous. After visiting one last church, St. Stephens, we started to the wine festival.

We walked, and walked, and walked and FINALLY made it to the wine festival being held at a huge city park in Mainz. When we got there is was a lot emptier than we expected it to be and the vendors seemed to still be setting up. I asked some of the workers and they said that it didn't start for about another hour. I guess it's more of a night time thing than an all day event. So we walked to a grassy area of the park and let Colin play and go nuts out of his stroller for a while. He had fun playing with leaves and walking between Shelby and I. He still refuses to take a step without a hold one someone's finger. We even try to trick him and sneak our finger out of his grip while the other distracts him but he catches us every times and sits instantly. Turd.

After some play time we headed back to the wine fest area and started sampling. We thought it would be more like wine tasting where you buy little samples of the wine. We were wrong. The vendors all sold regular sized glasses of wine. A glass of wine ranged anywhere from 1 - 3 Euro, which is about $1.40 - $4...so it was pretty cheap. They also served all the wine in glass wine glasses that belonged to the booth, so you couldn't get your big old glass and then move on to the next place, you had to stop and hang out in their little table area and drink it so you could turn the glass back in. Now if we had all night this would have been dandy. However, we were hoping to sample wine and buy what we liked. When you have to drink a whole glass of every wine you try you get pretty drunk pretty quick! It was getting to be a long day for Colin and we still had to drive home so thankfully we found a really good wine and bought a few bottles of it and started to head out. Of course on the way out of the park I found another booth or two that had something that looked delicious and I had to make a few more stops before we really headed home. Now we know for next year how it works and we can plan to just stay overnight in Mainz.
Mainz was a very pretty place and worth checking out again, I hear they have a huge Christmas Market there so we will visit there again soon.

Trier Day Trip

Trier Trip

Friday we headed north to Trier, the oldest city in Germany. It was founded by Romans in 16 B.C. and later became a very large and important city in the Roman Empire. Presently, it is also famous for its massive vineyards and wine selections. It is a little over an hour from where we live. The first thing you see when you come to the city center is the huge Porta Nigra or gate to the city. Built around 180without the use of mortar this thing is nuts! Click here for more info about the Porta Nigra (pretty interesting stuff!).

We made a quick stop at the visitor center just inside the gate to buy a city map and then started wandering. The buildings fascinate me, they are so intricate and different from the ones you get used to seeing back in the US. The city center and market were full of people walking around and taking in the sights. Lots of places to eat and shop and be social. In Germany everything is a social event. On the way to the Roman Forum Baths we got lost and then found again when we discovered they were enclosed in a large glass building that looked like some huge office. Turns out they were buried during WWII by air raid shelters and were not rediscovered until 1987 when construction began on a parking garage and unearthed the ruins.

After wandering through town a little more we came to the Konstatine Basilika. Built in 310 for ruler Constantine's throne room, it is the largest surviving single-room structure from Roman times. You can read more about it here. The Roman Imperial Baths were the next place we saw, wow! Huge, like bigger than life huge. It was a giant massive area that at one time was a Roman social center were people would bathe, eat, play games and sports and socialize. There is a ton of history here at this place and the architecture for the time is unbelievable. Read more about them here. Next we saw the Amphitheater which is like a mini Roman Coliseum were similar games and executions were held.

Next we visited the Trier Cathedral. Absolutely amazing and beautiful. The art and sculptures, marble everywhere...it was fabulous. Shelby and I couldn't get over how ornate everything is and to know when it was built makes it even more incredible. Lastly we did a little riding around and discovered some great scenic overlooks. We stumbled across another Roman Villa Bath in the middle of a huge vinyard. Here Shelby decided to take home a little souvenir and stole some grapes from the vine.

Colin had a fun playing and riding around checking out the sights. He really enjoyed his lunch at a fish restaurant. He got fish, potatoes, green beans and chocolate pudding. When we got home that night we called the babysitter to come give him dinner and put him to bed on time so that we could go have dinner at a restaurant here in town. The restaurant we ate in is only open on the weekends and is always packed. Our friend who works at the bar down the street told us we had to go there and try the game meat. They offer wild boar, elk and other meats as well as schnitzel. Shelby got a steak and I had the schnitzel buffet so I got to sample a few kinds of schnitzel for the first time. After dinner we stopped in the bar for a few drinks and then headed home so we could get to bed and be rested for tomorrow's trip to Mainz.

Playtime at Kidzone

Play time

I took Colin to the playplace on base today after some errands so he could burn off some energy. He always has a ball there crawling on everything. He gets mad because he can't get to everywhere the bigger kids can. He LOVES watching other kids and usually they take an interest in him too and want to play with him and help him play and walk and stuff. It entertains Colin so I let them play with him. We've been there a few times before but I finally remembered my camera so I could snap a few pics.

Party On!

Colin's 1st Birthday Party

Oh what a day! Colin may not remember too much of his first party but Shelby and I will. We got up nice and early because we each had things to do to get ready for the party. We had told the satellite guy it was ok to come by about 7:30 and install the satellite dish for us and he arrived right on time. Little did we know that he would required Shelby's assistance with the installation for hours. So Shelby spent a good part of his morning in the attic with the worker putting up the dish. In between helping the man he would run down and try to prep meat and get it ready for the grill. He had a several racks of ribs, pork roast, chicken breasts, and brisket to prepare. Colin, who woke up yesterday morning with a cold was not a happy camper at all and was very fussy all morning. I ended up having to take him with me to pick up ice and the cake because Shel was stuck in the attic with the worker and couldn't tend to him as planned. The cakes were adorable, a big monkey face and a mini monkey cake for Colin. I had cut jungle leaves out of construction paper to put under the big monkey cake...I was so excited. I finally get home and we unload, we put the cakes and some stuff on the dining room table because the kitchen is a disaster and taken over with meat. At some point around 12:30 I discover that half the monkey cake has been eaten by a/the dog(s) (my money is on Kalia). I then discover that a small chunk of Colin's cake has also been eaten. I have to stop and focus on breathing so as not to kill my dogs at this moment. I had just forked out $85 for these cakes that didn't even last an hour AND now I have no birthday cake and guests arriving in about 2 hours. Fabulous! I photographed the cake because I'm sure one day I will look at it and laugh, today is not the day however, and then head off in search of a new birthday cake.

Not a single backerei is open because it's during that whole 1-3pm siesta/quiet time/lunch break thing that Germans do and they all close their shops and reopen in the afternoon. I try a grocery store that had nothing that resembled a birthday cake. Finally I find a grocery that still has a whole cake left. I am a little worried wondering why it is that no one has purchased any of the pieces of this cake and it is still intact and whole....but at this point it's a whole cake and I don't have much choice so the lady wraps it up and off I go. I came home and repaired Colin's mini cake enough for him to smash and eat. Yes I fed my child the cake the dogs ate off of. Did you not read the posts about him being in the dog food bowl a few days ago and then breaking into the pantry and eating dog treats? I figure if that didn't kill him a little left over dog drool wont either.

I have about an hour left before guests arrive, Colin is finally down for a nap (thank goodness) and I am sweeping and mopping like lightning. Shelby is grilling away and putting drinks on ice and then I bring out the balloons to decorate with. These are the same balloons I spent about 4 hours trying to find helium for Friday and then forked out 15 Euro to fill up (about $21). I tie some on the patio and a couple out front and they look adorable like I knew they would. Within a few minutes my dogs had discovered the balloons and attacked and eaten the ones they could get to. Do these dogs have a death wish today? Now I have to say that we are partially to blame for the little balloon attack because at one time we used to buy them these balloons as toys to play with. However, that was a long time ago and we yelled at them to stop and they still carried on and got to the balloons before we could get to the dogs. So I do some rearranging, put the dogs in the back yard and tie some more balloons out front. AGAIN the damn dogs houdini'd their way out of the back and got to the balloons out front. Are you serious?! Craigslist post # 367312038538: Damn boxer for sale - buy one get one free! I refrain from killing the beasts for a third time today and give up on balloons.

People arrive, Colin is still napping, I have a glass of wine and the day finally starts getting a little better! Colin woke up in not much better a mood than the one he went down in, poor sick baby. He ate a little of his BBQ dinner, he's hardly eaten since he got sick Friday. It was time for cake and we sing and he liked that part. Shelby and I helped him blow out his candle and after that he was not so interested. He wasn't so much a fan of the icing sticking to his hands and kept waving them around trying to get it off. We laughed at him for a while and he ate some and wore a little. Then someone decided he wasn't messy enough and helped him out with that. He wound up looking like a cave man and was covered in brown icing. Poor kid. He tolerated it for a little bit but when he decided he was done he was DONE. Even though he hadnt been awake very long he was pretty tired. He perked up when he got to go in the pool to wash off. Kalia discovered him in the pool and waded around with him helping wash him off by licking the icing off his head. Colin thought this was insanely funny and egged her on a good bit. By the time the poor kid got out of the pool it was late and he was a bear. I decided to give him just a present or two from the people who came to the party to open and the stuff we had that came in the mail to wait until tomorrow. We told people not to bring presents and to bring a side dish instead since he got plenty of gifts from our family. He liked opening despite being tired but about 2-3 gifts was all we got through and then he was over it. Lucky for us the babysitter was on hand to take over and we handed him over to her to take care of and we went back to our party.

The next morning Colin woke up in a better mood and seemed to feel a little better so we had him open the rest of his presents then. He had a ball opening things and playing with the paper. He did very good opening things and checking them out and then not getting upset when we took it away to give him another gift. Shelby had picked out this ride on toy when we were in toys r us birthday gift shopping that we bought for Colin. We had no idea it would be such a hit, Colin loved it! He likes things with steering wheels we've noticed. His big gift was an outdoor playground for the yard. Lots of family chipped in to get him this and he had a ball playing on it. He is still a little afraid of the slide, but he likes playing on it. When he starts climbing and walking soon it will be perfect for him.

Despite having to install a satellite, the dogs tearing up the balloons, the cake being eaten by the dogs, and Colin being sick and grumpy, the day turned out ok. We will definitely remember this party for sure. Next birthday party the dogs are going to the kennel!

One year stats

Colin had his 12 month check up today. He weighed in at 23 pounds 7 ounces and 31.5 inches long. Still long and skinny :) His ears were clear and free of fluid (YES!) however he woke up with a cold this morning so the doc said keep a close watch on him because with that cold his ears can look great today and awful tomorrow. (UGH!) So for right now no ENT specialist but if he gets one more in the next couple months then we'll be referred to an ear doc. He is wearing 12 month and 12-18 month clothes and still has small feet, he only wears a size 3-4 still. He waves sort of, he points at everything, he is very ticklish, he flirts like a champ and he babbles up a storm. We still don't say any decipherable words just yet but we think he's close to saying a couple of things like thank you, ba-ba (bottle) and da-da. I heard a mama once but I think it was a total fluke. He walks great while holding your hand and runs all over the place with a push and walk toy. He gives five, throws his arms up in the air when you say touchdown and loves peek-a-boo. He must have a hollow leg because he can eat a plate of food that rivals mine! He loves broccoli, salmon, chicken, ravioli, cheese, eggs, waffles, any kind of fruit and most sweets. His new favorite thing is to stop and point to all the people in the photos on the wall that are hung in the staircase. He loves to point to it and look at you and then you tell him who it is. We play this game just about every time we go up or down the stairs. I can't believe he's a year already and when I look back at pictures it's hard to believe he was ever that tiny. It is so amazing to watch him grow and develop from day to day, it all happens so so fast.

Busted!

Friday while I was getting things ready for Colin's birthday party I left him hanging out in the kitchen (which is a Colin proof zone) where he spends a lot of his time. When I returned to the kitchen about 10 minutes later I discovered he had somehow made it into the pantry and everything within reach was all over the floor. There was a potato and an onion with a bite out of each laying on the floor, slobber and drool all over most everything and I'm pretty sure a few dog treats were missing from the bag. Oye! When I caught him he was so proud of himself. Usually when he is doing something bad he takes off crawling like a bolt of lightning, not this time. He stood up and clapped and squealed just as pleased as could be with his work.

Happy Birthday Colin!

Colin's 1st Birthday

Hi everyone, it's me, Colin, here. Mom says I am still too young to blog but that's what she thinks, I am a whole year old today! Today was a great birthday, I've never had one before, so I don't have anything to compare it to, but I still know it was a good one. I woke mommy up extra early to make sure to get as many hours of birthday spoiling in as possible. I usually sleep til 8 or 9, but today I was up at 6:30! Mom made me a yummy birthday breakfast of cinnamon toast waffles and bananas. She even sang and danced a silly happy birthday song while she fixed it for me. I got to play for a little while after I ate and mommy got ready for work.

Soon we were on the road and mommy and me were learning our Deutsch. Mommy always listens to these German cd's in the car and talks to herself everywhere we go, I don't mind though because I'm learning German too. We finally got to Miss Christa's house and I said goodbye to mommy for a little while. I usually get upset when mommy or daddy leaves me, but I really like Miss Christa's house and I have lots of fun there so I am ok when they leave me at her house. Later in the day mommy came from work to pick me up and we drove to meet daddy and then went to a big indoor kid playground. It was awesome! There were so many things to taste and play with. I was a little scared at first of some things, but then mommy reminded me that I'm not a baby anymore and I'm a big boy now. I played in the ball pit and on the trampoline, mommy went down the slides with me and daddy took me inside this giant bouncy caterpillar and we crawled and crawled and finally came out the other side. There were some other kids my age there too that I played with.

I had a lot of fun but all that playtime wore me out and it was very hot in there with no air conditioning. We drove home and had another German lesson (I slept through this one...ssshhhhh...dont tell mommy!) and then walked down the road to get pizza for my birthday dinner. I had yummy pizza with salami, peas and carrots and fruit cocktail for my dinner. I threw most of my peas on the floor though, I knew I could get away with it being my birthday and all. I didn't have any cake today because my big monkey cake is coming for my party on Saturday, so today I got ice cream instead. I love ice cream but sometimes its too cold and I make funny faces when I eat it. Next it was bath time. I was really tired by now and thinking maybe waking mommy up so early wasn't such a good idea after all. I was even too tired to stay in the bath very long. Daddy climbed in and helped me get all cleaned up and then I got to open one of my birthday presents. Mommy said my presents are for my party but I could open this special one tonight. I had fun opening it and wanted to see what the paper tasted like but daddy kept taking it away too fast. Finally I discovered a book inside that was a happy birthday book. It was perfect for my bedtime story and usually mommy reads to me, but tonight I got dad to read it! I had a great birthday and I can't wait for my party on Saturday, mom is really excited so I know it's gonna be good! Well guys I am really tired now and it's way past my bedtime so goodnight everyone!

Love,
Colin

Wednesday Pic Fix

Bee Sting and Dino Park

A little mid week pic fix and some last minute pics of my BABY. I really can't say that after tomorrow (though I am still calling him my baby regardless of his age). The other day he looked so cute in his red overalls playing in his ball pit with his hat on. It was scorching hot here that day so he had no shirt on underneath. He was kind of tired by the time I got around to taking the pictures so he isn't too smiley but he's still cute :)

Today was playgroup at the Dinosaur Garden Park. It is always so incredibly beautiful there. I dressed Colin up cute in hopes of getting some decent pics of him there but no luck. They were cutting the grass when we arrived and he was obsessed with the riding lawn mower. He would watch it go around and around and get all excited when it would come towards us and then whine and crawl after it when it went off the other direction. I couldnt get a decent shot of him for nothin so I gave up and decided to photograph less mobile subjects, like the flowers.

During lunch there were bees everywhere, I mean like swarms of bees but they were mainly after the food so we didn't worry about it too much. Well all of a sudden I look over at Colin and he has his arms up holding on to his sippy cup and there on the underside of his little forearm is a big ole welt and a stinger hanging out. The kid never made a peep and wasn't playing with it or anything! I have no idea how long it had been there so I calmly reached over and pulled it out and then anxiously waited to see if he was allergic to bees. This was his first bee sting so I didn't know how he'd react. He did fine, finished his juice and we went on our way.

After the park I had to go grocery shopping to buy all the food for Colin's birthday party on Saturday. We go into the commissary and I take Colin to the bathroom to change him. After we were done with the diaper changing I am strapping him into the cart (inside the store) and a bee comes flying towards Colin, lands on his ear lobe and stings him. I pulled out the second stinger for the day and this time he did cry a little. One of the managers brought me a bag of ice (which he had a ball sucking through the plastic all the way through the store) and a piece of onion for his sting. Apparently the Germans rub bee stings with onions and it's supposed to help. He only fussed for a short little minute and was back to smiling and flirting with everyone so either the onion thing works or I just have a little Rambo on my hands. He was pretty tired by this point so I had a pocket full of grapes to feed him all the way through the store. He tends to eat the grape part and spit out the peel, I am sure we left a nice grape peel trail through the commissary. LOL.

Poor kid got his first and second bee sting all in one day. At least I can cross bees off the possibly allergic to list. I'm sure I've mentioned it before that I have this ridiculous phobia of Colin being allergic to things. Mainly foods...I have known kids that are allergic to dairy, peanuts, wheat, chocolate and other various foods and it's been a fear of mine that my kid will be allergic to that stuff too and I will have to cook him special food and worry about him at school for the rest of his life. I mean seriously...how do you cook a wheat or dairy free dinner?? Not in my house! LOL

Anyway, happy day before your birthday monkey!

The flowers in our yard

Flowers

The boys were sleeping this afternoon and I went out to play with the dogs and instead wound up snapping some shots of the flowers around the yard. Lots of our flowers are blooming right now so there are plenty to take pics of.

This weekend went by too fast as usual. Shel had to work on Saturday so Colin and I went to some yard sales where he acquired a few more uneeded toys. After that we checked out the new BX "mall" they opened on base here. Huge waste of space and money. It was obviously designed and built by some high ranking people with more education that common sense and who actually get paid enough money to shop there. I mean seriously...what the hell do we need a Swarovski Crystal store for??? My favorite saying in regards to the military...if it makes sense it surely isn't going to happen. At least the food court is nice...Colin and I thoroughly enjoyed some greasy delicious fried fat, I mean fish & hushpuppies, from Captain D's. I haven't had anything like that to clog up my arteries in a while.

Sunday morning we had to get up early to meet my friend Kelly to do some family pictures. Colin turns one next week and we've yet to have any pro pics done as a family so we were long overdue. I've taken Colin's each month since he was born but it is always just him alone. We headed out to the castle ruins and got some nice outdoor shots. I can't wait to get them back and see how they turned out.

This week is just working and getting ready for Colin's party on Saturday. We are having a big birthday BBQ here at the house for him. I can't wait to see his cake, I ordered him an adorable monkey cake from a cake designer here and I know it's going to be fabulous. I still have a bunch of things to do to prepare and of course Shel is looking forward to showing off his grilling talents. He gave me a long list of grocery items to get for him to prepare his feast. The week should go by fast and before I know it my baby won't be a baby anymore. :(

Our joke of a legal system

What the hell is wrong with our justice system? Seriously!! The following is from a good friend of mine in FL. Her sister is in the process of leaving her abusive husband after years of trying to get the guts and strength to do so. She went to court yesterday and here is what money can buy you with the FL court system:

My sister got the custody evaluators report and it is not good news.

Husband got everything he wanted.

Rotating custody. Her recommendation was Wed/Thurs nights at dads, and the next week he would get Thurs - Sun. It comes to about 40% custody for him. (Which also means no child support for mom.)

So lets get this straight. In the state of FL:

You can beat your kids with plumbers line on a regular basis.

You can lock your children (under the age of 5) outside over night for punishment.

You can force your kids to drink apple cider vinegar when they have a 'sour face'.

You can choke, push, and lock your wife outside of the home in her underwear in the middle of the night.

You can spray her down w/a pressure washer in the yard when she is pregnant.. while the kids watch.

You can abaondon your wife and force your girls to stay overnight at your mistresses house with you.

You can refuse to pay the bills and refuse to pay any support.

Being a stay at home - homeschooling mom - has no value at all.

This man is and his mistress are under DCF investigation right now for leaving bruises on the behind of the 4year old.

But because he paid 15k for a custody evaluator to call him a 'devout christian' dad and he will get whatever schedule he wants.

Meanwhile my sister - without support will not have the money to pay her bills. She will live on Gov't assistance while the man who abused her and her children gets everything he wants and marries his girlfriend next month.

Please pray. Please pray that the judge will overturn the recommendations of the evaluator and grant my sister primary custody.

Landau Zoo

Landau Zoo

Playgroup today was at the Landau Zoo about 45 minutes from our house. Colin really likes the zoo and it's fun to watch him because his new thing is to point to everything. So when he finally spots the animal he points at it and talks really loud. I'm not exactly sure if he's trying to talk to the animal or trying to make sure I see it...either way it's stinkin cute! He had lots of fun kicked back in his stroller enjoying the sights.

I don't know what it is about our group and big cats but we had yet another encounter this time. In case you don't recall, the last time playgroup went to the zoo the lion stood up and walked right to the front of the cage and started roaring really loud and putting on a show. All the little kids got scared and ran to their moms. In fact, one little boy was so traumatized he asked his mom this morning if there were lions at this zoo and told her he didn't want to see them. LOL. Poor kid. So anyway here we are at the cheetah exhibit and the cheetah is laying under a tree fairly close to the cage front. All of a sudden the cheetah sits up, looks around and then charges the front of the enclosure. He was pretty ticked about something too because he was hissing and growling and the hairs on his neck were standing up. Once again the kids start hollering and clinging to mommy legs. I don't know what the big cats have against us but at least we get a show.

Garden Goodies

I finally have enough fruit from the yard to make something with. Sunday I picked several blackberries, though there are still LOADS more that aren't ready to pick yet, and lots of red currants too. Today Colin and I walked to the market and I bought stuff to bake with them. I found a recipe for German red currant pie but it isn't quite like a pie. You make something similar to a cookie dough and bake it with the fruit filling in a springform pan. I also made two small pans of blackberry cobbler. Yum!

Weekend Fun

Weekend Fun

We had a great weekend with great weather. Saturday we ran some errands and hung out and on Saturday night we had a babysitter (finally!) and Shelby and I went out to dinner in our village and then bar hopping. Finding a local babysitter has been difficult because not many people in our village speak English and my German is still pretty limited. Our friend Lena who works at the bar down the street from us has been helping us try to find someone so that we can go out here in town once in a while. She finally found us a sweet older lady named Irene (pronounced in German I-rain-uh)to watch Colin. She doesn't speak a stitch of English but we don't care, lol! Lena helped us communicate and set up for her to come visit and watch Colin. In the summer she works at the Erdbeere Hof (strawberry farm) which are very popular here (like u pick kind of places) and during the winter she cleans business and homes. This is how Lena knows her, she cleans the bar during the winter. She was great with Colin and happy to watch him. After some bad German/English communication we were off for a baby free evening, yay!

We were all set to go to our favorite restaurant here in town but found out that they (like everyone else in the village) are closed for holiday. It is not unusual for businesses to just shut down for weeks on end during the summer holiday season so they can go on vacation. The backerei (bakery) right by the house has been closed for a week or two already) and I have to walk across town to the other backerei every day to get my bread for dinner. Our favorite restaurant is closed for a whole month! We found another place that that was delicious and had some excellent steak. The steaks were no joke, HUGE! The chef/owner lady even put these cute little radish mice on our plates as garnish. After dinner we were stuffed but still had to order some strawberry ice cream sundae that was the dessert of the day. Fresh strawberries and German ice cream (blows our Bryers crap out of the ocean!)Yum!
After dinner we went to the bar where Lena works and had some drinks and then went with her to some other bars. Of course a couple were closed for holiday but we found a few to entertain us.

Sunday morning we went to the pool on base. Colin loves the pool and we are going to have to buy an annual family pass soon. There is a baby pool and a big pool, plus a huge pool for lap swimming. The big pool has a couple slides and waterfalls and a playground thing in the middle. We take toys and Colin has a blast. This time he walked (with Shel holding his hands) right to the stairs of the slide and went up them and we helped him slide down. When we put him back in the water he walked right back over to the slide again for more, lol. After the pool as soon as we put him in his seat he passes right out.

When we got home we worked in the garden for a bit watering and fertilizing. Several blackberries needed picking and also the red currants so I gathered up those to do something with. Colin played in his wagon while we worked in the yard and watched his puppies play. Later that afternoon we went on a bike ride around the village. I got several pictures of things around the town and also of the places we rode to. We went to the Steinenschloss castle ruins that are right by our house. It was so pretty and awesome to see the ruins and old stones laying around. According to the link (visit the site, copy the link and then paste it into a google translater to translate the page to english) this castle was built in the year 1024! After the ruins we took another path in a different direction and found some cool cavern things with a small waterfall. We put Colin in the creek but it was too cold for him and it made him mad. Shortly after we got there the mosquitoes found us and they were huge! We will have to take bug spray next time! The scenery and landscape here is so amazing. There are paths for bikes and pedestrians only all over the place and you stumble across the coolest things when you are on them. It's always an adventure to get out and go around here.

We came back from bike riding and put some chicken on the grill and had fresh corn on the cob, yum! Colin really liked his chicken. He is so methodical when he eats, I will have to video him one day. It was a very fun weekend.

Step by Step

Colin is starting to get the hang of this walking thing. He is still pretty wobbly and he refuses to let go and do anything on his own. He freezes up and gets scared if you let go of his hands. He is doing great with his walker as you can see and pushes it all around. I have a cannister vacuum that rolls around behind me and he thinks that is one of the greatest toys ever. He actually cries when I turn it off! LOL Yesterday while I was vacuuming he was pushing it all over the place and walking behind it. He was laughing and having a blast with it. I can only hope he still finds the vacuum cleaner this entertaining when he is actually old enough to use it! It won't be long now before he's walking on his own if he keeps practicing with his walker and with us.

Killer Colin and the tomato attack

Colin loves tomatoes. I regularly feed him heated up diced tomatoes with his dinner because he loves them. Colin was finishing his lunch and I went outside for a minute to help Shelby fix something on the J
eep. When I came back in this is what I see...



When I left him in his high chair he was not within arms reach of anything. When I came back upstairs he had moved his highchair closer to the island. He does this by throwing his body forward and backward and slamming himself against the back of the highchair seat. He has learned that this works to move the high chair little by little as long as the wheel locks aren't on. So he scooted over to the island and then helped himself to the basket of fruit and veggies sitting up there.



He was eating it like an apple when we walked in and was quite proud of himself. I just let him have it and he ate at least half the tomato before he started playing with it. I guess it's a good thing he didn't decide to try the garlic I had in the basket! LOL