Geht's Schloss!

hee hee- I made a play on words- in German! ;)

"Geht's los" mean's "let's go." And a Schloss is a castle. Okay, I'm a dork.

We've been bumming around some "local" castles lately. We took the kids up to Offenbach one Saturday and took a walk along the Main River. While there, we also saw the Schloss below. I think it's apartments or something now. Not terribly exciting. But those kids are CUTE, huh? :)

This evening we went into downtown Darmstadt for the Schloss Graben Fest. There are many, many fests in Germany. This is an outdoor music festival with about 100 bands performing over 4 days. They usually have about 400,000 people attend and there is a LOT of beer. And a lot of food. And we had a good time. Apparently we missed Right Said Fred (of "I'm too sexy" fame-- they performed on Thursday night. Serious bummer, right?)

Rob and I think this is the best band we heard. They are called Mr. Virgin and His Love Army... which is just kinda lame. But the music was fun- very 80's alternative rock/pop sounding.

Charlotte and Rob checking out the scene.

Toby and I after eating some yummy Indian food.

Afterwards we hung out in the Schloss gardens and listened to this drum group near the statue of young Goethe. (I don't know why he's naked, and pink. Well the pink is probably graffiti.) Charlotte and Toby really preferred this quieter, more laid back atmosphere. So much in fact, that Charlotte decided to join the performance.

I cannot begin to explain the video below. Charlotte LOVES to dance. She hears a beat, and her body moves. I have honestly never seen it move like this before, but we don't usually listen to this style of music, so who knows. I've said it a million times-- where did this girl come from?

Moving to the beat of her own drum.

kiddo update time

Toby

Toby cracks us up. He is becoming a boy and is going non-stop all the time! So far this morning he has emptied a water pitcher on the floor, sat on his sister, gotten himself dressed (over top of his jammies,) and cooked me (pretend) breakfast.

He has successfully peed on the potty-- once. We jokingly call him Mr. Hygiene because he wants to brush his teeth 10 times a day, loves to have his hair blow dried, and take baths. He copies everything that Charlotte does and thinks she is the coolest person on the planet.

He is the sweetest little boy I have ever met-- he adores babies and wants to share with them. He gives Charlotte kisses goodnight every night (that she will let him.) He tucks in his baby doll, Lisa, so carefully at bedtime. He wants to hold my hand when he feels a little nervous in new situations.

He also loves going on walks, trying to ride his bike, and collecting rocks. He has started saying things like "Dude!" and "Geez!" He is really into tools-- even if the tool is a fork. Dinnertime is very long now that he insists on using his fork to poke each individual pea with it, and refuses to use his fingers. And while he is kind of a picky eater, he will eat anything that is shaped like a "ball" including brussel sprouts. Rob and I joke about using the melon baller on every food item from now on. :)

Charlotte

Charlotte is our wild girl! She isn't afraid of anything. She tells me every day now that she isn't a baby anymore and she is a big girl. And it's true! We can't believe how tall and leggy she is looking these days.

She really likes having a little brother and (usually) puts up well with Toby and shares with him. She loves to play outside and with friends. Last night she brought me home (from a walk with Rob) a whole armful of pine cones "to make Christmas ornaments" (an activity we did last December that she really liked.)

Charlotte loves anything girlie, or fancy, or princess related. She loves to run, and jump, and especially laugh. She asks us to tickle her almost daily, and asks Rob for "tickle kisses" before bed at night. She tells me all the time that she is really funny and clever... and I have to agree. :)

She starts German Kindergarten in August. And I think she will really love that. It is just 2 doors down from our house and she will be there for half days, every day. It is going to be a new adventure for her and she can't wait to get started.

Rheinfels

On Saturday we made a daytrip to Rheinfels Castle in St. Goar. (It's just over an hour away.) The day was kinda chilly and overcast-- which is really perfect for tromping around an old ruinous castle, I think. The ruins are massive, and apparently the place used to be 5 times bigger than what is left there now.

Only a few steps remain in this tower. Charlotte decided she was the princess since they didn't already have one. And she talked non-stop the entire day about how the castle was broken and somebody should "bix it."

I love this little man.

That's all. No other comments required. ;)

The Rick Steves book describes the ruins as a "dead pit bull." I guess because it was big, and scary, and stuff, but now is just a shell??

They have a lot of tunnels at Rheinfels. We didn't go into the underground ones, but this was one interior tunnel. They dug them and filled them with gunpowder (at some point in history) so that they could blow up any invaders or defend against the French attacks that sometimes occurred.

This area is near the underground tunnels that you can explore. But it is muddy and dark, and not really our cup of tea.

The beautiful Rhein, and many more castles to explore.

On the way home we stopped at IKEA to buy some shelving and left Charlotte in "Smaland" for the first time. (Their in-house daycare for 3-7 year olds.) I was nervous. After all, everyone else speaks German there and she isn't usually left with strangers. But, of course, she loved it. When we came to get her an hour later she was watching UP (in German) and refused to leave. I had to go in and get her. Seriously, where did she come from?!? She is so different from Rob and I! But we adore her and I really admire her outgoing, ready-for-anything personality. She's amazing. :)

fun and games

A little over a week ago we took the kids to the Darmstadter Messe. It's a local thing, very similar to the West End Fireman's Carnival I grew up going to each summer. The kids rode a few rides, we browsed the stands, and had a hot dog (bratwurst) and french fries. It was a fun little family outing. (We didn't go on the grown-up rides because they looked seriously lacking in safety measures-- even these kiddie rides had NO SEATBELTS.)

Also, last night, Rob's Elders quorum (Elder is an office of the Priesthood in our religion) hosted a family bowling night at a local bowling alley. We had a great time being silly with some of our friends. And I was amazed how smoothly everything went considering how many babies and toddlers were there.

"Don't touch the buttons!"

I don't know how many times we said that. Of course, the controls were in German, but thankfully some of the guys actually speak German. (We did find in the options 'English' and 'American' languages listed. lol)

William Blacoe and Benjamin and Anouk Woite.

Zed and Anton.

Toby was the youngest bowler, and he LOVED it.

After every turn he'd say "MORE!"

McKenna and Josef.

Harmony and her boys.

Yup, I bowled too. ;)

Charlotte just loves Anton.

(Whether he likes it or not. Though, usually he does.)

Finally, we spotted this car on our drive home.

In Germany the first letter or two is for the Gemeinde (or city area), and then the others are random. We play the license plate game a lot on our drives-- looking for familiar words or abbreviations. Rob has been looking for a WTF plate for nearly 2 years, and when he spotted it we just happened to have the camera with us. hee hee