Our Weekend

We had a busy busy weekend! Saturday we went to Schierstein Harbour Festival. I'm pretty sure that this is now my favorite fest, so far, in Germany. Before, my favorite was Wilhelmstrassen Fest, and while I still do love that one, I like how this one is on the river. It was a very large fest with numerous food stands and a ton of rides and games for kids, as well as a market. There were also dragon boat races on the water with plenty of seating to just sit and watch in the shade.

I managed to actually take pictures this weekend! (go me)

Sunday we went to see the Dalai Lama speak. Definitely a once in a lifetime kind of experience! 

He was speaking in the park and there were thousands (maybe?) of people there. We got there quite early so we had fairly close seats but were in the sun the whole time. 

He spoke in English and then a translator translated to German. The speech was great, all about peace and unity in the world. Very humbling. 

I forgot to bring Elsie a hat.

That was our weekend! What did you do?

Our 4th of July Weekend

To sum up the weekend... It was so HOT! We spent the majority of the weekend trying to escape the heat. We don't have AC because we aren't allowed to have it in our apartment so we relied on several fans to try to keep us cool. Saturday I think it reached 100 degrees and Sunday it was like 103 I believe. Yuck.

I really felt bad for Elsie. She obviously can't yet understand what it means to be hot and she was a little fussy. I gave her cold pacifiers and a cool damp wash cloth to keep her cool. Also, nightly cool baths. Poor baby.

Needless to say she didn't wear her 4th of July outfit for very long. But it was super cute!

Saturday we had a cookout with some friends. Despite the hot weather, it was still a lot of fun! We stayed under a gazebo for shade and in the evening we had a little breeze which made it bearable.

Sunday we escaped to the mall for a few hours to get some relief. 

I failed at taking pictures of our weekend :( I blame it on the weather.

Our Anniversary Weekend

This weekend, Sunday actually, was our two year anniversary. And this week we have been together for TEN years! It's hard to believe.

Friday evening we hit up the German American Friendship Festival. Such a corny name for a festival haha. We just walked around and had some beers and apfelwein. Apfelwein is one of my favorite things about summer in Germany! It's a really sweet wine made from apples. SO yummy! We also had some fish and chips. Fun fact: Jay had never had tartar sauce. Haha

Saturday we... what did we do? Oh ya we went to a new (to us) mall nearby. I've decided it's my new favorite mall. But it is outside and it rained while we were there (of course). Jay got some new running shoes and I made my first purchase at Zara and got Elsie this jacket for the fall. I got a size larger than what she will probably be in the fall but just in case she needs to wear several layers, it won't be too tight.

Then Sunday, our actual anniversary day, I got to sleep in! Jay thinks I'm weird because I only slept until like 8:30 and that is "sleeping in" to me now haha. Then he made me a yummy breakfast of pancakes, eggs, and bacon. We pretty much just hung out around the house most of the day but did end up going back down to the festival for a drink and to walk around a bit just to get out of the house. There was live music but the guy singing was not very good at all. And for dinner... Jay once again cooked and it was a surprise so I wasn't allowed in the kitchen all afternoon. He ended up making chicken and dumplings and a salad. It was really good and sweet of him!

Jay got me new kitchen towels that I've been wanting, since the other day I realized at least 50% of our kitchen towels are Christmas themed. Also, the traditional gift for a two year anniversary is cotton. Two birds with one stone. 

And what would a blog post be without a picture of this babe. 

First Father's Day

Yesterday was Jays first Father's Day. He's not really big on holidays so I didn't go crazy with plans for the day. He is also recovering from corrective eye surgery so we couldn't do much outside. 

Elsie and I made him a stepping stone sort of thing and also got him a grill brush. 

The stone is made with:
1 cup flour
1 cup salt
1/2 cup water
Kneed it with your hands until it forms a dough. Then you can make it whatever size and shape you want. To set it, bake at 200 degrees for about 3 hours. She wasn't a huge fan of having her hand and foot pressed into it haha but I think it turned out alright.  When it's done you can paint it or have your child paint it. I think it would be cool to make again when she's older. Or maybe even for a few years in a row as she grows. We could seal them and then put them in our garden one day :) 

Some pictures of Elsie from yesterday.

That mean mug lol 

(Sadly, I didn't get a picture of Jay and Elsie together)

Our Weekend!

We had plans of going down to the Wilhelmstrassenfest both Friday and Saturday this past weekend but come dinnertime on Friday the clouds were looking rather ominous. If it were just the two of us walking down we would have went but we just couldn't chance getting stuck in a storm with Elsie so we ended up just grabbing fast food and hanging out at home. (It never did really end up raining, just some wind)

Saturday we were invited to celebrate a friend's birthday and we had a really great time!  It's always nice to hang out with friends who also have babies because they just understand haha. We had a yummy lunch and then we all walked down to the festival together. The weather was great! It was so crazy busy which is challenging with a stroller but we still had a good time. I even had my very first churros  (i think) and wow. I need more!

We were able to get our picture taken by a friend of a friend who happens to be a photographer and it turned out so nice! Check her out here. I'll definitely be looking to get more pictures taken by her in the future! :)

We stayed out pretty late Saturday night so Sunday we just ran some errands, cleaned up for the week, and relaxed. Elsie was really tired all day from her late night out and took a few really long naps which was nice because she was otherwise kind of cranky.  

I'm not sure if it was the lack of sleep or the teething or the wonder week or what though because she's also kind of cranky today. Silly baby!

And I just have to post this picture of her in her jumper because she LOVES  it! Even though only one foot touches the floor at a time haha.

My First Mother's Day

I had sort of been looking forward to my first Mothers Day for a couple of weeks. I had a picture in my mind of what I might get from my husband (jewelry, flowers, etc)for being the best mom I could be the past two months.  But it turned out way different than I had imagined.

My husband spent the whole weekend cleaning and doing laundry so I didn't have to. He also took over caring for Elsie all day Sunday so I could just do whatever I wanted. It was a great feeling! 

We also went to the apple blossom festival in Naurod for a few hours. Had a few beers.  Watched the parade.

Then we came home and my husband did all the grocery shopping for the week.  He also grilled dinner and some extra meat for the week while I played with Elsie in the grass. 

Then, as if that wasn't enough,  he secretly made me chocolate covered strawberries and bananas with ice cream whole I watched tv. He gave me that with my mother's day card. 

It was a great day!  I am so thankful for him and our sweet baby girl!