Fair days are here again

Alright, so I know that this isn't a big trip (not a trip at all really) but I wanted to write about a little adventure we had close to home.  We returned to America just in time for my favorite time of year: fair season in New England.  The air is cooler, the leaves are starting to turn and towns all over start to hold their fairs.

  Today we went to a very local fair.  It is not particularly agricultural but it does have some fun rides for the kids and the price was very reasonable.  Plus we went with family; we met Nana, Greg and his four kids and we toured the fair grounds together.  Naturally the rides were a big hit.  Neither Will nor Jon is afraid of anything although they both love to scream on the little roller coasters.  I foolishly agreed to go on a spinning ride with the kids because I thought it might be too scary for Jon.  He was perfectly fine but it made me a little sick.

Will on a dragon coaster

Jon flying on the swing ride

Flying!

Jon and Brandon on a spinning ride

Riley, Mackenzie and Will on the spinning ride

Will on a bus

Mackenzie and Jon on a little coaster.

 Jon's favorite ride was the bumper cars.  The boys weren't allowed to drive but Jon helped by directing me towards the best cars to hit.  Will and Nana were in the other car and they were our primary target.  The fun houses were also another favorite with both boys.  The price we paid to get into the fair also covered all the rides which worked out well because the kids went in the fun houses over and over and over... Honestly, it was a nice little break for the adults since we could just sit back and watch.  

Mommy and Jon

Nana and Will

Crash!

Jon on his favorite fun house

  At one point we ran into these cutouts.  We spent two weeks in Germany but it takes coming home to America to get Will into Lederhosen!

Will in Lederhosen

German children

Daddy and Will

   The boys also played a couple of fairground games.  Nana took the boys fishing and they both won a snake!

Will fishing

Will caught a fish!!

Jon goes fishing while Will gets kisses

Jon fishing

Boys with their snakes

  Our last ride of the day was the Ferris Wheel.  Will, Mackenzie and I went up in one car and James took Jon and Riley in the other.  As you can see from the pictures, my car was very silly. Mackenzie and Will would scream every time the Ferris Wheel stopped and I just hope that we were high enough up that no one heard us.  But we also did a lot of calling to the other car and even a little singing.

Jon, Daddy and Riley

Mackenzie and Will on the Ferris Wheel

Teasing the other car

Singing on the Ferris Wheel

   We had a wonderful day at the fair and the weather was absolutely perfect.  I love this time of year!  Our next two weekends both include fairs so we are going to make the most of this season. 

Saying goodbye to Nana

Thanks for reading!  Goodnight!

Day 16 - Auf Wiedersehen!

  We are home!  This was an amazing trip but it is so good to be back home.  It surprises me sometimes how much I miss the little things; my own bed, the sounds and silences of our neighborhood, familiar food in the fridge, wide roads, etc.

  Our last day was uneventful.  I packed while the boys took a bath (their third in 18 hours!) in the hotel's deep tub.  We ate our last German meal in the airport (overpriced and not that great) and boarded our flight with no problems.  Will and Jon both have their own carry on backpacks and this year they had a Thomas the Train suitcase for their clothes.  They were in charge of it until we checked the bags, a responsibility that they took very seriously.

  While we were waiting for our flight, Will saw another girl that he wanted to marry.  I didn't see her but apparently she was wearing pink and was his age or a little younger.  We talked for a minute about her and then Will said, "If we get married in not a long time then we would have very very very tiny babies."

  Our flight home was very long but not too stressful.  The boys are really excellent travelers, even when they are tired.  We've been taking them on plane trips since they were one and two years old and it is so much easier now that they are four and five!

  Getting through customs was pretty easy although by that time James and I were very tired.  Will and Jon who had been wonderful on the plane suddenly had tons of manic energy.  Will was talking non stop and at one point he asked me, "What is gravity made out of?".  A couple of women in line ahead of us started laughing and one said that she was glad she didn't have to answer that question!  But both boys fell asleep as soon as we got in the car.

  We had such a wonderful time on trip to Germany.  Thank you for reading and for sharing in our adventures.

Auf Wiedersehen!  Goodnight!

Day 15 - Munich Zoo

  Today was our last full day in Germany!  We have had a great time here but we are all ready to go home.  The longer I’m away the more I miss America.  Not just my home and family but my country and my culture.  At first Germany doesn't seem that different but the little things are starting to get to me.  The boys miss home too.  We've been talking about all the people they want to see and the other day Will told me about all the food he wants when we get back to America.

  But I should get back to today.  We had a couple of hours to kill before we could check into our hotel so we decided to go to the Munich zoo.  My first impression was not great.  The first few exhibits were practically empty and very Spartan.  And then we hit the ape house.  At the Gorilla exhibit Will and Jon ended up sitting very close to a large Silverback Gorilla.  The Silverback ignored everyone except for a little 18 month old girl that he was fascinated by.  The other Gorilla’s were moving around too and they were fun to watch.

Will sits by a Silverback Gorilla

Will copies the statue

Jon plays with the Gorilla statue

lunch time!

    We saw some other active primates as well.  James and Jon were looking at the mandrills when one ran up to Jon and started scratching the glass trying to get at him.  Jon backed away at first but when he walked back to the glass the mandrill tried to attack again.  Thank goodness for strong glass!

Mean Mandrill

Will points out a ring tailed lemur.

  

  Then we came to the Orangutans.  I have never seen such active animals in any zoo!  It was incredible!  They were swinging and tumbling and clowning around all over their enclosure.  Will and Jon could not stop laughing.  The biggest Orangutan was a huge male named Bruno and he would slowly walk around in a big circle while one of two smaller apes rolled around and played in front of him.  We have some great video that I will hopefully be able to post soon.  We watched them for over half an hour, laughing the entire time.

Bruno

Bruno watches a younger Orangutan

Orangutan family

   After that, the other exhibits that we saw were pretty cool.  We had spent so much time in the ape house that we didn't have time to see the whole zoo but we did make sure to stop by and see the bats before we left.  Will loves bats so he was very excited.  I was expecting to see them behind glass but when we walked into the darkened room the little fruit bats were swooping around above our heads.  They came so close to us that I could feel wind in my hair as they flew by.  Jon was a little nervous at first but Will was in heaven.  

Alligator or Crocodile?  I couldn't read the German.

Smile, smile crocodile

Jon's picture of the Flamingos

Will makes a new friend

The aquarium

Fun with a stone lion

   
  After a rest in our hotel (and a bath for the boys) we went to downtown Munich for dinner at the Hofbrauhaus.  There was a hometown soccer game that night so the streets and the restaurant were very crowded.  It was very late by the time we got our meal but the food was delicious.  The Hofbrauhaus is James' favorite place to eat in Munich and his family has been going there for years so I was glad we could show it to the boys.  It was a great way to end our last day in Germany.

Tomorrow we come home!!

Auf Wiedersehen!

Day 14 - Ehrenberg Castle

  We just saw the most amazing castle ruins!  I know, I said that Baden-Baden was the best but I was wrong.  Today we took the boys to Austria to hike to the Ehrenberg Castle ruins.  James and I ran across this place seven years ago and we loved it and dreamed about bringing our kids one day.  And today we did!!  On our way in to Ehrenberg we got to cross over a little drawbridge and the boys found this prisoner's cage in the entry way.

Charge!

Will on the drawbridge

Boys locked in a cage

Locking up Mommy

  

  There have been some changes to the area since we first saw it.  They now have a museum and a fantastic playground which the boys loved.  The playground has an obstacle course made as if you were storming a castle, a high tower, a river bridge and even a dragon.  It was hard to drag the boys away!

Jon in the tower

Will on the bridge.  He got halfway across
and then decided to swim.

Will in the tower

Jon on the dragon

Boys on the playground

Jon in the tunnel

   We finally convinced Will and Jon to come away from the playground and we started up the hill to the castle ruins.  There are actually three castles in the area but we didn't have time to do them all so we stuck to the Ehrenberg ruins.  It was about a thirty minute walk up a very steep but small mountain.  Along the way were signs in German and English telling stories of various monsters and legends.  It was a great reason to stop and take a breath.  We were tired by the time we got to the top but it was worth it!  

Sir William in his Knight pose

The hike to the castle

Almost at the commons gate!

In the ruined commons, down the hill from the castle.

Ehrenberg Castle Ruins

Mommy and sons on the path to the castle

The castle gate

Jon runs to the castle gate

  Ehrenberg is my favorite castle by far.  The ruins are wild and it feels like there is adventure around every corner.  The only caution is that it isn't very safe.  The steps are cracked and crumbling and there is a steep drop down the cliff if you aren't careful.  To be honest, that is partly why I love it so much, even though it meant we had to keep a very firm grip on our boys.  But they are putting in some safety measures so some of the more dangerous drops are blocked by a metal railing.  And there was a ladder leading to a high window where we were able to have a snack and enjoy the view.

Jon in the ruins

Will enjoys the view

Mommy's silly boys

climbing up

climbing down

low arch to our snack spot

Our snack time view

Will and Jon investigate

Climbing the castle

Will on the wall

   There was so much to explore!  Poor Jon wanted to race ahead and see what was around every bend.  The castle is crumbling so there were not many defined or recognizable rooms.  But our imaginations conjured up lots of knights and dragons.  We even saw two dragons (little planes) fly overhead!  Luckily they must have just eaten because they did not attack us.

  The Ehrenberg museum had put up some informational signs although most of them were in German.  We did, however, discover that the original castle was built in the 1290s.  (How did they get all that stone up that steep mountain?!?)  There was also an audio tour which we neglected to purchase.  It wouldn't have helped anyway because we were too busy chasing the boys around the castle!

Jon takes a break on the steps

crumbling walls

Jon looks out over the valley

Exploring the overgrown ruins

Will in the ruins

Daddy, Will and Jon in the ruins

running to the tower

Jon pretends to be camouflaged 

Will the giant

  After we explored the bulk of the castle we came to a little yard with a great view of the other side of the castle.  In one corner the boys found a rock with a sword hilt buried in it.  The boys pulled and pulled but the sword was designed so you could only pull it out partway.  So Jon took his own sword, stuck it in the hole, pulled it out and proclaimed himself the true king.  They had so much fun!  

  There was also an archway with stone steps leading down to a steep hill.  There was a thin little path that took me to a tiny corner of crumbling wall with a view over the valley.  This part was pretty dangerous (and steep enough that I had to climb back up with my hands!) so James stayed up in the yard with the boys.  It was so nice to be alone in the wild ruin and to have found this little place that was, for that moment, all mine.

Me in my quiet spot

Jon pulling out his sword

Will wants to be King

Who will be the true king?

Ehrenberg castle from the little yard

Mommy's boys

  After a couple of hours in the ruins we climbed down and visited the museum.  The first room had armor that you could actually try on and this was a great source of amusement for all of us.  The rest of the museum was very cool and was well designed for kids.  And of course we had to stop at the playground again before heading home.  

Jon tries to get his helmet off

Jon in armor

Bethany in armor

Will wears a helmet

Will in armor

Will in chain mail

  

  
  We ended our last day in Grainau at the pool.  And this time I took (blurry) pictures!  It is so nice to relax in a warm pool after a day of strenuous hiking.  Once again we closed out the pool.

The big inside pool

The whirlpool.  It is dark because I took this after the pool closed.

The little kids pool

Jon swimming

Jon on the slide

Will swiming

Auf Wiedersehen!