Wittlich Pig Fest

Wittlich (pronounced with a "V") is about 20 minutes down the Autobahn from us and every August they have Pig Fest. Here's an explanation of the festival that I found:

According to legend, Wittlich was once a walled fortress constantly under attack by invaders. One evening, a guard in charge of locking the gate to the besieged town could not find the peg to secure the fortified door. All he could find was a large carrot to wedge in the door. Later, a pig ate the carrot, the gate opened and the enemy came in. After the enemy ransacked the town, the angry townspeople herded every pig into the town’s market square and roasted them. Since then, the town of Wittlich has been known as the town of the pig burners. Once a year, the community of Wittlich holds an annual festival that attracts thousands of visitors.

We got there right as the parade was starting and then walked around checking everything out. We stopped by a booth to get some candy, I have never seen so much gummy candy in my life! The pig roasting freaked me out a little, the kids didn't get it at all, lol. It was really warm and we saw some German kids playing in a water fountain so I figured, why not, and let Kristian splash around for a while. Enjoy the pics!

Day at Ramstein & Hooters!

We took a day trip with our friends down to Ramstein Base which is about an hour and a half from here. Their BX is a mall compared to our pathetic one here! They actually have a Chili's on base so we had lunch there and then did some shopping, of course! Before we went home we stopped at Hooters which is the first one in Germany! We had a great time and Kristian even got up on the chair to dance with the Hooters girls! All in all, it was a fun day!

Trier Trip

We took a train trip to Trier while Christina was here. It's only like a 20-30 minute drive from us but the kids love taking the train. We had a great time and I think the kids were able to enjoy it a little more than they did last time we were there. We, of course, had to get some Italian ice cream but I didn't get any pictures this time. Enjoy the pictures!

Manderscheid Castle

Here is the other castle we went to, it is about 40 minutes from our house. It used to be a complete castle but is now ruins but it is still very cool! Kristian got car sick on the way there so we didn't spend a whole lot of time but I was still able to get in some good pictures!

Rittersdorf Castle

Dan's sister, Christina came to visit and we spent a day checking out some local castles. (How cool is that to say?!) The first castle we went to is about a ten minute drive from our house, it's a small castle but a castle nonetheless! It even has a moat that goes all the way around it! Kristian found out we were going and insisted on bringing his sword so he could be the kinght of the castle! I will be posting the other castle we went to seperately!

Eifel Park

This is an amusement park of sorts about 5 minutes from our house. We got season passes (Apr-Sep) back in April and have gone a few times. We decided to go to celebrate Eliza's birthday since Dan had to work the day of. The kids had a blast, as usual, and I got some pretty good shots throughout the day! I'll be adding Picasa album links so keep a look-out!

Eliza's 2 Year Pictures

Our good friend Dani bought this outfit for Eliza's birthday and I knew that she would wear it for her pictures! Our friend Valerie took me & Eliza down to Trier and we had some pictures in front of the Roman baths and the others in front of the "Pink Palace". The pictures turned out incredible, I just can't believe my baby is 2!

Eliza's Birthday Party!

I can't believe my baby is 2! We had a Little Einsteins birthday for Eliza and we set up a baby pool and sprinkler ball in the backyard. The day was beautiful and everything went really well! Even my attempt at a Rocket cake went better than I expected! Within 30 minutes of everyone leaving it was pouring down rain, I couldn't believe it! Eliza had a great time, loves all of her presents and was able to cover herself in cake frosting! All in all it was a great day!

Disneyland Paris

One more Disney park checked off! We never thought we would ever really go to Disneyland Paris even though we wanted to. We had fun but it wasn't the Disney experience we've come to know and love. I'm sure we'll go back again but we'll be more prepared this time around and we'll definitely go during a different time of the year. I do love seeing all the differences in the different parks and seeing the attractions that are exclusive to that particular park. For instance, under the castle they have a dragon's lair with an animatronic dragon that really moves! It's incredible! Also, their Haunted Mansion is called Phantom Manor and has more of an Old West feel than a deep south mansion. Their Space Mountain actually goes upside down about 3 times! But, I do love the comfort of having rides exactly as I know them like Peter Pan and Snow White! Anyway, the kids had a blast and even though we won't be going back anytime soon, we will go back eventually! We were able to drive into Paris our last day there and grab a shot of the Eifel Tower before getting lost for 3 hours (no kidding). Take a look at my Picasa Album and look at ALL the pictures we took! Enjoy!