Fun Family Day!

We decided to take a trip to IKEA yesterday but not the one we usually go to. We went to one in Saarlouis which is close to Ramstein Base because Ramstein has a Chili's! We spent a good 5 hours at IKEA and spent 460 Euro! We bought Kristian a new bed and storage furniture to organize the kids rooms. Seriously, I have an IKEA addiction!

After IKEA we went to Volgeweh Base and went to their BX which is like a mall compared to our little pathetic one here! We got a PS3, I got Dan a Nintendo DS for his V-Day present and he got me a new camera! We also got a tent so we can take the kids camping this summer! I think they are at a good age now.

We finally got to Chili's around 9PM after I met up with a lady for what's comparable to our Craigslist and bought the Twilight hardback set for $50! I ate my favorite Quesadilla Explosion Salad and Dan got the Fajita Trio. The kids both got nothing other than Mac & Cheese. I swear they would eat that every day if they could! Enjoy our pics! I will take pics of our IKEA purchases after everything is put together!

My little clown

The German Kindergarten is getting the kids excited about the upcoming Carnival or Fasching and have put up circus type decor throughout the school and today they painted the kids faces like clowns. Kristian was very happy about his clown face and can't wait for Carnival!

The Wonder of Falling Snow

It's amazing how something as simple as falling snow can keep the kids attention sometimes better than their cartoons can! I walked in the living room yesterday and saw them both staring out the backdoor in awe and just had to capture the moment!

New Years Resolution

I am so embarrased that I haven't posted since August! One of my resolutions this year is to keep up on my blog, not just so family and friends can keep updated but so I will have somewhat of an online family journal. I've also been thinking about starting my own personal blog but I'm taking this one step at a time! So, even though it's the 29th of January and this is my first blog of the year I want to wish everyone a Happy New Year!

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!