Another ... Wine Festival

Ahh ... it's the wine season. That means wine festivals, walks through vineyards and wine ... oh what a joyous season!

Last weekend we joined forces with our friends, the Wagner's and carpooled to the wine festival in Bad Durkheim. Bad Durkheim is home to one of the largest wine festivals in Europe ... think a huge fair and a lot of wine.

The kids enjoyed an afternoon of rides while we enjoyed an afternoon of wine and food. We decided to stop in our favorite wine village on the way home, Saint Martin, but unfortunately the weinguts were closing up shop. We were in for another pleasant surprise though! ...

Daddy and Kelty at the start of our day

A full glass of wine .... this was so far beyond my tolerance level. Fortunately Al and Jeremy took one for the team and helped me finish my "glass of wine". Apparently Germans don't mess around with serving sizes!

We wrapped up our afternoon with a stroll and wound up in a great place for the kids to run, play and tackle each other.

This was our little surprise for the day! As we were driving through the German wine route to Saint Martin we stumbled upon a glorious site ... in the midst of the vineyards was a small section where you could pick your own grapes and pay "on your honor". A-W-E-S-O-M-E! Now, these are table grapes (tafel trauben) ... not wine grapes. Regardless, it was so cool picking our own grapes!

Don't ask. I didn't have to pee and ... well, who knows what face I'm making ... but this was the only photo Al took of me holding/picking grapes. Sigh ... I didn't really get the photogenic gene in the family.

Did I mention that I love this time of year in Germany!?

Possibly the Coolest Thing EVER ....

A few weekends ago we took a day-trip to Bernkastel-Kues for their Wine Festival; while we were there I think we could have possibly found the COOLEST thing EVER!

We arrived just in time to catch the artisan parade, i.e., the parade showcasing each of the local wineries. As each group walked by they generously poured wine into small glasses that the spectators had around their necks ... and each person in the parade had these beauties dangling from their necks as well ... filled with wine! Whoa, sweet!

See? See the cool wine halter? Oh ... and Al's beer glass.

Al wanted "in" on the wine samples so he shamelessly found a beer stand, bought a beer, poured the beer into Kelty's sippy cup and proudly held the BEER glass out for wine ... (I was so embarassed)! Promptly after the parade we headed down to the Alstadt (Old City) to purchase "wine halters" of our own! Whoot! We are now proud owners of our own wine halters ... and look what you can do .............

Mmmm, you can stand and drink by your flower boxes while wearing your wine halter
(but you must have the other hand held daintily in the air) ....

You can vacuum like a happy little housewife while wearing your wine halter ...

You can wash your car while wearing your wine halter ...

You can water your plants while wearing your wine halter ....

What would YOU do while wearing your wine halter?

Home Sweet Home

We just returned from a 2 1/2 week visit back to Michigan to visit my mom and dad (Nana and Papa to Kelty)! Oh, what a fabulous trip! Al was on a training TDY for the entire month of August so I made plans to visit my parents. I braved an 8 1/2 hour flight ... alone with my toddler ... and despite the in-flight entertainment system being BROKEN, we managed really well! I have to admit that I was a little proud of myself for pulling it off!

This was my first extended trip back "home" during the summer since, well ... I think our wedding 12 years ago! It was as beautiful and comforting as I remember it growing up and it was truly a beautiful thing watching Kelty enjoy "home" the way I enjoyed it when I was little ...

We spent most of our time outside and Kelty used this time to release a lot of energy!

We went dinosaur hunting in the woods with Papa on the Mule ...

Our exploration led us to the lake where Kelty played in the water ...

Kelty spent HOURS driving the John Deere around the property ... this awesome little vehicle has been through most of the grandkids! Kelty collected branches, acorns and moss ...

We played in the ball pit ...

Raced the John Deere and the electric scooter ...

Hopped on Papa's BMW motorcycle ...

Drove the golf cart ...

Fed the bunnies with Nana ...

Drove the tractor ...

Went hunting for acorns with Nana ...

Took adventures on the Mule ...

Went to the Circus ...

Made Nana and Papa very happy ...

Fed the birds ...

Played with bubbles ...

We laughed ...

Visited Kelty's cousins ...

Cut the grass ...

Played in the bounce house ...

Played in the woods ...

Had fun with Nana and Papa ...

Made some very special memories ...

Oh! And finally Al made it up to visit ...

and as we always do when we visit home ... we shot guns! Don't mess with Momma!

In hindsight, I should have blogged along the way so I could share all the beautiful details behind the photos ... but, I didn't. Another lesson learned for next time!

Thank you Mom and Dad for an absolutely beautiful visit, it couldn't have been any better. Thank you for giving us the gift of very loving home and the ability to share that gift with our children ... there is nothing more precious.

What Parents REALLY Do During Naptime ...

Play with PhotoBooth!

Papa

Nana

Me!

NO Diaper ... Ok, If You Say So!

Until this morning, I hadn't started potty training Kelty yet. He has been showing interest for a while but I didn't want to make any dedicated efforts until we were done traveling and were back in a routine. Kelty apparently had his own agenda ...

This morning we were watching cartoons; I was sipping my coffee and Kelty was on the couch next to me ... he gets up, says "pee" and walks into the bathroom ... I follow him and watch as he pulls of his diaper and pee's in the the potty. Whoop! That happens occasionally so I wasn't too shocked ... the shocking part came next! I said, "Let me get you a diaper" and he throws out his hand and says "No, Die" (no, diaper). Oh, ok! I explained that if he wasn't wearing a diaper then he had to go to the big boy potty when he had to pee ... he agreed.

So we went back to our cartoon and about 10 minutes later he gets up, walks to the potty, pulls down his pants ... and pee's! Whoa! Ok, now I'm taking him seriously.

We go back to the cartoon ... I decided to set the timer so we can go back to the potty in 10-15 minutes and then I promplty raced to the computer to look up printable "potty reward charts" ... I was SO not prepared to start potty training! As I'm on the computer I see Kelty get up and head to the bathroom ... I get up to follow and he puts out his hands and says, "No, me!". The little dude wanted to do it by himself! What! He went pee, emptied the potty, flushed (and said "bye pee"), washed his hands and left the bathroom. Ummm ... so I'm totally floored. Kelty went pee in the potty all day long with no prompting, no timer, no encouragement and had no accidents ... he just got up and went. We celebrated each of his achievements with cheering and clapping and "knuckles".

I put him in a diaper to run to the grocery store ... no way in heck I was going to risk that on Day 1! He did go in his diaper while we were out but once we got home and his real undies went back on ... he was back to business!

I'm not sure if this is a fluke but I'm going to run with it ... there is no way potty training is going to be this easy with him, right!? Wish us luck because I guess we just started potty training!

Riding The Open Road

I'm not sure why this moment with Kelty seemed like such a momentous moment, but it did. Today Kelty rode his bike about 3/4 of a mile, on a quiet dirt path, up and down little hills to visit the deer. He was quite the sight to behold ... chugging along on his Radio Flyer Tricycle, sporting his helmet and sunglasses ... on a mission he was ... and he wouldn't let mommy help when his little legs got tired. I think he was out to show me he could do this on his own ....

The beginning of our little bicycle journey. I toted Kelty down to the path in the "Kelty Carrier" and carried his bike ... I was feeling a little out of shape! Yikes! When we reached the path we strapped on his helmet and hit the road ...

He rode his bike about a 1/2 mile to visit the deer ....

I thought this was so cute ... when he got off his bike to visit the deer he took of his sunglasses and rested them on his bike handles ...

Continuing our journey ....

When he got tired, he refused to let me push him or the bike. He insisted on pushing the bike along the path until he was ready to go again ...

That's my 2 1/2 year old little boy .... who doesn't seem so little anymore.

Felt Tot Wallet!

Kelty has been holding interest in wallets, purses man bags, ID's, and $ for a while now. In fact, every time we drive to the base Kelty must present his IKEA Card ID Card to the guard and promptly salute. It was painfully apparent ... it was time for Kelty to have his own wallet.

So ... I set out to create my own tot wallet, because that's what I do! I couldn't get the vision of a little "peek-a-boo" monster out of my head so the little Money Monster made his debut. The wallet is a really simple design and I think I'll tweak it a bit here and there if I make more, but for a "1st try" I'm pretty happy with it ... and most importantly, so is Kelty!

Open at your own risk!

This seriously makes me laugh. It's as if this little googly-eyed monster is saying,
"Ahh, take it all ... take all you want!"

There is one long pocket for the "bills" and two pockets for cards/ID's. I considered a coin pocket but opted not to include it as I don't feel comfortable with Kelty and coins.

Who could be afraid of a cute face like this? Poor little monster can't even see straight.

If you want a tutorial just let me know .... it's even easier than the Felt Travel Mat! Promise!

I'm linking this to ...


Brown Paper Packages (Friday Favorites)
Someday Crafts ( Whatever Goes Wednesday)
Keeping It Simple (Motivate Me Monday)
Sumo's Sweet Stuff (Market Yourself Monday)
Lucky Star Lane (Lucky Linky Tuesday)