Now that its August...

Yes...now that its August I thought I'd better write about the 4th of July this year.  I figure we can always use a reminder of America's Independence Day.  Right?

So, our family...we spent the 2nd, 3rd and 4th of July in Garmisch, Germany at the Edelweiss Resort and Lodge.  Its a beautiful hotel set next to the Army base and they had a bunch of great special events planned for that weekend.  They all kinds of kid-friendly activities that Eric and Bella could hardly wait to see...

The day started with the Eric and Bella having the chance to try the bungee trampolines...

Then we went to the shooting range...where I actually scored 3 out of 4 shots.  (the SAME as my expert shooter husband!  Woot!)

Eric had a blast on this giant bouncy slide...it reminded me of our family reunion...only no water or swimsuits...or broken bones.  :)

Meanwhile, John and I looked on and just enjoyed watching the kids play play play....

And then the evening rolled around and we went to the "Traditional Bavarian show" that was playing in the conference center.  It was really cool.

Just a sampling of videos of traditional Bavarian activities...I'm glad I don't consider these blase' yet!

We started it off with the traditional German Long Horns.  They are so beautiful sounding.  I was surprised at the tone of these horns...I don't know what I expected, but it wasn't this!



Then they had two couples that did a traditional Bavarian dance.  I love the guy's part in this.  The girls just pony and twirl...boring.  And yes, the boys are wearing half sock things...apparently that is traditional wear. 



Then, of course, its not traditional Bavarian without the cow bell music.  (sorry if the sarcasm was too much.)  I found this lady quite talented, but she was extremely obsessed with the placement of her bells.  I cut out the footage where she moves them 1/2 centimeter to the right and left over and over again...but I guess if you have to play the cow bells you gotta do what you gotta do to make it work for you...



Last, but not least...and my FAVORITE part of the show was the yodeling guy.  I loved this.  Love. Love. Love.  I want to learn to yodel.



When the show was over it was time for the fireworks.  You may not know this about me, but I LOVE fireworks.  Its my favorite part of any 4th of July.  I nearly divorced my husband over missing the fireworks one year not so long ago...  In fact, let me just share you this side story...I think you can appreciate it like I do now.  July 4, 2008 and we were in Ft. Huachuca, Arizona.  I was pregnant with Bella and we were living in the guest housing and sleeping on the most uncomfortable beds ever made on the 3rd floor (with no elevator) of basically what would be considered barracks housing.

I wanted to see the fireworks.  John did not.  He promised me we'd be able to see them from the common room window.  So we cooked some dinner and then started to play Phase 10.  It was the worst game of Phase 10 ever.  John repeatedly killed me...and soon he was on Phase 8 and I was on Phase 2 when I caught him trying to LET ME WIN a hand.  John can say he had a near death experience that night. 

Anywho...I'm about to call it quits and stomp out of the room headed straigh for legal and divorce paperwork when the fireworks start...and it was the WORST fireworks show I ever had.  Watched from miles away...I could see tiny bursts of red and white in the sky and that was about it.

Lets just say that every day of our marriage since has been better than that day...and yes, I can laugh about it now...a little.

So, back to our magnificent fireworks...here they are in all their glory!



And dear little Bella...she tried so hard to watch the show...how one manages to sleep during fireworks is beyond me...I love this little clip. 



So, another 4th of July here and gone.  This one was spent with family that I love.  I truly am thankful for the beautiful country I call "home."

Cuckoo....cuckoo...

There's a sad sort of clanging from the clock in the hall
And the bells from the steeple too.
And up in the nursery an absurd little bird
Is popping out to say cuckoo...

 Cuckoo!

Cuckoo!


Triberg, Germany....in the middle of the Black Forest...  We arrived there with three things in mind to experience...

1.  Eat a piece of Black Forest Cake.
2.  Buy a cuckoo clock.
3.  Walk up the Triberg Falls...the highest waterfall in all of Germany.

We left with...

this...

 this...

and a day full of festivities from the 900th anniversary of Triberg the town.  Yes, thats right NINE HUNDRED YEARS old.  Sheesh...We Americans are such infants in the birthday department...

We did walk up to the top of Triberg Falls...they were absolutely beautiful.  It was a rocky start with the munchkin throwing a giant crying fit over wearing her flipflops.  John actually walked back down the hill to get her tennis shoes and the backpack.  Some might say it was a failing on our part to plan that out as parents, but hey...why have kids if you can't blame them some of the time.  *wink wink*

Eric and Bella were both avid rock climbers during our Eurotrip...any chance they got they were climbing all over them.  The Falls had gorgeous rock formations covered in moss with little creeks running through them.  Eric was quite the explorer...

Triberg Falls is the tallest waterfall in Germany.  It cascades over 7 major waterfall "steps" to drop a total of 163 meters (535 feet).  Of course I had to take some photos of it...it was so beautiful, but not very peaceful.  Its a major tourist attraction and there were lots of people at the bottom.  Luckily the higher we climbed the thinner the crowds got.  It was a good steep climb (think Multnomah Falls for you Pacific Northwesterners) but I was not about to get wimpy when I saw an old German woman in a skirt and PUMPS hiking it up the hill with no problem at all.

I stayed below and took this photo from one of the switchbacks on the trail.  As you can tell it was a beautiful day...sunshine and forest and water...three of my favorite things...oh yeah...and the other three things in the photo are up there in the "favorite" scale too.  :)

Eric begged to get down near the water.  Originally we said no because there were clearly marked paths and signs that I'm sure read "stay on the path..." but then I thought, "Hey...whats the point of being able to claim "tourist that can't read German" if you don't break the rules occasionally..."  So down he went...

Bella strayed just off the path for this photo of the top step of the waterfall.  Beautiful....both of them.  Even if one of them is turning into a camera ham!

As we headed the long way back down the mountain to get away from the touristy hordes of people we found this enormous rock that both kids wanted to pose in front of...they each came up with their very own pose.  I love it...  the salute and the stork.... 

We reached the bottom at the hill at a fun little park that we ate our lunch of  "treccia di burro", salami and formaggio...

Yep...braid bread, salami and cheese.  The kids played in the park, tossed rocks in the lake and generally had a nice little break in our day.

The best part...Bella's slide....watch this video...FUNNY.



We then headed back down into town...

We ended our day at the Triberg festival featuring bunnies, icecream, and people in medieval garb. 

It was a lot of fun.  We had only intended to stay for a few hours...but our trip to Triberg ended up being an entire day. 

The NEXT TIME we go, however....Triberg will be older than 900 years...John will get one of these too...

...and I'll eat my black forest cake and buy a cuckoo clock...

Regretfully they tell us, but firmly they compel us
To say goodbye....

to you....

cuckoo!

cuckoo!