Thanksgiving with Layla, Nana, and Grampy!

 It was a very happy Thanksgiving here in Germany! I never knew how much more fun holidays would be with a baby. All of the things that in the past I thought, "Eh, that seems like way too much work." I suddenly HAD to do! B's parents, Brenda and Will, made the trip from South Carolina and got here the day before Thanksgiving. Brenda brought a little turkey outfit with her for Layla to wear, and it was SO cute that I might just put her in it one more time.

 I REALLY wanted to start a family tradition of taking a 5K Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning. It's funny that the things that I want to do now with my family were the things I dragged my feet about as a kid (sorry Mom and Dad). Unfortunately, the base had done their TT on the Saturday before Thanksgiving and I hadn't heard about it. So, we missed the chance to do a real run, but the local volksmarch club was putting on their own 5K/10K Turkey Trot. It was a blend of an American holiday and a German tradition. The trail wasn't really stroller friendly, which we didn't know ahead of time, but we brought Layla with us anyway! We ran the parts we could, and walked the parts that were through the woods. Brenda and Will walked behind us with Thumper so it was really a family outing.

 Ready to go for the walk!

 Action shot- I think we really only ran about 1 mile of what turned out to be a 2.7 mile course (it was supposed to be 3.1 miles but it was quite a bit shy of that).

 Getting ready for a biiiig uphill. The trail was absolutely beautiful, and it was the perfect temperature to be out.

 Layla got a good snooze in, which was great because then she didn't have to feel how bumpy the ride was.

 I pushed the flatter parts, and some of the run, but B really took the bulk of the work.

 Layla woke up right as we pulled into the end, and looked at me like, "I thought we were going for a run, did I miss it?" She was a such good little running buddy :)

After we finished our run/walk, we went home and B started the turkey fryer so he could cook our neighbor's turkey for their big dinner, then put ours into the fryer. Most of the afternoon was of course spent getting food ready, and then we sat down for dinner together at around 5 (after I snapped some pictures!). I made everyone dress up, just like when I was growing up. Layla sat on my lap for most of dinner, chewing her fingers like crazy. We were all pretty tuckered out from a busy day, so after popping over to our neighbors for a quick hello, we had some rum cake and were in bed by 9:30! Next year will be so much fun, when Layla can enjoy the yummy food!

Celebrating St. Martin

Nov 11 is the Feast of St. Martin in the Catholic Church, and is celebrated as a holiday here in Germany! Most villages have a little lantern parade followed by the traditional fest foods. While most fests take place during the day, this one takes place in the evening and includes gluweine, which is a warm mulled wine. Since Oberstaufenbach went through the trouble of putting out the flier in English, we decided the least we could do was go see what this fest is about. Lucky for us, our village is so small that we just had to walk to the bottom of the hill we live on and cross the street to be at our village center!

It was a really beautiful night, not even cold enough for us to wear heavy coats, but I still bundled Layla up in her little bear fleece and layered her with blankets. She was a good sport about being tucked in so tightly! We got down there about 5 minutes after it started, and we either missed the lantern parade and singing or they don't do it until the end of the night. You can read more about what this little festivity is about here. We did, however, get there in time for the food and drink!

B liked the gluweine much more than I did. I took about 3 sips, had B snap a picture, and then gave him the rest of the mug. It was a really strong drink, and even if I had liked the taste of it I probably couldn't have had more than half of the mug.

Layla had enough of being in her stroller after about 15 minutes, and I was more than happy to take her out for some snuggling!

I hadn't been down to our village center before, and had always wondered just how long our little farming village with the falling down old barn and buildings from another time had been around. Just how much history had Oberstaufenbach been around for? Well, my friends, as it turns out, Oberstaufenbach was established way back in 1979. Yep. That's right. A whopping 33 years ago. I can't lie, I was a little disappointed!

After almost an hour of talking with our neighbors and enjoying the nice evening, we wandered back up the hill to our house. It was a fun way to spend the night, and I enjoyed participating in a local German tradition!

A weekend with Aunt Vanessa

Nothing cheers up a week quite like a last minute visit from family! B's sister Vanessa found out that she would be part of a project at work that required her to travel to Munich for a week. She made arrangements to fly in the weekend before, and came to spend a couple of days with us before catching the train to Munich! We are so lucky :) Vanessa arrived shortly before lunch on Friday, so we were able to go meet B for fish and chips at the Brit Cafe on base. And, of course, she had to meet Layla, who was sporting her "Auntie!" shirt! She brought a bunch of kid books for Layla, and we've been enjoying going through them and finding some new favorites for her to smile at since Vanessa left.

We spent the rest of the afternoon just catching up before grabbing dinner at our favorite place, The Montana.

Saturday was rainy, windy and cold! We had hoped to take Vanessa to downtown Kaiserslautern to walk around and show her some of the sights, but the weather just wouldn't have made that much fun. So, instead we went to a bazaar on base and did some Christmas shopping! Vendors from around Europe brought everything from handmade jewelry to homemade wines to Turkish rugs! We shopped, had Belgian waffles with Nutella, and really just had a good time. I'm sorry that I didn't get more pictures of us just shopping. Sometimes the most casual of days turn out to be really nice visits.  After we wrapped up shopping, we picked up some souvenirs for her kids, and then went to purchase train tickets for Vanessa's trip to Munich the following morning. This was one of those times I was glad B and I had taken that "get to know the trains" tour over the summer, because I knew right where the station was and that there were folks at the ticket window that spoke English and could get her the tickets she wanted. Since we had spent the whole day out and about, B didn't have time to smoke a turkey like he had planned on so instead he grilled some steaks out and we unwound after a busy day. Layla spent some time cooing at Aunt Vanessa before saying goodnight. 

B and Vanessa spent some quality sibling bonding time :) These two cracked me up, Vanessa with her iPad and B with his tablet.

Vanessa caught the train out of K-town to Munich at 8ish the next morning, and had quite the adventure getting to her final stop! She is now a seasoned train traveler in Germany, and my hat is off to her for getting from here to there without losing her mind, because I might have had a breakdown in the train terminal! Even though it was a quick visit, I'm so happy Vanessa was able to come meet Layla. The best news is that she will have to make a few more trips to the facility in Munich, so we will likely get to see her a few more times! The next time she comes, Layla will be a bit older so I hope we will be able to go to some of the more scenic areas around, which are a couple of hours drive away. Thanks for coming to see us, Aunt Vanessa, and we all look forward to your next trip to Deutschland!

BOO! A Very Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from Oberstaufenbach! It was exciting to celebrate our first fun holiday with our baby girl, and so much fun to dress her up! We didn't do anything crazy- she's a little young to enjoy trick-or-treating and B was working. I was lucky that my Aunt Margaret had sent a costume for Layla, because I don't know if I would have had one otherwise! The selection here is a little slim, and I haven't mastered ordering online in advance of when I want something. We did a trial run a few days early, and Layla sported two different animal prints with her little cheetah onesie and her zebra suit!

I spent most of the day around the house, and Layla just smiled and smiled in her "My First Halloween" outfit!

Before the trick or treaters in the neighborhood headed out, I got Layla dressed in her costume and we walked across the street to my wonderful neighbor Jamie's house so she could take a couple of pictures of our little family. Her daughter handed us candies so we could officially say that Layla trick or treated on her first Halloween :)

 B then headed off to work, and I got to spend the evening with my favorite little stuffed zebra!

 

I wanted to do a little photo shoot to get a few good pictures of the adorable costume, but this is what I got instead:

 So, I took the hint and fed her and let her take a little snooze. Zebra Layla woke up MUCH happier.

Thumper usually tries to get my attention, but I think this year she was thankful to not be the one being crammed into a costume, as seen below from Halloween '08.

Instead, she barked at the trick or treaters who were snagging candy from the bowl I set in front of our door and let them know that she would protect this little girl by force if necessary!

 It was a wonderful first year of fun for us as parents, and I look forward to next year when she can maybe even ring a door bell or two!