Cold front coming in

Well the snow was just the beginning.  I guess we are supposed to be in for a cold spell, our high today is 37 degrees.  It is a little different from our Arizona weather.  Okay a LOT different.  I have warm jackets, gloves and hats, I think I need to get warmer socks though :-)  Sunday was a busy day, we went to a new church and the boys LOVED it!!!  Michael's comment when I picked him up from children's church was "can we come back?"  So I think we will be going back to that church next Sunday.  Our friend's daughter was also baptized so that was really neat to see.  After that we went out for Korean food with them and had a nice lunch and met a few new people.  Then on to AWANAS where the boys both got new patches!!  I am very proud of them and how well they are memorizing their verses!!  Then straight to a cub scout pack meeting in costume!  It was a good one and many fun things coming up, including the race car derby where they even have a sibling competition so I am getting Michael a kit also so he can make one!!  That is one thing I really like about this pack--it is family friendly and tries to get the whole family, including siblings, involved when they can!  It is really neat!!!  Today was a day of running around and trying to get my computer up and running.  I finally got a new one after my motherboard died the day we left the US.  Good thing I bought the warranty!!!  :-)  Of course, now David's decided to take a turn for the worse, but at least we have everything saved on it!  We are all excited for AJ's birthday, especially him.  He keeps asking me about decorating for his birthday, I guess I don't really need sleep right?  Have to make it special!!  Hope all are staying warm and safe!

SNOW!!!

Well I couldn't believe it when I woke up this morning, but yes there was snow coming down!!  It is the first snow of the year.  I have been told that it is early for snow here, so we might be in for a long winter.  AJ did a snow angel and then he and I had a great snowball fight!!!  The snow was perfect for packing!!!  It was great!!!  Since it was snowing today we decided it wouldn't be very conducive to going to the carnival.  So we decided to head to the BX and finally got David a phone and let the boys run off some energy at the play area.  Many parents decided to do that and then not watch their children, so we took an early leave.  Then we decided to have some family fun and go bowling!!  We had a blast!!  The boys beat David and I both games.  Michael had high score at 136!  He was sure excited about it!!!  After that we had some local cuisine down at Globus, a local grocery store.  We had some brats and the boys some pizza.  It was yummy.  Yesterday AJ had a field trip to the pumpkin patch.  It was the same one that we went to with Michael's friends but he still had a great time and so did I!  Except that it was COLD!! The wind was blowing and I had AJ in a coat, fleece, hat and gloves and he said he was still cold and I was too.  I should have brought out our warm winter socks.  But we were able to see everything, it didn't rain or snow and we had some good hot apple cider!  I was amazed that every parent that wanted to go as a chaperone could go.  There were 16 students there and only two that didn't have a parent on the field trip.  Last year they were only allowed to take two parents on fields trips at Fort Huachuca.  I think it is really cool that everybody was welcomed!  It is always fun to go and hang out with the kids especially to see their smiles!!  We have two more pumpkins that the boys want to paint instead of carve this time which is just fine with me!   It takes a lot less time and a lot less mess.  :-)  We are going to try a new church tomorrow, actually AJ's teacher goes to this one.  Her family really loves it, so we are going to give it a shot, then on to lunch, AWANAS, scouts and then bed for the boys.  No rest for the weary.  I am not sure what we are going to do when they start sports.  Next week is even busier, we have something happening Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday night.  It should be fun though!!!

 

Bus ride to the patch, the bus driver was a little crazy and also smoked on the bus

 

AJ petting the cow, one didn't like it and reared up his head and made AJ jump back.  It was pretty funny

 

Baby calves - they sucked the kids fingers

 

this one was licking AJ's pants

 

Thinking AJ's finger looks might tasty

 

AJ holding the chicken

 

Mrs. Richardson - AJ's teacher who we LOVE!!!

 

Aren't we cute?

 

AJ found his pumpkin

 

AJ and one of his buddies waiting for the ride home

 

Michael having fun in the snow

 

AJ making his snow angel, only a dusting, but we still had fun!

 

The boys getting some exercise!

 

The pumpkins after the snow

 

Such a happy boy!!

 

Off it goes!

 

AJ's turn

 

Daddy waiting for his turn while AJ and Michael are organizing the bowling balls.

Well I finally have a few moments.  It has been a busy few days.  I volunteered on Tuesday to go on a field trip with AJ's class and the rest of the first grade to the fire department.  It was a pack of kids, about 54 of them.  It was so funny because when the kids walked into the fire department the fire fighters' eyes got really big.  I was in the back with the other moms saying "Show no fear, show no fear" because that is exactly what it looked like.  I talked to one of them in the middle of the tour and he said they are used to about 12-15 kids at most.  So this was a bit bigger.  :-)  But everybody made it through fine, the kids had a great time and so did I!  The weather is turning a bit colder now.  Not too bad.  The mornings remind me of the ocean trip with my family.  It is really foggy in the morning, covering the sun, sometimes a little drizzle.  But the afternoons have been getting sunny and really nice!!  So nice that yesterday after I picked up Michael, one of his friends and his mom went to a nearby parked and played for awhile!  It was really great!  I heard that I need to enjoy it while I can because it is going to get really rainy.  Speaking of rain, it is supposed to rain tomorrow and that is when AJ is going on his pumpkin patch field trip tomorrow.  So hopefully it will hold off until the afternoon if not it will be really muddy morning!  But we will be prepared for anything!!  AJ went to scouts tonight and should earn another 6 belt loops!  He is doing great and earning a lot in the little time he has been participating.  Michael is doing well also!  He is still loving school!  His teacher is awesome!!!  They are doing a gingerbread man play for Christmas and he is a farmer, just like his Grandpa!  He is so excited about it!!  He has been practicing his songs at home and telling me all about it!  It makes the 30 min drive one way worth it!  David is doing good but still working a ton, he has now found a way to work from home, so hopefully this will get him caught up soon and be able to come home earlier even if he has to work after the boys go to bed.   So I am putting up a picture of a cigarette machine.  This is a common thing here in Germany.  This one is on the way to the bus stop for AJ.  But they pop up in the weirdest places and there are a ton!  It is a little different having people smoke everywhere.  I also saw some Mario mushrooms on the way to the bus stop.  I have never seen any actually growing so had to take a picture of them.  Hope everybody is doing well!!!

 

The cigarette machine

 

one of the parks on the way to AJ's bus stop - there are four little ones

 

It was red ribbon week - crazy hat day

 

Mario mushrooms

 

Other big mushrooms

 

Michael's finished pumpkin (forgot to post pictures)

 

AJ's finished pumpkin

 

part of the 1st grade

 

The fire fighter's first look at all the kids  :-)

 

AJ and one of his friend's, Julie

Frankenstein's Castle!!!

What a cool experience!!!  It was such a blast and one that I am so glad that we went!  There were so many people there and all dressed up in the costumes, young and old.  And even the ones that weren't actual actors there were dressed up to the hilt.  Who knew!  There were some great witches and monsters--almost anything you could imagine.  We had to take a bus up there because so many people went.  It was all decorated and had different parts in different areas, one was a bar, one was a ship, one was a dungeon, torture chamber and on.  They toned it way down for the kids which I am glad about.  Even with that there were many, many people screaming and being scared--a lot of teenagers and some adults.  Our boys took it like a champ, well maybe not at the start, but by the end neither one of them were afraid of the monsters.  Michael was going nose to nose with so many of them it was awesome!!  They were giving high fives to them.  I couldn't believe how many there were: Freddie Krueger, Pin Head, Texas Chain Saw massacre guy, the devil, Grim Reaper, zombies too many to name.  The boys were in awe of everything.  During one of the shows I was texting and one of the characters came up and read my text, so I asked him if he would translate the play for me and he translated the whole show!!  It was really nice!!!  Some of the "scary" ones handed out candy.  And one thing about Germany, game on with anything.  They stomp on your foot, drag you to put in you in a casket, or drag you to splash so much water on you that you are soaked (I made the boys run past this one since they had just gotten a couple of victims, I didn't want to be wet and cold).  They had huge swords that they would bang on anything close and then act like they are cutting your head off.  One of them pulled David's hood on his sweatshirt up and closed it.  There was a scary clown that was tickling kids, they come up behind you and wait for you to turn and no kidding they aren't even inches away, more like centimeters.  It was crazy and quite fun!  Luckily we just got messed with some, not as much as others, but it really hurt when the one put his walking stick or whatever on my foot more than once.  All in all, we stayed for quite a few hours and had soooo much fun!!!   Now my history lesson on castle Frankenstein:

The Frankenstein Castle stands on a 370-meter high hill in the foothills of Langeberg. It was first mentioned in 1252 in a document by Konrad II Reiz von Breuberg next to this city from the wording of the document "super castro in frangenstein" ("at the Castle on the Frankenstein"). However, it appears that the castle was at that time had already been built and used. The exact time of origin is uncertain; assumptions which go back to Frankish period. Most historians, however, believe around 1240.

Burg Frankenstein is naturally associated with the known history of Dr. Frankenstein.  He was actually was born in the castle in 1673 to Konrad Dippel, a pastor's son, who experimented as a theologian, physician and alchemist in Castle Frankenstein.

Soon after, they said he would dig up the dead, experimenting with body parts and had them with his magical powers, even created a huge monster and brought to life. It was probably even his own father who started this rumor. It was also claimed that the monster could free himself and was now in the nearby forest and caught little children and young girls to play with them and then eat them alive.

Johann Konrad Dippel was sentenced to death once. But since he lived in Count Danish diplomatic circles, he could not be executed but spent many years under house arrest in the castle.

As the brothers Grimm where collecting their tales to their story that came with the living dead, they sent the incredible story in a letter to her translator Mary Jane Clairmont to England. Her stepdaughter Marry Shelly was so fascinated that she, along with her finance (later husband) Percy Shelley, and her stepsister Claire toured the Rhine in 1814 to the castle itself and had to take a look. Two years later, the three of them sat on Lake Geneva and read to her host, Lord Byron and his physician John William, ghost stories and decided that each of them should write a ghost story.

Thus arose in the summer of 1816, which is as 'Geneva Summer' received in the history of literature known to the famous novel "Frankenstein, the new Prometheus," with Dr. Frankenstein.

In addition to Frankenstein Castle and its inhabitants was also Erasmus Darwin, grandfather of Charles Darwin, godfather, who became popular as an anatomist at the Ingo urbanites experiments with electricity and body parts in England.

Be ready for lots of pictures, I trimmed it down a lot, but there are so many good pictures!

Michael and Daddy practicing Ninja skills

His Ninja pose (he is very happy with his costume!)

Our first look at Burg Frankenstein

Michael always climbing, if there is a way to climb he is there.

 

AJ, the commando, with the castle behind him

 

Michael, AJ, Asher and Olivia ready to go

 

They were really good about posing for you

 

Loved this guy!!!

 

The tower with all sorts of skeletons, etc.

 

Michael, Asher and AJ just starting out the adventure

                                                              Mad Scientist

 

Where they grab kids, but them in a coffin, hold the lid down and bang on it

 

My boys gave her a high five :-)

 

Scary guy that kept pounding his sword by us and took chunks of wood out of the fence

Michael loving every minute!!

                                                        Michael and the torture guy facing off

 

AJ in jail - thought about leaving him but he is too cute!

 

 

The graveyard

It says bed and breakfast with the arrow pointing down  :-)

 

Michael not sure about this one

 

                                                                Before AJ got brave

 

Not sure if you can see it the girls are in the way, but Michael is boxing the zombie in the back.  you can see his hand between the two girls.  Protecting his Daddy.

 

It is a double face, skull on the bottom and if you look closely you can see on the top another set of eyes and nose.

 

our crew back together, minus Ben -he needs to come home soon!!

 

Freddie Kruger messing with AJ

 

The kids!

 

Dead pirate with his pirate ship including a canon that was really loud

 

Cooking dinner for themselves - check out the lady in the back

 

Asher and Michael enjoying some yummy sugar, I mean cotton candy

 

Look at the head in the net, yep Frankenstein

 

 

This guys was great!!!  Spoke a little English too!

 

 

Boys enjoying the show

 

Michael with a zombie pirate

 

fortune tellers

                                                              Pumpkin head

 

Pinhead

 

Michael going nose to nose and not even blinking - guy actually rubbed noses

 

Check out her face, makes me want to watch Pirates of the Caribbean

A guy getting hanged

 

Another one electrocuted

Had to get a close up of this one!

Another face off

 

And yet another one  :-)

 

And a beautiful sunset to finish off the day.  I didn't catch the colors very well, but it was gorgeous!