Grape picking!!!!

So I know I have been really, really behind in getting my posts up.  I am hoping that I will be getting caught up soon.

Our friend's parents have a vineyard and a wonderful restaurant about an hour and half from here.  We have eaten there before and Petra told me they were picking grapes this weekend.  So I got all excited and asked if I could go and they said of course.  Then I had to see if David could get half a day off on Friday so we could head over there.  Luckily the boys had a half day which was perfect!  He was able to so on Friday off we went!!

 

 

I was looking at these vineyards and they are so steep and I was excited to see what grape picking was all about!

 

We had to take a ferry across the Rhine to get to the vineyard.

 

I am not sure which castle this is, but it was right next to the town we were headed to.

 

Luckily we had some wonderful tour guides to get us to the right place.  This is Petra's son and nephew, they scootered down the hill to get us along with her daughter and niece.  I did feel really, really bad on the way back up for them because it was a HUGE hill!!  They were worn out by the time we arrived at the top.

 

Don't they look pretty?!?

 

This is the view from their vineyard, absolutely gorgeous!!!

 

So we said hi and met a few people and then jumped right in.  The boys started out helping us.  They had a new type of fruit fly or gnat that was ruining the grapes.  So instead of picking all the grapes, we had two buckets, one to pick some good ones, basically thinning them out for the others to grow bigger and sweeter, and then a second one for the bad grapes with fruit flies.

 

There I am, I was having such a great time!!  Both David and I were on the cautious side with picking the good grapes, we didn't want to pick too many or too little and ruin their crop.  We also were getting rid of the leaves so the sun could shine on the grapes even more and they could get sweeter.  Normally they don't do two pickings, but with the fruit fly and her dad being very particular about his grapes and wants them just right.  So this picking was a little more tedious, I was told, than most years.  You can see how steep it is behind me.

 

Look at that  view - it was such a beautiful day, sun shining, working and having a great time.  Most of her family didn't speak much English but that didn't matter, Petra could translate most of it.

 

These grapes are used for red wines.

 

Once the good ones are picked, they are put into the silver box on top, then they are run through where it takes away all the stems and it breaks them open.  If the red grapes are not broken right away you would have white, red wine.  They need to breath, get oxygen to get the nice red color of wine.

 

 

I was so busy working that I didn't get a picture of this fully intact.  There are three green bins that are put on this and a pulley system that is attached to the tractor below.

 

You see the yellow system, once these containers are full it is pulled up by this, dumped and brought back down.  Each full bucket is emptied into these so we can keep picking without having to walk up the huge hill and take extra time.

 

So the tradition goes that whoever picks that last grape has to wear a crown.  Petra was last out so she had to wear the crown!

 

She told me I had to try it on also!  I am always game!

 

You can see there was a hot air balloon in the back ground.

 

Their kids were wonderful and entertained the boys with chalk and scooters.

 

These are my type of grapes - for white wine!

 

Michael always the monkey!

 

After we were done we headed down to where the grapes were dropped off and to see more of the process.  The grapes we picked will not be completely finished and bottled for at least a year.  They have many containers like this one.  Once the grapes come off the hill, they are just dumped into these and they stay there for two weeks before they start any other part of the process.

 

These have been here for about a week.

 

Here you see finished wine, only one has a label that tells them where and when the grapes were picked.  After that we headed for some WONDERFUL German food at her parent's restaurant!!  Oh my gosh it is such good food!!!  We had such a wonderful time and met a lot of Petra's family.  We of course had to come home with some more of their yummy wine!!  We told them that we were up to picking next year if they would have us again!  It was great fun and nice to see the beginning process of the wine making and man there is A LOT of work that goes into it.

Legoland!!!!!!!!

So while we were driving to Munich I noticed that we drove right by LEGOLAND.  So what better way to end a vacation than with a trip to LEGOLAND when there are no American holidays or German ones so that the lines were basically non-existent.  The boys had no idea and I didn't even spring the idea on David until the day before.  Thankfully I have a wonderful husband and he was all for it!  Well maybe not all for it, but mostly for it.

 

The boys getting ready to head into LEGOLAND!!!!  They were so excited!!!

 

The boys with their silly faces next to the toilet/plumber Lego.

 

Our first ride of the day and no line!!!  It was a great start!!

 

While the boys were riding a ride (by themselves because they are tall enough!) we were giggling and having a great time!!  David always can make me laugh!

 

Michael so excited to be riding by himself!!!

 

AJ having a great time too!!!

 

AJ by some of the great Lego guys!!  It is amazing what they can build!

 

We went on a water ride and it was a little cold out so the boys decided to dry off a little.  :-)

 

My boys were ready to go and take on the bad guys!!  Look out here we come!!

 

I love my boys so much!!!

 

They have new drawings on the sidewalk that look 3D, they are really awesome!!

 

Michael pulling with all of his might!

 

AJ taking a turn and trying to lift it!

 

The boys working on their blacksmith skills.

 

Doesn't this look cool?!?!  I love it!!! It is another one of the drawings on the street.

 

Michael was so happy and excited, he was finally tall enough to ride the Ninjago ride!!!

 

AJ ready to go!!!  He is an old pro at this!

 

Michael flying!!!

 

They had a new section with Star Wars - R2D2!!

 

Look at their faces!!!  Priceless!!!

 

Inside the Star Wars with a life size X-wing!!

 

They built a lot of the characters!

 

My favorite of all time - Wicket!!!!!!

 

The boys and I in front of the X-wing.

 

Look out the shark is going to get them!!!!  They are being eaten!!

 

Since Halloween was coming up they were all decorated!!  We had such a wonderful time, rode so many rides time after time and still made it home at a decent hour!!  It was a great end to a wonderful weekend!!!!