Loving Fall and Ramblings on Simplifying my Life

I cannot believe how busy life is with three little ones.  Take today for instance.  Today, the Sabbath, is supposed to be a day of rest, right?  Well, Ben got called into work this morning… he left at 7:00, I was up with the kids at 7.  I had a lesson to prepare for the Beehives… Ben came home at 11:00, long enough to pick up the girls to go to his church meetings.  They like to go early with Dad and hang out on the bench and color.  Go figure.  We had church until 4:00, came home, put the lasagna in, Ben got home at 5:00 from meetings… we ate, Ben did dishes while I did a "simple" Halloween project with the girls… not so simple… Ben made cookies… Ben crashed on recliner at 7:45 where he still is at this moment passed out.  I read to kids, prayers, bed, pick up mess around house.  And this was SUNDAY when there's supposed to be no school or work, but a day of REST.  Yesterday was a crazy busy day too… even though we didn't really go anywhere.  Except Ben. He went to Media Market THREE times to find the right cord to get our AFN working again and it still doesn't work.  And he was gone TDY Mon-Fri so I was holding down the fort here, taking the girls and dragging James to school every morning at 7:45 in the freezing cold dark and rain.  Girl Scouts, ballet, violin, swimming, cleaning, laundry, cooking, dishes, bedtime, write PTSA newsletter, and don't forget to exercise and eat right! etc.  And I really think I do it to myself because I've taken on all these little extra projects… like why not read a Dickens novel by Oct. 31?  And why not sign up for the 10k pumpkin run on Halloween? Need to get training! And why not do a gazillion Halloween DIY decorations with the girls?  And why not volunteer in both their classrooms for Halloween parties? And learn German. And read two chapters in the Book of Mormon every day.  And start and finish a Halloween cross-stitch to be done by Halloween?  Oh, and renew my teacher's license and organize our downstairs storage.  And I can't forget to blog about our so called "charming" life.  Do you see my problem???  We're constantly told to simplify, and yet I don't know where to cut because I think all of my endeavors are either necessary or worthwhile.  But I can't do them all at once, that is for sure.  What ends up happening is a lot of projects left unfinished.  It's good for me to get this down in writing because as I read back on it I realize how INSANE I am.  What do you think should be the first to go?  The cross-stitch, right?  Yes, you're right.  But it's so cute.  It will be so cute for Halloween. I only have about twenty hours left on it! ;)

Anyway, I digress.

The week before last Ben had a four day weekend, Columbus Day, so we seriously crammed in some fall activities… and it's a good thing we did because this past week the weather has turned horrid!  As in December weather instead of October weather.  Within a week's span of time we hit the volksfest, a Black Forest run that included a trip to Europapark, and a visit to the nearby pumpkin fest at Ludwigsburg Palace.  So, brace yourself for some serious fall festivities picture overload!

The first event was Volksfest here in Stuttgart.  Volksfest is every October and Fruhlingsfest every spring at the fairgrounds not far from where we live… it's like a carnival on steroids and I honestly cannot see what the allure is… I think it's only fun if you are stone drunk.  It seems like everyone here on RB lives and breathes for the fest… but it's all I can do to go each time and it's only because the girls beg to go because their host nation teacher won't shut her yapper about it.  She's probably drunk as a skunk in one of the fest tents.

  

 We went on Wednesday which is family day which means discounted rides.  I called Ben at 4:00 to see if he could still get off early and he said, "It looks like I can't come.  I need to stay for a VTC."  Thirty seconds later his boss called me and said, "Ben is taking you guys to fest tonight.  What time do you need him home?"  Hooray for awesome bosses!  He had overheard our phone conversation and was not about to let Ben bail on us.

This year we caved and splurged for the lederhosen and dirndls… and it was so much fun to get the kids dressed up.

Waiting for bus to go to fest.  Look at those dirndls!!

James, keeping it cool in Mater the tow truck.  

I had the camera on the wrong setting, hence the overexposure. 

Friday morning we were to head to Europapark, the largest amusement park in Europe, and it's located in the nearby Black Forest.  I read that they go all out for Halloween, so I thought it would be a fun day trip.  However, at precisely 2:00 a.m. the morning we were to leave, both James and Caroline woke up at the same time puking.  Yes, you heard that right.  As we finally got back to bed after clean up and getting the kids resettled I thought there was no way we were going to swing it.  But the kids woke up happy and anticipating our visit to the park, so away we went!  And James puked all over his clothes, blanket, and car seat on the way there.  And I may have spent 20 minutes in a gas station bathroom scrubbing his precious handmade blankie from Nana.  Yeah.  But the rest of the day went great!  I loved this park… it was huge… which makes it hard to get oriented at first… but they went all out for Halloween.  The grounds were decorated SO CUTE…. I couldn't get over it.  The park is organized by country-themed areas.  Our favorite area was Austria, but we didn't discover it until 30 minutes before closing.  That's life, right?

Europapark in the Black Forest

This was the London bus, which James ADORED but Caroline got really sick on.  I just thought her facial expression was hilarious in this.  She's sitting next to James and me.

 

So, we had some highs and lows at this park.  The definite low was when Em and I waited in line 40 minutes for this popular roller coaster type ride… it's new and seemed like a lot of fun.  As we finally got to the front of the line, we boarded the ride, but were shortly afterwards told to get off because there was something wrong.  We waited 10 minutes while employees scrambled to fix it, and then an announcement came on that the ride was shutting down pending repairs.  Em burst into tears.  She was heartbroken and I couldn't believe our luck!  I was so mad we wasted an hour of our precious time (we only had seven hours there on account of the puking and all.)  

BUT, tender mercy.  The park was getting ready to close at 7:00, and Em wanted to go to Austria to do the swings… I grabbed both girls by the hand and we ran as fast as we could and got on the swings at about 6:55.  They had a great time swinging high up in the air, and I spotted a cute alpine roller coaster nearby. So as soon as we got off, we ran over to it… by now it was 7 and I wasn't sure we would even be able to get on… but we walked right on to the ride with the last group to go!  So, the girls had a blast on it, it was the first roller coaster Caroline really enjoyed because there weren't a lot of hills, but it was still fast and exciting. As the coaster pulled in, everyone started to get off but eyed the controller to see if maybe she would let us go again and she gestured for all of us to sit back down.  Everyone excitedly scrambled back on… bonus… another turn!  IT was after 7 for sure, she was just being nice.  So, around we went again, so much fun and as we pulled in the coaster slowed down, but the controller lady signaled to us with her thumbs up and launched us forward again… basically we got three rides in one turn… You couldn't wipe those smiles off our faces… the girls were grinning ear to ear.  As we got off everyone cheered and applauded the nice German frau.  Wow, I wish everyone was as cool as that.  She could have easily kicked us all off at 7:00, but she was just going the extra mile to be a nice person.  It made my girls so happy and it ended our day on a very high note.   

We spent the night at a nearby Best Western hotel which was like the nicest Best Western I've stayed in with the best European hotel breakfast I've ever had!  You wouldn't believe the vast selection of breads, cheeses, yogurts, eggs, cereal, fruit, and yummy hot chocolate, etc.  All included with the price of the room!

Anyway, I wish I could eat like that every morning.  After breakfast we asked the receptionist if there was any hiking nearby, and she was like, "Yeah, there's a trailhead right behind the hotel."  So, we just went a-wandering and came upon the most beautiful little hike I've been on in Germany.  

Hiking is my happy place

She lost two teeth on this two day trip!

Hooray for fall!

Me and my little ducklings

This life sized cuckoo clock was right across the street from the Best Western

We then spent the second half of the day in nearby Freiburg, but I'm not going to lie, I was quite disappointed… it was way too crowded for our liking.  Hard to navigate the narrow streets with a stroller and two scooters.  I wish we would have gone instead to the nearby Titisee.  Oh well…
We did take a funicular up to the top and got some better views from there.  And we did happen upon a really fun market in the town square.  We got James a wooden train for Christmas.

She OWNS that helmet!

Freiburg has a system of miniature canals that go through the streets… runoff from the nearby mountains. 

We enjoyed getting away from the crowds and taking in the views from up top.  Freiburg is supposedly the sunniest and warmest place in Germany.  And supposedly the Germans here are sunny and warm as well.  However, the tourist info lady wasn't that sunny and warm towards me.  Maybe she had had a long day. 

And that's a wrap.  I am NOT blogging about the Pumpkin fest in this post.  That is just way too much. I'm trying to simplify after all ;)  Haha!

Eagle's Nest and Other Nazi History

I did not take this picture.  I stole it from the internet.  This is what the Eagle's Nest is SUPPOSED to look like

During our trip to Salzburg we we visited the Kehlsteinhaus or Hitler's "Eagle's Nest."  The "nest" which was  comprised of a chalet high upon a mountaintop overlooking Obersalzburg, was a 50th birthday gift given to Hitler from his Nazi cronies in 1939. He didn't spend too much time up there, but did host parties and a few dignitaries. It was captured by the 101st Airborne in May 1945, and considered to be a prestigious symbolic victory.

Nowadays the Germans, in their subdued way of dealing with Nazi history, make little fanfare of it… it is simply a restaurant, but does have quite a bit of space for walking around and admiring the views.  There is an interesting museum, at the base of the mountain that features Nazi history from this area.  Hitler LOVED Bavaria and the Alps.  The Nazi party was born in Munich.  He, along with many of the top Nazi officials, had homes in Obersalzburg.

So, to go up to the Eagle's Nest is a bit of a racket.  You have to take a 20 minute bus ride along a steep, hairpin curved road.  The bus tickets weren't cheap… I want to say 20 euro or something like that just for a round trip up and back.  The weather was clear when we boarded the bus, but as we climbed higher and higher we were soon in the clouds.  Do not go up unless you have clear blue skies… really… not worth it! 

But, at least C and Dad had fun on the bus

Yes, this is what the top looked like for us!!  Ben, is his good natured way, didn't let the disappointment get the better of him… he took the girls on a little hike and still had fun.  Meanwhile, I was sulking on a bench in the corner.  

See that panoramic display?  That's what it's supposed to look like!!

We shall return!!

 The only original piece left in the chalet is the fireplace… which is pretty cool. See the year 1938?

Fortunately our experience was redeemed by visiting the museum at the base and exploring some of the ruins.  

I'm not trying to make light of Nazi history or anything, but I thought this picture was hilarious.  I'll let you come up with your own captions.   

Connected to the museum was a series of bomb shelters used by the Nazis.  The allies bombed this area to smithereens in May, 1945.  I'm not going to lie, the shelters were pretty creepy. One of the films in the museum featured a local resident who described the terror of the allied bombing… since the noise from the explosions echoed off the mountain walls it sounded as if the world was ending… crazy to imagine.

Check out the date etched in this concrete wall by an allied soldier:



This map of Obersalzburg shows all the Nazi top brass who had homes in the area including Hitler, Bormann, Speer, and Goring.  The museum explained that they basically kicked out all the residents who lived here and built their own enclosed Nazi community.

The most fascinating part for me of the whole area was the ruins of the Berghof, Hitler's vacation home in Berchtesgaden.  It is not nearly as well known as the Eagle's Nest, but much more rich in history. Second to the Wolf's lair in eastern Poland (where we've also had the chance to visit), the Berghof is where Hitler spent most of his time during the war.  All that is left today is the southern wall and bits of the foundation.  I read a good chunk of The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich since Ben gave it to me a couple Christmases ago and this location was a huge part of the Nazi narrative… Hitler received many government officials including David Lloyd George, Benito Mussolini, and Neville Chamberlain in his home. In fact, Chamberlain visited the Berghof a number of times and this location is where he notoriously signed the appeasement document that basically gave Germany Czechoslovakia in exchange for a promise of peace.... haha… Hitler definitely got the last laugh on that one.  It's also where many of the nefarious decisions regarding the future of Europe were made… including hammering out the details of the final solution.  

Hitler greeting Chamberlain on the steps of the Berghof:

What is left today:

What's eery and kind of strange about it is that there is only one plaque at the location that gives just a tiny bit of information.  The only way I heard about the ruins was randomly from a review on Trip Advisor.  Even though it's just a half a kilometer from the museum, there are no signs and no indication that you can visit there.  I asked the lady at the desk in what direction the ruins were and she didn't offer any info, like she didn't want us going there… we just kind of followed a gravel path and eventually came to them.  You get the sense the Germans definitely have moved past this.  

The view from the Berghof ruins, you can see why this place was so dear to Hitler's heart.  It's also strange to consider the very man, whom the world has basically deemed to be the most evil person to ever walk the face of the earth, enjoying the beauty and peace this area has to offer.  It's just a strange sensation.  Like we have something in common.

I hope you don't think I have some inappropriate obsession with Hitler or the Nazis.  I just love being in places where so much history has taken place, for better or for worse.