Playtime With a Toddler Gone Horribly, Hilariously Wrong!

There we were, Kelty and Mommy, playing nicely in his room banging on the drum, playing with little matchbox cars .... when Kelty decided to pull this little battery-operated hamster toy out of his stash and turn it on. He put it on his face and I said "no, no" .... so he put it on the top of my head. In a blink of an eye those little turning wheels sucked up my hair and created a snarled mess. My hair was (ahem ... is) wrapped up in the wheels of this toy! I sit here, writing this blog post (with a hamster stuck on my head), hoping Al will get home soon because this thing is REALLY starting to hurt.

So what does one do when they have a hamster stuck on their head and is patiently waiting for her prince to rescue her .....

Take photo's and blog about it ....

Yeah, doesn't seem so funny anymore .....

Then I got bored ... so why not feed the little guy?

Then I'm sure the little guy is thirsty up there perched on my head ...

What the heck, this calls for breaking out the wine halter ...

.... still waiting!

Another ... Wine Festival

Ahh ... it's the wine season. That means wine festivals, walks through vineyards and wine ... oh what a joyous season!

Last weekend we joined forces with our friends, the Wagner's and carpooled to the wine festival in Bad Durkheim. Bad Durkheim is home to one of the largest wine festivals in Europe ... think a huge fair and a lot of wine.

The kids enjoyed an afternoon of rides while we enjoyed an afternoon of wine and food. We decided to stop in our favorite wine village on the way home, Saint Martin, but unfortunately the weinguts were closing up shop. We were in for another pleasant surprise though! ...

Daddy and Kelty at the start of our day

A full glass of wine .... this was so far beyond my tolerance level. Fortunately Al and Jeremy took one for the team and helped me finish my "glass of wine". Apparently Germans don't mess around with serving sizes!

We wrapped up our afternoon with a stroll and wound up in a great place for the kids to run, play and tackle each other.

This was our little surprise for the day! As we were driving through the German wine route to Saint Martin we stumbled upon a glorious site ... in the midst of the vineyards was a small section where you could pick your own grapes and pay "on your honor". A-W-E-S-O-M-E! Now, these are table grapes (tafel trauben) ... not wine grapes. Regardless, it was so cool picking our own grapes!

Don't ask. I didn't have to pee and ... well, who knows what face I'm making ... but this was the only photo Al took of me holding/picking grapes. Sigh ... I didn't really get the photogenic gene in the family.

Did I mention that I love this time of year in Germany!?

Possibly the Coolest Thing EVER ....

A few weekends ago we took a day-trip to Bernkastel-Kues for their Wine Festival; while we were there I think we could have possibly found the COOLEST thing EVER!

We arrived just in time to catch the artisan parade, i.e., the parade showcasing each of the local wineries. As each group walked by they generously poured wine into small glasses that the spectators had around their necks ... and each person in the parade had these beauties dangling from their necks as well ... filled with wine! Whoa, sweet!

See? See the cool wine halter? Oh ... and Al's beer glass.

Al wanted "in" on the wine samples so he shamelessly found a beer stand, bought a beer, poured the beer into Kelty's sippy cup and proudly held the BEER glass out for wine ... (I was so embarassed)! Promptly after the parade we headed down to the Alstadt (Old City) to purchase "wine halters" of our own! Whoot! We are now proud owners of our own wine halters ... and look what you can do .............

Mmmm, you can stand and drink by your flower boxes while wearing your wine halter
(but you must have the other hand held daintily in the air) ....

You can vacuum like a happy little housewife while wearing your wine halter ...

You can wash your car while wearing your wine halter ...

You can water your plants while wearing your wine halter ....

What would YOU do while wearing your wine halter?

Home Sweet Home

We just returned from a 2 1/2 week visit back to Michigan to visit my mom and dad (Nana and Papa to Kelty)! Oh, what a fabulous trip! Al was on a training TDY for the entire month of August so I made plans to visit my parents. I braved an 8 1/2 hour flight ... alone with my toddler ... and despite the in-flight entertainment system being BROKEN, we managed really well! I have to admit that I was a little proud of myself for pulling it off!

This was my first extended trip back "home" during the summer since, well ... I think our wedding 12 years ago! It was as beautiful and comforting as I remember it growing up and it was truly a beautiful thing watching Kelty enjoy "home" the way I enjoyed it when I was little ...

We spent most of our time outside and Kelty used this time to release a lot of energy!

We went dinosaur hunting in the woods with Papa on the Mule ...

Our exploration led us to the lake where Kelty played in the water ...

Kelty spent HOURS driving the John Deere around the property ... this awesome little vehicle has been through most of the grandkids! Kelty collected branches, acorns and moss ...

We played in the ball pit ...

Raced the John Deere and the electric scooter ...

Hopped on Papa's BMW motorcycle ...

Drove the golf cart ...

Fed the bunnies with Nana ...

Drove the tractor ...

Went hunting for acorns with Nana ...

Took adventures on the Mule ...

Went to the Circus ...

Made Nana and Papa very happy ...

Fed the birds ...

Played with bubbles ...

We laughed ...

Visited Kelty's cousins ...

Cut the grass ...

Played in the bounce house ...

Played in the woods ...

Had fun with Nana and Papa ...

Made some very special memories ...

Oh! And finally Al made it up to visit ...

and as we always do when we visit home ... we shot guns! Don't mess with Momma!

In hindsight, I should have blogged along the way so I could share all the beautiful details behind the photos ... but, I didn't. Another lesson learned for next time!

Thank you Mom and Dad for an absolutely beautiful visit, it couldn't have been any better. Thank you for giving us the gift of very loving home and the ability to share that gift with our children ... there is nothing more precious.