Sunday, November 22, 2009
I was Franklin the Turtle for Halloween (my idea). Nana found a green M&M costume at a thrift store, so all Mama had to do was glue on some yellow fleece and draw some lines. My uncles and Cindee took me trick-or-treating. Papa said 2 houses. We came back forty-five minutes later with plenty of treats.
Thursday, November 05, 2009
Deutschland Besuch (Germany Visit)
In late September/early October we spent two weeks visiting Oma and Opa in Ortenberg
We did some hiking together -- here I am pulling Opa get up the hill. It's much more fun to hike when you pretend you are a train.
We did some hiking together -- here I am pulling Opa get up the hill. It's much more fun to hike when you pretend you are a train.
Opa has a special talent -- he can make a whistle from an acorn cap.
I also got to spend some time with my Onkels. Here I am in Ribeauville with Onkel Matze, who kindly agreed to carry my on his shoulders when I got tired of walking.
And this is my fabulous Onkel Thomas.
As we always do in Germany, we ate lots of Kuchen and drank plenty of my favorite beverage, "Apfelsaft mit Blubberwasser" -- apple juice mixed with sparkling water. Although it officially goes by "Apfelsaftschoerle", the wait staff can usually figure out what I mean.
It was harvest season, so we helped Oma and Opa harvest their grapes. These are Spaetburgunder.
Opa delivered most of the grapes to a local winery, but he also started a batch of red wine, and we got to help. First we put the grapes through a machine that removes the stems. Then we waited about a week and a half. Then we pressed the grapes -- I got to help turn the handle to tighten the press.
Mama and Papa also took off for a few days on their own. They visited Les Rialland (Papa's high school buddy and family) down near the Bodensee and then continued on to Alpenzell, Switzerland, where they hiked up to a Berghuette to spend the night. They had a good time, though Mama was a bit shocked by the prices (~$8.00 for a liter of water!)
Yellowstone/Grand Teton/Craters of the Moon
In mid September (yes, my webmaster is way behind again) we did a long weekend recon mission through Yellowstone National Park, Grand Teton National Park, and Craters of the Moon National Monument. Although it was a lot of driving, we had a good time. Come and visit us and see this stuff for yourself!
Bison! (Don't worry, Papa used a zoom lens)
Colorful pools full of hot water and minerals
Boiling mud
And geysers! I really like geysers. I asked a lot of questions about them.
Here are some fall colors in the Tetons
And this is Craters of the Moon -- this part was hot lava just 2000 years ago. The plants are making progress, but there's still lots of Pahoehoe and Aa to see.
