I Wasn't Dreaming

Sometime last week, when I was feeling extra tired and delirious, I dreamed that I saw a man riding down our street on lawn mower/tractor/trailer with an old horse carriage bench as a seat.  I really didn't think twice about it because I was obviously out of my mind and imagining things.  But then the damnest thing happened.  I saw him again this morning while I was loading Evans up for school and I managed to stumble out of the car and snap a picture of him before he motored away.

So now I am convinced that I am not going crazy but I'm not sure about this guy.  I've seen some pretty weird things in our little town but this vehicle is by far the best.  As far as I can tell there are several components playing a part here.  It's pretty obvious that his "backseat" is an old trailer.  He might want to check the tire pressure on that back passenger side.  The bench that rests on top of it looks like it could be an old metal swing or something.  His steering wheel is most definitely the handle bar of a push lawn mower.  It is connected to the "engine" which is the mower part of the lawn mower, though it has somehow been mounted on a small set of tractor wheels.  Acceleration is achieved through the throttle on the handlebar.

Pretty nifty huh?  I wonder if he uses this as his primary means of transportation?  This morning he parked it outside the bakery for a little breakfast.  Maybe next time I see him I will ask for a lift in his backseat.

All is well in the Deaner household today.  Evans happily went to school this morning while Mama went and got a massage.  What a wonderful way to start the day!  Surprisingly enough Evans' teachers reported that he was HYPER all day at school and would not "stay on the rope" when they went on a "field trip".  I'm glad that he is starting to show a little pep at school.  Maybe now that little girl will think twice before accidentally chucking plastic ponies at Evans' head.  As for staying on the rope, I gather that when they go places the kids are supposed to stay in a line holding onto a rope.  Well, I could have told them myself that he was never going to do that.  I mean, does this look like a child that would stay on the rope when asked?

I didn't think so either.  Happy Hump Day!

German RenFest, Anyone?

Way back when Deaner and I were newly dating in 2006 there was always much discussion and anticipation every year when the Georgia Renaissance Festival would roll into town for 6 weeks in the spring.  Every year Deaner would excitedly make plans with other couples (I'll do them a favor and not mention their names here) for some big fun partaking in steak on a stake, intricate hair braiding by people with dirty hands and perhaps a little wax hand making if you were feel extra wild.  For all of these anticipatory conversations that I know for a fact took place, we never did step foot inside the Georgia Renfest like planned.  I'm choosing to blame it on the rain or any other natural disaster that kept us from enjoying all this crazy fun, but really, I can't remember why we never made it.  Deaner (frequently) recalls growing up and looking forward to the Renaissance Festival every year.  He even made his acting debut at the tender age of 12 after being chosen as the participating audience member and when requested, can recite his line "I, Fleance, will fleet-footidly flee to Fife" on demand.  Impressive I tell you.  

Therefore, I really should not have been surprised when he started telling me back in March all about the German RenFest that takes place in October in Rudesheim.  Much to my dismay the advertisements started popping up right on time around the end of August and you know who had this date on his permanent unalterable calendar immediately.  So, this past weekend we finally got to experience the joy of the German RenFest together, as a family of three, braving the cold grey skies, enjoying ourselves throughly.

Do you know the difference between attending a RenFest when you are in 5th grade and attending one with you are 32?  You can drink beer.  And it clearly made all the difference in the world.  (to me anyways).

Deaner would have fit right in no matter what!  :)  Can anyone even tell which one of these guys doesn't belong?  I also feel like I should point out that those two giant tubs to the right of Deaner?  Yeah, those.  For 5 euro an hour you can strip nekkid and soak in their hot water.  Sound appetizing?  Not if you had seen the woman that we witnessed starting her soak.  Shiver.

For the more daring RenFest visitor, you could hop on this medieval looking swing like contraption and take a spin.  I took a pass since I have a massive fear of swings that spin in circles but I'm not sure that these could get quite up to the speed and dangerous nature of the ones I unfortunately chose to ride at the Gwinnett county fair one year.

This next picture left me with goosebumps all over my body.  At first glance it looks like a dressed up dude taking a leak on the castle.  Looker a little closer.  These two peeps are actually walking FERRETS ON LEASHES.  I just got goosebumps writing that.  And now I feel like I need to take a shower.

The afternoon was definitely a success.  Drinking beer out of a clay pot can make most things better but this was actually pretty fun.  I could eat another deep fried Flammkuchen RIGHT NOW.  Deaner got his fill of disgusting things that I would never make for him......

and Evans even glanced up from his video game a couple times to say "night night pig".  Otherwise he couldn't be bothered.

I'm pretty sure he is thinking to himself "I don't know how these crazy morons lived way back when they didn't have comfy jogging strollers, personal handheld tablets, monogrammed jackets and lollipops".  All the while his father is talking incessantly about the costume he is going to order to wear to next years fest.  You can hardly argue that we weren't in the perfect setting for a Renaissance Festival (even if these people really did take themselves a bit seriously).

I'm just hoping that my husband will be able to control himself next year.  Maybe if we are really quiet and don't discuss this again, we will miss the imaginary costume buying deadline.  We managed to get home without having purchased any weapons or tusks that doubled as wine goblets so I'll consider it a victory!

Pinterest.....Fail

So, how cute are these white chocolate covered pretzel pumpkins?  So cute, in my opinion, that I decided my life would not be complete until I made them for Evans' teachers as a fall treat.  (really, I just needed an excuse to make them).  Of course, at the time of my obsession, our commissary did not have any food coloring so I was forced to buy a complete 15 color set from Amazon.  Having to wait longer only made my anticipation grow.  I just knew that these were going to be the greatest and cutest things I'd ever make in my entire life.  I bought two giant bags of M&M's and picked through them for all the green ones.  I even made Deaner hide the leftovers so that I wouldn't be tempted to eat them (until I demanded one night to know where they were, really I should have made him throw them away).  Finally sometime last week my food coloring came and I was in business.  I would first like to say this.  It is much harder to melt chocolate in the microwave than I thought.  In fact, just have fun trying it if you are crazy enough to try and make these cute little treats.  Things did not go well from the outset.  Secondly, my super nice super expensive food coloring that was supposed to require one teeny tiny drop to make this awesome orange color?  Give me a break.  Half the bottle gave me this nice pink shade.  Thirdly, dipping pretzels in hot melted chocolate like the directions said?  Ummmm, that hurts.  It's just that, HOT chocolate.  Fourthly, how in the world are her green M&M's so perfectly placed and actually dried in place?  And lastly, she was not kidding about needing to have wax paper for them to dry on.  I tried to improvise and while I was pretty much doomed from the beginning, it was not until the  very end that I realized just how screwed I was.  So, without further ado, I give you my version of white chocolate covered pumpkin pretzels.

Don't be too jealous of my incredible creation.  I'll be taking orders for them if anyone wants to invest in my talents.  :)  I can see now several ways would I could improve upon my "technique" on these pumpkins but I think I'll call it quits for the season.  In order to make myself feel better about the pumpkin debacle, I set my sights on something that looked a little bit more foolproof.  I saw a picture on Pinterest for these nutter butter bite acorns and figured with only three ingredients, I could possibly get these right (please don't remind me that the pumpkins only had three ingredients too).

Doesn't get a whole lot easier than this.  Unwrap all the hershey kisses.  Melt some of the mini chocolate chips in a bowl in the microwave to use as your "glue".  The rest is pretty self explanatory from the pictures.  Sorry this first one is so dark.

You can see my "assembly line".  And the final product!

I was so excited with the way that they turned out that you would have thought I had just successfully performed brain surgery.  These made great Fall treats for E's teachers and had I not gotten them out of the house when I did, there would not have been any left.  I'd definitely make these again but I think the pumpkins will not be making a return appearance!  I'm open to any ideas that require any color food coloring.  I have them all.  Happy Monday to all!

Post Guest Letdown

We have had a pretty busy two months around the Deaner household in Germany.  With visits from Old Dad at the end of August, Buddy and Susie in September and then Gannie and Auntie Laurie in October, the inn has been quite full.  As I am sitting here writing this I am not sure I can remember the last time my house was this quiet.  We said goodbye to Gannie and Laurie on Monday morning and Evans hasn't quite known what to do with himself since.  It's pretty public knowledge that Evans is the boss of Gannie and now that he doesn't have someone waiting on him hand and foot, taking him where ever he points and playing with him for hours on end in his Choo Choo Doop (we don't know why but this is what he calls the playroom) he might be suffering from a small case of the Gannies.  My sister-in-law and I used to joke about her children having a case of the Gannies when Gannie ultimately had to leave and I now understand it a little bit more thoroughly.  Let me start off by saying that I, by no means, neglect Evans by not playing with him.  I think the kid is pretty happy.  But when I say that Gannie plays, I mean that she plays hardcore.  I actually witnessed a game of catch the beach ball last for over two hours at one point.  The two of them would disappear to the Choo Choo Doop and I wouldn't see them (I could definitely hear them) for the next three hours.  They were definitely each other shadows for ten days and it is no wonder that I find Evans sitting in our blanket basket looking like he is bored out of his mind now that Gannie is gone (really, he was watching something on TV and I think he was exhausted).

As things have started to get back to normal around here and the weather is slowly growing colder every morning it is nice to look back on our Fall and of all our visitors.

We spend an afternoon in Bacharach, a small town on the other side of the Rhein from us.  We have been there once before with my parents when Evans was born and loved it.  I'm glad we were able to make the short trip back so show off such a gorgeous place.

Bacharach is one of several walled cities that is still intact and this one is worth seeing if you ever have the chance.

This is actually a hotel that is built into the city wall.

It was a great afternoon and was only made better by the awesome Federwiesser that is currently "in season" here in Germany.  For those that haven't had it, it is wine that is made from grapes that are picked early and the wine is in the processing of fermenting.  Every time I explain it, Deaner corrects me on something I got wrong about it so the long and short of it is, it is lower alcohol content wine that tastes like grape juice.  Delicious.

Or, if you are my mother in law, you can just start calling it "new wine" for some reason, but it's not likely anyone will know what you are talking about.  Not even in France.  :)

The rest of the week was spent spending time down at our winestand in the afternoons since the days of it being open are numbered.  We had great weather for the most part and ate our way through the week.  I've tried several new recipes lately that have been hits so I'll be posting those sometime in the next week or two.  Since Gannie and Laurie left I've found myself constantly cleaning and picking things up.  People normally associate guests with added chores and housework but with these two around my house was looking fantastic and my laundry was always folded (albeit in very weird ways!).  The second they were gone Deaner and Evans managed to destroy it in 24 hours.  After their Monday departure, Deaner and I were nervous that Evans might be a little out of sorts.  Since it was a holiday for D and he wasn't working we drove out to the larger American base about an hour away for some Johnny Rockets and a new bike.

Not sure why these pictures kept turning out a little bit blurry but I have a feeling it had more to do with the photographer (not me) than the new iPhone.  Evans very nearly had a coronary while waiting impatiently for Deaner to get the bike assembled.

Hurry up already Daddy!

Finally! 

The joy of cycling with no pants has no end.  Until you realize that you actually have to pedal a bike to go anywhere.  We might still be talking endlessly about the "new bike new bike" but I haven't seen much riding on it since it takes some effort to stretch his feet down to the floor to scoot along.  Forget the pedals.  Hopefully we will have a chance this weekend to really test it out.  And just for the record, the bike was a way bigger hit than the new Cinderella "Diamond Edition" DVD (that cost $30!).  This child will take Mufasa and Mufasa's Baby (Simba) any day over singing sewing mice.  I can hardly blame him.

I'm off to read and troll Pinterest for new dinner ideas.  I have a project up my sleeve for this afternoon that I saw on Pinterest and depending on the outcome, perhaps y'all will hear about it.  If it is disastrous  

it might just stay up my sleeve.  Happy Thursday to everyone!  God, I love short weeks!

Apple Pickin' Fun

(I wrote this a week ago and never posted it so y'all will have to excuse my "tense" issues) Last Saturday was a sad day as we had to bid farewell to Evans' Fan Club, Buddy and Susie.  In the past, E does not take these departures very well so they have to be executed perfectly.  Buddy and Susie said good-bye to E on Friday night and when we woke up on Saturday morning for the airport, we did not wake him to see them go.  We have learned the hard way that it is just better this way.  Deaner and I wanted to do something fun with Evans on Saturday during the day before football watching officially started so we headed out to Appel Happel, an orchard near our house, for some apple picking.  To be honest it was way more about letting him run around and wear himself out but we didn't tell him that plan.  We met up with two sets of friends and their kids and let Evans and William run wild for as long as they could take it.

Evans surprised all of us by actually picking several apples and even taking a bite out of one.  There was a lot more apple throwing going on but at least he was using the rotten ones already on the ground.

I am not sure why but he loves to let the sleeve of his jacket cover up his right hand.  Frankly, it drives me bonkers but even with the sleeves rolled up he still manages to sneak that hand inside his coat.  j

We all know that Evans is not the most adventurous little kid so I was not surprised at his hesitance to partake in the bounce house.  Deaner tried and tried to force him to enjoy it but he was having none of it.  Hardly worth having to take the shoes off and put them back on!  

The weather turned out great and it was nice to have an exhausted child on our hands.  We didn't even end up buying any apples.

All in all it was a nice day at Appel Happel and I'm sure we would take him again.  Anything that results in a three hour afternoon nap is an acceptable excursion in my opinion.......even if you don't like apples.

The Incident Report

I was pretty excited this morning when I dropped Evans off for school and had minimal drama.  The crying has all but stopped except for that split second when he realizes I'm sneaking towards the door.  I am really starting to like his teachers and I feel a hundred times more comfortable leaving him there then I did where he was going before he started this program.  I also think they baby him a bit which I have no problem with since he is BY FAR the youngest child in the class.  Besides, who couldn't love that face?  (I'm just kidding, slap me, I really hate it when parents say crap like that).  Anyways.  This morning after school drop off I headed to a MOPS (mothers of preschoolers) meeting that I have just started going to every other week.  I always try and keep my phone on me when E is at school just in case they need to reach me for anything.  We had an instance in Atlanta when I had to pick him up early because he had a fever and I just like to be reachable when he is not with me.  When I checked my phone part way thru this meeting I was shocked to see that I had a missed call and message from Evans' school.  Here is exactly what the message said:

"Hi, Mrs. Deaner, this is blah mer mah, I'm calling from building #*$, where you came in to see the Director for your son's, Richard's, his, Richard, errr, or Evans you call him, at the #*$.  Just to let you know we are obliged to call when there is a hit injury.  And it's NOT a problem we just wanted to let you know that while he was playing, a friend mistook one of their toys, and it flew towards his head and he has a, err, little red swelling there, but he's okay, it's going away, and they put an ice pack there, cleaned it up and gave him TLC of course they will let you know, but this is just to let you know, this is a courtesy call and if you need to call to find out anything further please call us at XXXXXX and we will get more information to you or if you would like to see him.  Otherwise he seems to be doing fine. Thank you very much.  Bye."

Now seriously, I just sat here and transcribed this message word for word and I cannot stop laughing.  I can't say that I found it as entertaining when I first listened to it because I was slightly more concerned in the moment for my potentially concussed child.  Which is y'alls favorite part?  Personally I like how the other child, the "friend", "mistook" one of the toys and it "flew towards Evans' head".  Hmmmm.

When I arrived to pick Evans up (and no, I did not feel the need to see him, frankly I probably wouldn't have even put ice on it myself) he was perfectly happy and playing though he did point to his head multiple times.  The teacher was VERY concerned about the "incident" and asked if I could please review the INCIDENT REPORT!  Waaa?  An incident report?  These kids are two years old!  I mean, I don't find it funny that my son was hurt but when the teacher told me that Evans was minding his own business, reading a book when a little girl hurled a large hard plastic PONY at his head and that he "DIDN'T HAVE A CHANCE", I had to chuckle a bit.  I mean, I'm sorry, that's funny.  Poor kid neva. hada. chance.

Just out of curiosity as I was signing all the "hit incident reports" (which I really hope I can get a copy of for the baby book) I asked what would happen to the actual "perp" of the hit incident.  I was vaguely aware that they don't punish the children with timeouts and I was genuinely interested.  I did not expect the teacher to respond with "oh, we do not tolerate this sort of behavior and if it happens again, she will be suspended".  SUSPENDED?  Are you kidding me?  I know I wasn't there and that perhaps there have been other "assaults by equine" but suspension of a two year old from part time toddler preschool seemed a little extreme.  I mean, it could be Evans attacking with that same pony next week and I would DIE if my child got suspended from school for something like that.  Or, I might think it is funny.......until I have to stay home with him all day long!  :)

Bottom line, I'm pretty laid back about things like this.  I would never demand to know which child it was that hit him or complain that something more should have been done.  I was never upset and I was mildly amused.  I am definitely relieved that E was not the "hitter" and I don't think he will be suffering any long term negative effects from the hit incident.  If push ever came to shove I think Evans could handle himself and if not, I might just suggest that he start wearing that plastic football helmut again.  Can't wait for school on Friday!

The Perfect Time of Year

What can I say?  September does not get any prettier than in the Rheingau Region of Germany.  If you can get past the dread of the impending winter and fear of spending the next seven months with no sunshine, it is hard not to enjoy yourself.  With as much as I moan and groan about the weather from November to May, I have to say that September makes it worth the wait (someone please remind me I admitted this when I crank up the gripe come January).  So, what makes even the prettiest September weather better?  Only a visit from Buddy and Susie!

 My parents arrived on the 14th and Evans could not have been happier, though you cannot tell from this picture, he was ticked about having to stay in the stroller.  We took a Sunday afternoon trip to Rudesheim where we rode the cable cars over the vineyards to take in this view.

Evans didn't even glance back at Deaner and me as he chose just who his favorite people were.

We ate dinner out most nights in fabulous wineries with food to match.

We took a day trip to Koln, Germany since my parents had never been.  I probably should have checked the forecast for the day before wearing a dress but I'll choose not to think about that any longer (really, have I learned nothing living in this sort of climate?).

Evans had a jacket, he just refused to wear it at first.  At least you can tell what an awesome time he was having.  :)

Cologne Cathedral from the bridge.  You can pretty much guess the temperature.

The bridge behind us in the above picture has become one of the better known places for "lovers" (shudder....I hate that word) to leave a "love lock".

These engraved padlocks are locked to the bridge to symbolize "everlasting love" (though good luck finding yours if you decide it important enough to ever remove this gesture).  Couples attach the locks and then throw the keys over the bridge and into the Rhein River.  Enough to keep your love alive forever, no?  :)

I promise I am not being cynical.  I actually spent the greater part of our afternoon attempting to find a place where I could have a "Deaner hearts Gleatie" lock engraved to bring home to my husband thus ensuring another another visit to Cologne in the near future.  Would you believe, that despite all these hundreds of thousands of locks, I couldn't find one?  I know, I know.  Ridiculous.  While dining here....

a restaurant where I had a clear view of the bridge, I asked the waitress for a quick place to grab a lock and have it engraved.  The conversation went along these lines:

Me: "Where is the easiest place around here were I can buy a lock for the bridge and have it engraved? (I want to demonstrate just how clear I was).

Waitress: "What?  A lock?  What for?"

Me: "You know, a padlock, to lock on to the bridge over there"?

Waitress: "A lock on the bridge"?

Me: (patiently) "Yes, like one of the hundreds of thousands already locked to that bridge"?

Waitress: "Hmmmm, I have never heard of this, I will have to ask someone else".

Ok, I was a bit floored.  She returned to tell me that I would have to order one from the internet.  WTF?  In all fairness, I must admit, she ended up being more right than wrong.  While I did ask one more person she directed me to a locksmith who charged 1 euro per letter and was closed for lunch until 3pm.  I still feel like I must be missing something here but that is where the search ended for the day.  If there were vendors somewhere in Cologne busy etching hundreds of locks a day for outrageous prices, I did not find them.  I am, however, considering a new career.

We spent most afternoons with Buddy and Susie down at our favorite place on earth, the wine stand.

I always have plenty of bribes up my sleeve to keep Evans in one place but more often then not, this is how he ends up spending his time at the wine stand.

All that running around made for some pretty sound sleeping (by all).

We were blessed with a week of great weather, great food, great company and good wine.  Every year my mom, my sister and myself host a cocktail party around Christmas for all of our lady friends and each year we have served this Sekt from Biebrich.  We found it at Trader Joe's one year and had to try it considering this castle is only about 3 miles from my house.

I found it only appropriate to show them the real castle on this trip.  You know, so it's really authentic when we serve it this year.

I can't quite decide why Evans always looks so happy in his stroller!  We were forced to leave about 5 minutes after this picture due to a screaming tantrum.  Anyways, I've come to the end of my pictures for the most part.  Or at least the part to which I am willing to continue uploading them.  It has rained every single day since Buddy and Susie left, it's gotten chilly and we are basically suffering from B&S withdrawal.  I'll leave y'all with this picture and a promise for more because we have more Grannies arriving on Friday!