I guess it is a feast or a famine with us :)

We aren't really lost as some people have joked :). Time goes so fast and when you have to share the computer, want to go see things and have a toddler I kept thinking oh I will do the blog later and all of a sudden it has been 3 weeks. So sorry if there are to many pictures but I widdled them down as much as I could and besides everyone keeps saying they want to see what we are doing. Hopefully I do better at keeping everyone updated and not do a feast or a famine anymore.

These first pictures were of a Funken that our neighbors invited us to on 3/13/2011. I don't understand all the ins and outs but from what they told us there is a long celebration called the Fasching, that is supposed to chase off the the evil spirits of winter and welcome spring, with parades and other things and then they have this big bon fire called the Funken at the end. Then this starts a fasting period that is from the Catholic religion that goes until Easter. So here is pictures of the bon fire. We missed the parade earlier.

The bon fire right after they lit it. The trees on top were really cool because they would just all of a sudden burst into flames while the fire burned.

Oh, they also put a witch hanging at the top of the fire. The bright fire area at the top is the witch when she finally burst into flames. Spencer said that when he was in Austria they filled the witch with fireworks and if she fell first and then blew up it was supposed to mean more winter and if she blew up and then fell it was supposed to mean and earlier spring or visa versa (he didn't remember for sure) like our ground hogs day. But here they had never heard of that. They just have a bon fire with a witch at the top and watch it burn. But it gave us a chance to talk with our neighbors more.

Elise's preferred position to watch the fire was squatted down. It was fun to watch the kids play. Her and Max (our neighbor's kid) thought it was their duty to pick up all the rocks and sometimes throw them. So here is Elise trying to find all the rocks she could.

The bon fire close to the end when it had mostly burned down.