Trip to Bad Waldsee to the Farmer's Market 3/22/2011

Bad Waldsee is about 5 km away. We went today to go to the Farmer's Market. It isn't nearly as big as the ones in Ravensburg or Weingarten but they still had quite a selection. Spencer says he was very proud of me because he started the conversation with the man we decided to buy vegetables from but then when we had figured out exactly what we wanted I jumped in and ordered everything, how much and of what items. It was not full German sentences but I was able to make myself understood. 

 City Lake (Stadtsee) on our way to the city center. Just South of the train station and the bus stop where we get off.

 Elise having to stop and watch the ducks and swans. Once again she was very happy in her spot and didn't want to leave. We were going to let her feed the swans today but our bread crumbs had molded so we will have to try again next time.

 

 City lake

 The pathway towards the city center by the city lake. I just thought it was a very pretty spot off the main foot path to enjoy the view.

 Walking down the streets of Bad Waldsee city. Cars actually drive through here too.

 One of the entrances/exits out of the city center. Many old cities were were built within walls to protect them. Now the city has expanded beyond the walls but the main city center is still within the walls or what is left of them in some cases.

 A cool tower on the wall that has been half updated. This would be a very cool apartment to live in.

 

 More street views of Bad Waldsee.

 Swan in the "castle" moat. If  you look close at the wings you can see a heart shape because of how the swan is holding its wings. 

 Walkway leading up to the back of the castle. I thought it was very pretty how the ivy covers and grows up the trunks of some of the trees. 

 The castle lake (Schlosssee).

 Ducks and swan on the castle lake.

 We bring you a lake side view. Won't you join us? :)

 Moat around the castle.

 The girls in front of the "castle". Not a very impressive castle but this is the first one we have been to.

Our lunch while were visiting the city. Spencer really liked these on his mission and wanted us to try them. We all really enjoyed them. The one closest to you is called a Doenar Kebab and the one behind is called a Duram Kebab. He says they weren't quite as good as some he has had so we will have to try them again. It was really fun because Elise had fallen asleep and we walk into this little family owned business and immediately the guy starts saying that there is a place we can lay her down. He takes us to, we think, the family room off the dining area with couches. He gets her a blanket and pillow and then tells us that we are welcome to eat back here too. We had our own private little lunch room. Although Elise didn't sleep through lunch. As soon as Spencer came in with the food she woke up and was very ready to eat. I think having a child with you makes everyone friendlier. Elise ate her fair share of the lunch which surprised me because she already at an apple and a piece of cheese. At the farmers market we had one vendor give her a piece of cheese after we ordered some and another gave her an apple.

Our Sunday walk 3/20/2011

Sorry, I guess it only counts as a feast or famine if I actually get everything up to date. I am working on it. So this was our third Sunday here and it was such a beautiful day that we couldn't resist a walk. From our other pictures you have probably noticed that we live up on a hill from the main part of town. There are quite a few houses to our south and on the other side of the houses are a few smaller roads. We decided it would be fun to at least walk this direction and see where they went. So these are the pictures from our walk.

 Whenever we go walking Elise looks for curbs she can walk on. For some reason she really likes to walk on raised up parts. Maybe she will be a tight rope walker :).

 The view South, just past the houses.

 South and a little west of the houses.

 Elise found a "spot" to sit, surprise, surprise. I think she would have sat there all day if we would have let her. She was having so much fun picking up every rock she could see. And since it was the edge of the road and there was pea gravel on it she could have sat there for a long time.

 So Spencer told me that most European houses aren't very big but we have seen a lot here that are bigger than he expected and a couple like this one that are exceptionally large even for American standards.

 When we finally go Elise to leave her spot this is headed up the hill to the South East.

 Part way up the previous road looking East.

 At the top of the pine trees the road heads South and a little East. How long do you think Elise would walk before she was done? FOREVER!

 From previous road looking at Gaisbeuren.

 Looking to the East at small towns over the hill. I don't know if you ca tell but the white spot that sticks out in the middle of the picture is a church in a town over the hill that sits on top of a hill so it is more easily seen.

 Picture of the pines we passed at the beginning of our walk. Like many of the stands of trees we have seen, they are very neatly tended and appear to be thoughtfully cut so that they still have a pretty stand of trees. The swath here is where they just cut a row of trees out for lumber.

 Notice how the trees are in nice straight rows. It is probably more obvious when you see this in person but they are very straight rows. Not all the stands of trees we have seen are as straight as this one but most are pretty well in rows.

 A cute little bench area by the stand of trees so you can enjoy the view West, of the town below.

our creative little girl

 After Elise got dressed for the day then she decided it was time for her pig to put its pajamas on and sleep. I was picking things up in the other room and came out to her eyeing the computer trying to decide what "work" she was going to do.

 One of Elise's favorite spots. She likes to climb up on the back of the couch to look out the window at all the things going on, look for dad coming home or to try and convince us it is a beautiful day and we should be outside.

 There is a stack of cushions next to the fridge that Elise likes to play with. I don't know is she is making herself a bed or making and Elisee sandwich.

Another day she is trying to keep from falling asleep but looks ready for a nap with her "pillow and blanket".

St. Patrick's Day 3/17/2011

My attempt at a green meal with what we had. We bought this meat on sale yesterday so it had to be part of the menu and so I thought I would make green things to go with it but my food coloring was very weak and so we have slightly green rice and gravy to go with it.

 Spencer and Elise working hard. Elise has a piece of chocolate in each hand. Brain food! Which she willingly shares bites of if you don't mind the slobber.

 As you can see Elise is enjoying living in the land of all sorts of good chocolate.

In Wiengarten 3/16/2011

So we went to Weingarten today to go to the Farmers Market. Unfortunately you don't get any pictures of the market because we were taking our time walking around seeing what was there and where we wanted to buy our produce and then we were getting hungry so we bought lunch and ate and then when we went back everyone was closing down. We thought they stayed open longer, oh well.

 The crocuses that I talked about earlier. I love the spring flowers everywhere and of course the two cuties in the picture.

 The playground at the park where we ate lunch. These are the "stairs" to the slide.

Elise enjoyed sliding but I think she may have enjoyed climbing up and down all sides of the hill more.

New Sleeping methods 3/14/2011

So I am sure I am biased but my daughter is adorable. After we made it home from FHE we got ready for bed and were helping Elise settle down for the night. She came up with a new way to put herself to sleep. So far, from birth these are all the ways I can think of that Elise has fallen or put herself to sleep: crying, babbling, talking, cuddling, singing, being sang to, reading, being read to, watching a movie, traveling (so boredom) and eating but tonight she came up with a new one. We had read books and then we were sitting on the couch talking and she climbed up on my lap and started meowing. She meowed herself a sweet song until she was sound asleep. It was hilarious because until she was deep asleep there was at least occasional meowing.

Family Home Evening in Weingarten 3/14/2011

A member from our ward invited us to Family Home Evening and these are pictures as we walked there. They are mostly of the Basilika in Weingarten (a Catholic Cathedral).

 We walked through a little bit of the city and then up all of these stairs. Elise thinks she is getting so big and wants to walk with us and hold onto a finger. She walked up most of these stairs holding onto our finger.

 This is the front, top view of the Basilika. Unfortunately I couldn't get a picture with more of it all at the same time. I would have to be able to fly so I could be in the perfect position. Although the architecture is beautiful.

 From the top of the stairs this is the view of the city of Weingarten.

 Another view of the city from the top of the stairs.

 Spencer had a meeting that took longer than it was supposed to but since we don't have two phones I had to wait for him to come home to leave. He barely made it home before we had to run out the door to catch the bus so we weren't late. We took a sandwich and apple to eat for our supper on the way. Elise was having a lot of fun being our little vulture. She would asks for bites of the sandwich and then the apple as we walked. Most of the time we had to stop for her to get a bite. This is the first time she has eaten an apple whole but I was impressed at how well she did at getting bites off.

 The courtyard of the Basilika.

 The courtyard of the Basilika.

We made it to Family Home Evening on time. There was the member, the missionaries and a newly baptized member. We thought we were only doing FHE but they cooked supper so we talked while it cooked. It turned out to be a good thing that we had not eaten very much. Although we missed whatever else they did for FHE because we had to be on the 8:20 bus back home because it is the last bus of the evening. FHE was fun and worth the run back down the hill to make sure we made the bus.

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.