Enjoying the Outdoors

Time is almost up! We have been trying to get as much enjoyment out of our last spring in Bavaria. Having a Volksfest right down the street from our house makes it pretty easy.  Here is a short update on what we have been doing over the past couple of weeks.

For the past two weekends and the week in between the festival was open each day. The Bavarian schools are out for two weeks, some people travel but most stay and hang out here. This is the same place that Bernhard won the stuffed unicorn for Katherine last year.

This time around the kids went with us several times and enjoyed the rides over and over again. Most of the time the rides do not have any lines and they usually get extra time. Katherine loves the trampoline bungee thing and the both like the bubbles in the water.

Above is about where I spent most of the time. The weather was great and inside the tent is very loud with the band playing. At night it can get pretty crazy.

The first song that I just got the end of is Ein Prosit that you hear every twenty minutes or so at Oktoberfest and Volksfestivals like this. 

This old guy prefers the 68 degree overcast outdoor tables. That is except for the smoking. I have said it before, but why is there not a specific area where you can smoke? I guess here there are so many of them they probably outnumber the non-smokers.

Regardless, we still had a great time, every time that we went. I think over the 11 days we were there for six or seven of them, at least for a short time. Here is a short video of some of the rides that the kids did. 

I also came out of retirement for a weekend to play a softball tournament with the Isotopes. I decided not to play this year since we had conflicts with every game on the schedule. When David's baseball game got cancelled and some guys from the team said they needed more players it was a perfect opportunity. This short video will give you an idea of the fun this group has. 

I never could get them at their rowdiest, but it was pretty close. This was in between games sitting by the tents. They camped out overnight and drank three cases of beer. This was in the morning and they were still drinking. The facility had two fields set up. On the far field, behind the screen along the first base line were these horses. They were right behind me as I watched the game, pretty cool. It was a fun two days even though we only won one game. I am once again retired from softball for now. 

There was some other wildlife in our backyard last week too. This guy is very similar to one that I pictured last year around this time. This one jumped the fence and was munching on some foliage in the flower beds. He looked right at me a few times and did not seemed bothered. I guess that is what you get in a country that does not allow guns. 

This past weekend we did what we hope is our last cloths shopping in Germany. Both kids needed some summer wear. After Cindy and I hung out on the back patio for a few hours and the kids played. Sunday we celebrated Madelon's birthday at Unterschleissheimer See close to the house. 

Her due date for Baby Keller is in a couple of weeks and she is ready for it to be over. They brought a little grill and we hung out by the lake for the afternoon and early evening. Madelon also had another friend Lola join us. She lives in Munich but is from Argentina.

The kids did get in the water several times but they never fully submerged because it was still pretty chilly. The nights around here are still getting into the low 50's and the highs have only been in the 60's and low 70's.

This week the weather has cleared up and it is getting much warmer. We are on our way to Prague this weekend for our last planned trip before heading back home. I will have a blog next week about all of that fun.