Introducing the CHAMPS!!!

Zac's team took the Championship yesterday!!!

What a game it was too! They got off to a rough start but came back to win 33-13!

You couldn't ask for a better end to a perfect undefeated season.

This is what football is all about. This is when football is fun and you really enjoy it because it isn't over run with egos and greedy star NFL players looking for multimillion dollar contracts. You play because it's fun and you love the game.

Maybe the NFL could learn a few things from these little guys :)


A HUGE THANKS to these FANTASTIC Cheerleaders who were AWESOME and kept all the parents pumped up through out the game...


Zac's scarey game face...


Gimme that Trophy!!!

Wish Them Luck!!!

Today is the big championship football game! Zac's team has worked so hard for this all season. So far they are still undefeated and today is the last game of the year the CHAMPIONSHIP GAME!!!

WISH THEM LUCK!!!

Wish Paul luck too. All hell has broken loose for him at work and he worked late last night and is already back to work again this morning. I hope he makes the game today!

Back From Poland

I'm back from Poland and EXHAUSTED!! That is a rough trip on the body. I think I was up a total of 43 hours before it was all said and done. What a whirlwind of a trip but it was so worth it. I don't think I have ever shopped so much in my life and I think I had nothing but dreams of blue dots last night. I got a lot of Christmas shopping done and even bought some Christmas pottery for myself.

One of the many pottery shops we went to (this one was higher end):




I took a few pictures but my neighbor's daughter who went with us took even more. She is suppose to email me the pictures in the next few days so once I get them I will post them.

Overall, I wasn't too impressed with Poland as a country itself. Definitely a very impoverished country. I couldn't believe the difference just crossing the border. We went from a beautiful autobahn and beautiful country side to this icky brown and depressed country with roads that I couldn't believe were considered highways. I was just amazed at the difference just in crossing the border.

I am going to spend the day today being a bum. I am absoultely exhausted!

Kuerbis Fest

I know I promised to post this earlier in the week but it has been a hellish week here.

Here are the long awaited Kuerbis Fest pictures. The festival takes place in Ludwigsburg which is a town outside Stuttgart. This is the largest pumpkin festival in all of Germany and one of the oldest too. I think out of all the castles we have seen since living in Germany, Schloss Ludwigsburg had the most impressive grounds. The castle itself is less then desirably but I have never been a huge fan of the Baroque period anyways. The castle grounds came complete with a Marchengarten (fairy tale garden) for the kids, an aviary, vineyards, and various other activities to keep everyone in the family entertained.










Fairy Tale Garden. This place was so cool and I wish I had taken more pics:



The avairy:


The Hunter's lodge:




More schloss pics:

What a Weekend!

We had quite a busy weekend this past weekend. On Friday after Paul and I dropped the kiddos off to school we headed up to Selb for the day to do some Christmas shopping for family back home and to get some great deals on porcelain.

Saturday was a very long day. We headed up to Heidelberg that day for the bazaar and to do some sightseeing. The bazaar was OK. I found a new antique dealer that carries some nice pieces for reasonable prices out in the Ansbach area. Other then that it was a waste for the most part. Most items were overpriced especially the crystal. I was blown away by how much they wanted for crystal. I also was taken back by how much a vendor wanted for the traditional wooden plates that are hand painted. They are a huge thing here in Bavaria and you can find them for roughly 1-2 Euros per plate at the local flea market. This vendor wanted close to $30 for ONE plate. Needless to say I didn't buy anything from him. After the bazaar we did a little sightseeing. Overall I was less then thrilled with Heidelberg. I guess I find it to be more hype then actual sights. Maybe when we go back at Christmas time I will have a different opinion.

Sunday by far was the best day. A friend of ours had told us about a pumpkin festival (Kuerbis Fest) outside Stuttgart in the city of Ludwigsburg. That was a real treat. We had a fantastic day! The fest is held on the castle grounds and we were amazed at how large the castle grounds were. I'm hoping to get a quick blog and some pics up later today right now I'm off to run errands and I also have mid-terms this week :)

Oktoberfest

Monday Paul and I made the trip down to Munich for Oktoberfest. Paul has been to Oktoberfest several times in the past but this was my first time. Let's just say I was ANYTHING but disappointed. We had a fantastic time! Oktoberfest is definitely an interesting place where everything goes. The beer tents are amazing and when I say tent it is anything but a tent. These are buildings they start to construct months before the fest. Also an interesting fact I learned is that only breweries in the Munich area are allowed to have a beer tent at the fest.

Our first stop that day was the Hof Brau tent. It is the granddaddy of all beer tents there and if your lucky enough to get in it definitely is the full Oktoberfest experience. There isn't much else to say except we drank, ate and made friends from all over the globe that day.



Inside the Hof Brau tent...












This guy REALLY had a good time at Oktoberfest. This is a very common sight at the fest :)

Schloss Rosenburg and Schloss Prunn

Saturday we took a little day trip after Zac's football game to Schloss Rosenburg and Prunn.

Schloss Prunn is a castle I have been dying to see for months but wanted to wait for the leaves to change color since then it has the most amazing view. I had read a lot about it and was really excited to finally see it. Unfortunately, the castle is undergoing renovations right now and that really took the wind out of my sails. It wasn't a total loss the views were still amazing.






After Prunn we drove down the way to Schloss Rosenburg. Schlosee Rosenburg is also an amazing falconhof (falconary) with shows three times a day. The entire castle's grounds are lined with a variety of birds from falcon and hawks to even a few Bald eagles and buzzards. Sydney LOVED the falconhof and was really tickled by the show. Zac on the other hand was so upset and felt that the birds chained to a pole was cruel. He really lost it when he saw the falcons with hoods over their heads. Paul and I tried our hardest to tell him this was a good place and the birds had a better life then he did but he wasn't buying it. Regardless we still had a great time, well at least 3 out of the 4 of us did.