Little Miss Doolittle

Wanted to share some thoughts about my youngest child...

She loves animals.

She has never met a dog, cat, cow, horse, sheep, chicken, beetle or snail that she did not love and become completely fascinated with.

She always wants to touch and pet any animal that we come across (mostly cows here in the Allgaeu). She has never been afraid of dogs or cats or even bugs. One of her favorite things to do lately is to cruise around the garden and pick up bugs that she finds. She will show it to me and always asks, "What dis?" I even caught her the other day holding a giant, dead fly between her chubby little fingers. She was just about to pop it into her mouth when I realized what she was holding and quickly knocked it out of her hand.

We recently spent the day at a farming museum near where we live. She loved seeing the animals. A little lamb had gotten out of its inclosure while we were there and Lore Mae chased the poor thing all over the barn.

She also loved the chickens and when we were leaving the chicken exhitbit she said, "Bye chickens, I love you." I had to have my tires rotated a couple of weeks ago, and the man that rotated them for me had chickens in his front yard. Of course Lore Mae was completely fascinated and we had to stand in the freezing rain the whole time we waited for the car and look at and talk to the chickens behind the fence. She did not even get scared when the rooster started crowing right in her face.

So maybe this love she has for all of God's creatures great and small will make her into a veterinarian, or an animal rights activist, or maybe she will end up becoming the crazy lady in the neighborhood with 50 cats. Either way it is fascinating to watch her grow and to see her little personality develop more and more each day.

German Fair

When Tommy's Mom (Boog) was still here, we took a day trip to the Augsburger Plaerrer

http://www.plaerrer-online.de/

Augsburg is just north west of Munich, and about an hour and a half from here.

We knew that it was some sort of fair, but didn't know exactly what to expect. It was just like the State Fair at home but instead of corn dogs and funnel cake they had beer and pork.

First ride of the day, a little roller coaster that I am surprised Sarah and Grace wanted to ride.

During the ride.
Thanks to the new camera shots like this are now possible!

After the ride...I think they liked it!

One of the things that Boog wanted to do while she was here was to sit in a Beer Tent, eat some classic German food and listen to German music. Well just so happens that at the Augsburger Plaerrer they have exactly that. We got to sample roasted chicken, German potato salad, Schweine Haxe (pork shank), Knoedel (dumplings) and of course Beer!

We were too early for the main entertainment, but we did get to hear some live music while we ate lunch.

Sarah

Lore Mae and I enjoying the Beer Tent.

This picture was taken from the Ferris Wheel. I posted it to show the death trap in the upper left corner. I was forced to ride with Grace because no one else wanted to. Who would have thought she would have been the dare devil of the family.

Grace and I on said death trap. Don't know if you can see our faces, but she is probably smiling and I am screaming.

This is me getting off of the ride. I think my face says it all. I am surprised that I am not green!

View of Augsburg from the top of the Ferris Wheel. Tommy, Boog Cyrus and Grace rode. Lore Mae, Sarah and I stayed safely on the ground.

Grace and Boog on the Ferris Wheel.

Cyrus in the Ferris Wheel.

Lore Mae thought she was so big to ride, and this ride was exactly Sarah's speed. I think I agree!

Grace on the swings.

Grace and Boog riding the "Himalayan".

I love this picture!

Tommy and Cyrus on the Swings.

It was a great day. We had beautiful weather and it was a nice ending to Boog's visit.

New Camera

We have a new camera!

It has been about 6 years since we had bought the last one and we felt it was time. Besides, to really capture the beauty of this place you need a good camera. So...happy birthday, happy anniversary, happy mother's/father's day, Merry Christmas to me and Tommy for the next couple of years!

Needless to say we have been taking pictures like crazy; playing with all of the settings, trying to figure out what works best. There is no way I could post all of the pictures, but one particular evening we took a walk after dinner and took some pics of the kids in the cow pasture covered in Dandelions. Enjoy!

Cy and Sarah in deep conversation.

They next couple of shots are of Cy pretending to be Spiderman. Love that he is also holing a handful of flowers.

Could not ask for a more beautiful setting!

View of the neighboring village with the mountains in the background.