OktoberFest 2011

This week has been a full one!  Lottie arrived bright and early on Tuesday morning, jet-lagged and tired.  She spent most of Tuesday making up for the day/night before!  On Thursday John and Lauren went to Regensburg to get dirndls and lederhosen in preparation for our trip to Munich on Saturday.

On Friday afternoon, Lauren and I made one more trip to Regensburg to swap sizes on my dirndl (baby needed more room).....  So we were set for Saturday.  We got up EARLY Saturday morning, dropped Parker off with the sitter, picked up two girls I work with at the CDC (interns from the states) and headed to Munich.  We entered OktoberFest about 10am when it opened with about 200 thousand other people (seriously).  It was by far the biggest crowd that I have ever been apart of!  I can't imagine trying to take Parker.  So in general, OktoberFest was very similar to the other German fests that we have been to, just much, much, much larger.  There were 8 BIG tents, which held between 5 to 10 thousand people each.  In these tents there were large tables, food stands, huge beers, a band, and oh yeah, did I mention PEOPLE!  Outside the tents it was like a huge fair, with rides, food, and activities.  We all had a good time and were completely exhausted by the time we got home!

For the record, this is John's beer :)

Rothenburg and Mason

We've had a busy week.  Parker and I started school, we had to say goodbye to Bailey, we traveled to Rothenburg, and we welcomed Mason to our family!  To say that we are exhausted is an understatement!  The school week went well, nothing exciting or noteworthy to mention besides the fact that I was EXHAUSTED by Friday and went to bed at 8pm!  I think the whole working all day (after a 7 month hiatus) combined with being pregnant was just more than I was used too!  Parker did well and even used the "big girl toilet" at school :).  She is talking SO much more, and seems to be able to express her wants/needs much better after only one week.....I think being around the other kids (there are 12 kids in her class and three teachers) is helping her to verbally express herself more efficiently. 

Saying goodbye to Bailey was hard on everyone.  We decided not to "try" to explain it to Parker, both John and I felt that she was too young to grasp the concept of "sick" and therefore avoided the whole conversation.  Bailey had Lymphoma, stage 5, in the last month it had progressed from undetected to her lymphnodes, bones, and vital organs.  There was nothing for us to do for our sweet Bailey.  She will be missed greatly.

On Saturday, John and I dropped Parker off with a sitter (a lady that I work with at the CDC) and began our day of festing and puppy buying!  A quick note on Parker's day, Reyna (sitter) and her husband, took Parker and their son to the Play Mobil Park.  They had a blast!  Their day was filled with water play, bounce houses, playgrounds, and park food, as most of you know, this was right up Parker's alley!  Hopefully, I will have some pictures from Reyna later to post!  

After John and I dropped Parker off we headed to Rothenburg, which is a small town about 1.5 hours northwest of where we live.  Rothenburg is known as the "Christmas Village" for it's year-round Christmas stores and also it's Christmas markets, which begin the end of November.  John and I chose to go this weekend because the town was hosting it's annual Imperial Fest.  This is no ordinary fest (with rides, fest food, beer, and games),  this is a town-wide fest where everyone dresses in medieval garb and sets up the town in medieval fashion, complete with rope making, plays, and food.  We spent the afternoon wondering around looking in shops and enjoying the fest.  For lunch we ate at a great little Chinese restaurant, our first Chinese food since being in Germany :), also our first meal "out" alone.  We both enjoyed ourselves :).

Upon leaving the fest we headed south from Rothenburg to a non-existant tiny town of Wittleshofen to pick up the newest addition to our family, Mason.  After Parker spent three days searching the house for "her doggy", we both agreed that the best thing for us was to get another dog.  I can't lie and say that I was in total agreement....to be honest, I'm feeling slightly overwhelmed with a new job and a new baby on the way.  But as usual John convinced me that he would handle the potty training this month while he's not on rotation and by the time "Baby" arrives, Mason will be good to go....we'll see.  One thing that I am sure of is that this was the right decision in regards to Parker.  Mason is a Bouvier de Flandres, I know, what exactly is that....all I can say is that he looks like a small bear.  He is a dark brindle and very fluffy, however he's not a "shedder", which was a must for me.  Mason is a very laid back, affectionate dog, he loves to follow us around and snuggle when given the chance. After one day he has clearly bonded with our family and Parker loves him!

Last of Summer...

Parker and I have spent the last week and a half getting the house back in order and playing outside.  We returned home to temperatures in the high eightys (the highest ALL summer) and John on rotation (yes, he has been gone since he picked us up at the airport!).  Needless to say, the house was a hot mess....literally :)!  This week we plan to do more of the same to squeeze the last bit out of our FULL summer.  Next week, both Parker and I start school.  We are both a little nervous and a lot excited!  John will come out of the field either Friday or Saturday and we are both MORE than ready to see him!

Big News

We are thrilled to announce that we are expecting our second child on February 8, 2012!  

Columbus

We spent the last week of our vacation in Columbus.  We spent lots of catching up with family and even got the chance to meet new cousins!  By the time Sunday rolled around we were both exhausted and ready to come home!  The flight was LONG, but we were both thrilled to see John waiting in Munich for us :).

PCB July 2011

This past weekend we went to Panama City Beach with Kay, Mom, Rachel, and Presley, and as always we had a blast!  Panama City has been a staple in my childhood, every year we would make several trips to stay with Aunt Kay and Uncle Dicky at the beach and every year we had fun!  This year did not disappoint :).  We were so glad to have Rachel and Presley join us, the girls were hilarious and had a great time together.  It so much fun to watch them play together!  

They ate many popsicles on the balcony....

Parker absolutely loved the beach, Presley...not so much :)!  Parker spent A LOT of time in the boat with Ebby and Kitty was actually able to coax Presley into it once or twice....

When we got to the beach Papa and Ursela were on their way back to Columbus, so we got to visit with them for a few minutes.

Parker thoroughly enjoyed all the attention that she received from Ebby and Kitty...

 And she still managed to find time to "relax" in the pool, be sure to notice her crossed feet :)!

The rest of the weekend we spent eating an playing.  We had so much fun and I can't wait to do it again (once I'm well-rested)!  (Yes, I realize that there are many pictures with Parker yelling at "things", I never realize that she's doing it until I see the pictures....)

Completely unrelated.....while we were in Athens with Ebby and Pop, Parker and Ebby regularly picked tomatos....