Johnny Appleseed and soap carving

Today I helped in Jessica's second grad class as they celebrated Johnny Appleseed's birthday by having three and a half hours of apple related activities. Everything from making apple juice and apple sauce to art projects to weighing apples on scales. I manned the station where kids voted on their favorite color of apple and then colored a paper apple and glued it on graph.  I was glad to be able to help out and spend time with Jessica. 

This evening, I helped chaperone a stake activity where there was a dance for the 14-18 yr olds and soap carving for the 12-13 yr olds. Jessi and Kaitlyn had to come with me since Arnie was working late and they ended up disregarding the age limits and had a grand ole time dancing and mutilating bars of soap. The big girls had fun too. I'm glad they ran out of energy early.  It's been a long day. 

A clean kitchen

I know that this might not be news worthy to anybody else but I've been trying to clean my kitchen for at least twenty days ever since getting our household goods. It isn't anywhere near to being fully operational but at least I am not going to be playing catch up anymore.  I now feel a whole lot better about opening up more boxes to put things away. I won't be adding to the chaos anymore. Well, at least I can tell myself that anyway. 

A trip to IKEA that turns into a trip to the hospital.

I know that sounds like an evil version of a Winnie-the-Pooh chapter but I promise you that everybody is fine except that I didn't get any bookshelves yet. That was my goal yesterday morning when I finally set out to solve the problem of too many books and not enough places to put them. My house is buried in boxes and a good many of them are full of books.  Thanks to owning a house with built in book shelves, we haven't owned bookshelves in at least five years maybe more. Anyway, I've been trying all week to avoid IKEA and the labyrinth of insanity that it is by trying to go to the thrift shop or find other means to acquire bookshelves but to no avail. I was informed Friday that IKEA cornered the market on cheap, easily accessible furniture and I steeled myself to tackle the very real problem of going to that den of color coordinated mayhem on the worst of all possible days, Saturday!

 So I armed myself with Euros, a vat form and got there 15 mins after ten. My strategy was a success!  I had beaten the rush and got a great parking spot. There were very few measuring tape wielding customers to wade through in order to get to the place I had previously designed to go. As I was contemplating between several different designs of shelving units, I get a call that end all my decision making fun. 

You see, Arnie had left earlier that morning to go mountain bike riding with a local riding group. There had been some concern about the riding conditions because of the recent rain fall making the trails soft and muddy. However it had been clear the night before and the morning was bright and clear so they decided to continue as planned.  Unfortunately, there were still some softer places in the trail and a couple people had issues. Arnie was one such unfortunate. His bike slipped while transversing a large tree root and his leg came in contact with the saw-like surface of the chain ring resulting in a substantial cut in his calve. His riding buddies administered first aid using their camelbaks, a shop towel, some gauze and some duct tape. 

I picked up my crazy husband, covered in mud, lounging in the sun, next to the PX, beside an equally mud incrusted bike looking for all the world like he was just there enjoying the sunshine.   I took him to the nearby Boeblingen hosptial where they clean the wound and put one stitch in the longest cut and told him to go take a bath.  

I guess bookshelves will have to wait for another day. I'll be playing nurse for at least a day or so. 

Quilting.

Ok, I have to explain the path of my insanity for a moment. When I got to Stuttgart, my friend Angie was excited to start quilting with me. The arts and crafts shop here has sewing machines in the back room that you can rent time on, so it really didn't matter that I didn't have my sewing machine or anything. Only problem I did have was I hadn't brought any fabric or patterns or anything with me, so I decided to make a new quilt!  What the heck, right?  This time I thought it would be great to make myself a quilt. I choose a stack of fat quarters, or fabric pre cut at a quarter yard and arranged as a matching set, that were in Americana colors (red, white, blue, and as constrast, black.)  I, then, chose a quilt pattern that used fat quarters. This is new territory for me and I didn't realize how much trouble I was going to have.  I've cut stuff wrong, sewed stuff wrong and spent a great deal of time "unsewing" as my friend calls ripping seams out in order to try again. So I feel it an tremendous feat to have my second block done. Only seven more to go. :)

Day 3 in Garmisch

On our last day in Garmsich, we checked out of our deluxe cabin and headed back to Stuttgart but not without stopping at the most famous castle in all of Europe, the Neuschwanstien castle. It is not only famous for the crazy king who built it but by the famous animator who modeled Cinderella's castle in Disneyland after it.

Like all castles in Germany, and other places, it is strategically placed high on a hill over looking the surrounding countryside. This means that invading armies and tourists alike have a heck of a time storming the castle.  Whether it is paying outrageous sums per person to torture poor draft horses to lug ten people up and down the hill or trudging up the hill on foot or bike, you definitely appreciate how arduous a task it was to wage war against a castle or even to live in one. 

In this particular castle, however, the trudging doesn't end once you reach the top. During the guided tour, you are treated to a journey including approximately 308 stairs to climb up or down (we counted!). I think this must be why King Ludwig II was so thin. It probably didn't help the insanity case either. All joking aside, it was well worth the trip. It is a gorgeous castle with equally beautiful vistas. Again, I can't wait to download the pictures from my big camera. The iPhone camera doesn't do them justice. 

Day 2 in Garmisch

We went to the Partnachklamm, which is a harrowing, breath-taking hike through a gorge behind the ski jump stadium in Garmisch. This isn't a particularly difficult hike but the trail was barely wide enough to let two people walk next to one another and it was wet and wound it's way in and out of pitch black tunnels.  I wish I had known about the dark tunnels as I had packed three headlamps that would have been perfect for the occasion. As it was, Arnie and I took turns keeping a death grip on Jessi who had a tendency to bounce around like there wasn't a death drop into a huge rushing river below. I had my big camera with me and I was able to take some fun pictures despite our precarious situation. However, I have misplaced my sync cord and my computer is experiencing technical difficulties so you will have to be patient to see them. Malia, my photography apprentice, took turns with the big camera as well. I'm excited to share with you her budding talents. 

As ever, I'm so glad that I am healthy enough to be able to participate in such a fabulous family activity. Total steps of the day, 13,358 and approx 5.5 miles. 

After the hike we went to the Edelweiss resort and went swimming. Afterward, Malia caught a spectacular sunset on the Zugspitz, the highest mountain peak in Germany. 

Bike riding in Deutschland

One of the biggest things to do here, besides volksmarching (walking all over the place) or drinking beer and eating brats (which I only do the latter), is riding bicycles, or fahradders. There are many paved biking and walking trails that connect the towns here and are actually a faster way to travel (if you are a fit person) than braving the autobahn (freeway) and the staus (traffic jams), which are frequent. 

I just recently felt good enough to get back on the bike and ride a little, which apparently to Arnie meant 9 miles one day and 14 miles the next.  He tells me that's nothing. Well, to me, that's a huge deal. I've never biked those distances ever in my life and I not only did them back to back but was still walking and talking afterwards!  How do you like them apples!  I have to say the scenery is absolutely the best. Walking or biking, Germany is the place to do it!

Garmisch Day 1

We drove down to Garmisch today to meet up with Arnie after his week long conference. He has reserved a deluxe cabin for the weekend. The girls are up in the loft, which they love. 

We went on a nice walk through town and saw a trio of Alpen horn players as well as tried on some drindles. It is rainy and gray but it still is one of the most beautiful places on earth.

 

New Glasses

Bethany, Kaitlyn and Jessi all got their eye exams last week and it was discovered that they all needed glasses. Today Bethany and Kaitlyn got theirs. Jessi's are still being made. Her order is slightly different than her sisters' as the eye glass people are using her existing frames ( the ones she refused to wear) for her new prescription.  I only have a picture of her in a pair she was trying on, but you get the idea. My girls look tres chic in glasses :)