Now that the weather has improved (no more SNOW!!), we're trying to check off some "must see" items locally as well as just enjoying the beautiful weather itself. We started this past week by joining our new American friends, Gabe and Cynthia, at a tadpole pool they had discovered and wanted to share. Of course, there were millions of tadpoles and we managed to get very muddy. Gabe managed to be the first to slide through the mud into the water but Dayna wasn't far behind losing her balance. I'm just glad for the utility sink in the apartment's laundry room!! That's what childhood is for!
On Wednesday, Arny and the Icelanders, (sounds like a rock group!) joined us on an excursion to Castle Litchenstein about 40 minutes from here. Since it was in the 70's we HAD to get ice cream with them to help them cool down! We tease them that they'd never survive a Dallas summer! The castle is perched on a cliff and was easily defended because of that. It's amazing that there are so many castles here - they are everywhere. This location also had an "Adventure Park" where you put on a helmet and harness and swing through the trees with pulleys and all kinds of contraptions. We had to add that to our "must do" list! Anyone want to come and join us?? Since we didn't have the 3 hours to do the Adventure Park we opted for the playground with it's own zip line. For some reason I bottomed out when I tried it!! The kids had a ball though!
Thursday we rode our bikes back to the tadpole pool to show Arny and the gang. This time Dayna spotted a real, live adult frog!! It was an instant hit as they had never seen a frog in the wild before. Iceland doesn't have many animals so they got to hold a frog for the first time ever (after only a few squeals and a little hesitation)!! It was so much fun to share that with them. There are so many things we take for granted!! It has been so interesting to compare our lives with theirs. There are a lot of similarities but there are also a lot of differences too. I wouldn't trade this opportunity for anything and it has really opened the girls' eyes to see that the whole world isn't like the U.S.!
Friday I took off down the road on my bike to capture some pictures
of the apple, cherry and pear trees in blossom. The view just a mile
down the road overlooking the Schwabian Alb mountains in the distance,
the orchards and the town of Hagelloch in the foreground are awesome. I
can't imagine that I will ever live in a more beautiful place. That
afternoon was Dayna's opportunity to take Flat Kayla downtown and do a
photo shoot. She took the above picture under the title along the
Neckar River. I complain about all the pictures she takes but she
really seems to have an eye for composition and SHE (unlike me) uses all
the digital functions on her camera!!! Why are kids so intuitive with
electronics??? Not fair!
Saturday, we took another trip with the Icelanders. I can't say "the "Petersons" because in Iceland they all have different last names (father's first name followed by son or dottir (daughter)) and our new American friends to the Wilhema Zoo in Stuttgart. We opted to take the train which would have been a lot easier had it not been a national holiday (Labor Day) with weird schedules. Jay thought the setting and layout of the zoo was the best he's ever seen. It was built by King Wilhem in the mid- 1800's as a private retreat. It's also a botanical garden so it's really a beautiful place. The girls especially enjoyed the polar bears playing in the water and the baby apes who were hilarious. Jay and I especially liked the Tom Turkey who was showing off. I had never seen one fan out his feathers before - it was quite a production. We are so glad to have such wonderful people surrounding us. The kids did great even though it was an 11 hour day. Things are always more of an adventure when they are shared!
