Wildpark

A couple weeks ago (yes, I'm still that far behind) my friend Amy invited me & Ben to go with her & her girls to the Wildpark in Kaiserslautern.  It's a serious of trails in the woods where you can see animals like deer, bison, and even wildcats in large fenced-in fields.

It was a bit of a walk from the parking lot, and Ben insisted on holding the hand of Amy's youngest daughter.  She was a good sport.  Especially when he wanted to be carried.

The first display we came across was this area with a bunch of trees surrounded by wire.  Didn't quite know what to make of it, but we took a picture anyway.  Amy's girls are used to posing for photos, unlike Ben who just wants to run.

We saw a whole bunch of deer running a bit back from the trail, but this little straggler decided to check us out.  This makes for a cute picture until you find out that about a minute later the deer charged the fence where the kids were standing.

Bison.  Ben didn't care one bit about them.

This was toward the end of the trial we were on, right before we turned around to walk allll the way back.  Ben decided he was tired of walking.  All the ladies took turns carrying him because I wouldn't have made it back to the car carrying that large sack of potatoes.

Strasbourg, France

About two weeks ago we drove to Strasbourg, France, just over the German border.  The drive was only about two hours and it was a gorgeous day.  We took the train from a park & ride into the downtown area.  Pretty sure the train was Ben's favorite part of the trip.

There was some kind of agricultural thing going on that day - lots of booths and farm animals.  That's a huge inflatable cow in the background.

Ben actually did okay holding Daddy's hand (for a bit, anyway).

We saw lots of animals: goats, rabbits, chickens, roosters.  Ben didn't stay still long enough at any one spot for me to get a good photo.

Ben seems to find ice cream cones everywhere we go.

Musicians in the middle of a little bazaar.

We only stayed for two or three hours.  It was starting to get hot & Ben was reaching his limit.  We grabbed some delicious sandwiches from a deli before we left.  The bread in Europe is just awesome.

Ben had a great time on the train ride back to the parking lot but screamed and hollered at our stop.  He calmed down on the walk to the car & even turned around and pointed to the train at the station.

May Catch-up

We're halfway through June and I'm just getting around to posting photos from May.  Oops.  This is a view from our kitchen window.  I was trying to show the yellow field in the distance but didn't do it justice.  There were vibrant yellow fields like that all spring.  Now they're back to green.

I got this inexpensive play kitchen at the BX and was afraid Ben wouldn't play with it.  I was wrong.

Mike spent six looooong weeks at NCO Academy (to teach leadership skills to airmen of a certain rank).  Luckily it was a half-hour drive from our house so he was able to commute, but it took up most of his time and energy.  He was in a great class and made some new friends.  This was from their graduation dinner.  He wowed everyone by playing the German national anthem.

Two of Mike's co-workers had a birthday party for their 4-year-old son.  All the kids got a swing at the pinata.  Ben swung at it very gently...

...until the birthday boy's daddy showed Ben how to take a good crack at it!

The birthday boy's little brother, who is almost a year younger than Ben.  This is proof that Ben can play with (or at least near) other little kids.

These two go to the same kindergarten and seem to play well with (or near) each other.  I wasn't feeling well that day, and then Ben ended up running a fever and had to leave the party early.  We've been sick so many times in the last year.

Just the guys, hanging out & watching some TV.  Serious business.