Neighborhood

One day we went into our backyard and a bunch of the neighborhood kids were out playing.  They were all German but the language barrier was not a problem.

These two girls loved mothering Ben.  One of them lives next to us in the other half of the duplex, and one of them lives in a house behind ours.

These are the steps that go from the backyard down to the driveway.

In front of our neighbors' house.

Our back porch.  The double doors lead to our dining room.

The swingset in our backyard.  Mike found and installed the toddler swing.

Farm Fest

During one of Mike's trips out of town, Ben and I went to a farm festival with our friend Ali.  It was like the arts & crafts festivals I've been to back in the states.  There were lots of gourds and pumpkins.  All the photos here were taken by Ali, who has a much better eye (and camera) than I have.

There was a play area made out of bales of hay.  Older kids were playing a game there, but that didn't stop Ben from jumping in.

We paid a small fee to go through a corn maze.  It kept Ben busy for quite a bit.

Not understanding that the corn in the corn maze isn't edible.

One note: this was at the end of September, which is why Ben has a pacifier in every single picture.

Cars & Footballs

Mike lets Ben "drive" our cars sometimes.  Here's the used car we bought, the one I don't like to drive because I tend to hit things with it.

Ben knows how to put the key in the ignition and tries to start it.

The car is parked right in front of our front door.  In this photo there's a view of the houses across the street from us.

So serious.

He just recently realized he likes toy cars and balls.

Still working on the throwing part.

USO Sesame Street

The USO puts on a version of Sesame Street Live for a bunch of the overseas bases.  They gave out these free Elmo toys that spun around and lit up.

Another free souvenir.

This production had a much smaller set and fewer characters than usual.  It was actually perfect for Ben; the full-scale version we saw back in the states was overwhelming and too long for him. 

He loves to clap along with a clapping audience.

Caught in mid-clap.

The show was put on in one of the hangars near the flight line.  It wasn't that crowded because they had several showtimes and we went on a weekday afternoon.  We were pleasantly surprised at what a good time Ben had.

Wine Festival

September in Germany means festivals.  There was a big wine fest in a town called Bad Durkheim, and some of Mike's coworkers & their spouses and kids got together to check it out.  We had to take several trains, and this was our first time on a train here.

It took almost two hours to get there.  Ben did lots of squirming and running up and down the aisles, when there was room.  Half the time we had to stand.

One of our friends and her dog.  Ben should take lessons from him on how to behave on a train.

Some of the stands of crafts and food that we saw when we first got there.

It's not so easy finding foods that Ben will eat under normal circumstances.  There weren't a whole lot of options at a German festival.  Thank goodness for corn on the cob.

Hanging out with three of Mike's coworkers.  The two who don't have kids of their own were really nice about helping to keep the little people occupied.  Don't let this picture fool you: I may be smiling, but this was about five minutes after I pitched a royal fit about being in a foreign country where I don't know the language or what any of the food is.  I refused to try to order any food, so Mike picked something out while I sulked at the table.  I'm not feeling that overwhelmed anymore.

Mike took Ben and let me wander around with the other ladies for awhile.

They had a bunch of amusement park rides and the ferris wheel was popular.  There were a good number of people when we went in the middle of the day, but I heard that it was packed that night.

My personal angel watching after Ben and one of the other munchkins.  Have I mentioned the awesome help we got from our friends?  There's no way I wouldn've survived taking Ben to a festival like this alone.

Finally taking a nap, well after his usual naptime.  He got pretty cranky on the return train, if I remember correctly (probably blocked it out).

Spaghetti

There are a few Italian restaurants in our village (owned by actual Italians) and we checked one out in September.  Most restaurants we've gone to have had some kind of kids' menu, and this one had some awesome spaghetti.

There was sauce everywhere.  I had to take a couple minutes to wipe off the high chair before we left.

This is the main room on the first floor of our place.  It's kind of a basement: this room is built into the backyard, which slopes down to the driveway on the side of the house.  That's where this door leads.  It's a nice big room that we're not sure what to do with.  Right now it's for storage and some of Ben's toys.  Being in the basement and the tile floors makes this room pretty cold right now.  It was nice and cool a month ago and should be comfortable in the summer.

Two of his favorite "toys": Mike's laptop and the house phone.

Mike gets some great shots of Ben smiling.

Playgrounds

Here's a park that's a few blocks from our house.  There aren't any toddler swings, but apparently he can handle to big-kid swing.

The rainbow bench was a big hit.

This park's version of a sandbox is a big sand pit.  Ben thinks it's awesome.  The cat here is obviously not a stray and has run to see us during several visits.  I can't help but wonder how often the cat uses that sand area as his own litterbox.

This cat is really friendly and enjoyed Ben "playing" with him...or trying to poke him with a stick, not sure what the objective was here.

I like this slide because there are steps in the hill right beside the slide.  This thing is pretty big, and it took Ben awhile to get the courage to go down.  He was determined to do it by himself.

On another day, Mike took Ben on a stroll through the surrounding neighborhoods and found another playground.  Ben was pleased.

I don't think he'd ever been on a tire swing like this before.

He used to shy away from these springy toys.  He seemed to like this one.

Running back home.

Every single picture here shows Ben with a pacifier in his mouth.  That was last month.  Last week Mike and I started the first phase of weaning him off the pacifier.  I've gotten several suggestions about cutting pieces off the pacifier so that it's not worth sucking on after awhile, but I know this kid and that wouldn't fly.  He'd just pitch a fit.  And cold turkey's not an option, I've tried that before and wanted to hurl myself off a cliff.  So we're limiting the pacifier to sleep times only.  It's going pretty well, considering his addiction.  Of course there are tantrums sometimes, but they're not that long or frequent.  He has been babbling a lot more.  The next step (haven't decided when) will be making him go to his crib without it.  I'm dreading this step because it means very little sleep for all involved.