Our Weekend At Music Camp

Hi Mom,

Thought we'd let you know how we spent this weekend (15-18 September).

First of all, it is the first weekend of Oktoberfest!!  The big tents are up, the people are arriving, and Saturday they bring in the beer in (symbolically) horse drawn wagons.  We had to come back from the mountains on Saturday to babysit for Vivienne and Svea.  Bernie and Anja had a wedding to go to.  Well, driving into Munich near the Deutschesmuseum, we find ourselves behind a Hofbräu beer wagon.  Had to take the picture out of the window of the car.

Hofbräu Beerwagon

 Anyway, that was the side show.  Thursday we made our annual trip up to Schliersee and Josefstal to have a 3 day musical experience with the school choir.  Emily and Evelyn have been doing this for over a decade.  Always an interesting time, usually a good time.  Here are some pictures of what goes on with the camp.

The kids with our choreographer practicing some dance moves

A little more formal sitting and practicing the singing.  Evelyn checking the notes for singing.

Evelyn and Emily.  Evelyn was complaining she was never in the pictures so we corrected that.

And of course behind the scenes work.  Katy preparing snacks.  That had been my job on Friday while Katy had to be teaching

 The nice thing about the trip is the location at the edge of the mountains.  Usually on Sunday, they finish up with a hike to the waterfall a little over a half mile away by the shorter route.  We were anticipating a big rainstorm on Sunday, so we walked on Friday.  It was beautiful weather, as you can see, and it did pour down today.  I got up both mornings and ran.  It was fantastic!

The kids starting the hike, with Emily heading the wrong way.  She forgot something.

We took the longer way, about a mile, and were rewarded with these scenes.

More above the waterfall

 Eventually we did reach our destination.  Not too much water on Friday, probably really gushing today and tomorrow.  It is an annual pilgrimage.  Glad we made it, and glad we went the long way.

A couple of the kids at the waterfall

A little bit of a close up.  Nice way to take an hour and a half break.

 Anyway, we had missed this last year, and who knows about next.  It was a nice way to spend the weekend, and the first time I was able to be there for Thursday evening and Friday.  I usually didn't get to go up until Friday after classes. 

Finally! A post!

Hi Grandma!
Sorry it has taken me so long to do a post...but, because it has taken so long, you're going to get lots and lots of pictures from 2011!  YAY!

So, I will start with April when we went to Sequoia and Yosemite.  It was beautiful and because they had had record snowfall, the waterfalls were AMAZING!  We hiked 17 miles in 3 days! We were exhausted, but I think we will definitely go back.

Ok, I don't know how to rotate photos, I will figure it out. soon!

Then, I went to New York to visit my sister!  We had a great time going to Fire Island...

We saw two fawns!!



The we ate lobstah!!

 Our friends own some property about 2 1/2 hours northeast of town...so we headed up there for a long weekend.  We went on a short hike to a lake that we had not been to before.

Then, the guys caught some crawfish...



...but they were definitely not big enough to eat!

Finally, I just got back from Lousiana for my friend's commissioning to officer in the army after finishing PA school.  We went to her ceremony there and then headed to New Orleans so that I could check it off my list.  The weather was nice and we had a great time!



This is the view at sunset from her house on a lake!  It was super nice, but there were A LOT of mosquitoes!





At the ceremony, we were all room mates my last year of college...it was nice to get together again to celebrate her accomplishment!




Bourbon Street.




Beignets and Iced Cafe au Lait at Cafe du Monde.




The church which I can't remember the name of...


We have moved out of my old house and into a bigger one...I will try to take some pics soon.

Hope all is well and I am TRYING to get down there to visit you soon!!  When I do, I have a SUPER surprise for you!
Love,
R


The Munich Zoo

Hi Mom,

We went to the Zoo with Vivienne on Thursday.  It was not a pretty day, cloudy with a few drops of rain mostly when we were eating lunch.  I'd not been to the Zoo here in Munich before, so it was kind of nice.  We rented a wagon to pull her around in.  As is typical with modern Zoos, the distances you have to walk are considerable, particularly for a 4 year old.  We had a good time.  It was the first time we've taken Vivienne on an excursion without her mother or father.  I think we'll do it again.  She was very well behaved and was willing to put off having icecream until we were ready to head for the exit.

Here are some pictures from the day.

Vivenne Outside the giraffe enclosure

We had to cover her cast with a plastic bag since it was raining.  She'll get it off just after her birthday on the 19th.

Just monkeying around

Emily and Vivenne watching our hyperactive Polar Bears

Grandma and granddaughter with the bears in the background

What was Vivennes favorite part of the visit?  Using the hand blowdryer in the restroom!!  What can I say.  I liked the gorillas and the orangutans, though the orangutans seemed somewhat sad compared to the ones we saw in Borneo in May.  They have such a sterile environment here.  Emily liked the polar bears.  As she says, "It's all over for them, they have no home anymore."