Any Excuse For a Party

We have been very busy this last month especially with traveling (be ready for loads of pictures) that I am only now starting to find time to catch up with posting pictures. 

A few days before we left for Britain, we all went an hour north where Uncle Gerrit and his girlfriend Gerdi live. They had sent us an invitation to a garden party already back in January making sure that we would all be able to make it. 

 Uncle Gerrit is ready for the party or a beer. Fortunately, the weather was gorgeous. Sophie was excited to see her cousins again: here with Talea and Thore.

My brother Stefan joins Uncle Gerrit in entertaining the kids

Talea and Sophie surrounded by pink balloons...

... while Kiron is showing off his chain saw (!) to cousin Thore.

Although there was more delicious food apart from dessert, devouring the mousse au chocolat made for the best shots.

So yummy.

So after the meal, we were stunned to find out that Uncle Gerrit and his girlfriend Gerdi had eloped to a light house by the North Sea two weeks previously and were now celebrating their wedding with all of us. Like I said, we take any excuse for a good party. Congratulations!

Waiting for the toast.

Cheers to that!

A Walk in the Woods

Before we were all going to spend a few hours sitting down in cars or on trains to travel back to our respective homes, the whole bunch donned our hiking boots and marched towards the woods. The forest around Bentheim covers a large area and is quite famous in the region. There is also an old sandstone quarry where we walked. The royal palace in Amsterdam was built with Bentheim sandstone for example.

My old stomping ground - and my brother's

The two city slicker girls (and Stefan) swatting the flies in disgust

So who lives here? A princess? A witch? An animal? Rumpelstilzchen?

It looks so much like our old climbing area in Southern Illinois.

The most interesting engraving we encountered on our walk.

Not sure if we were able to convince Talea and Sophie that this trek was enjoyable, but at least the giant snail we discovered on the path evoked a couple of oohs and aahs. 

Meeting Nikolaus at Mama's Castle

My hometown Bad (yeah, not so bad) Bentheim hosts a Christmas market with a twist. Some stands offer some gambling: you throw the dice to win some prizes such as sausage, bread etc. I always used to go as a very small kid, but haven't made it to this Christmas market in probably 25 years. It was about time to take Sophie and check it out.

 Sophie was very vocal about letting everyone in Bentheim know that this was her Mama's castle. Yes, we did get the stare. Of course!

 The rain stopped just in time for St. Nikolaus' visit. My uncle Gerrit and his girlfriend Gerdi had joined us for the occasion. We ended up spending a fun weekend at their house.

 Can you catch a glimpse of the man with the red hat? He was also throwing candy, but we did not stand a chance against the people in front of us holding open their umbrellas.

 As perhaps seen on a previous shot during nicer weather, there is a statue of Bismarck in the city center because he had once paid Bentheim a visit. He has a nice pith helmet, which has already been the subject of some Andrew jokes.

 Someone found yet another good use for the pith helmet. 

After some tears and crying, Sophie managed to conquer a spot on the tiny carousel. 

Sophie had a better view of St. Nikolaus from Gerrit's arms.

Sophie devouring her bratwurst drowned in mustard.