The Frankenstein Castle

Last weekend we took the girls for "Family Day" at Frankenstein's Castle.  Back in the 70's when a US Army post was located in Darmstadt, the soliders asked the owners of the castle if they could host a Halloween party there.  Apparently each year since, it has grown and grown and now a German company has set up a Haunted House for the month of October.  We prepped the girls by trying to explain that they were just people dressed up in costumes and they seemed excited enough for us to make the 30 minute drive.  On Family Day, the monsters just walk around and don't scare you!  A few offered to shake the girls' hands which Kailee accepted but Hailey just buried her face in Leevi's neck!  :)   At night there are a few major differences between a German Haunted House and an American one....namely the fact that they are allowed to grab you; we've heard stories of people being forced into coffins, chased and attacked by chainsaws, strapped down to torture devices, etc! 

I didn't get too many pictures because we were each carrying a kid.  The girls' were brave (one braver than the other!)  :)  But we don't feel the need to go back next year.  It's one of those things that we feel like we have to take advantage of since we are so close!   

Trying to decide if they want to go in!

How Hailey spent the entire time

They asked for Cotton Candy when we were done and we figured they could have a special treat since we tortured them!  BUT.....neither of them liked it!  Thankfully it was cheap!

Let's go home!!!!

I pulled this picture from the internet...this view must have been a side of the castle that was blocked off during the Haunted House.  I love castle ruins!  I'm scouting out some local castles for our Christmas pictures this year!!!

Carving Pumpkins!

We carved our pumpkins on Saturday night.  The girls had a blast and nobody had an adversion to cleaning out the guts!  Leila even helped out and cleaned up the dropped pumpkin seeds! 

  

Kai could have played with the guts for hours if we let her!  And Leila got into the festivities too! 

I made the girls' handprints, Kai picked the cat, and Hailey picked the smiley face

Hailey is soooo into "jump" pictures right now!  :) 

How did our parents survive without digital cameras and an endless supply of retakes!?!?

Pumpkin Festival in Ludwigsburg

Leevi was out of town last weekend and Scott had recent back surgery so Brandy and I braved an adventure with 6 girls to a pumpkin festival in Ludwigsburg about 1hr and 15 min away.  It was definitely worth the drive and we all had a great time!

Each year the theme changes....in the past they've had Under the Sea, Outer Space, and Fairy Tales.  We will definitely go back next year! 

We spent a lot of time here wandering around and eventually made it to the pumpkin section that was way bigger than we expected! 

Seeing this wedding reminded me of all of the weddings we saw at the KoOlina lagoons.  We gave up try to convince the girls that this lady was NOT the princess that lives in that castle. 

They saw the wedding party do a jump picture and wanted to try it out themselves

There is a contest every year for the largest pumpkin...on the last day of the festival, they smash the big pumpkins!

We finally made it to the pumpkin section!!!!  The "Kurbisaurs" (pumpkin dinosaurs) were really cool....the head/legs were carved from wood.  This T-Rex even roared!  The fest grounds were beautiful and the weather was absolutely gorgeous....a crisp, but sunny high 50's.

T-Rex greeted us at the beginning of the festival

I wonder if her light hair will last through the winter...

They thought this baby dino was extra cute

That pumpkin soup was amazing!!!!!!  I'm not a big fan of German food but I haven't found one of their homemade soups that I didn't like! 

The Dozier ladies

Of course there was a unique German park...

Unfortunately, Kai found this water pump....she "waded" through a deep stream instead of following a rock path and I thought our day was going to be cut short but apparently those good ole Target boots are somewhat waterproof!!!  She did think to hold her pants up though! 

The last thing we did was go on a boat ride with a Pinnochio theme...there was much more to see but we had underestimated the size of the festival and decided we should head back before any meltdowns! 

The girls wanted one of these baby pumpkins...Hailey searched and searched for the tiniest one...it's about the size of a golf ball.  I got one of the "blue" pumpkins you see on the right.  I forgot to take a picture of them before I uploaded my photos so I'll try to remember when we carve them. 

Kathryn, Hailey, Talia, Kailee, Farrah, Piper

Awanas

Hailey has started Awana this year! (concept of Sunday School)  She is loving it and loving the time she gets to spend with one of her best buddies, Alli!  In the video above she is reciting the bible verse that she had to memorize in order to earn her vest, bag and book!   They meet every Thursday in Heidelberg throughout the school year from 3:30-5:30.  Kai and I usually head over to the library, thrift store, or commissary to pass the time and then have started the routine of going to dinner with the Seatons at the bowling alley afterwards. 

Little Chefs

The girls baked Halloween Sugar Cookies last weekend!  They turned out pretty cute, but their sugar highs from the cookies (with frosting) was too much to handle!  Thankfully they forgot about them by the second day and I tossed them! :) 

While the cookies were baking/cooling, they traced the cookie cutters and sketched the designs of how they wanted to decorate them!

Hailey's drawings

Kailee's drawings complete with a self portrait and a hand tracing

Mmmmm....frosting!

Frosting and decorating the cookies....

Kailee's designs along with her Fu-Manchu mustache

Hailey's designs! 

Happy Fall

School Update

I'm happy to report that we have settled into a great routine in the morning (without tears!)  When Leevi is home (which isn't much this Fall....the extra money gets us through it!)  :)  he takes Hailey to school on his way to work, but when he's traveling we are all out the door around 8:15 to get Hailey to school by 8:25 and then Kai and I read books in the car for the half an hour until her school starts.  It'd be silly to go back home for 10 or so minutes.  Sometimes we run a quick errand (commissary, gas, ATM) but most mornings we read our bag of library books that stay in the car.  We rode bikes for the first few weeks but it's too chilly in the mornings for Kailee and I to wait outside during that 30 minute gap.  It usually has warmed up by noon when I get Kai (and 2:30 for Hailey) so I'll typically walk their bikes or scooters up to their schools.   I don't have as much free time for myself as it seems I would but I'm making the most of it and am settling into a good routine myself (walk Leila WITHOUT CHILDREN!, housework, check up on emails/blog, walk/gym)  On Tuesdays I'm going to a bible study during Kai's 3 hours and on Wednesdays I volunteer in Hailey's class during most of the time Kai is in school. 

Kailee loves school now and her teacher is great.  She's in a small class (8 kids and someone is usually absent).  I ended up spending her first 4 days with her and helped out in the classroom.  I just couldn't bare leaving her in hysterics when she really doesn't need to be in school yet anyway.  By me seeing and learning the classroom routine (journal writing, craft, storytime/singing, snacktime, centers, play outside) we were able to talk with her about her day a little more indepth and it also gave her time to get to know her teacher without me dumping her with a total stranger.  (I am so thankful that I have the opportunity to do that!!)  Kai's teacher is also a great artist so she is coming home with some cute crafts.  They are going week by week through the alphabet and she's also learning a bit of sign language that corresponds with the letter of the week.  Below are a few of her A crafts....

Kai showing off her cutting skills!  :)

Autumn trees and leaf rubbings on the left

Painting with an apple half and Lots of A's

Hailey is still enjoying school also and I love that she's a jabber-jaw at the end of the day...she's enjoying all of her "Specials"...Spanish, Music, Art, and P.E. This quarter she has Spanish twice a week and that will rotate over the year.  We love her teacher too!!!!!!!!!!  We really lucked out with both girls considering our school options are so limited here. 

And a bit of Hailey's work....this Math Journal is my favorite thing to look at on Fridays.  I just love her drawings.  You can see they started out simple and have already progressed to "number sentences" 

Math Journal

Progression of Math Journal

 Below is usually what I'll work on with the kids in their centers when I volunteer in Hailey's class.  The craft goes along with whatever book they are studying that week. 

Her Fit It Duck center crafts from the week

Our home!  I really liked this one...

And a bit of craziness...this paper is actually from Awanas....the blank for "name" was written on the right corner of the paper and Hailey wrote her name backwards ????????  "YELIAH"