Mousetrap Car Race

Have  you ever even heard of this before?  Did you know it was a thing?


Madelyn was chosen, along with a boy, to represent her school in a community mousetrap car race at the Middle School on base.  They had a teacher that helped guide them in the designing and building of their car.  There were at least 10, maybe more, teams that competed, most of which were adults from various units on base.  Since kids were competing with adults, it wasn't much of a competition, but it was a good experience for Madelyn and she learned a lot.

Did you hear what Madelyn said at the end of the video?  "I'm not disappointed at all".  And she wasn't.  But that boy who was her partner......he was the worst sore loser I have ever laid eyes on.  He immediately starting blaming Madelyn for their loss. He went on and on and on and on.  His mom didn't stop him.  Madelyn was hurt, and wasn't sure how to stand up for herself.  I finally told him, as nicely as I could, to stop it.  I said he was hurting her feelings.  I said he was wrong.  They both worked on the car together.  Equally.  I said they should just be proud of themselves for what they had accomplished, and that they were able to compete against adults who had a lot more experience and knowledge than they did (the corps of engineers won it for crying out loud).  He kept trying to interrupt me, saying, "But she...", but I cut him off every time.  I had my say, and then I turned away and didn't talk to him again.  After that I heard his mom tell him a few times to stop it, because he was STILL trying to blame Madelyn and was complaining about losing.  I almost started laughing when I heard him say that they should give everyone a prize (because they only had trophies for the top 3).  Oh brother.  Then I got really happy when I heard the teacher explaining to him that if he couldn't have a better attitude and show more maturity with losing, then he might miss out on future opportunities like this.  Seriously, it was sad.  And it made me even more proud of Madelyn for the way she enjoyed herself, accepted their loss, and just appreciated the chance she had to participate.  And FYI, I didn't show his face above out of courtesy, not because I was being mean ;)

Little Markets

Last weekend I went to three little nearby Christmas markets that I haven't been to before.  Gotta collect those mugs, ya know?


First up was Koblenz on Friday (my birthday) with a couple of friends.

 I love these old, rusty tools (below) that are actually chocolate.

Then on Saturday Joe and I went to two markets, both of them without our kids.  First was Eltville.  We've been to that town before, but not the Christmas market.  Its such a cute town.  We had a little trouble finding the market, which gave us a chance to get in some much need exercise.  Think positive, right?  When we did finally find it, this market reminded me more of a craft fair.  It just had a very different feel to it.  Almost everything was hand-made by locals.  I mean, like REALLY hand-made.  Lots of art, jewelry, preserves, etc.  There were mostly tents set up, instead of the typical wooden booths, but some vendors were selling stuff out of garages and cellars. 

 We had a good laugh at this nativity - we didn't know Heidi's grandpa was there!!! :)

It was a really beautiful day, and it wasn't TOO cold.  But then we went to Idstein, and it was like the town was sitting inside a cloud.  A cold, cold cloud.  But this was a great market!  A lot bigger than I had been expecting, actually.  And they had something called a Hessen hotdog, which wasn't a hotdog at all, but a Käsewurst baked right into some delicious wheat bread.  And not just any Käsewurst, but the BEST Käsewurst I've had.  I forgot to take a picture, and I can't go back because the market was only open for the one weekend :(

Sorry it's sideways, but as I soon as I stopped getting this video, a group of cute, old, German women behind us started singing along.  It was the cutest thing ever!  I wish I had gotten them on video too, but they might not have appreciated that, since they weren't actually a part of the official performers ;)  Obviously I'm going for a record here, of how many Christmas markets I can go to in one season.  It's my last Christmas here, so I've got to make the most of it.

Thanksgiving Markets, Family, and Strasbourg

Adreann and her kids were able to join us for Thanksgiving this year.  It was wonderful.  Cora made 7 pies from scratch. 

We had lots of leftover food.


We decided to put together a puzzle, a new one that we hadn't done before.  The picture was of the city Koln, and as we put it together we decided that we would go to the Christmas market there the next day.  We finished the puzzle in the nick of time, right before we left on Friday.

This was the first German Christmas market they had been to.  They've been to one in London, but it's not the same.

 

It's nice to be reminded of things you love, and I LOVE the Koln cathedral. 

It's so amazing and so beautiful.

On Saturday we went to Strasbourg, France.  I LOVE STRASBOURG!!!  I would take Strasbourg over Paris any day....I mean, other than the museums ;)  But so picturesque.  The whole Alsace region is beautiful, and I would definitely like to explore it more.  This is the same area I came to when I took my very first trip to France (Soufflenheim) to buy some pottery with my friends, but that was about 1/2 hours away from Strasbourg.  I was surprised to learn how many times this area has switched hands between France and Germany, and it really has the best of both worlds.  The Strasbourg market wasn't the best we've been to, but we still loved it.

 The cathedral was another gorgeous one.  Construction was started in 1015, it is the 6th tallest in the world, and the sandstone used gives it a slightly pink hue.

 The tapestries are from the 17th century.

 I believe this is the pulpit, and was made in 1486.

Below is an animated astronomical clock inside the cathedral, and is one of the largest in the world, build in the 1800's.  The clock shows much more than just the time.  It also indicates solar time, the day of the week (each represented by a god of mythology), the month, the year, the sign of the zodiac, the phase of the moon and the position of several planets, and it is extremely accurate. According to legend, the creator of this clock had his eyes gouged out afterward, to prevent him from reproducing it. However, similar legends are told about other clocks, including the astronomical clock in Prague, so really, how reliable can it be?

  When we got back outside the cathedral, all the lights were coming on.  It was beautiful.

We saw a store devoted completely to fruit cakes.  All kinds.  People were in there buying them.  As a joke?  I don't know.  Apparently some people actually eat those things.

Before we left, we had the sudden realization we hadn't eaten dinner and we were all starving, so we stopped off for some Döner.

While Adreann was here, we also make quick trips to the markets in Rudesheim and Wiesbaden.

All in all, it was a great Thanksgiving and a wonderful visit, and we're already making plans to meet up again.  It's so good to have family on our side of the world!