Dreams

The other night, most likely it seems to me that it was Friday, Nathaniel was fussy in his sleep and kept stirring, so as to keep me awake. The third time I heard him cry, I went into his dark room again, and he immediately knew I was there, though his eyes were squeezed tightly closed. I brushed his hair back and quietly asked him, "What's the matter, baby?" He started tossing in his bed and said, "Mommy, I don't want to eat the broccoli!" I just had to laugh and tell him, "That's okay. You don't have to eat any right now." He settled right down and stayed asleep the rest of the night.

You see, last week we decided that since he kept insisting that he's a big boy now, then big boys eat their vegetables at dinner or else they get no dessert. It is too funny that it literally turned into a nightmare for him. Poor lil' guy. What can you say to that?

Weinheim

Yesterday we took a short ride north to Weinheim. I have been wanting to go for a year now, but we have just never made it there. It is a town of 2 castles, and castle ruins to boot. We first attempted to see the ruins, and as we navigated the narrow road to the top of the mountain we grew very excited. The view was neat as the ruins sat high above the town, but not too distant. We were not happy to first discover that I had forgotten the memory stick, and so could not use the camera, and secondly, that they had a party going on there, with a cover charge of 12 EURO pp, and so we left. But we'd definately like to investigate it on another day. It looked cool.

So, we attempted to see the castle next to the ruins- on the mountain next to it that is, and so into the car we went again, down the mountain and back up one. We found that this castle was lovely from the outside, but had no access to tour the inside. There was a restaurant that was open, and some nice views, but nothing there to actually hold our attention. So, into the car again we went and down into the town to find the Schlosspark and the Hauptstrasse.

After going around in a circle 3 times, we found the Schlosspark. It was small compared to others, but it was still beautiful. We easily found the Hauptstrasse that made its path thru an underpass beside the schloss. It was for pedestrians only, which we always love, and built on the hill, so we were walking down from the schloss. There were shops and restaurants, big trees and table umbrellas along the would- be sidewalks. When arriving at the bottom of the hill, the street comes to a T, and on the corner is a fountain with a statue of Justice. As I was explaining this to Ariel, Nathaniel suddenly ran away. He stopped at the large tree not far from the fountain. I thought he was gonna race back to me, but then instead, he started pulling down his pants to pee on the tree. At least I've taught him that much! lol. The guests at the tables were very amused with this and laughed heartily.

Mosbach

After a lovely drive through the countryside, down winding roads, into the valley and out again, we came to the town of Mosbach. We parked in the altstadt, and there began our tour. There is a walking tour with markings on the houses and shops of certain locations that can be identified, and described with the help of a guide from the tour office. But, this being Sunday, they were not open, and so we were left to guess the significance of the labels.

The altstadt is smaller than a lot of other towns we've visited, but it is marked by the beautiful, traditional, half-timbered houses along with many flowers and fountains. Children's playthings along the road add fun for them, while letting the adults soak in the sights.

It seems that every town around has a mark of some sort that helps to identify itself. For Ulm it was the birds. For Mosbach, it is optical illusions. Every couple of blocks, you come upon an object that will beset your eyes. The circular ones turned, to make you dizzy. There were others also, and they added modern interest to the atmosphere.

We toured the altstadt and had lunch within 2 hours and could have easily spent more time finding the gardens and park, but we called it a day. We want to go back on a Saturday when everything is actually open, because they have a lot of cool shops to see.

My Family

I love my family more each & every day. They are amazing.

Do you see it?

I meant to post this a month ago. But this is the hummingbird that had been hanging around our yard. He loves our geraniums!