Happy Birthday, Big D!

Big D turned five years old today. He woke up and immediately began telling everyone that it was his "real" birthday (not to be confused with the birthday parties he's already had). I have to admit I feel like we've been celebrating D's birthday for a week already, but it hit me today that he is really FIVE now. I try to tell myself that it can't be five years already, but there he is blowing out the big #5 candle.


Here are some more pictures of our big five-year-old boy. Enjoy!

Look how old I am!

Today is Banana's FIRST BIRTHDAY! I had visions of posting pictures here that captured her personality throughout this first year. But then Blogger decided it didn't want to publish any of my pictures, so I decided to try Flickr. Here is a link that I hope will get you to some cute pictures of our baby. If this works I may have to use it more often (don't hold your breath!)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/33845174@N00/sets/72157594331550983

Oktoberfest 2006

Oktoberfest (ock-toe'-burr-fest) is a two-week festival held each year in Munich, Bavaria, Germany during late September and early October. It is one of the most famous events in the city and the world's largest fair, with some six million people attending every year. Other cities across the world also hold fairs, modeled after the Munich event, also called Oktoberfest. Beer plays a central role in the fair, with every festival beginning with a keg of beer tapped by the Mayor of Munich who declares "O'zapft is!" (Bavarian for "It's tapped!"). Visitors also consume large quantities of food, most of it traditional hearty fare such as sausage, hendl (chicken), käsespätzle (cheese noodles), and sauerkraut, along with such Bavarian delicacies as roast ox tails.

The first "Oktoberfest" took place on October 12, 1810. Our version of Oktoberfest took place on October 7, 2006 at Aspenhof. We followed tradition as beer played a central role in the event and large quantities of food were consumed. We started with the lighter fare like grapes and cheese and worked our way to hot items such as chicken wings and party rye pizzas. Roast ox tails were NOT served. The fall colors were in full swing at the country and the weather could not have been better. Click on the photo below to view some pictures from the event.