Ivy's Bithday and Fasching!

It's so hard to believe our little peanut turned 3 years old, she is growing too fast!!  It amazes me watching her as she grows through the years; how much she has learned in the last 3 years, how much character she has developed, and her personality traits. She has taught me so much, like how to slow down and enjoy the simple things in life.  I admit I still struggle with this but we can learn a lot from a child's innocence.

She had multiple parties prior to her birthday and through last week, and she still has a good bye party at her kita (daycare) this Friday before going to a new kindergarten next week.  A week before her birthday we had a party for her at Kinderwelt, an indoor play area with bouncy castles, climbing castles, trampolines, carousels, etc.  She didn't find out about it until an hour before because she was already wanting to know why we weren't celebrating her birthday. She gets excited about these things way too early and doesn't understand why it isn't happening now.  We invited 2 of her friends, one of her friends was leaving for China for 3 months the week of her birthday hence the early party.  I can't share a lot of pics from her party since they have her friends in them and I wouldn't want to upset the parents for posting their children's pictures.  I do have a few cute ones of her though. 

Pumpkin muffins I made for her party

A selfie of Ivy and I before going to the party.

 

 

The pumpkin muffins topped with cream cheese frosting with some cute sugar lady bugs.

 

 Ivy anxiously waiting for her friends to arrive at Kinderwelt.

 

  Ivy's Birthday usually falls around the same time as Carnival (Fasching) which fell on the Tuesday after her birthday but her kita celebrated Fasching on the 12th and 13th so they celebrated her birthday the following week.  She also had to dress up for Fasching at kindertanzan on Wednesday and she chose to be a princess since Grand Mommy and Grand Daddy gave her a princess outfit for Christmas.  She really enjoyed dressing up at both kindertanzan and her kita, it was also special for her to dress up on her birthday even thought they didn't celebrate it that day at her school. 

 

Ivy waiting for the bus to go to kindertanzan.

 

 Daddy and Ivy

 

 My little princess is 3 years old.

 

 Ivy style, wanting to wear her crown even though it's cold outside so this was her compromise

 

After her busy day of Fasching at school, she came home and celebrated her birthday that evening.  We had homemade chicken tenders, mac and cheese, and peas followed by some leftover muffins with fresh cream cheese frosting.  She decided after her bath, that her pj's just weren't good enough so she put her princess dress over her pj's before opening her presents.

She had a great birthday and spent the next morning playing with all her new gifts.

The Monday before carnival is Rosenmontag which is a holiday for kids more than it is for adults and all the schools and daycares close.  On Rosenmontag the carnival festivities start with a costume parade.  We weren't aware of any parades last year but my friend told me there was a pretty big parade in the town of Burbach on the other side of Saarbrucken, so Ivy and I got on a train and ventured over to Burbach to check out the parade.  We had a great time and Ivy did very well considering she didn't have a nap all day, however the parade was crowded and a little crazy for me.   Especially since this was a parade where they tossed out candy and everyone (parents included) scrambled to get some.

 

Finally, the Wednesday after they celebrated Ivy's birthday at her daycare.  I didn't want to make a cake this year since last year a lot came back, so I found a recpe for cake balls which Ivy helped me make.  This was my first time making them; they are like cake  pops but with out the stick and everyone thought they were pretty tasty because the container came back empty.

Ivy helping me make the cake 

 

It has been a busy two weeks but we all had fun and in light of carnival I will leave you with this cute pic of Ivy using playdoh to make a clown nose.  I hope you all had a great weekend!! 



 



Christmas, Christmas Markets, and New Years all wrapped in one!!

Hello all, I am back and this time for good!!  No more breaks, no more long times in between posts.  I am excited to get back to posting I have lots to share.  Even the reason why I have been distracted from blogging lately.  I wanted to go a little back in time since you have missed so much and start with Christmas. 

My in-laws came from December 11th - January 7th.  We had a wonderful time and did some traveling.  Before Christmas we went to Nürnberg , Germany.  We wanted to check out the well heard of Christmas Market.  It was very nice.  It was the largest one we had been to thus far.  They had a separate section for Children which Ivy loved since they had a few rides and let me tell you this girl loves her rides.  Here are some pics from our trip.

Ivy riding the Carousel 

A not so good picture of Ivy riding the small Ferris wheel with Grandmommy 



A very scary statue of Santa Claus

Grand Mommy and Grand Daddy trying to convince Ivy that he isn't that scary at all. 

Ivy finally getting her picture with Santa Claus and her Grand Parents

 

A lovely night view of the Christmas Market

 

 

We also went to the Castle in Nürnberg.  It was a nice little walk from town and a very pretty castle with some interesting History, here are some pics.

The rocks leading up to the Castle were Ivy's favorite part.

Ivy being cute while touring the inside of the castle.

Here are just a few other fun pics from that trip.  Ivy all snuggled up in bed after an exhausting day.

Me enjoying a very large Ice cream cone!!

 Santa Claus and his dog need to make money too. So stop buy listen and maybe throw in a few coins!!

 

Then we came back home to enjoy Christmas.  We got a Christmas tree a few days after Mom and Dad Sours arrived and Ivy was thrilled.

Christmas day was a fun day for her she loved everything she got!!

We did not have a white Christmas, however, we did get snow 2 days later (which pushed our next trip back one day).  Grand Daddy and Daddy built snowmen and Ivy got creative with how she wanted them to look.  One was a Dr. and the other was a patient.

I guess the patient needed to go to the Dr. as he had a sore butt from the looks of it.  His face says it all!!!

Well the last trip we hopped over to Heidelberg and Freiberg. I don't have a lot of pictures for Freiburg since it was a short stay but we did have fun and Kevin, Ivy, and I plan on going back when it's warmer since it's a close trip.  I hear it's beautiful in the summer.  So I will just share Heidelberg in this post. 

We stayed in Heidelberg for 2 nights and Freiburg for 1.  Heidelberg had a beautiful Castle with the worlds largest wine barrel.  Since this is a long post already I will just post one beautiful pic of the castle and a few others since I want to share New Years also in this post. 

Mom and Dad Sours standing in front of the Christmas Tree at the Winter Market ( their big Christmas market was over but they had a winter market that lasted until Jan 6)

Ivy Standing in our hotel room as she visits us (She stayed with Grand Parents on this trip)

 Nice view of the Castle from town

Ivy enjoying a ride on the train at the little winter market

 Ivy too cold to use her hands to eat her pretzel

New Years Eve Kevin and I rushed home with Ivy to go grocery shopping while Mom and Dad stayed a few hours longer in Freiburg.  Let me tell you, if you ever get the chance to go to Germany at New Years Eve do it!! I can't share the experience here on blog but it was insane.  I have never seen so many fireworks go off at one time it sounded like WWII. Guess what the 2 old timers and Ivy slept through it all.  Kevin and I couldn't. These fireworks are not professional they are neighbors and others in the area letting off fireworks. There were hundreds in the sky at once.  I have a short video but it doesn't at all catch the true experience!!!

Well Happy New Year to all of you.  As I am sure you have all heard our exciting news. I am expecting our second child due June 30th.  Like with Ivy we will not find out the sex of the baby so you all will have to wait on that one. I have lots of news, fun stuff, and much more to share so check back regularly.  I know I said that in the past and I  slacked but trust me this time.  I have so much to tell you and fun things to share!!!