Fairytale Road = Last Hurrah! Part 1

While Bailey was at Girl's Camp, Mark and I decided to take McKenna on a little trip to the Fairytale Road.  The whole idea of the Fairytale Road is to trace the lives of the The Brother's Grimm.  The most interesting fact I learned about the brother's is that they were both extremely intellegent and well educated.  They are not the ones that wrote all the fairytale stories, they actually traveled all over Germany with the main goal of documenting German folk tales.  They were also the first to put the German language into writing as they were the authors of the first German dictionary.

The original tales are pretty gruesome!  I had gone to the library before the trip and checked out a few books about The Brother's Grimm, the fairy-tales and stories about their lives.  We read them while we drove through the Road.  We got such a kick out of them but also found ourselves cringing at the original versions.  Disney put a lot of into their artistic interpretation, which as a mother, I'm thankful for.

Hanau is the start of the Fairytale Road, it is just north of Frankfurt, so we were really close.  We just happened to come on the day of their farmer's market.  It was actually quite emotional, I have loved these markets to the core and this would be my last in Germany.

We went all out and bought whatever caught our eye and that was our unplanned, but very yummy, lunch.

We also toured the Palace in Hanau, it is restored and you are not allowed to take pictures.  The grounds are beautiful.  We carried along our fairytale theme by taking a picture of McKenna with Asland, at least that is what we told ourselves.

Our next stop was Steinau.  After the Grimm's father died, the family moved to Steinau with their mother.  The Brother's Grimm museum is in their restored childhood home.  They have done a fabulous job with this museum, very interactive for the children.  Once a week, you can meet in the town square and have a character from the Grimm's tales take you on a walk to learn of their history.  Of course it is done in Germany but I still think that is a fabulous idea.  The day we were there it was Frau Holle and if you don't know this tale, you should definitely seek it out.

Around the grounds of the house you can find items from their stories.  Here is McKenna with some laid back dwarfs.

Mark and McKenna outside the Brother's Grimm Museum.

McKenna with the frog from The Princess and the Frog.

This is a plaque that is at the castle in Steinau.

We got eis anytime we felt like it on our trip, that seemed fitting for a fairytale!

We stayed the night at this great little B&B near Steinau.  It is out aways and we thought our GPS was taking us into the forest of Red Riding Hood.  It is a chicken farm and their restaurant is very possible with the locals.  I had a roasted chicken that was brought out on a long spit.  There was also a small play ground for the children.  The rooms were cute, quite and clean but the breakfast is what we loved the most.  You'll have to go to the next post to see about that.

Girl's day at the Zoo

 McKenna and I spent a day at the Frankfurt zoo during Mark's recuperation from surgery.  Bailey was under the weather so I left her in charge of the fort.  I was about to go crazy in that house with FMO furniture and nothing of comfort.  We had to break free!!  So here are a bunch of random shots of our day.

I have no idea what this sea creature is.  If you look closely you can see little bitty white circles coming out of the top.  So weird but so fascinating.  Maybe when we find a zoo in California, we will be able to read the description in English and learn something.

Sea horse!!

Leaf ants!

McKenna was a little disappointed to find out that she could not speak parcel tongue to this fella.  But it did look just like the snake in Harry Potter so I wonder how they found him and brought him back!

Don't even ask, I have no idea . . .

The Frandsen's love monkeys!

Break for free play and trying to imitate the monkeys:

Just another example out of many of the cool German playgrounds.

McKenna is in her zone:

I love this picture, I took the shot just as they let all 7 of the giraffes in for lunch.  She was so excited.

Tree mouse:

Mr. Lion at lunch time.

Mainau

For Memorial Day weekend, I talked the family into driving to the border of Germany and Switzerland to visit the island of Mainau.  It is on the Bodensee Lake which lays across both borders.

On the way down, we took a detour into the black forest, first because it is a beautiful drive, and second, because my cuckoo clock needed repaired.  Here is a picture of McKenna and I at our hotel.  The lake is behind us, just over the far hill.

 The girls are playing on the . . . I have no idea what it is. . . is it a play-set?  A lame attempt at an Alice and Wonderland experience?  Whatever it was, it was in our backyard.

So Mainau is an island on a small lake.  The drive to the island is so amazing, so beautiful.  We basically couldn't have scheduled a day with better weather.  Since it was also a German holiday, the site was busy, but no so much that we felt crowded or had to wait in lines.

Mainau is privately owned by a family.  The entrance price was a little steep, but it was worth it.  The island is in pristine shape, and well cared for.  You can feel how important it is to them.  They have thought of everything so that all ages are entertained, from infants to the elderly.

We started on the playground so the girls could burn off some energy.

Next up, the petting zoo.  McKenna was in her zone, Bailey . . . not so much.

The following are just random shots from the day as we walked all over the island.

Birdhouse lane . . .

The dahlia's were on fire that weekend.  They get their own piece of the blooming calendar apart from all other summer varieties.  There is a reason for it . . . no other flower can compete with these divas.  They are just a burst of beauty!  Layers and layers of petals with deep rich color.  I. love. dahlia's!

McKenna hangin' with the lemon, lime AND orange trees.

Our next stop was the butterfly house, or as they say in Germany, the schmetterling haus.  We definitely like saying "schmetterling haus" way better, it is a word that tickles your tongue.  McKenna made friends with this big bad boy.  Never have we seen a butterfly so big.  But, he was also old, his wings were tattered and torn and he had no interest in spending energy flying.  He was content to ride on the hands of giddy little children and get passed from one to the next.

Mark even found a schmetterling buddy:

Memorial Day was also a special day for Mark, it was his birthday!!!  Instead of cake, we bought ice cream to celebrate.  Plus, we had a lovely lunch at the cafe on the island.

To round out a perfect day, McKenna finally got her pony ride!

Tchuss!

I must say, the girls were not happy to learn we were going on a trip that weekend.  I failed to mention this to them until the night before.  Bailey, with hands on her hips says to me, "I am SO sick of traveling!"  What?! the?!  But, when all was said and done (especially because she got 6-7 hours of hang time with her beloved iPod) she was glad we went . . . at least that is what she told me.  Bailey, you better get ready, we are not finished yet!

Garmisch again

Exactly 3 weeks after going to Garmisch with family, we returned with Mark to visit while he worked. We drove down with Nina Peacock, Matthew the keyboard player's wife.  We had a great road trip, we listened to Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban to and from our destination.

This is by far my kids favorite spot in all of Bavaria, the pool at Edelweiss.  I have to tear them away to go sightseeing.  When we go down, I usually take them to the pool first thing in the morning when it is empty, then we go get ready for the day.  My kids are fish!

Nina, the girls and I went for a little day trip to the Weiskirche (white church) which is the most famous Rococco/Baroque church in Bavaria.  It truly is so beautiful!

This is a picture of the altar at the front of the church.

This picture is looking to the back of the church where the organ pipes are on display.

Later that evening, we crashed the AWAG party so that we could listen to the band play.  The girls enjoy this so much!  Here is Bailey getting her groove on!

McKenna even got a treat, Craig lifted her on stage for the very last song where she danced and danced and even sang a little.  She told me, "That was a miracle mom, don't you think?"

We got a kick out of the "ice cream" rest stop on the way home.