After a short hiatus I am back again. With thirteen official holidays in the state of Bavaria I suppose I am not to complain about the fact that this year two holidays fell on the same day. Yes we have been cheated but that’s life. With Thursday being the official double holiday it was all the more reason to take Friday off and enjoy a long weekend.
We drove up to see the in-laws near Cologne and we had a great time. The weather was beautiful and we spent most of the time outside. Our nephew was staying with his grandma and grandpa and we got to play with him a lot.
He is such a cutie and well-behaved too. Right now he is at that age where he asks a lot of question which almost drove me nuts when we took him with us on our drive home last night to drop him off at his mom’s house. For all of you who have kids who are 2+ you probably know that scenario. He asked me a million questions always followed up with a “WHY?”. I was on the brink of answering “ BECAUSE” or “BECAUSE I SAID SO” but then decided against it. He just turned three a few weeks ago and he is really bright and my SIL did a really great job in raising him. He is the politest little kid I have ever seen and he knows his boundaries, which never ceases to amaze me.
When he was about to throw a temper tantrum, his mom said it was okay if he didn’t want to do whatever it was she said but then he would have to suffer the consequences (which meant he wasn’t allowed to play with his toy cars for a whole day). He agreed to the terms and the next day he never touched the cars. Sure he did look at them longingly but explained how he had behaved like a baby and that he therefore cannot play with the cars.
Anyway as my husband was raised near Cologne he invited a bunch of old friends over for a BBQ his parents threw and we went to see “Rhine in Flames”.
We got there around 8pm to get a great spot. We found one on top of a really steep hill and watched the seemingly endless procession of ships glide past us on the river to gather near the town of Linz for the event. At 10pm when everything was dark the boats lit up and they all had turned and were starting to come down the River. One after the other went past castles and ruins while the riverbanks were lit red with the glow of Bengal lights and then the fireworks set off. On each bank of the river, each town had a fireworks that seemed to last forever. It was almost magical.
We didn’t bring a camera but I found some vids on Youtube (where else?). This does not do the whole event any justice as there were multiple fireworks, some even orchestrated to music. It was breathtaking.
Now back in work and I am happy to say that May has another two long weekends coming up. I am beyond excited. Life seems good.
9 comments:
When I read your title, I thought... uh oh, that doesn't sound good but then I read what it actually was, and it sounds like SO MUCH FUN; kind of like Chicago's lovely Venetian Night, (on Lake Michigan) which you'd also probably enjoy.
Jules
House of Jules
It's definitely fun doing the "why" answers. my son is almost 9, i feel like i've been answering why for 7 years, and my daughter is nearly two... so i reckon this is going to be ongoing for another 10 at least... lol. sounds like you had a great time though!!
Jules - Yes the title does sound dangerous now that you mentioned it. Venetian Night sounds great too. Can't get enough of fireworks.
Paper Propaganda - Seven years is a long time to be answering "why" questions LOL. I admire you and all parents, I really do because my nephew? He wore me out after just one day :)
This sounds like so much fun! I haven't even been to Venetian Night in Chicago though; too crazy to go downtown for it because traffic and crowds are a mess. Is it like that on the area of the Rhine where they do this?
Fireworks are always awesome. :) So are long weekends. :)
Melisa - It was even better, this video does not do it any justice. There were four or five fireworks along the river banks as each town had its own. It was the coolest thing ever.
Danielle - Amen to that.
Sounds like a great weekend!! Why? BECAUSE I SAID SO! ;)
Sounds like a fabulous time, minus the whys.
My two year olds haven't hit the whys yet, but are all about the what's dat? What's dat? Ugh. I'm really close to being driven crazy already and I'm not even at the whys.
Here in Vancouver we have the Symphony of Fire annually, which is 4 nights every August with four different countries competing. It's quite beautiful with the music and all - quite similar to what you described here.
Wow-he didn't touch the cars? That's one good kid! (Well, you know what I mean.) :)
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