The One with Chris's 28th Birthday in Weiden, Germany

Yes, it's true, I'm a cougar. I married a younger man. But only by 3 months :) Happy 28th birthday to my better half, the love of my life!

I was sooooo hoping our car would arrive before Friday so that we could spend Saturday, Chris's birthday, exploring and going on our very first adventure in Germany. And it DID arrive! But too late to pick up... BUT then our friends offered us their car for the weekend! Hallelujah! It's all about Chris today and he wanted to go to Weiden - so Weiden it is! It was a 20 minute drive through pretty forests and lakes and land.

We found a parking lot, put some Euros in the machine, and ventured out. My heart skipped beat after beat - we LIVE here?!?

We stopped at the first bakery we could find to get some authentic German goodies. I don't know what it is but it was good! We saw these tall spires and wanted to check them out closer.

Next to what I'm assuming is a church was a quaint park with flowers and this unmarked except for dates statue.

Pretty flowers and vine covered buildings galore. Fox in front of an advertisement | Cobblestone roads. Then we walked to the platz - it was only 9 in the morning but the place was already alive and thriving with bustling people perusing the open shops and fresh produce. There was a wedding going on in that main beautiful building! Another church. Fox making friends and playing in the fountain.

A year-round Christmas tree? Hopefully a sign of good things to come during the holidays!

Picturesque. This was spray painted in silver on the side of a wall.

A bust of Gustav von Schlör - the last Bavarian state minister of trade. | Cool building. We had no itinerary - we just walked wherever our little feet carried us. We heard tons of birds chirping and followed the noise to an aviary!

Budgies and lovebirds and parrots - oh my! A PINK bird!

Texture.

A little stream running through the park.

We walked across the bridge to this statue surrounded by flowers.

Then we walked back to the shops and came across a mime. Fresh produce. Everywhere we walked we kept getting wafts of things that smelled good. Is it lunchtime yet?!

Fox saw toys outside a bookstore so of course he wanted to go in. We found this little play area in the corner and spent some time going down the slide and "driving". Water fountain | Strolling through the town | H&M! YAY! | I want everything in this store window. Side story: This picture is in our hotel room - it's right behind my computer and since I spend a few hours a day at my computer for work I've stared at this picture a lot in our 3 1/2 weeks here and think it looks so beautiful. I had no idea where it was.
So imagine our surprise when we turned the corner and saw THIS!

Of all the places in the ENTIRE world, and on our VERY FIRST adventure in Germany, we found this exact location! God has a sense of humor, I'm sure of it :) I'm in love with the buildings and architecture here.

Lunch time! We got our very first bratwurst. So good.

And some kind of ham sandwich.

We saw lots of people walking around with ice cream cones so naturally we wanted in on the party!

Enjoying our cones.

There is a picture of my grandpa licking a giant ice cream cone that I really want to find and put side-by-side with this one of Chris doing the same.

Another toy store where we ended our adventure. One thing I've noticed is almost all the kid's toys are wooden instead of plastic. I wonder why?

Oh boy what a day! We had SO much fun! Watch out Germany - the Evans' are here :)

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The One with Heidi Pond

I've been looking at the Grafenwöhr map on a daily basis trying to see where we can feasibly walk to for entertainment and saw a lake close by! We had nothing on our agenda yesterday morning so off we went!

Good morning Grafenwöhr!

 We made it! So pretty!

 It's called Heidi Pond. Or maybe Heid Pond without the "i" - that's what it says on the map but I swear I saw a sign that said "Heidi". Regardless, it's still pretty!

 Wildflowers.

Fox and Jane in front of the lake.

A closeup up of a pretty purple wildflower. 

 Fox likes climbing hills. He goes "uppa da hee-uhll".

My cute kiddos.  

It was a fun walk, just what we needed to start the morning on the right foot!

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The One with the Garden Girl It's the Little Things-Themed Layout

A new month brings new layouts from the Garden Girls! The theme IT'S THE LITTLE THINGS. So I went with one little photo, a little piece of subject matter, a little title, and little paper strips.

LOVELY LITTLE LADY

Description: It just so happens that one of the littlest things I call mine is also one of the biggest things that I love: my sweet baby girl Jane! I've had this photo since October of last year and I've wanted to scrap it ever since but nothing seemed to fit her expression - until I saw these two lines by Lawn Fawn! Daphne's Closet and Pink Lemonade have all the sweetness and little details that coordinate perfectly with the feeling this photo evokes. By trimming a little bit from each paper and even the tearaway strips at the bottom I was able to create a bright and fun focal point. A few clusters of little embellishments edging the photo complete the "it's the little things" look and feel!

How to: Spray over a doily mask using blue mist three times across a light blue cardstock background then let it dry. Trim 1/4-1 1/2 x 6" strips from every paper and tearaway strip of the Daphne's Closet and Pink Lemonade collections from Lawn Fawn. Fold each strip in half, crease the fold, then sew over the open end to keep it permanently folded. Place a black and white square photo on the right side of the layout. Tuck the paper strips underneath the photo in a flower/sunburst pattern. Sew three circles over the photo to secure the paper strips in place and create some texture. Cut a yellow label sticker in half and place one on either side of the photo. Add buttons, fabric brads, a stickpin, paper leaves, and a wooden veneer bird over the label sticker halves. Place blue letter stickers on the left edge to make a title, add a piece of scalloped border sticker below, then pierce a stickpin between them. Stamp the date below the scalloped border sticker.

Supplies: Cardstock, date stamp, paper leaves, wooden buttons, adhesive: American Crafts; Patterned paper, stickers (label, letters, scalloped border): Lawn Fawn; Fabric brads: Crate Paper; Stickpins: Making Memories; Doily mast: Pink Paislee; Wooden bird veneer, spray mist: Studio Calico; Ink: StazOn; Sewing machine: Bernina; Thread: Coats & Clark

See you again on September 1st with the next round of Garden Girl layouts! Where has this year gone?!

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