Gasthaus Rudolph

Having dinner at Gasthaus Rudolf was the perfect ending to our day of fun and frolic. We have to walk a whole entire two minutes from our house to get to this traditional German restaurant.

I've pointed out before the establishment date of Rudolph's -- 1620. That date rings a bell, doesn't it?

It was perfect weather to enjoy the beer garden out back.

The sandy beach section the kids can play in while the grownups enjoy a beer or apple wine

We're always willing to try something new at Rudolph's, but I'm partial to their simple Schweinerschnitzel (breaded pork cutlet, yummier than you can imagine) and David likes their BBQ ribs. And we both love their salads. Just a regular side salad, but with a mild German salad dressing, it's just so delicious.

Björn told us how Gasthaus Rudolph is well known in this region -- not just in Liederbach. He has seen it advertised on the sides of buses in Frankfurt and it is popular among the foreign airline crowd. Björn also sees tour buses with groups from all over the world parked at the restaurant so the group can experience a German beer garden. Come to think of it, I have noticed buses parked here but didn't know if was all for Rudolph's. I shouldn't be surprised. We're very lucky to have a wonderful restaurant literally right around the corner.

Freizeitpark Lochmühle

With Micaela and James still having a blast with their friends back home in Atlanta, David thought we should do something special with Emilie and Rebecca, something Micaela and James would have balked at doing. He had heard of the amusement park Lochmühle which is geared toward younger kids. The weather today was supposed to be nice, so we decided to give it a go and invited our neighbors, the Lotz family, to join us.

Lochmühle was a former corn mill and farm. In fact, it was first mentioned on paper in the 13th century. After World War II, the owners added a horseback riding business to their farm and then gradually began adding the different rides. The amusement park has been a popular attraction for over 35 years.

Unlike so many amusement parks and sports venues in the U.S., you are allowed to bring your own food into the park. Picnicking here is encouraged and there are grills you can reserve. We saw many families pulling wagons loaded deep with coolers and picnic baskets and this family even brought their own grill.

We met up with the Lotz family and the fun began. Here is Becca's good friend and classmate, Jonna.

A kid-powered bike carousel

Becca takes the whole carousel-thing very seriously.

Emilie spinning like crazy in her little teacup

The Butterfly ride, where your car would be pulled to the top of one end of the track and then you would just tick tock your way down to a stop.

This was the first of many rides where there were no attendants. You went through the gate, pulled down the bar to secure you, and the next person in line would press a button to start your ride.

No crash! We rode on pedaling rides at Parc Astérix and at Legoland where the pedals were just there for fun. The cars advanced whether you exercised your legs or not. Not so here! You had to pedal to move and the sign warned you to keep a safe distance from the riders in front of you.

The helicopter ride rode high above the other parts of the park.

Two friends being sweet as can be. Jonna's mother Anne did ask me at one point, "How do you do something like this when you have all four kids with you?" Anne has 3-year old Jonna and 8-month old Jette and was apparently thinking ahead to when Jette would be mobile. I answered, "Well, David usually takes the 2 older kids and I take the 2 younger ones." She thought for a second and said, "But, how do you do that alone? What if Emilie goes in one direction and Rebecca in another?" I thought for a second and said, "They really don't, though. Believe it not, it does all get easier as they get older. They actually start to listen to you." I'm not sure that Anne believed me.

The Gigantic Slide is so simple, but always a crowd favorite.

The Head-Over-Heels is a little ride that flips upside down as it rolls along the track. Again, no attendant present. Strap yourself in and push a button. You would never see this is the U.S.

Off to the trampoline complex

Emilie doing that levitation-thing she does when she gets bored

Jonna and Becca telling David where they want to go next

Emilie taking a bite out of a Magnum Bar. Magnum ice cream bars are the weekend treat in the Nylund household.

Jonna all ready for the pony ride while her Dad Björn gets instructions. I was taken by surprise that we parents had to be the ones to lead the ponies along the path. I was in charge of Becca on her pony and he was a grumpy one. He refused to move for at least two minutes, no matter that I talked nicely to him and gently tugged on the lead, the whole time very conscious that I was loaded down by cameras and bags and worried that I wouldn't be able to grab a hold of Rebecca if she got bucked off. He finally started walking, but he didn't seem very happy about it. We were halfway done when our pony decided he needed a snack and veered to the side of the path to nibble on some leaves and grass. I tugged him back toward the center of the path a few times and he raised his head and tried to bite my hand. Yikes! From then on, he was well behaved, but I was still shaking 10 minutes after we finished.

Milk maid Emilie practicing on a fake cow

The hamster wheel looks like a fun thing to do, but every kid I saw get in it ended up falling hard on his/her knees and left crying, including Emilie.

My favorite ride of the day -- a parent-powered Ferris wheel. David pedals to make the wheel go 'round. And you had to be careful not to leave kids stranded on it when you got tired.


Jonna and Björn

Another parent-powered ride. Parents had to turn the cylinder in the middle to make the swings go.

In this ride, the Wasserbob, the little boat would be pulled up a steep incline and then let loose to fly down the rails, over a bump, and then land in the water. It reminded David of the old black-and-white films we used to see of Coney Island. This was also a self-service ride.

Playing Huck Finn. Another case of "simple concept, big fun." There was a good-sized crowd at the park, but there were so many rides that lines were not long.

One of many picnic places

A Schwenker, or swinging grill. The meat swings over the beechwood coals to ensure even cooking. We see these grills all over the place.

Emilie tugging on the rope to start the tractor ride

Beautiful sunflowers

Becca was thrilled to see this tiny baby horse and stuck her hand through the stall fencing to pat him.

Becca after I pulled her forearm out of the mouth of a munching baby horse.

Rebecca recovered enough to pet this donkey in the petting zoo.

Emilie on the zipline

Leaving the park, we drove behind this convoy of Trabbies--old cars that were the standard in East Germany before Germany was unified. You could smell the exhaust a mile away, but they always attract attention.

Unaccompanied Minors

Last Thursday, David and I did something some parents say they would never do. Two months ago, I wasn't sure I could do it. We joined the ranks of parents who let their children take a plane trip alone.

The kids have been under the assumption that they would get to visit their friends back home in Atlanta. The whole family did take just such a trip last summer, but it ended up being a bit of a fiasco. Firstly, there was trying to fly standby (not an easy feat for a family of 6). We missed two days of our vacation when we couldn't get seats on the flights to Atlanta. We finally flew to Washington DC, thinking we could then hop on a flight to Atlanta, but no such luck. We drove 11 hours to Atlanta. Thank God our kids were used to long car rides.

And then, a strike at Lufthansa had us leaving earlier than we had planned. When we were thinking of a trip this summer, the thought occurred to let Micaela and James travel alone. They would have a much better chance of getting on the flight, they've made the trip several times, so they know the drill, and it would be easier for our friends back home to only have 2 guests, instead of three times that number.

Everything went smoothly with Lufthansa having a room at the Frankfurt airport, complete with plenty of sleeping areas for tired kids, video games, TV and internet for unaccompanied minors as they wait to be called for their flights. Our kids were escorted through security and onto the airplane. Once arriving in Atlanta, they were escorted to our good friends, the Honeys, who were waiting for them.

We haven't heard too much from Micaela and James since then. We take that to mean they're having a fantastic time with all their friends.

Here are Micaela and James with our friends, the Aubers, at the World of Coke, a permanent exhibition of the history of the Coca-Cola Company.

One of the best parts of the exhibit is getting to taste Coke products from around the world. All the kids recognized Mezzo Mix from Germany -- a mixture of Coke and orange soda, commonly called Spezi. James and Chris also made a concoction consisting of every single available soda from Africa.

All ready for the 4-D film.

All Creatures Great and Small

Last spring and summer, we were often woken up at 4:30 am by the screeching of birds. Hans, an elderly Liederbacher, had told us how he had attached several round swallow birdhouses on the front of our house right below our bedroom window several years ago and he keeps a close watch on the bird families.

At the end of April, I remarked to David that I hadn't heard the swallows yet. David asked Hans if he had seen any signs of the swallows yet and Hans replied, "Oh, no! They always arrive on May 1st." I didn't realize birds kept such precise schedules.

So, guess what we heard and saw on May 1st? The swallows had returned. We soon saw them performing their aerial acrobatics as they hunted flying insects, their favorite snack. And we soon started keeping our windows shut at night so we could sleep until our alarm went off.

A few weeks ago, Hans rang our doorbell to let us know that there was a problem that needed fixing with the nests. A few of the houses were slick on the inside and he had found a few fallen baby birds on the ground. He scooped up the still alive babies and took them to the wild bird rescue authorities. "Oh, yes," I added, "I found about five baby birds last year." Hans threw me a horrified look and I hastened to add, "But they were already dead when I found them." That was the wrong thing to say. I thought poor Hans was going to cry.

Hans went on to inform us that at some point over the next few weeks, he would have scaffolding erected, replace the slippery houses with new ones and also replace a few unused houses with a different birdhouse for different birds he had spied flying around. We did find this all a bit strange, considering for the time being this is our house. We confirmed the plans with our landlord who it turns out has a special swallow conservation arrangement with Hans.

Everything was taken care of while we were away in the Austria and Southern Germany....

.....but the scaffolding was still up when we arrived home yesterday. We took full advantage of it -- climbing the scaffolding and scrubbing clean the plastic cover over our front door which had been green with algae since before we moved in. And just in time, too. Today, workers arrived to remove the scaffolding.

We'll have to find out what species of bird is in the new wooden birdhouse. The nests swallows built themselves are made of mud pellets by the male and female bird and look just like the nests Hans put up.

Big babies awaiting their next meal

A busy parent. These birds seem to spend all day hunting for insects and returning to feed the babies. My car, parked right below the nests, is proof of that.