A Georgia Girl in Germany

On the 4th of July, we took a mid-week getaway and headed to the Lake Constance area with the USO for a relaxing day off. As with any USO trip, the bus has to make at least one rest stop, and this particular stop had several groups of boulders stacked together. The kids really enjoyed climbing on them and being junior mountaineers. Benjamin thought he was king of the mountain, and the other two readily joined in! It helped burn off a little energy along the way, even though it wasn’t that long of a trip.
Soon we were at Mainau Island on Lake Constance (Bodensee). The island is famous for its tropical plants, flowers and trees, and borders on Germany, Austria and Switzerland. We didn’t stop to look at many of the signs naming the various flora, but we were surprised to find what we called the “Nana bush” greeting us at the entrance. Actually, it was a Punica granatum “Nana,” which is a dwarf pomegranate that doesn’t produce fruit, but instead bears orange-red single flowers. It didn’t have any flowers that day, but MacKenzie had to take a photo for Nana -- especially considering that her Nana has a tremendous green thumb.

I thought this was an interesting way to water the grass -- with a very energetic flower sprinkler.

This garden gnome is completely made of flowers, and there’s a sign indicating that they hope it will break the World’s Record for being the largest such gnome. From what I could read of the sign, it’s being grown with more than 16,000 horn violets, begonias, irises and other flowers. It’s currently more than 52 feet across, 19 feet deep and 29 feet high! Wow!

I thought the peacock below was pretty interesting as well.


Everywhere we turned were beautiful groupings of flowers, bushes and trees. No wonder the island is well-known for its variety of tropical and semi-tropical vegetation, including bananas, palm trees, bamboo, citrus fruits, and many, many flowers.

It was a cool and windy day, and fortunately, we were close to the butterfly house when it started to rain (wonderful German weather). And it wasn’t just any butterfly house...it’s the largest in Germany.


We saw hundreds of beautiful butterflies fluttering all around us. Some included the American Monarch from the Tiger family and a metallic blue-winged species from the tropical rainforests of Peru and Brazil.


There were so many varieties of colors and sizes, I was mesmerized trying to watch them all.


The butterflies from the Glasswing family from Central and South America were particularly unique.


MacKenzie really liked the black and orange Longwing butterflies.

This Giant Atlas moth (below) typically found in India, Malaysia, Indonesia and China landed on my leg, and I was able to coax him onto my hand for a better look. Benjamin was very hesitant to get close to it, and kept a wary eye on it.


We even saw some newly-emerged butterflies hanging upside down. They have to do so to force blood into their wet and crumpled wings before they can fly off.

Of course, the kids found a hidden entrance behind a waterfall and ran off to wave to me from behind the water and across the indoor-pond.


If you’re going to have the largest butterfly house in Germany, you need a wide variety of flowers for the butterflies, and Mainau didn’t disappoint. We found flowers of almost every color imaginable!



Can you find MacKenzie hiding in the cactus garden below?


I liked this cascade leading from the nearby castle and church down to Lake Constance.


Above are the 18th century Castle Church and the Baroque Castle residence of Count Bernadotte’s family. We only peeked inside the castle (the kids weren’t too interested in walking though an indoor art exhibit, at least outside they could run around the gardens).

I thought the handle on the door to the castle was rather different.

After the kids indulged me in visiting most areas of the grounds, we stumbled upon a woodland creature and his house. Zachary decided to help the creature with a slight sinus problem.




From there we went to the playground. This wasn’t just any playground -- it was massive, complete with rope bridges, slides, boulders across a pond (which Benjamin loved!), and even wooden rafts for the kids to paddle like Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn.




As always, the kids were having loads of fun and weren’t quite ready to leave. But, alas, we had to catch our bus for the next portion of our Lake Constance visit. While walking back to the bus, Benjamin decided to stop and hide in a tree...as best he could. I suppose he figured if he stopped we wouldn’t have to leave. Wrong. Gee, his stubbornness can really come through when he has the right combination of being totally engrossed in what he’s doing and not having a nap. Even my advance notice in the playground that it was almost time to go didn't work this time. Sooo... suffice it to say that he wasn’t happy with me by the time we made it back to the bus.

Labels: Benjamin, Germany, MacKenzie, Travel, Zachary

Zachary is not a night owl (he doesn’t get that trait from me!) so wasn’t keen on the idea of staying up for a party at the local book store timed to the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. After a late night at the Delaware State Fair the night before, we figured everyone needed a good night’s sleep. In fact, Papa consciously chose to not set his alarm to get him up in the morning. However, Zachary’s internal clock awoke him from his slumber at 6:25 a.m., and he quietly headed downstairs and gently woke up Papa reminding him that they needed to get ready to head to Sam’s to be there when the store opened at 7 a.m. so they could make their purchase. Papa obliged and slowly crawled out of bed to prepare for their quest.

They got there a few minutes before the store opened, and once the doors opened they snagged the first two books off the display (one for Nana as well) before heading back home. Their mission was accomplished!


When they arrived back home, Zachary immediately cracked open the book and began reading. He read 13 chapters (267 pages) the first day, and after two days had only 50 pages left...which he quickly finished up the next morning. That was definitely the quickest he’s read a book of comparable length! But considering he started reading the series when he was in the first grade, he was very interested in finally learning the fates of Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort.

MacKenzie and Benjamin were completely oblivious to the Potter mania, and enjoyed rubber-stamping in Nana’s “research library” while Zachary remained engrossed in his book.

Labels: Benjamin, MacKenzie, Stateside visits, Zachary

Our visit to Delaware was perfectly-timed so we could attend the Delaware State Fair. Zachary and MacKenzie have been before during their solo visits, but this was the first time Benjamin and I were there during the fair. All three kiddos were excited to go…and to be able to ride as many rides as possible.
One of the first rides we went on was an Alpine-themed ride that spun us around. Somehow the car that Benjamin and I were in got to rocking side-to-side quite a bit. It was fun to hear Benjamin’s laughter as we spun around, going up and down the hill.


Zachary and MacKenzie’s car didn’t rock sideways as much, although they were definitely trying to get it to do so. Finally, just before the ride came to a stop, they got it going.

Benjamin was thrilled to be able to ride the merry-go-round. A few times around, he even held both arms straight out in the air and grinned bigger than anything. Talk about a fun ride!


There were several rides that Benjamin wasn’t tall enough to ride. We tried to limit how many times he was excluded, but he still wasn’t pleased. This is one of such rides -- it really seemed like we were flying (albeit, in circles!).

I kept thinking how it must be similar to what it's like for Superman to fly.

As expected, Benjamin was upset at me for leaving him behind while I accompanied Zachary and MacKenzie. He even tried to avoid eye contact with us as we came around on each pass. But, it couldn’t last -- he and Papa kept looking for us.


Fortunately, there weren’t any height restrictions on the ferris wheel. We had a nice view of the fair from up there.


Zachary and MacKenzie were very cooperative when I tried taking a photo of them in front of the ferris wheel. Benjamin wasn’t quite sold on the idea, but then jumped in front of them and said that you had to raise your hands if you wanted your picture made. He kept turning around to see if they were raising their hands, but fortunately didn’t push the issue.

After the kiddo photo, Benjamin agreed to have his photo made with Papa. There’s hope for this kid yet!

Of course, you can’t go to a fair and not have a delicious funnel cake loaded with powdered sugar. I shared with Zachary and MacKenzie, and we devoured it pretty quickly...even with how hot it was! Benjamin didn’t want to try a single bite...which was fine with us because it meant there was more for us.


I think all three kiddos enjoyed the burlap slide ride the best. It was a great ride for the end of the evening -- no spinning or scariness to cap off the evening. After three rides, I nearly had to drag them away!

When it finally came time to head home, we all climbed into the trailers that took us back to the parking lot. Yes, they’re much like the transportation at Disney World...except they’re pulled by John Deere tractors!


Nana, Zachary and MacKenzie looked like they were turning into zombies. Benjamin, on the other hand, was still full of energy -- at 10 p.m.! When we got in the car to return home, he started talking, and talking and talking. I’m not quite sure where his extra reserve of energy comes from, but he seems to have an endless supply of it! After a while, his chatterbox began bothering Zachary and MacKenzie in their attempts to doze off. When I suggested that he quiet down some so they could rest, this is the conversation that resulted.

Where’s your “off” button?
I don’t have an off button.
Can you whisper quietly and use your inside voice so Zachary and MacKenzie can rest?
If I speak quietly then I can’t hear myself talk.

Too funny! True, but funny. In fact, when I started to chuckle at his comments, he looked at me and with all sincerity told me "It's not funny"...which made it even more adorable.

He never did quiet down, and instead chatted the entire 30-minute ride home. When we got home and got ready for bed, he still had energy! Zachary and MacKenzie moved like they were in trances and were quickly in bed. Benjamin didn’t fight going to bed, he just didn’t have that as his top priority at 10:30! At least they all enjoyed the evening!

Labels: Benjamin, Kid Quotes, MacKenzie, Nana and Papa, Stateside visits, Zachary