Mosel, mohawks and malaise

I'm kind of blogging out of order here...but that's okay. I have to fit it all in somehow and there is only so much time in the day to do all that needs to be done.

Before our amazing trip to Heidelberg, the four of us went and saw the Mosel Valley which is only one of thirteen wine regions in Germany. It's the third largest in terms of production, but is the leading region in terms of international prestige. It takes its name from the Moselle River, (French spelling) and is most famous for it's Riesling grapes which produce sweet wines. We are not big wine drinkers but we have tasted a few different ones since being here. My favorite so far is a wine from the Mosel Valley...but it was the Bacchus wine. Now that was some good stuff.

Harvest time for the grapes isn't until October, so all was quiet on our drive through the valley. No grapes yet, but the sight was still pretty awesome.

This is how the kids entertained themselves during the drive...

...pulling on one another and giggling...wrestling and making odd noises from the back seat.

I kept trying to get a shot of Scott's big smile. He's lost a lot of teeth in the last six months and some of them have been slow to grow back in. His grin is a wonderful sight to behold. He was not being cooperative. Cute, but not cooperative.

We saw parasailers over the fields. I have no idea where they might land...They might get in a lot of trouble for squishing grape vines.

The valley took us through many, many little villages and towns and we were amazed to see so many grapes.

Ah hah! It pays to be persistent! I have twenty shots of him looking coyly at me with that closed mouth smile...but this one is the gem. Look at those teeth! I love them. :)

Oh, my...it was just so beautiful. I believe that this little town was called Radler, but there were many, many little places along our drive. The sky was so blue that afternoon, although there was a bit of a chill in the air.

I swear this came right out of a Harry Potter movie...which is exactly why I had to take a picture of it.

They will pose in the chilly air...

...but they vacate as soon as they see their chance.

We see these trees a lot. Maya says they remind her of miniature Whomping Willows. Again with the Harry Potter. :)

Mylee in the Mosel Valley.

I already can't wait to go back this fall.

The day after our glorious tour of Heidelberg, Maya got a hair cut. She's been thinking about this particular cut for a long time now and has been waiting for her hair to grow out enough to be able to pull it off. Fortunately for her, her hair grows very quickly.

Steven and I both helped her with the style...me, parting her hair as best I could with my broken wrist. (My nickname around here is "Gimpy" by the way,) and Steven, but wielding the clippers. We are a family who does things together, folks. Yep...even mohawks.

Can you tell that Scott is shaking his head in this shot? Big sisters...man, are they goofy sometimes. 

And the finished style?

We got this stuff called Got 2 B Glued. It's amazing...Not much will flatten this hair. This isn't actually what it will look like when she's finished. She's planning on dyeing it "Vampire Red" for her birthday. It'll be bright. It'll be colorful. It'll be dangerous. (That hair gel is serious stuff.) Our girl...no one is quite like Maya...and that is one of the million reasons why I love her so much.

Maya got to take her new style out in public on Friday when we took Scotty in to see a pediatrician. On Wednesday, he woke up with a high fever and his eyes looked black underneath like someone had slugged him in the nose. He was incredibly stuffy and his throat hurt him so much he couldn't even swallow. When his fever persisted, Maya and I bundled him up into the car and took him into Ramstein-Miesenbach to a doctor named Steffan Schmitt who said that he suspected that Scott had the flu. Even though he got the flu mist back in October, a handful of those stubborn germs got to him anyway and they made him sick, sick, sick.

I guess there was a German flu bug that didn't care about that American flu mist.

This picture was taken on Sunday after he'd had several doses of heavy duty nose spray and was able to sleep with the aid of some prescription cough meds. Today is Monday and he and Maya took a walk around Linden this afternoon so they could fly some paper airplanes he'd made. Doctors...thank goodness for them. He's nearly good as new again.

Oh...and a lady at the doctor's office...she had to be near 80, saw Maya walk onto the elevator at the doctor's office. She looked up at our daughter, smiled and said, "I like your hair." 

Now I think that's pretty cool.