so i have been here exactly two months as of today...and yet i just found a new favorite spot in wattenheim. well...its technically not wattenheim--its actually some gray area between watteheim and necktarhof. it was so great--today was a great day.

we woke up this morning and did our daily dossage of cartoons and had some bfast before heading out on a walk. i swear, if it was up to those kids we would just sit on our asses all day and do nothing. So i told them to get their sneaker and their scooters and we were going for a walk/ride. no questions.

so they got their stuff and i brought three plastic bags as a surprise. you see, last night, when i was running, i found these huge blackberry bushes!! they looked perfect, so i thought it would be a fun thing to do with the kiddos. we got going and when i showed them the bushes the died. we spent about a half hour picking berries and getting poked by thorns and attacked by bugs. when we got back to the house i made a yummy blackberry pie that we shared with the neighbors tonight at an impromptu get together. it was great.

anyway, i cant get ahead of myself. the kids took a nap because they were having trouble getting along. then when their mom got home, she really wanted to get out on her bike and take advantage of the nice weather we had today. so...we all hopped on bikes and got going. it was great. we rode to the next town and then i told jen that i wanted to explore down one of the side roads that went between the two towns. we got going and then we were passed by our neighbors--Segrid. She was in her car on her way to feed her horse and told us to follow her so that we could see her horse.

It was gorgeous!! The horses name is Nadine. It is a beautiful arabian horse that is full of spunk and very strong. She keeps it at this stable that is amazing!! This is my new favorite place. I will run there every night now---it was just breathtaking. You see...Wattenheim is right on the edge of this valley that is completely wooded. It is sooo beautiful and the horses get to roam the fields that are blocked off right on the edge before getting to the forest. If i was a horse, there is no other place i would want to be. So much open space and such a well taken care of area. I just sat there for an hour brushing the horses and giving them loving. Segrid goes there every night and says that I am welcome to come whenever I would like. I was in heaven.

We rode our bikes back to the house--downhill most of the way. I felt so free and alive and happy. Everyone was out riding their bikes or walking their dogs or just walking hand in hand. it was awesome.

I got back...read my email update from my sis!!...ate a piece of berry pie...and cracked up with courtnie. yes...it was a good day. it started with smiles and ended with smiles. not much more i can ask for.

just a week from tomorrow Alex will be arriving and I can show her all of these great things. That way ya'll will know that im not making this sheiza up.

tchuss...
bean.