Den and I were on our way to the bank and stumbled upon a little market of 5 vendors selling their likes.  First, a hand-crafted wooden shed upon a trailer and attached to a little car.  

Imperfect shaped, rustic loaves of bread lined the shelves at the back of the box.  Beautiful homemade desserts glimmered under the glass and knitted hats and socks draped over baskets.  It was a wonderful site.  She even brought her own tables that prompted people to stay awhile, drink their coffee and perhaps have seconds of her baked goods.

Another was selling plums, apples, potatoes and homemade schnapps flavored with different fruits.  I liked watching his weathered hands, it made me think of my own dad’s hands.  Hands that have slowly worked the land using not much more than a pitch fork, a hoe and spade and a lot of sweat.  He would hand harvest and mom would can the vegetables and fruits as fast as she could.  I remember Dad starting on a huge task whether it be a section of land that needed to be turned over, scraping and painting the house or hiking up Bear Bute Mountain.  At times I felt defeated before we even began and he would say, “One step at a time.”  How many times has he told me, “Just take it one day at time, Bly,”or “Don’t get the cart before the horse.”  As a child those were just words hanging in the air, as a teenager the statements were just annoyances and today as an adult, a mother, I cling to them.  Sometimes that’s all you can do, is put one foot in front of the other and keep moving.  My head spins if I let it get too far down the road so I have to make a conscience effort to stop and live in the moment…….being thankful.

 

Olives sold in abundance with different marinades.

I asked the vendor if this was butter, she shook her head no and looked for the words to tell me what it was and at last, out of desperation, she said, “baa, baa, baa.” She and I both started laughing, it felt good to share a moment and laugh with a total stranger.  A smile and laughter is universal.

The kids were all in need of a haircut.  It’s a little scary walking into a hair studio in a foreign country.  Raleigh was sent in on the front lines.  The gal did an excellent job, the girls could not stop kissing and hugging on him.  We were fortunate enough to be able to get all three girls appointments, after seeing how meticulous she worked Den decided to get his hair cut too.  Don’t worry Grandma, it will grow out by October.

 

Finding this little sheep shop on the first evening was a wonder for the kids,  all of them buying a cozy little sheep.  The lady spoke no English but was delighted watching the kids being so excited over the stuffed animals.  She even gave each of them another little stuffed sheep to go with their big one.

Naming and remembering the names of eight sheep was a hysterical part of the evening.  There is such fun in the simple moments.

Healing waters or natural baths swimming pools are big here in southern Germany.  We enjoyed our visit but were a little confused as to where to go with such signs posted…….

Okay, if there is a curtain just know that there will be naked bodies of all shapes, sizes and ages on the other side, YIKES!

 

We found this wood carved Jesus on a hiking trail.  Raleigh was pretty excited about it.  I asked him who it was and he drew a heart in the air with his finger.  Yep, that about sums it up.

This little boy is quick to pick a flower and surprise me with it.  So thankful for the love in his heart.

Is it legal to say that sand volleyball was one of our family favorites in the Black Forest?  Doesn’t seem right, but it is what it is.  We played hours upon hours of beach volleyball.  I kept asking Den if we should be doing this. His response was perfect, “We wouldn’t be playing 5 games straight of beach volleyball every night at home.”  And so we did, with great gusto. The girls don’t play on a team back home and let me say they are pretty darn good!  Sand makes it fun to fall and we all did a lot of that, along with laughing, arguing and blaming someone else for a lost point.  Gummy bears were given out as trophies so there was good reason to argue!

 

And Annie continues to dance through life, even on a sand volleyball court!