Stausee Bitburg

In the middle of February Germany had a cold snap (meaning high single digits, low teens). The temps were cold, but nothing that we weren't used to. People were complaining about how cold it was, but really this was normal weather for Minot. We didn't mind the weather so much.

About 1/4 mile down the road from us there is a nice lake. Stausee Bitburg (Stausee meaning 'manmade lake) froze during this week. Apparently, this is something that normally doesn't happen in the area because its usually never that cold long enough for it to freeze. The community took advantage of the frozen lake and so did we.

We bundled up the kids and took them to the lake to do some walking. I have NEVER been on a frozen lake (or pond for that matter) so I was pretty excited as well. The ice was probably 12 inches thick at least! Lots of people were walking on the ice, ice skating, or dragging their kids on sleds.

Here is a local Biergarten between our house and the lake. We haven't tried it yet, but plan to someday. 

Here is one view of the lake. If you look below the hill you can see the Dorint Resort. There are also Nordic Walking trails all around the lake and through the woods. Its actually very nice. 

Kylee was a bit nervous about walking on the lake at first.

Wyatt really enjoyed the ice! He liked running and sliding around.

The kids with Dad.

Me and the kids. 

James being silly. He had a good time as well. He said he wasn't thrilled about going down to the lake at first, but once he got there he really enjoyed it. Glad I made him come with. 

James can be so sweet :D He wrote our names in some of the snow that was on the ice.

Miss Kylee 

Mr. Wyatt

Kylee and James playing tic-tac-toe

I spent a whole 2 dollars to get the kids to pose for the picture. Kylee had no problems sitting there, but I had to bribe Wyatt with a dollar. And because I offered it to Wyatt, of course Kylee said she needed one too. But I LOVE this picture. I want to print it out and frame it. 

These are air bubbles in the ice. They were pretty cool. James found a stick and started digging in the holes. I actually took a picture of him telling him it was the last picture I would take before he fell through the lake. When the lake finally melted a few weeks later Wyatt blamed it on James because 'Daddy was poking holes in the lake and made the water come up.'

We walked clear to the other side of the lake. 

Kylee on a walking path on the other side of the lake. I love this picture of her too. 

The kids really enjoyed sliding down this small ice hill. James even got into it as well. 

In the summertime the lake has something called IMBISS (sp). Its basically roach-coaches, or food from a vending truck. Its supposed to be very good though. They also have paddle boats and kayaks I believe. I really hope they do have Kayaks because James really enjoys that now. Thankfully, we were smart and brought the kids' life jackets from the states just in case. I'm glad we did. Now, if we only brought out fishing poles too, we would be all set! 

I absolutely love the little village we live in. Everyone (other than crazy cat lady) is really nice. They have a really great park up the hill from our house, a lake that we will spend lots of time around in the summertime, and plenty of other outdoor activities to do. My kids are finally becoming 'outdoor kids'!! Our landlord gave Jessica (our American neighbor) and I permission to grow a large garden in the backyard. The kids are really going to enjoy helping me with that. I know they enjoyed helping MawMaw and PawPaw in their garden when we visited them. There are also cows (Kuh) and sheep (Schaf) in the village. I'm hoping that I will be able to find a way to let the kids get a closer look of the sheep. 

While we still do not have internet (I'm back at the coffee place using their internet while the car gets an oil change and summer tires put on), I plan on coming back next week to post pictures of the inside of the house :D

O, our garage door is supposed to be put on today!! So excited about that. Its just the front garage door. Our landlord is on holiday and will be building the back entry garage door. We'll find a way to keep the cats from coming through that back door this weekend. I'm tired of them. I found out today they decided to use our nice camping chairs (all 4 of them) as a place to mark their territory, even though they were put up and out of the way. Ugh. Guess we'll be buying more. 

Anyhow, I'll hopefully be back in a few days. Enjoy the weekend :D