The cake this year was actually a pot of "dirt" made from chocolate mousse and crushes chocolate cookies. It is complete with worms (gummy, of course) and an edible flower.
For his special dinner, I made thick crust pizza dough and let the kids build their own pizzas.
We really enjoyed having a couple of his best friends over. Here they are at the present opening.
Now it is time for cake.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
But as you know, that was not the only big birthday this year. My lovely husband has officially climbed that hill and turned 10. Ten??? Well, that's what the cake says.
This celebration was on his actual birthday. He got a half cake of his favorite: Schwarzwalder Kirsch Torte (Black Forest Cake). There just wasn't enough room for 40 little candles on the half cake, so we opted for the other candles we had from our other son's tenth birthday.
But one party was not enough. Next, we had a game night with some of our Australian friends and our other good friend here on assignment with us.
But NO. Two parties were not enough!! So for the THIRD party, we chose to look Death in the eye and scoff at it. We told Death we were living in Germany and the Allgaeu mountains with many hearty German friends, among others. And well, you can imagine, Death went running for the hills.
We took a wonderful group of friends up a regional mountain for a 1.5 hour hike, a bite to eat and that staple of German life to drink, followed by a super fun 3.7 kilometer (2.3 miles) 20 minute slide back down - in the dark. After a week of horrible weather, we couldn't have asked for a better evening to do this. The snow was absolutely perfect for the adventure, and the folks that joined us couldn't have been more fun. It truly was a great night.
Here's the gang all assembled for the hike up.
Enjoying some mountain spirits...
Are we there yet??
Still hiking, still enjoying spirits ...
Maybe it was 1.5 hours because of all the breaks. Hmmm....
As if the company, snow and scenery weren't enough, we were also treated to a full moon.
We finally made it to the top. There we shared the warmth of our friends - AND the hut, which must have been 90 degrees inside!!!
All seem to be having a good time. We are so glad everyone could join us and share in the party.
A special thanks goes to this couple who arranged everything for us. We couldn't have done it without them!! Thank you!!!!!!!!!!
The local cheese pasta that I keep talking about that we all love here is pictured below. And this was very excellent Kaesspatzen!!! Mmmmm! Lecker!
Wayne's team leader made sure that even world dictators wished him Happy Birthday!!
And in the box was the perfect gift - family passes for one of the gondola lifts for skiing and hiking that we like to take.
And then the final thrill for the night - night sledding!!! I can honestly say it is nothing like anything we could have done in the states. Wow what a good time we had!!!
I'll be away again as I travel back to the US, but I should be blogging again with (hopefully) house news. Until then ...
Auf wiedersehen!
Amie
