Ryan got called into work this afternoon, so I gathered my courage and took all four children out to Chesterfield for Strassenfest. I’ve been wanting to attend this festival pretty much ever since we moved down here, but we never managed to get it together enough to go.

We had a fun time. I will say, it pales in comparison to my favorite German-American celebration, the Christkindlmarket in Chicago, but Strassenfest *did* serve to remind me of how much I love all things German, and I guess that really is the point.

There were German bands, each featuring an accordion player. I love accordion music–that has got to be the German in me!

There were people in traditional German dress.

There was strudel to be enjoyed by four hungry children.

There were German dancers.

There was Gluhwein (sadly, I didn’t get a picture of that, but I did enjoy it!).

There were people dancing in the street.

There was also a Purina dog show, which had nothing to do with Germany, but was still entertaining.

I think the children got a bit of appreciation for German culture, which is what I was going for. I hope we *all* get to go back next year, and I really hope they have the big Strassenfest steins again. I didn’t have enough money to buy one this time, but now that I know they exist, I’ll be sure to get one the second time around!