Maifest

Maifest at Grant’s Farm

Yesterday Chickadee and I went to Maifest at Grant’s Farm, and we had about the nicest day we could have hoped for!

We saw the lucky white bison from the tram:

The animals in the Tiergarten we especially active and entertaining, and we even got to see a baby wallaby still hanging out in his mother’s pouch! I also saw a peacock fly for the first time, and found the sight rather surreal, but that’s really neither here nor there.

And the Bauernhof is always one of my favorite places to visit, because I can pretend I’m actually in Germany! We enjoyed the band and the crowds and especially the pretzel, which is probably the best one we’ve ever gotten at Grant’s Farm!

We finished with a visit to the Clydesdale stable:

It was a lovely day and a fun excuse to celebrate our German heritage!

Sartorial Saturday–The Top Five Dirndl Looks of 2023

I know I said yesterday that I was sharing my last “Top Five” photos list of the year, but those were photos I took…today I’m sharing my favorite dirndl looks that I wore this year, which are photos take of me, not by me!

I’m starting back in May, when we went to Maifest at Grant’s Farm. I really love the pops of pink of the apron and ribbon against the darker background of the dress, and I also really love the setting of the picture!

My second Everyday Dirndl was purchased specifically with paying homage to the Austrian flag in mind, and the full look is even better than I hoped. I love the white “Surprise Me” apron Erika created for me, and I think my accessories, which featured lots of edelweiss and pops of white and red, are the perfect accompaniment!

Next up is the look I wore to Belleville Oktoberfest. I borrowed an apron from another dirndl to go with my purple dress, and added my iridescent Docs and some purple accessories to complete the look.

Speaking of borrowing an apron, this is the dress that goes with the apron in the previous photo. This time, I added a fancy, sheer floral apron to my harlequin print dirndl for St. Charles Oktoberfest…I love the autumnal color scheme!

And finally, a look featuring my new Christmas apron. Not the look I wore on Christmas Day (which I also love), but the one I wore to the Belleville Christkindlmarkt, adding a green ribbon and red accessories for a festive look.

I really love finding new ways to mix and match my pieces, and I can’t wait to see what I come up with next!

2022-23 School Year–Week Thirty-Two

That’s it for the 2022-23 school year! This was a pretty light week, focused on wrapping things up. Ladybug and Chickadee took their final tests and finished what they needed to in various books. We also had one last field trip…a visit to Grant’s Farm for Maifest. I thought this was a great way to end the year, especially since our Christmas School was focused on learning about Christmas in Germany, and Chickadee has so diligently studied German with Duolingo this year.

We ended the year the way we began…with a Disney-themed Lego set. This one is an art set of Minnie Mouse that is a companion to the piece we built back in August, and they actually connect to make one large picture!

In some ways, I don’t feel like I put in as much effort as I should have this my 15th year of homeschooling. It was a complicated year, schedule-wise, and I felt stretched pretty thin. I’m already looking forward to all of the things we’ll be doing next year, though, and hopefully I’ll make up for the lack of energy I had this year!