Stuttgart Downtown!

So before the party I went into downtown Stuttgart for the first time alone! (Pretty exciting!) I got off at the stop right before the Hauptbahnhof which is the Schlossplatz; where the old and new castle, other cool old government buildings, the old markethalle, the saturday market, etc. all are located. First I took a few pictures of the Schlossplatz:


One of the two matching fountains mirroring the castle front:

One of the many sculptures on the main statue in the center:

A cool old building that I specifically took a picture of because I knew that mom would like the shiny gold stag on top. Looks like Jaeger....and Christmas! What a combo! (;

Here is the inside of the old Markthalle which you can read about here:
http://www.stuttgart-tourist.de/ENG/leisure/markthalle.htm


Actually, if you go here: http://www.stuttgart-tourist.de/DEU/ipunkt/webcam_schlossplatz.htm then you can see the live cam of the Schlossplatz and get the idea and view of the whole area. Cool, eh? You can see the fountains that I took a picture of and the center statue which that lady statue comes from. On the right will be the Markthalle (but I don't think you can see it because it's behind a bunch of trees) and on the left will be the golden stag building. Enjoy! I will post candy store pictures in a little bit! Well, really after my German class tonight.

Piraten Geburtstag!

On saturday, I escaped to the city for a couple of hours and then we were bombarded with six little pirates for a Piraten Geburtstag! (Pirate Birthday!) This is the invitation that I helped the kids make for the party....pretty cool I'd say.

That was part of the Schatzsuchen (Treasure Hunt, more-or-less) where there was a plank walking, a pirate skeleton to kill with water balloons, an ocean full of sharks and islands, and much more. Anyway, it wasn't too bad to have all those kids running around like pirates...it could have been way worse! (: Anyway, Jonanthan liked the cake and gots lots and lots of presents! Including a pirate sticker book (that my mom found) from me, from the states! Yo-Ho!

So, how do you make a Pirate Birthday Cake?

We're gonna find out....

First, you beg your mom for an easy recipe (in English) from the family books at home (and what she would do differently to them!). Then you take a lot of cooking stuff, two different online German to English cooking translators, an online US to Metric translator, a nifty apron (like my brother had made for me), and then you cross your fingers....

You mix all the stuff together and bake it...

Then, this is the part where I'm gonna tell you that everything went perfectly (the first time) and that it took no time at all! Oh, and it turned out looking just like the Lady Washington! Amazing....

Okay, so....in all actuality....the first cake turned out just great and even came out of the oven early and perfectly golden brown! Then, somehow, I must have turned the dial on the oven to hotter while reaching for something, or something, and so the outside was done and the inside was not. Bummer. So, I turned the oven way down and moved it to the bottom shelf where I hoped that it would quickly cook the inside without the outside burning. Well, it didn't quite work that way! But it was okay, but not perfect like the first one. Oh well.

Then, when I attached it to the first one with the chocolate frosting (that I also made from scratch), it proceeded to fall apart....taking the chocolate frosting with it. Crud. So, finally, I decided that it was just plain not gonna work, but the first cake was still good, so I took off the second one and put it aside (well, technically a lot of it ended up on the floor and counters and the rest of it ended up in Ann-Katrin and her friends' stomachs.) But anyway, no harm done. Then I frosted the entire first cake all well-and-good, but it wouldn't stand up because it didn't have the other cake to support it. Just took some interesting creativity (and a little more confectioner's sugar) to make another entire batch of frosting, this time dyed blue, and a new dish to make the ocean to hold up the ship! Woohoo. (Well, it mostly works. Meh.) Then I decorated and decorated and decorated! Hooray! My favorite part. I made waves around the boat, pirates and cannnon candles for the side! And even a mermaid for the front! And I gotta say....for a novice making a cake for a 5 year old boy, it's pretty impressive....See?

And I Bought Something....

I bought something that I totally didn't really need....on one hand, I shoudn't have gotten it because it's kinda big and I'm curious as to how I will get it home....and on the other hand, it's perfect(!) and I should have bought the second one!! So, you see my dilemma there?

It may not look like much to you...I don't know....but to me it's perfect! It is kinda big though....but oh well, I may have to ship it home.....I'll get over it! (: And I can enjoy it in my room here for a year before I bring it home to go in my kitchen. So perfect!

Day-Trip to Degerloch, Deutschland

So, I got away for a day to see some new sights! I only went to the next town over and only for a couple hours, but it was in between school, kindergarten, swim lessons, Jonathan's birthday plannning, cupcake baking, and so many other things...so I'm pretty impressed. It's just a little village called Degerloch that is located just in between here and the main city of Stuttgart. There is basically just one street of any "shopping," but it was nice to get out of the house anyway. Now I will show you around! These are just some cool buildings from around town with various shops in the bottom and such.

First Week Almost Over!

Okay, so the first week of being an actual au pair has almost finished....actually in just a couple hours Ralf and Anette will be home and I will be home free for the weekend!

The kids and I have successfully played pirates, practiced speaking German and English, gone to guitar and flute lessons, made lunch, played Mario Kart, made invitations for Jonathan's pirate themed birthday party in a couple weeks, made chalk paste to fill the wholes in the street, and several other things this week....and it's all gone well. Next week, we add swimming and qymnastics lessons so that should be exciting! Actually, it's funny. The kids are perfect angels in the daytime, when I am here with them. They only act out at night when the parents get home! Lucky for me! Maybe it's because they know that I will not understand what they are throwing a fit about anyway, so there is no point in throwing one in the first place!

I'm very sorry that all I have posted so far are boring pictures of this little town and writings about the kids! But I promise that there are all sorts of exciting things coming up that I will be all-over blogging about! Oktoberfest is in only a couple weekends and I will be there...which means, of course, that you all will be coming too! Then there will be good pictures and, I'm sure, exciting blogging. That weekend I will actually be going over to Lena's (outside of Munich) early because it is a three-day-long, holiday weekend. So the whole weekend will be travel and festivities! It's actually been pretty boring thus far for me too. But what can I say, my job is to be here for the kids. And just think of all the time I have had to be creative and do art! I've used it wisely, I promise. I've also done some research for college stuff for when I get back. So it's been good to have time.

Tomorrow I get to go into the city (Stuttgart) and go shopping! Hooray!!! Out of the house! So, sunday I can tell you all about that!

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood...

My street....isn't that cute...Spitzkrautweg?

And there is the actual street, all the houses look almost exactly the same on the outside.

And the front door.....I like all the ivy everywhere.

And the neighborhood kitten who is darling.