Wurstfest 2016

Continuing on with the backblogging. Wurstfest! We went down to NB for the first weekend of Wurstfest so Indiana could get her first German-Texan experience with all the grandparents. She was kinda whatever about it, but we had a good time. Although YEESH that place gets packed. I think the only way to go on the weekend (with a kid, or if you're an old fart like us) is to show up right when they open. It just gets insane otherwise; there was no where to sit and eat and pushing the stroller through the crowd was a challenge.

And duh, I made Indiana a dirndl. Baby clothes are an excellent way to get rid of scrap fabrics. Of which I have an obscene amount.

Now here's a whole bunch of photos of our German faces. (Well, I am not German. Brendon is so I guess Indiana is? But growing up in New Braunfels makes you German by proxy so gimme all the pretzels and potato pancakes and spaetzle!)

I think this sums up Indiana's feelings about Wurstfest.

And bonus; Indiana riding mini-donkeys.

Clearly, a cowgirl in the making.

Spring at home

This weekend Indiana made her first overnight trip! My Aunt Kathy from Maryland was here visiting my dad and step-mom so of course we had to stop by! We headed down to New Braunfels Saturday morning and stayed the night. I was a little (okay, a lot) nervous about how Indiana would do overnight but as always, she was a rockstar. She definitely did have a bit of a meltdown during her witching hour, but honestly that's pretty normal, even at home. She was mostly her happy charming self and slept pretty great at night. I think I was more stressed out than she was, haha! She's an adaptable little thing.

Spring has definitely sprung at the "Brooks Farm", it's wildflower city! My dad has done so much work on his land, it's such a little slice of paradise. Especially when covered with flowers!

  

Boy Wonder has to climb on everything, of course!

Mini-donkeys, living the life. Grazing on green grass in the shade.

Whitey! The craziest pet turkey around. Maybe the oldest? They usually only live for a few years, but this guys going on five! He'll outlive us all.

  
And of course, a little Indiana who is never in short supply of someone willing to love on her:

And my Aunt Kathy! It was so good to see her. We are the only Brookses in Texas, it stinks being so far from everyone. I definitely think we'll need to make a trip up to Maryland soon so Indy can meet her crazy Brooks side of the family. ;)

Wurstfest 2015

Wurstfest is my favorite. I love dressing up, I love polka, and I love food. It's the perfect combo. This year we went on the last day and we got there right at opening to beat the crowds. And I'm so glad we did because we got to see Wurstfest at the emptiest I've ever seen it! We just strolled right up to the potato pancake window, and you if you guys know Wurstfest, that's saying something! It was a nice quiet beginning to the day, because it definitely filled up as the day went on!

Brendon formally requested new lederhosen for next year. These are about three or four years old? And honestly, I could definitely make him better ones this go round. Every sewing project I have I say, "This is the last one before that baby comes." Because crawling around on the floor to cut out fabric has gotten difficult to say the least. But I keep making things. So Brendon said, "New lederhosen can be the last thing you make!" Haha. We'll see.

Lookin' extraaa pregnant. Here's my maternity dirndl! It's based off the same one I made for last year. (My perfect dirndl! It was heartbreaking to not get to wear this year.) The only way this one really differs is I added a little width to the front, raised the waistline to more of an empire level, and laced it up with grommets and ribbon instead of buttons. I personally far prefer buttons on dirndls, but I needed a little flexibility. This thing was pretty easy to alter and whip up, and the all fabric only cost me like $17! Clearance everything.

LOOK HOW EMPTY! It was awesome.

These guys were my favorite. We met up with Allen, Brendon's sorta-step-dad, and he insisted we see the Shiner Hobo Band, they're Czech! Allen is super Czech; he was teaching us lots of fun Czech words. He had an awesome word for the afternoon snack you have around three... I wish I could remember it because I am a champion snacker and would utilize the heck out of that word. Anyway, I'd never seen this band before but oh my gosh they were so fun. There's like twenty of them, most of them are pretty old, and they are extra entertaining. The guy playing the trumpet in sunglasses was my favorite. He was just such a badass. They were having a blast up there and they got the crowd super involved. I will absolutely have to find them and see them next year!

Allen and Brendon singing "You Are My Sunshine". The band had the crowd duel between the ladies and the men to see who was loudest. I think the ladies won for sure. We at least sounded better. ;)

We got to catch the tail end of the Polka contest finals! I'd love to enter one year. But I can't even two-step properly much less polka, soooo we'll see. And seriously as we were walking out the gates to go home a polka band in the back tent was playing the Laendler, which is pretty much my favorite. I've never heard it at Wurstfest before. It's the song Maria and Captain von Trapp dance to in the Sound of Music, one of my favorite scenes in the whole movie. Goals: Brendon and I learn that dance! And then win the polka contest.

You're welcome for those last two.

We skedaddled around four when the crowds started getting crazy. Plus we had to drive all the way back to good old Temple! But not before stopping in Austin, in full German gear, for our fix of vegan hippie food. WE MISS YOUR FOOD, AUSTIN! Not that traffic though.

We had a lot of fun at Wurstfest! Hanging with Allen (and AJ for a few minutes before he scampered off with his friend... oh, teenagers! ;)) was really awesome. We ate food, listened to music, and the boys drank lots of beer. A very good Wurstfest experience, as usual. And next year we'll have a little one with us! BABY DIRNDL. I can't wait! :)

Wurstfest blogs since 2011 here! Amazingly, they all look very similar except I age rapidly. Brendon doesn't age at all, jerk.

Wassailfest 2014

Thursday evening, after a rather loooong work day, Brendon and I headed to New Braunfels to Wassailfest. This year was the opposite of last year (which was freeeezing), warm and wet. Humid. But not terrible. We got drizzled on a bit, but survived as we are mostly not made of sugar.

Same old song and dance as years in the past, drank a years worth of Wassail and soaked in lots of Christmasy goodness. Although I think we ran into a record number of folks from high school this go round.

Cheesy. After wrapping up our Wassailing, we set upon the task of finding something to eat in New Braunfels, which is a challenge anyway for vegetarians, but more so in this instance as almost everything closes at 9 in that town. Aside from chains. So we ended up at BJ's Brewhouse. Not the biggest fan of that place, but it was okay and meat-free and at that point I would have settled for raiding HEB for snacks. We ordered off the appetizer menu, typical. By the time we got back home I was deliriously sleepy. So sleepy it hurt. This chica does not fair well when she is tired!

Wassailfest over the years. Spoiler alert, the photos all look remarkably similar.

Wurstfest 2014

Wurstfest 2014, y'all! We went on a Saturday, which is always insane. We've got to quit going on the weekends, FAR too many people. Still, the weather was perfect and we had a great time. They opened a whole new area this year, which made it way bigger! More shops and food and a new stage. Very cool!

We went with my sister and her man Casey, and met my dad and Brendon's little brother AJ there. It's more fun with more people!

My newest dirndl deserves a post of it's own, which it will get. In typical Marie fashion, I finished it the night before. It was a loooong process, but I am very happy with it!

This is a blurry photo, but evidence that Brendon lost the slide race. Those long arms up in the air probably didn't help.

The original food trailer! But really, this trailer has been around forever. Long before food trailers were a thing. And it makes the best funnel cakes ever!

The new stage area is so lovely. It's between historic buildings and the river, definitely my favorite of all the stages! This guy was playing the digital accordion and was fantastic! The next picture is of him playing "sheet music".

He's wearing a sheet. HA! So punny. But really, he was  wearing a sheet and still killed it on the accordion. He's got everything memorized!

It was a good time, as always. I think it's one of my favorite events of the year. And somehow this year we managed to not see a single person we knew. That has never happened! Every year we see people we grew up with, but this year, nope. I don't know whether we really knew no one there or if it was just so busy we didn't come across anyone. Regardless, I'm not mad about it.

Thanks for the good times as always Wurstfest! If you're in the area, you've still got a week to go, so go go go!

Previous Wurstfest adventures over the last few years.