So, the count down to my Germany trip has begun!  Actually, it began about 6 months ago, so it hasn’t really begun, per se, just…continued.  Nevertheless, only 24 days to go!!  Is it too early to start packing yet?  Because I totally have…

As you can tell, I’m not the least bit excited.  I’m so not excited that this weekend, I visited the tiny town of Helen, Georgia (very north of Atlanta), which is a re-creation of a Bavarian-style German village.  The town was kicking off their Oktoberfest activities, so I, along with my friend, T-Nut (who is traveling to Germany with me), her two beautiful daughters (M&M and L&L), and her mother, packed up their minivan and headed north to the fairytale land of schmaltz, funnel cakes, and more fudge than you can shake an alpine walking stick at.

Because Saturday was the official first day of Helen’s Oktoberfest festivities, there was a parade.  Now, as some of you may know, I am not a big fan of parades.  In fact, I loathe them.  However, because I was traveling with children, I decided that I should relent, suffer through the entire thing, and do my best to not poke out my eyeballs with flaming batons.  Here are some examples of my torture:

Actually, it all turned out pretty well because the parade lasted only for about 30 minutes, which, in my opinion, is the perfect amount of time for a parade.  In fact, I think that all parades should be limited to only 30 minutes.  It should be a law.  And I think it’s a cause that Sarah Palin can really get behind…parade limitation.  But I digress.  Thirty minutes or not, how could I resist faces like these:

L&L

M&M

In addition to the perfectly timed parade, there was also dancing:

And tempting treats:

And wading in a cool mountain stream:

It was a beautiful day, and a wonderful prelude to our trip!  We can’t wait to go!