stuttgart's oktoberfest

this past weekend was the kick off for stuttgart's version of oktoberfest- which is held in munich, in september and not october actually! our version is called the cannstatter volksfest and it is apparently where all the natives go to celebrate in order to avoid the crowds and crazy times in munich.

brian and friends went on their monthly bike ride and ended at the fest. so it was up to us wives to lug the kids and get to the fest to meet up with them for some family fun.



-this was the first time that i had ventured downtown with two kids and stroller without brian via train- thank goodness for my friend diane!

tate, anna and eve (notice the bright orange hat on tate- so i can find him in a crowd!)

ahhhh, carnival rides!

one of the many beer tents. this is the one we chose- and it proved to be a good one!

brian, rick and wayne drinking thier first beer after the 36 mile bike ride! well deserved, boys!

the inside of the beer tent. notice the chandelier and the stage- which looks like a little wooden shed! the crowd was a fun one- especially when the band sang "country roads, take me home/west virginia" and "la, la la bamba" and the germans got on the tables to sing out loud and dance!

our waiter- there is actually a 5th beer in his hand! very, very impressive!

beer is only served by the liter- crazy! and no, i didnt finish it... and boy was it heavy!

on the other hand, brian finished about 4 of these! (plus mine!)

tate was trying to dance on the tables too!

eve gave tate this rose... he's such a charmer!

macy and daddy

okay- this little boy is real! he was cracking me up!!!! all dressed up in his traditional fest outfit and walking a pig balloon- it was way too much!

"daddy, i wish you wouldnt drink so much..." OR "chug it daddy, chug it!"

okay- so this is brian and wayne being told by security that they could not take the 1-liter glass beer stein out of the fest tent and onto the carnival rides....

so the nice security man hooked them up with to-go cups!

tate's favorite thing to do- drive race cars!

i hope you can see from these pictures just how much fun we all had! maybe next year some of you will want to visit during oktoberfest!!!