Spooky Day

It ranks up there as one of the top 3 days of school during the year for both of my girls - Spooky Day.  The school is decorated with ghosts and goblins, giant spiders invade the corners of the hallways and everyone comes to school dressed in their most imaginative costumes.  They decorate their trick or treat bags and spend the afternoon playing games, hearing scary stories and having a dance party in the hall.  They have a parade through the entire 1st floor and then trick or treat at each other's classroom doors.  Typing this, I can see why this is one of their favorite days.  I was happy to be the photographer for the event so I could be there to share in it with them (and all of the kids).  With our fall break starting the next day we would not be in town for any Halloween celebrations so this would be the extent of it for them.  I think they had enough fun to carry them through...see for yourself.

Security and door man, Gabriel(la).

 The 4th graders decorated door.

 My own little Mal (from Descendents 2).

 Stinkerbell's 3rd Grade class.

 MadHatter's 4th-grade class (Note - MadHatter's teacher really got into the spirit and shaved his head into a mohawk and shaved his beard!)

 The 1 1/2 hour afternoon fun schedule!

 Our parents are very commited!

 Ready for the donut bobbing...

 The scary blind boxes...

MadHatter's class was up first in Donut bobbing.  She was very ladylike and took her time, chewing each bite and then going back for another.

 

 Stinkerbell, on the other hand, went in for one bite and done...

 

 They both went off to spooky stories together...

 Stood in line for tattoos and face paint (arm paint in this case)

 And then joined their class for the parade before trick or treating and then joining the dance party.  Well, at least Stinkerbell danced. MadHatter just stood and talked with her girlfriends.

But I think those that had the most fun were the teachers, jamming to current hits in the hallway.

Wies'n Visitors

One thing I love about the Wies'n (which is what the Munich locals call Oktoberfest) is that it brings us visitors from all over.  This year it was B's cousin A from the US, the B Family from Prague and my PT and his friends from Colorado.

The very first weekend of the Fest brought us two sets of visitors.  With Cousin A and the 2 kids of the B family, we had a full house.  Not that we were in it much as we spent most of our time at the Theresienwiese, the name of the official grounds.  Since the kids are all still too little to enjoy the beer served inside the tents, we planned our visit for before lunch so that we could sample some traditional snacks and ride a few rides before the adults headed back that evening for a proper Oktoberfest experience.

MadHatter and Stinkerbell with O (Stinkerbell's bestie from Prague) and J.

Stinkerbell is up there - it is her all-time favorite!

Even the big kids got in on the rides.

A must!

Back home we quickly changed into our own festive outfits and ordered the kids a pizza for dinner.  We said goodbye and made our way back to our final tent for the day.

We had a private table at this tent.

(A picture from earlier in the day before it even opened).

Prost!

A snap of the capacity crowd.

When they finally sang "Angels" by Robbie Williams (I don't know why, but that is the song that closes the night) we were exhausted but not ready to call it a night.  We walked just off of the grounds (they kick you off at 11) and hit up the afterparty for a short while.  When our feet started complaining too loudly, we grabbed the train home and settled in and dreamed of all of the fun we had at Munich's biggest party.

The next weekend, I was back at it again.  This time with my Physical Therapist from Breckenridge.  E, his brother, and a few friends were traveling through Europe to celebrate his 30th birthday.  (Just typing that made me feel old).  And when your 30th falls during Oktoberfest you make sure you are in Munich to hit it up.  I snapped a few pictures but only got one of us all together so it will have to do.  You'll just have to imagine the fun we had singing along and dancing on the tables.  Visitors always make the experience so much more fun!

And yes, they make me look small!

Wies'n Wandering

One morning last week I dropped the kids off and hit the Oktoberfest grounds solo.  I grabbed my camera, a monopod and two of my favorite lenses and set off to spend an hour or two just capturing my surroundings.  I had no distractions and no one waiting for me to snap the picture and move on.  I people watched and I talked my way into a press pass or two for inside the tents (no tri- or monopods allowed except for press) and I just took it all in.  I got to experience Oktoberfest in a new way and loved every minute of it.  A few (or a lot) of my favorite pictures...