Hirschau Biergarten & Herrsching am Ammersee

On weekdays, you'll find Micah at the Munich Re office, while the girls and I hit up local playgrounds and supermarkets. :)

But on the weekends, we like to go on "adventures."  Yesterday, we met one of Micah's colleagues and her family (husband, plus 2 daughters ages 9 yrs and 19 months) in the English Garden Park at Hirschau Biergarten.  As mentioned previously, the great thing about beirgartens is that you can bring your own food!  This particular one has an amazing fenced in playground.  So while the kids played, the adults ate and drank (okay, and played with the kids a bit too).

 This is Maya...the 19 month old.  She cried HUGE crocodile tears when she had to get off this merry-go-round.  So adorable!  All in all, we spent over 4 hours here on Saturday afternoon/evening.  And I can guarantee...we'll be back.  So relaxing!

 Today we took a train south to Herrsching (the name of the town) am Ammersee (translated Lake Ammer).  Despite a few downpours on the way out there, we only experienced one while we were outside the train...and that was when we were under a large patio umbrella eating lunch at a pizzaria!  So thankful we didn't end up drenched for the rest of the day.  Instead, we walked the promenade with bursts of sunshine and high winds.  It was beautiful and refreshing.

 As usual, we found a great little spot to take a break.  Micah and Val soaked up the sunshine and a little cuddle time on the dock watching sailboats, while I oversaw the sandy mess that Kate and Elsie made.  :)

 For just half a Euro, the girls road this cute little carousel.  Probably one of their highlights from the day!  (Besides just riding the train and/or bus, which is a highlight EVERY day for them).

 After our refreshing lakeside stroll, we took a bus up the hill to the Andechs Abbey, where one of the oldest breweries in Germany is located.  It was a steep incline to the abbey, but a beautiful view overlooking the valley, as well as an amazingly gaudy baroque style church inside... the original church was built in the 1400's, but the most recent "remodel" job was done in the 1800's.

 (Kate wanted to do a selfie with me...)

 There are several eateries, including restaurants and biergartens on the Abbey's grounds.  So after bier and huge soft pretzel for a snack, the girls headed to their favorite spot... another playground!!! (If you follow me on facebook, you'll have seen Elsie's nose-picking post.  That photo was taken at this playground.)

 And to redeem Elsie from that nose-picking photo, here she is making herself at home on the S-8 back to our corner of Munich...the succession of pics shows that she finally became aware I was taking photos. In the final one she is actually saying, "cheese!"  Proof that she DOES know what it means!

Side note to our day:
Kate is perhaps the most positive, encouraging, hopeful child I know.  If we "miss" a tram/train/bus, she says, "that's okay!  It wasn't ours anyway!" (Response to a phrase I said once, "If we didn't catch it, it wasn't ours.  The next one will be.")  And anytime I'm pushing the stroller on cobblestone (which, by the way, is probably 40% of the time), she says, "Oh, mom!  This is the hard, bumpy part.  Let me help you!" and she does.  She pushes the stroller with me.  Whether its on flat land, downhill or uphill.  She dances whenever she hears music and sings when there isn't any.  She is in awe of everything, from beautiful sweeping views to tiny, yappy dogs on leashes.  I love who she is now and who she is growing up to be.  But every now and then, I am reminded that (for at least another 3 weeks), she still is ONLY 3 years old.  After the 3rd meltdown of tears this evening, her over-tired little body needed to go to bed.  Missing a nap due to "adventure" days is hard on her.  We'll make it up tomorrow with an extra long one. :)