Wurstfest is the Bestfest

When Lee and I got married, someone gave us a book called 1001 Things to Do Before You Die. Wurstfest is not in there, but it should be because it's the best festival ever. I've never been to Octoberfest, something I've always wanted to do, but I'm pretty sure this is the Texas version of it. As we did 3 years ago during our first trip to Wurstfest, we stayed in Das Flus Haus #3 at the Gruene Mansion Inn. It's a cute little bed and breakfast overlooking the Guadalupe river. My parents were nice enough to keep Ellie for the weekend so it was just the two of us. On Friday night, we walked around the stores in Gruene, which is all of about two blocks, ate some Mexican food, and saw Cory Morrow at Gruene Hall, the oldest dance hall in Texas. If anyone remembers the movie, Michael with John Travolta, there's a scene from that movie that was filmed there and pretty much every Texas country star has played there. It's a cool piece of Texas history.

On Saturday, we did a little more shopping before meeting up with some of my college friends. Marcie's parents retired to New Braunfels and have a great house along the river. If I was retiring, it's exactly where I'd want to retire because the Texas Hill country is so beautiful. This year we spent most of our time in the Wursthalle kicking back with pitchers of German beer, dining on all things German, listening to "Czech and Then Some", chicken dancing, and watching professional clogging. It's more fun than it sounds. I think Ellie would have had a really great time because all of the little kids are running around and dancing and playing on the rides... but I think she still may be a little too young to enjoy it. We also bought a 48th anniversary commemorative beer stein and some outstanding new aprons. Something we totally didn't need, but had to have.

Around 5PM, we headed back to the Ahren's house for dinner. I always enjoy time with Paul and Judy especially because Paul was an engineer and we can talk about all things engineering together. Our topic de jour this time was global warming, which we both agree is a load of crap but that's a whole different blog. I guess a few hours of German beer drinking will do strange things to you because all of the guys decided to try on the bark collars of the Basset Hounds that were there. I think there was some weird peer pressure at play because all five of the guys did it. It was entertaining to watch and it reinforced my belief that women are the smarter sex. That night, we met the group again at Gruene Hall for more Cory Morrow.

My parents brought Ellie back on Sunday and we all went to the kick-off party for Deck the Hall together. I was the kick-off party co-chair so I had to attend. It was a fundraiser for the upcoming event and for my Dallas readers with kiddos, it's a must-attend Christmas event at the Meyerson so please consider supporting the Symphony and attending. I think that Ellie had a spectacular time with Grammie and Grandi. Their big event was a trip to the Fort Worth Zoo. My mom also took Ellie to mass and endured the first hand torture that is taking an 18 month old to church. The only difference is that her church has a luxurious "cry room".

In other news (because I have failed to blog in several days), Ellie is officially obsessed with Elmo. This is great for me considering that she's getting a new Elmo for Christmas, but it's also bad news because we have an "Sesame Street Greatest Hits" CD and we have to listen to the Elmo theme song nonstop in the car. When I ask her if she wants to watch Elmo, she starts singing "La-La-La-La", the Elmo's World Theme Song. I guess that's a milestone because it's the first song she's singing. It's a good thing I like Elmo so much. It finally clicked with her this week that "more" can translate to things other than food. I read to her every night before I put her in bed and now after I tell her that we've read the last book, she gives me the sign language for "more" (she uses her left index finger and points to her palm" and says "more!". Then I usually give in for another book or two before putting her down.

We attended the Dallas Junior League's Auction and Casino on Thursday and I think that we were the highest bidder on the trip to Florida silent auction item. We left without checking out so I'm still waiting to hear. All of the items were a steal because of the economy. There was a $5500 Valentino leather jacket for bid in the live auction that went for $250. It was nuts. On Saturday, Ellie, Beth and I toured the Luxe Home. It's being billed as the most expensive house ever built in Dallas at $40 Million and at 21,000 square feet, it was every penny of it. I kept on thinking what an outstanding party I could host at the house. We'd better start saving up for it!