The wooden anniversary

Yesterday marked 5 whole years of marriage for us. This number feels legit, guys. Cody said he still feels like we're newlyweds, and I still kind of feel that, too. But when you can say that you've been married for 5 years, and you have a child old enough to take your picture and make intelligent comments, compliment you on a new hairstyle, or ask you how your day was while eating a meal together, then you can't help but feel like your life contains a suspicious amount of something akin to adulthood.

We don't like to take ourselves too seriously, though, so we spent our anniversary traveling to a nearby village that boasts not much more than the home factory and seconds shop of Grimm's Toys. Maybe you've heard of them? They produce a myriad of exquisite, colorful wooden play items such as stacking toys, birthday rings, and puzzles, to name a few. (BTW We think it's awesome that we went to a wooden toy store on our wooden anniversary) I have long admired their collection of open-ended play things and dreamed of one day having a few items for our children. One day a couple months ago I decided to figure out where the headquarters were actually located and was pleasantly surprised to find that they are also located in Baden-Württemburg. It took us a total of about an hour to take a train to Plochingen, a bus from Plochingen to Hochdorf, and then walk to Grimm's (by car it would have taken maybe 30 minutes). The boys loved exploring and playing and made sure to point out their favorite things. Seb came up to me once with an armful of wooden balls and told me he wanted to get them. I told him he and Bruno could each choose one, so carefully balancing his original collection he returned to the basket and came back with just one—a blue one of course. Bruno chose purple. There was also an interesting looking monkey statue that the boys fell in love with. As we left, Seb said goodbye and assured the poor monkey that other children would come and play with him after we left. Bruno threw his blankie around him and gave him a good long snuggle.

The items Cody and I picked out are the large 12 piece rainbow (something I've been wanting to get the boys for years now), and a birthday ring with a set of numbers and an assortment of decorative figures. Soon after arriving in Germany I told Cody that one of the things I wanted to get before leaving was a birthday ring, and I can't believe we were able to get such a cool one! It will be something we put out on our table for a week before each of our birthdays. There are even little card holders that we can draw pictures on and write notes on for the birthday boy or girl. I am so excited about beginning this new tradition.

As for the rainbow, I have never seen Sebastian work so hard, so long, and so furiously as his mind exploded with idea after idea about what to do with the colorful arched pieces! I honestly feel like I would love nothing more than to buy one of these for each and every one of my mama friends. I have never seen children take to a toy like they have to this rainbow.

(Later at home)

After we wrapped up our shopping trip at Grimm's we explored a bit of the countryside surrounding Hochdorf. We found a sweet little Gaststätte called Hasenheim, talked to a friendly older man—who had been married for 44 years—about photography, children, and a myriad of other things, ate delicious German food and drank beer while the kids played in the grass, collected little flowers, and of course put their heads together to pick out the perfect ice cream treat. One of the more hilarious moments at the Gaststätte happened after Cody and I ordered two beers. Bruno looked at the waitress and said, "Auch!", which means also, or me too. The waitress got a kick out of it and Bruno got super giddy because we thought it was so funny. He was definitely serious, though.

Cody and I felt so blessed all day to be together, to have such beautiful, funny children, and to be spending life together in such a wonderful place. All by the grace of God.