Oktoberfest and Molalla-hosen

Every year… year after year… we look forward to our 15-minute drive to Germany… okay, to Mt. Angel.  To celebrate Oktoberfest, AKA: O-fest.  

The Mt. Angel version of the historical harvest festival started back in 1966 and is now celebrated each September.  Why September?  Because “Oktoberfest” is a generic word meaning ‘Harvest Celebration’ and in these parts, its celebrated around the time of the hops being harvested. But even in Munich most Harvest festivals are in September, too. 

Mt. Angel itself was settled in the 1800s by German pioneers, so the small town-community honors its roots by closing its main streets and welcoming thousands to enjoy a variety of ethnic foods, music, traditional Biergarten, Weingarten and Alpinegarten, and traditional Bavarian-attire (Trachten)… lederhosen and bavarian dresses are in abundance.  I think those involved in the planning of the festival have to wear the appropriate clothing, but I’m not sure of the motivation for all the rest…

Speaking of the attire, we saw some family friends while we perused the streets and they acknowledged the boys’ Carhartt clad-selves… Matt said, “Yup, they’re wearing their Molalla-hosen!” Clever, clever husband. 

Anyway, we headed into O-Fest for lunch on their opening day (which is always the second Thursday after Labor Day) and had to go right to the hand-made Corn-dogs.  That begs the question… is all the food sold at O-Fest traditional Bavarian cuisine?  I don’t think so, but I do think that inside this delicious corn-dog wasn’t just any old hotdog.  Authentically inspired O-fest sausage, perhaps?? Either way, the boys love them. 

As my little ducklings followed their daddy through the crowded streets, I was quickly reminded of how rarely these boys see this many people at once.  Kaden never made a sound he was so overwhelmed.  And Gage and Cooper became totally introverted and consumed by their corn-dogs.  So much so, that they failed to notice all the people surrounding them and consequently ran into numerous passer-byers.   

And then they became even more unaware of their surroundings when I introduced a slushy-like strawberry-lemonade.  These two, and the lemonade, were in their own little world. 

And it didn’t take long for me to venture into my own little world… little piece of heaven that is… when I weaved my way through the crowd to the Berliner stand. Again, I don’t know how ‘German’ this sandwich is other than the fact it is made on “German Rye Bread,” but I don’t really care.  It is SO. SO. good.  

 

At 1pm, as it does everyday (as well as at 11, 4 and 7) the Glockenspiel, played.  According to their website the Glockenspiel “celebrates Mount Angel’s rich history, Germanic culture and …world famous Oktoberfest.” And when it plays, everyone stops (except for those two guys in the picture below) and if you move and don’t honor the Glockenspiel’s performance, it is almost as if you’re getting up and leaving church during a prayer.  Not really, but kind of.  

So, we stood and paid our respects…

… and then walked onward in pursuit of Matt’s Rueben.  Another O-Fest favorite. 

Back in the day (when Matt first started attending), O-Fest meant fun in the Biergarten.  Friends, stickers, beer. 

Now it means stuffing our faces with delicious food as quickly as possible before we loose one of our chittlins in the crowd.

But O-fest will ALWAYS mean a good-German-inspired-time.  

 

(Lederhosen are not required.) 

Remlinger Farms…

This is such a ‘must-go’ place if you have children and live any where near Seattle.  It is located in Carnation, Washington and is a small little wonderland created just for kids. You pay to get in and the kiddos (and adults!) can go on any ride as many times as they want.  We’ve gone for the past 3 years and it keeps getting better. 

Waiting in line for the pony rides…

On the pony ride… (for being ‘country boys’ these kids are really pretty timid about horses…)

Then there is the little steam engine… we’ve been on ‘miniature’ steam engines before, but this one is just ‘little’.  There are box cars that you sit in and it takes you all around the park, where there is lots of wonderful ‘little’ things to see… This was the first time the boys discovered the goofy mirrors and it was a hoot and a half.  And kind of gross.  The huge pool of hay has become a crowd favorite.  To run as fast as one can and jump as high and far as one can with out the worry of getting hurt when landing is apparently quite a draw…

(Gage was working out quite a bit and got just a little sweaty… you can tell by the ‘curlier’ than normal hair, red face and hay stuck to his sweatiness.)

Everything is farm-themed, so of course one of the rides is the flying pumpkins.

Amazing that they let little squirts like this ride all by themselves…

And the roller-coaster… they rode it over and over again, quickly figuring out that the front is the place to be.  Grammie told them that putting their hands in the air makes the ride more fun.  Coop agreed.  Gage, not so much. 

Because Gage really thought he was driving this old buggy, we went on this ride several times, as well. 

The merry-go-round wasn’t all that fun until the boys figured out they could stand up while it spun around and around.  Because the sign clearly said “Remain Seated while Ride is Moving” I thought they’d get reprimanded… but the teen-aged boy running the ride was too busy texting to notice my kids rebellion.   

Here’s Cooper, trying to bug the peacock into showing its pretty feathers… And Grammie with my boys… without her, I’d never attempt an outing like this. 

And me and my boys…

…and me comforting Gage after he totally lost it because he couldn’t take a picture without squinting his eyes.  He was devastated that he’s going to ruin every picture with “Squinty-Eye”.  I assured him he didn’t ruin any of our pictures, but inwardly prayed that his eyes won’t always be this sensitive to the sun. 

What would a farm be without the tractors… and behind the tractor was the pig pen! With real pot-bellied pigs.  Which made Kaden cry. 

Until next year… the end.