It takes a Dorf....

Mia's "Turnen" group went on a bike ride to a great picnic spot

The traditional Tree that each town posts to celebrate their Kerwa (Church Anniversary)

Mia enjoying her little bunny. Her "Turnen" group performed their Dance from Fasching (Mardi Gras) at the parade

Camden's club holds a huge 2 day soccer tournament each year. Bryan made pizza, and I helped with french fries and other food :-)

We LOVE this team - a great group of boys!

The German word "dorf" translates to the English word "Village". We live in a "stadt" (city), but Camden plays soccer in a "Dorf" outside of Bamberg. This little village is absolutely amazing to me. For such a small place, they do sooo much! They have 3 restaurants, a church, a bakery, a sport hall, a market etc. When you drive by, everyone is outside enjoying life. It almost reminds me of the the old Chevy Chase movie, "Funny Farm." They all work very hard, and as a result the residents enjoy so much. Over 4 years, we have gotten to know many of the people (with the language barrier, conversations are not too in depth, but kindness is definitely evident none the less). It reminds me a little of my home town in Maine, except people live right beside each other, instead of on a bunch of land spread out over miles. Each summer, there are 4 big events that take place: The camping trip (which I have already posted about), the Soccer tournament, which is HUGE and everyone comes out to help with, the Kerwa, which is the church anniversary celebration, and the huge Grill fest with schnitzel, brats, and fish). Each of the events require a ton of work, but everyone chips in , and it is amazing how it all works out. The money collected from the tournament and the Grill Fest totally fund the sport hall (electricity, water, referees, uniforms etc.), so there are no costs to the people playing. Mia even does a Turnen class, which is like a PE class each week. After the parade, we always go over to our friends for a barbeque, and it is usually a huge highlight for our kids. They have lots of animals there, that the kids LOVE to play with. This year though, Bailey and Camden ended up hanging out with other kids from the town all afternoon and evening. Our friend kept telling us that Bailey and Camden would be fine because everyone watches out for everyone in the town. They finally came home at 10:00 pm, after a great day of exploring and hanging out with friends. I love the idea that people watch out for each other. If one of the kids is doing something wrong, the parent would hear about it from one of the other people in the village. Bailey and Camden had such a fun time with their freedom, and Camden keeps telling me that he wishes we could move to the village, because it would be so much fun to live there. We feel so fortunate to have found this little Gem through Bryan's friend. It has definitely been a huge part of our life over here, and will be one of the most memorable aspects of living here.  ****I have a gazillion other pictures, but I am always careful with what I post, because Germans are not nearly as welcoming to information and photos being posted on the internet  - and rightfully so :-)