Oktoberfest and our second Thanksgiving get together in two days.......

Where are we today ?

New Hamburg Ontario

         A nice short country side drive about 8 o'clock this morning, came across a cool Mennonite Taxi cruising on down the road, not sure where the men were going maybe off to work?

       Then back home to whip up a pot of Ham Bean soup, from that leftover ham bone the other day, as if we needed more food! But can always freeze the soup.

       

        Got that all going well then headed into Kitchener to meet up with Daughter one and two, their spouses and 5 of our grandchildren ages 4 to 9 years old. We are meeting at the Concordia Club in Kitchener  home of the second largest Oktoberfest in the World since 1967. Today is Family day here with children under 16 admitted free and lots of games for the children, face painting, galleries and dancing. And also a few dancers from the Oktoberfest parade this morning putting on shows as well. The Concordia Club has a seating capacity close to 4,000 people and is one a more than a dozen Festhallen here in the Kitchener /Waterloo area. 
         I remember the days over 40 years ago when us young party people used to go from hall to hall consuming adult beverages and partying all night long for the 10 days of this event. Then for quite a few years with my children on Family days after the parade for an couple hours. This year they requested to go back again and bring their children, because they had so many great memories of this event. The halls open at 11 am and was a large line up to get in, but we take the tent entrance that not many people use, I guess they like to stand in line.

Souvenir booth not busy yet, but soon!

The Black Forest Band fired right up at 11 am.

          If you pick the right games for children they can play for 1 or 2 dollars and get a prize every time.

Games to play before the crowds

We grab a sausage on a bun for a snack

our waitress, in the dress

fresh hot pretzels with mustard dip

getting busy by noon

ring the bell get a prize

        Now on the weekends these FestHalls tend to become great places for people to dance , party and consume large amounts of alcohol, the band encourages it too, so they have a DD program and also free bus rides home every 15 minutes from the fest halls.

Free bus rides from the Fest Halls these 4 days

face painting

game gallery getting busy 

like this game? Toilet paper toss.....

our Granddaughter loves to dance,
not so much the 4 boys

Dance floor crowded

the band on huge video screens

Oncle Hans, Oktoberfest Mascot

        Now  enough fun here gotta go visit great Gramma (my mom) first on the agenda clean some pumpkins and remove the "pumpkin brains" so that they can be carved.

we are started

       Then a break to the playground behind grammas backyard, burn off a bit of energy before we eat.

          Now that we have heated up our turkey, fresh cranberries, smashed taters, squash, cauliflower, gluten free dressing, turkey noodle soup, salads, shrimp rings and mom's famous brownies, apple pie, gluten free chocolate cake and gluten free cupcakes for the kids to decorate in a halloween theme. 

          Yep we are having a feast, a get together and a fun social time. 9 more days we hit the road and see every one next year.

lotsa food

        Now its no sit down meal there is 18 of us here so the main reason we do this is to get together at least once or twice a year socialize and while we are at it have a bite to eat. Go grab a plate and a chair somewhere, chat and have fun.

so tasty again

how is that for a custom decorated cupcake ?

          Now that was our second Thanksgiving family get together in two days. It was awesome, and so nice to see everyone again and eat way to much food two days in a row ! Think we will just eat some leftovers for the next couple days and portion down the servings again to smaller than normal.
          Thanks for your visit today, we are moving on down the road in the morning to get our coach serviced in Plattsville and stay at John and Lea's (Camp Awesome) until we begin our southern migration Oct 23rd. Still have loose ends to wrap up yet.

Posted by George, a.k.a. "The Weber "Q" Man of Blogland" according to Rick Doyle. 

 Check out the map below to see where we have been this summer

View Summer 2013 in a larger map