Our house and neighborhood

I'm realizing I may not be doing a super job describing our home, neighborhood and daily life to our friends and family back home!  My approach to this blog is mainly that of a photo scrapbook that I can have made later for the kids as a memento... but just as fun is having a chance to tell/show everyone what we are doing! People are wondering what our house is like, what we are eating and what the general feel of our town is like.
Our house is a very typical house for this particular area.  It is large with three levels- we are in the middle area.  The basement consists of several large rooms, several garage/tool/storage rooms and a laundry room.  The up-upstairs is inhabited by the son of the owner.  We have the middle level.  There is a common entry that then goes to a set of stairs up and down and our front door.
Here is a little video of our house!

The neighborhood is cute and very garden oriented.  Many people have back and/or front yards of raised or terraced garden beds that make up most of their yard space.

The entire area is very rural.  The bike path to Bad Margentheim has fields on both sides, and along the path appears to have leased? garden plots.  I have seen several of our town neighbors out working in their gardens- just a few minutes walk away.

We walk/ride this path regularly, our route is about 3 miles round trip.  And yes, we do stop to watch the occasional snail race.  :)

Or stop to blow puffers in this field that is a certain 3 year old girls idea of heaven!

Or view a profound moment of a beautiful blue butterfly perched on sheep poo.  Which begs the question; do you see the butterfly or the doo?  I see the butterfly, how I truly see the butterfly, but I am terribly distracted by the poop. 

We have just returned from a trip on the bike trail and the kids are playing in the back yard.  They have done schoolwork this morning and I am about to make dinner.  We are having chicken and dumplings. The state or "province" we are in is very meat oriented.  And bread.  I can get a loaf of fresh artisan seedy bread for a couple dollars.  The fruit and vegetables are a little more spendy than home.  We are learning what types of different and yummy things we like to eat and grocery shopping is getting easier.  In fact, we just discovered last night that the grocery stores radically discount perishable produce on Saturday evening at 7pm.  They are closed on Sundays and do not cool the produce section so lettuce, asparagus and other greens go to a few pennies per head! 
See! I told you the excitement was more than you could handle!