Ich Liebe Oktoberfest!

A few weekends ago, James and I reserved our neighborhood pavilion and threw an Oktoberfest party.  James brewed an Oktoberfest ale (we have yet to venture into making lagers) and my mom and I made lots of German food.  Dad announced the "tapping" of the keg with the traditional "O'zapft is!" ("It is tapped!") and the fun was begun!

Mom's apple streudel was a huge hit, and I had to include cinnamon-sugared almonds and gingerbread cookies.  We had pretzels, a cheese platter, German potato salad, and James's homemade sauerkraut.

My family lived in Germany for several years, so my parents have lots of neat items that we used to give the tables an authentic look.  So thankful to have a mom with such a great eye!  I didn't get many photos of the decor, but we used the traditional blue and white tablecloths and pennant banners.  

We ordered a spiral cutter/slicer to make Oktoberfest radishes.  The slices were a lot thicker than I'd like, so I intent to explore other options for this before next year.  Any suggestions?

James grilled TONS of brats!

We had lots of family in town which was so, so nice.  My awesome aunt Melissa loved spending time with Natalie.

We had such a great time.  The weather was perfect and food was delicious.  We are so blessed to have an extended family that is so close tight-knit.  We had family here from four states!  Lots of Oktoberfest music and of course "The Chicken Dance."  All of the girls were dancing and we even got Natalie joining in on it!  That was probably my favorite part of the evening.  I really hope that this is something we will turn into a yearly event....and Natalie should be a pro chicken-dancer by then. :)