Two little girls in a big world

Christmas Eve

2012-01-05T14:03:00.000-08:00

Apparently word got out to the right places that we had moved across the Atlantic this year, from the land of Santa Claus to the land of the Christmas Angel. It meant that those two little elves weren't disappointed when the bell rang on Christmas Eve and they entered Oma's and Opa's living room with the Chrismas tree lit up and lots of presents for each little elf :)

Baking Christmas Cookies by the Dozens

2012-01-05T13:37:00.001-08:00

Oma had lots of help this year baking Christmas Cookies!

Those little fingers never got tires kneading the dough...

...rolling it, baking it...

...and turning them into lots of delicious Christmas treats...

...that were enjoyed by all.

Advent Calendar

2012-01-05T11:50:00.000-08:00

I made this Advent Calendar when Emmi was a Baby and we have hung it up every year. For every day from December 1st until Christmas a little surprise awaits Emmi and Lily every morning. Is there any better way to start the day then with a piece of Chocolate?

First Snow

2012-01-05T11:37:00.001-08:00

We enjoyed the first snow of the season in mid December but have been waiting for more of this fun stuff ever since. It's been unseasonably warm and snowless in Germany this winter so far. But chances are it's still coming...

Ballet

2011-12-13T11:37:00.000-08:00

Emmi started her Ballet Class a few weeks ago and absolutely loves it! She surely doesn't get that from me since I am definitely not the Ballet kind of girl. We went to watch the Nutcracker last Christmas and and I have to admit I got a little bored in the second half watching it, but Emmi absolutely absorbed it and has been begging to do Ballet lessons ever since. She loves classical music (She calls it: "The music that sparkles.") and we have watched her perform the Nutcracker again and again since last year. Today we got to watch her class and take pictures and her big first recital will be in June.

Christmas Time

2011-11-28T04:34:00.001-08:00

It is almost December and Christmas seems to be right around the corner. I decided to take a teaching job at a catholic Kindergarten only a five minute bike ride from our house. I had originally planned to teach younger kids at a different pre-school, but will now be teaching the 3-6 year old classroom.* It is the same school I went to as a child and we are getting a spot for Emmi starting in January and for Lily starting in September despite a long waiting list. One of the perks of being a teacher! I am really looking forward now to teaching again!

Emmi is super excited about starting Kindergarten and she is also very excited about Christmas. The Christmas Markets opened on Friday and we took a little trip downtown visiting a couple of them on Sunday. Emmi and Lily split some chocolate covered strawberries and Dugan and I have to come back by ourselves to enjoy some hot wine :) .

Emmi has been busy adding lots of things to her Christmas list and Lily doesn't really care as usual. We'll be celebrating Christmas with my parents and then go up to visit my grandparents over New Years.

Until then we'll be busy visiting lots more Christmas markets, baking Christmas cookies, doing arts and craft projects and (re-)learning lots of Christmas songs.

I love Christmas!

Dugan has started his language class last week and has already improved a lot after just one week! I bet he'll be pretty fluent in less then a year. I am so proud of him!

*German preschools are all age mixed and divided in 0-3 or 3-6 year olds. They go on to 1st Grade at 6 years old. Preschool education is heavily subsidized by the government and being a preschool teacher requires 5 years of schooling. The curriculum mostly emphasizes creative thinking and independence instead of academics like I have seen a lot in the States.

MIA

2011-11-15T20:17:00.000-08:00

Our life has been crazy busy those past few weeks. I quit updating, but we did eventually finish our camping trip after four weeks and 6023 miles on the road and we could have easily added a couple of weeks. It was the most awesome trip we have ever done! We returned to Austin for a few days to wrap up some last things we had to do there and to say good bye to our friends. Telling her best friend Lena good bye was the hardest part for Emmi and at that time I think she actually realized what a big move we were making. From Austin we headed to Houston to spend a couple of weeks with Dugan's family. Dugan got to go duck hunting for a week with his Dad and Uncle up in Canada and we girls had many fun adventures hanging out in Houston with MeMe and KayKay. October 25th was finally the day. It was sad and exciting at the same time. It's hard at times having a marriage with family divided between two continents. Whichever way we go we are always leaving behind people we love and who are devastated seeing us leave, while we are greeted just a (long) plane ride later by our other side of the family just beyond happy seeing us arrive. So wherever we choose to go in the future we will always cause sadness. But we believe we just have to make the decisions that we think are best for our family and for the moment we feel the best place for us right now is in Germany.

And from the minute of arriving we have been busy settling in and organizing our new life and we have been quite success full so far. Only three weeks since arriving Emmi has started a ballet class that she has been asking for since last Christmas, Dugan got his three year work and residence permit, I have had two job interviews and two job offers, we have hunted for a preschool opening for Emmi and have finally been success full, Dugan's german has already improved a lot and he is starting his german class at the goethe institut next week, we have received our container last week and have unpacked all but a couple of boxes already, we have bought a new kitchen (which unfortunately won't get here until January) and we have decided not to get a puppy for now. Seems like our life is crazy enough as it is :) !

I realized yesterday how much I am dreading going back to work though. Now that the date is moving closer (January 1st) I am slowly beginning to panick. I know that the kids will be just fine. Emmi is going to love her new school and Lily gets to stay with my Mom all day. But I don't know how I am going to manage not seeing them until 4 pm most days, after up to now spending almost every moment with them since they were born. I know I am being a cry baby and I realize how fortunate I have been to get to spend this much time with my babies but it's still hard. And I will miss them. But until then we got more busy times ahead! I'll try not to go MIA again and update more often! A big hello to all of our friends in Austin!! We miss you guys!

Santa Cruz, CA

2011-10-09T15:21:00.001-07:00

After spending the day in San Francisco we drove to Santa Cruz to enjoy a beautiful sunset and some beach time for the kids.

And all it took to turn this sad face....

...into a happy one...

...was this delicious pizza :)

San Francisco, CA

2011-10-09T14:23:00.000-07:00

This Tee Pee on a campground on the Mendocino coast in northern California would have been fun to sleep in. Except for the fact that the flap for a door wasn't really sufficient in keeping the wind out and the hole in the top may be beneficial if you are having a fire burn inside to let the smoke out, but without a fire it is also really beneficial for letting more cold air in. Even the fact that we already paid for it couldn't convince us to spend the night here. So after cooking some dinner we packed up the kids at nine o'clock at night and headed out in search for a better sleep accommodation. In case you didn't know (we certainly didn't) the northern California coast is not exactly smothered with little beach towns with lots of Hotels and Motels. So we ended up driving two hours along the coast in the dark on Hwy 1 and then on windy roads with lots of deer crossing through national forest to get to the outskirts of San Francisco. And since we didn't want to be stuck in morning traffic trying to get into SF we kept driving to stay in SF. So on my third visit to SF I finally got to cross the Golden Gate Bridge.... at 1 AM in the morning, frantically calling Hotel after Hotel to find a reasonably priced (under $250 that is!) Hotel for us to finally get some sleep. We made it and we did enjoy a nice day at Fishermans Wharf and fortunately the kids slept through all of it and woke up in beautiful SF in the morning totally oblivious of their parents nightmare the night before.... And hey, at least it makes for a good story to tell!

Redwood Forest, California

2011-10-09T13:30:00.000-07:00

We felt like forest fairies sleeping in this cabin in the redwood forest in northern California. The tree STUMP next to it was about the same size as our cabin!

Emmi loved it. She literally thought she had magically turned into a fairy.

We drove through the National Park and the Avenue of Giant.

Looked for fairies...

...and wouldn't have been surprised if a dinosaur would have pocked his head around the corner of one of those gigantic trees.

Did you know just the bark of those trees is up to one foot thick which makes them almost undestructible even by fire?

And how about a tree house INSIDE a tree?

Lily is such a polite child....

2011-10-09T12:40:00.000-07:00

Me: "Lily, do you need to pee?"

Lily: "No thank you Mama!"

Me: "Lily, can you please stop doing that?"

Lily: "No thank you Mama."

Me: "Lily, stop pouring out your drink!"

Lily: "I'll be very careful Mama."

....except when she is not...

Lily: "Can I watch a movie?"

Papa: "No, we are done watching movies."

Lily: "But I want to!"

Papa: "No, not now."

Lily: "Hmmmm, I am NOT gonna play with you!!!!"

And she sure gets her feelings hurt easily...

Papa: "Lilian, do NOT take your sisters toys!"

Lily (in tears): "Mama! Papa is making me SAD!"

Oregon Coast

2011-09-30T21:05:00.001-07:00

We spent a couple of days driving down and exploring the rugged Oregon Coast. We realized on this trip that if we hadn't already decided to move, we would now. We just love to be around so much nature! Oregon would be high on our list on our places to move to. There are state parks everywhere, the air is fresh and clean and it just seems like a great place to live and grow up in.

After running down to the water on Beverly Beach we got our shoes and pants wet with the first bigger wave rolling onto shore. Beach rookies! It's been way to long since we've been to the beach!

Afterwards Lily was afraid of the water. She insisted on being on higher ground (or a plastic box for that matter) so the waves couldn't get her. She screamed with every wave coming in: "Mama! The Water is coming! It's gonna get me!"

Whoever knows Lily knows that being afraid of anything is not really like her at all!

We stayed in a cabin in Newport for one night and then enjoyed a night in a Hotel in Coos Bay.

Emmi can't decide if she likes campgrounds or hotels better. She enjoys the comfort of hotels but really likes that most of the campgrounds come with a playground and s'mores in the evening. Life is hard ;)

We found another beautiful picnic spot...

...and Emmi and Lily found...

...some snails and started a snail farm that they are planning to take to Germany with them.

Columbia Gorge, Oregon

2011-09-25T23:57:00.001-07:00

We have been so lucky with the weather!

The kids got to go on their first boat ride in style with a brunch on the Historic "Columbia Gorge Stern Wheeler". It was a buffet, so Lily obviously loved it and so did we. Except for the fact that it reminded us of why we usually don't do buffets. People will load their plates with 20 strips of bacon and then get upset if the kitchen is not fast enough filling up the bacon again when they come back for seconds! But we can't judge, since I am sure they reconsidered letting two year old's eat for free, once Lily got through Breakfast.

Afterwards we drove the Historic Route 30 along the Columbia and visited the most beautiful waterfalls ever.

And can you see the very top of that waterfall?

Yup, we hiked all the way up. Dugan carried Lily (who was asleep and about 3 pound heavier after her breakfast buffet) and Emmi walked about two thirds by herself and I carried her the rest. And luckily it was totally worth it!

We then drove on, by more scenic views, through Portland...

...past several roadside stands selling any kind of berry you can imagine...

...and made it to the Oregon coast just in time for sunset.

Washington State

2011-09-25T23:20:00.001-07:00

Most of our time in Washington State was spent driving...

...with Mt. Rainier as a backdrop...

...and along the Columbia River on the tracks of Lewis and Clark.

We made smores at a campground on the Columbia....

...and woke up the next morning ready for new adventures.

Coeur d'Alene, Idaho

2011-09-25T22:14:00.000-07:00

We did find a very pretty place in the very northern tip of Idaho.

Beautiful...

...Lake Coeur d'Alene.

We spent two nights at a campground at a campground close to the lake. It was tempting to keep driving to see Glacier National Park, but we'll have to go back eventually and four weeks are just not enough time to see this country, so we are saving Glacier for another trip.

The kids had a great time finding "Mudgy the Moose" and "Millie the Mouse" all over town...

...and we enjoyed some raspberries...

...and pizza at the farmers market.

Emmi had a conversation with a Lady at the Farmers Market that went something like this...

Lady: "What's your name?"

Emmi: "Emmi, and this is my sister Lily."

Lady: "And where are you girls from?"

Emmi: "Actually, we don't have a home right now, we just live in a cabin."

Lady: "Oh."

I guess she is right, we are homeless hoodlums. At least at the moment :)

We had planned to spend our second day here renting some bikes to ride around the lake but Emmi came down with some stomach troubles that were either an allergic reaction to a wasp sting she got a day earlier or just a virus. We'll have to get her tested soon to see if and how allergic she is to those dang things. This is the third time she got stung and it always swells up very bad for several days.

Missoula, Montana

2011-09-24T22:10:00.001-07:00

After lots of driving we decided the kids (and us) needed a break and we stayed a couple of nights at a campground in Missoula, MT. Just relaxing, doing some laundry, having a campfire and riding the "Carousel for Missoula" about 200 times. We had originally planned to stay further north and go to Idaho Falls but couldn't find to do much there for the kids except the Potato Museum which didn't seem super exciting. (No offense, I am just not that into potatoes which Dugan doesn't understand with me being German and all...). The Carousel was a big hit and actually really interesting. It's the only fully hand carved carousel done after the great depression and it was a community project. Amazing! And lots of fun...

Yellowstone National Park

2011-09-24T21:16:00.000-07:00

Emmi was wondering if we could boil pasta in the Geysers. That would be a cool science experiment I think. But I don't think they would let us try.

We splurged on a Hotel room to be able to stay inside the park without freezing our butts off. (It went down into the mid thirties at night). So we got an early start on some breathtaking beauty everywhere...

...and also some breathtaking smell at the mud volcanos.

The kids had a great time, but I would be lying if I told you that they were this happy about their parents telling them "Look at THIS!!!!" for the 1000th time at about 3 hours into it.

And whoever knows me is going to be shocked, but yes, we did let them watch a DVD in the backseat while driving through all this beauty.

We didn't get to do much hiking again. They are just too big to be carried and to small to walk a whole lot, but we still got to enjoy the small activities nature has to offer...

....like balancing on fallen trees.

We did hike down into the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and it was well worth it!

But a 200 yard walk to Mammoth Hot Springs turned out to be a big disappointment for Lily.

Emmi: "It looks like snow! Is it snow Mama?"

Us: Giving a big explanation on what it really was, but apparently the only thing that stuck with Lily was the word snow and she basically ran up the trail.

Lily: "Can I touch the snow?"

Us: "It's not snow Lily."

Lily: "Where the snow?"

Us: "There is no snow Lily, it's rocks."

Lily: "It's not snow? It's just rocks? Ohhhh! Let's go back to the car."

The kids did appreciate seeing all the wildlife in the park. We saw lots of elk, buffalo, a grey wolf but no moose or bear.

We ended out visit watching two young elk bulls fight at Mammoth Hot Springs. Luckily we were inside the safety of our car and took off after one of the elk charged towards our car getting really close. It was quite the spectacle to watch and a great end to our visit. We didn't get to see the Morning Glory Pool and there are some areas we would have really liked to hike, but I am sure we'll be back when the kids are a little older.

What we are talking about

2011-09-20T15:45:00.000-07:00

Us:"Look at all the Buffalo!!

Lily: "Is that a Baby Buffabago?"

Us: "No, it's a big one!"

Lily: "Oh. Is a Mama Buffabago?"

Emmi: "BUF-FA-LO Lily! Can you say BUF-FA-LO?"

Lily: "Buffalalolo?" "Where the Baby Baffalalolo?"

Lily: "I need to Pipi!"

Us: "Okay, Papa will stop in a minute. Don't pipi in your pants!"

Lily: "No" "I'll be careful, just a little bit, okay?"

Us: "NO LILY!!!!"

We went to a living history museum about the Oregon/California Trail and Emmi was very impressed by it. During a recent hike up from the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone she told us: "I can do it because I am four years old. The four year olds on the wagon train had to walk even further!" And she did it! Almost half a mile with a 600 feet rise in elevation.

Lily likes to talk LOUDLY while sitting on the toilet. And we have been using lots of public restrooms. Our current favorite of her toilet comments after tooting loudly is: "My popo (bottom) is making a noise!!!"

To be continued...

Grand Teton National Park

2011-09-18T21:46:00.001-07:00

Jackson, Wyoming

2011-09-18T21:34:00.000-07:00

5 States in less than a week. The kids have been great in the car so far. We try to do some of the traveling at night, but most of it has been during the day. We are planning to slow down a bit, now that we are north. Jackson, WY is our stop before driving into Grand Teton NP and Yellowstone NP. And Lily couldn't believe her luck stumbling across a Candy Store for dessert. She's been loving this trip anyway, since we are traveling with a car load full of snacks and a portable kitchen. This can't get any better as far as Lily is concerned. Except for getting to take a basket through a candy store of course, which is exactly what we did...

Montpelier, Idaho

2011-09-18T21:07:00.001-07:00

A big rain cloud scratched our plans of getting to go on the Alpine Slide in Park City, Utah. And that after we had already taught our 2 year old to tell people she was three, since that was the age limit for the slide, and our four year old had had a meltdown because she thought she wouldn't get to go on the slide because she was four and not three.

And since there was nothing else to do in Park City we left and drove into Idaho past Bear Lake to a nice campground on a small river. We snuggled up into our sleeping bags and woke up to a freezing 39 degrees at two in the morning. The kids slept great, but Dugan and I had just about turned into icicles by the morning. And our warm breakfast turned cold on the way from the stove to the plate. Not fun. So we decided to be whimpy and upgraded for the next night to a cabin with bunk beds and a double bed and most important: A HEATER!!! No more tent camping until the night temperature is at least 50 degrees! I mean come on, we don't want the poor kids to freeze at night ;) !

Emmi had the best time on the entire trip. There were two other kids on the campground, 5 year old Kelly and her seven year old brother, and Emmi and Kelly played from nine in the morning until 6 at night with only a 10 minute lunchbreak and no crying or fighting ALL DAY LONG. And all they had to play with was a pile of sand, some sand toys and their imagination. Awesome.

It did warm up during the day. It's been so nice to be able to spend so much time outside after having to spend most of the summer inside because of the heat.

Arches National Park

2011-09-14T08:41:00.001-07:00

The kids rocked! We were able to hike a total of 3 Miles to see some breathtaking beauty in Arches National Park. Emmi loved to find rocks to climb on and it's kind of scary how high she could go in no time. At one time she had an entire group of Japanese Tourists taking pictures of her climbing! The campground in the park was full so we camped one night in Moab, UT and then left in the evening after sunset to drive 5 hours to Park City in Utah where we are staying at a hotel right now getting ready to do some crazy sledding...

Mesa Verde National Park

2011-09-14T07:36:00.001-07:00

We woke up to a 46 degree morning in Colorado which felt cold but really refreshing after three months of a Texas summer. After loading (or lets face it and say stuffing) all of our camping essentials back into our family truckster....

....we told our new friends goodbye and were off...

...to Mesa Verde National Park.

We enjoyed the view from here...

and Emmi wondered if all the trees didn't have leaves (they burnded a few years ago) because the Pueblo Indians needed all of the leaves to make beds and pillows.

And Lily must have asked us 100 times "Where the Indians????"

And then we moved on to our next destination...

Durango, CO

2011-09-11T19:20:00.000-07:00

We spent the morning outside of Santa Fe at a living history museum of a spanish colonial Ranch which was awesome! We got a demonstration of a Blacksmith doing Ironwork and learned and watched how a mill worked.

Then we were off to our first campground in Durango, CO. The kids just went to sleep and we'll know in a few hours if our sleeping bags are warm enough. Wish us luck!

On the Road

2011-09-10T20:56:00.000-07:00

We are about 650 Miles and two days into our four week family camping adventure. We loaded up the Minivan with A LOT of essentials and took off yesterday afternoon. We have not actually camped yet, but spent the first night in Midland, TX with friends and are now enjoying the comfort of a Hotel in Santa Fe, NM. Our intended Route will take us about 5000 Miles through Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, Oregon, California, Arizona and back to Texas.

After a rather boring drive through Texas and New Mexico (Those were honestly the most boring 600 Miles I have ever driven in my life) we have finally arrived at our first picture worth destination Santa Fe, New Mexico.

The girls are handling all the driving pretty well and they are super excited to finally start camping tomorrow in Mesa Verde National Park. We are excited too and a little nervous. We are not really regular campers and are planning to spend the majority of the next four weeks sleeping in a tent. We are not sure what we should expect but are hoping for the best...

I'll try to update the blog as often as possible (meaning as often as I can get Internet Access)...

Stay tuned!

Nanny

2011-09-10T20:32:00.000-07:00

The girls lost their Greatgrandmother "Nanny" last week. We were lucky to get to spend her last days with her and she will live in our hearts forever. We've been telling Emmi that her Nanny has lived a long and full live and has done everything in her live she wanted to do. We believe that is true and we know she was happy those last few days being surrounded by her children, grandchildren and greatgrandchildren... the people that have always been the most important to her.

From her Obituary:

Born in Malone, Texas on June 21, 1923, Mary was the daughter of William Luther Hutchison and Emma Lenora (Cooper) Hutchison. She was a loving wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, sister and friend. She was an avid fan of the Texas A&M and West Orange Stark Mustangs football teams. Mary loved sports and being with her loving family in all that they did in life. She will also be remembered for her unique sense of humor and making people laugh. Mary will be dearly missed by all who knew and loved her.

She was preceded in death by her parents, her son, Mitchell Wayne Foreman; grandson, Matthew Aaron Collins; brother, Bill Hutchison; and sister, Hazel Goodsell.

Mary is survived by her husband, James “JC” Foreman, of Mont Belvieu and a former longtime resident of Orangefield; son and daughter-in-law, Mike and Pat Foreman of Caldwell; daughter and son-in-law, Melionee and Mike Trevathan of Mont Belvieu; son and daughter-in-law, Mark and Vickie Foreman of Waxahachie; and daughter and son-in-law, Melynda and Mark Collins of Mont Belvieu.

She is also survived by her nine grandchildren, Mindy Dennis, Dugan Trevathan, Cody Foreman, Shawn Foreman, Dustin Foreman, Brian Wallace, Toby Foreman, Traci Sanchez, Ashlee Collins; eleven great-grandchildren; and brother and sister-in-law, Ronnie and Jennie Hutchison of Orangefield.

We love you Nanny!

Homeless and Unemployed

2011-09-05T19:40:00.000-07:00

We did it!

We sold our house last week, Dugan quit his job and we are moving to Germany on October 25th. It's been a crazy past five months. We decided to make the big move in March and everything had to fall into place from there. Well, it didn't quite fall into place but required a lot of decisions and planning but it it now done and final. No turning back from here.

One of the hardest things we had to to was to sell our house. We loved our house and we put so much money and effort into it over the past few years. It's the house we brought both our children home to and it's the only home they have ever known. We made so many good friend in the neighborhood and we'll miss them dearly. It sure feels weird to think about someone else living in our house now. One thing we don't miss is our mortgage though :) !

We are down to one car, have sold and given away lots of stuff, and the rest of our belongings fit in one 20 feet container that is being shipped to Germany.

Unfortunately we can't ship people. Leaving friends and family is hard. This is the hard part about an international marriage. Someone is always going to be left behind. Wherever we choose to live. Leaving our house was hard, but once we are actually getting ready to leave the country it's going to be even harder. But we still have some busy times ahead, so I am not even going to think about that yet..

We have plans.

Once in Germany Dugan is going to take 6 months of intensive German classes and will hopefully find a job soon after that. I am planning to go back to work as a Kindergarten teacher in January. We'll be living with my parents in a separate apartment in their house in Munich. We don't really have any plans going further. It's a big change for our family and we'll need a while before we can assess if it's been a good one. We hope it is!

What are we going to do between now and October 25th? We are going to enjoy our live without responsibilities and bills! Right now we are staying with family in Houston. Emmi and Lily's Greatgrandmother Nanny has decided to go off dialysis and we are spending her last days with her. Sometime next week we are off to go camping for four weeks (more about that later) and the rest of October will be spent with family and friends in Houston and Austin.

I am planning to do a better job keeping our blog updated during this busy time ahead for our family...

Emmi's Birthday Party

2011-08-15T16:52:00.000-07:00

Emmi chose to have her 4th Birthday Party at a Splash Park. Emmi was so excited for this big day to finally get here and it turned out great! She requested a cake with flowers, a pony and a fairy and I did my best :) . (It's my mission to fulfill every birthday cake request for my girls until they don't care for me to make them one anymore...) Even though it was hot, the day turned out great and everybody seemed to have a great time!

Happy Birthday Emmi!

2011-08-15T13:50:00.000-07:00

You are four years old! And you now check all of your clothes to make sure they are a size 4. If you see a 3 in one of your shirts you give it to Lily. You are so much fun to be around. You love to play and finally your little sister has gotten big enough to understand all of your games. Most of the time you end up playing Mama and Baby. And you are the Mama of course!

At four years old you can count to twenty (but you still sometimes forget a number or two), you can write your name and read a few letters and numbers. You just learned to swim and you can swim the entire length of the pool. You still lack a bit of technique since you mostly taught yourself during our almost daily trips to the pool, but for your age you are doing awesome! You love to draw and your favorite subject to draw are girls with really long hair. You can draw for hours! You also love art projects and always ask me to do something you have "never done before!". Your favorite toys are still your babies and your play kitchen, your dress up bin and your legos. You still don't care for puzzles. You have lots of really good friends and you like to play with all of them. You adore older girls and you want to be just like them. Unfortunately you still whine a lot. I wonder if you'll ever stop? It doesn't get you what you want and it sure goes on every bodies nerves. You are a really good listener in general and you don't really like to get into trouble which is a great help for me and you are a good role model for Lily. Your favorite foods are Pasta, Tuna Sushi, Tortellini, Nutella and Broccoli.

You are very excited about moving to Germany in the fall but you are quite worried all of your stuff is not going to make it. But you like the idea of living in the same house like Oma and Opa.

You are still a big snuggle bunny and Mama's Girl. You still don't like to go to sleep, but with a book, a story, a song and a back scratch we can usually get you to go to sleep.

And you love jokes. Your favorite one is "What time is is when an elephant sits on your fence? It's time to get a new one!" You also try to make up your own jokes which mostly go like this one: "What time is it when your pasta flies to the ceiling?"

Happy Birthday Big Girl! We love you so much!

Ohne Worte

2011-07-15T20:48:00.001-07:00

4th of July

2011-07-15T20:12:00.000-07:00

4th of July was spent...

...with friends....

...watching the Wells Branch Parade...

...candy, fun and games...

...and a water balloon fight...

...at our yearly....

...neighborhood BBQ...

...which was at our house this year.

The fireworks got cancelled because of the drought, but we had a fun filled day anyway.

We are moving...

2011-07-15T05:04:00.001-07:00

We have decided to take the big step and move to Germany by the end of the year. We have been talking about doing this for a while now and during our trip to Germany in March we finalized our plans. So the past month has been crazy trying to prepare the house to put it on the market. New laminate flooring in the living room, new paint, new light fixtures, new faucets, new stove and spotless from top to bottom our house is on the market since Friday. Selling the house that we brought both our babies home to from the hospital makes me really sad and I already know I' will cry once we sell it. So many memories are attached to those walls but I guess we'll just have to make new ones. And even though we are really sad about leaving so many people we love behind we are excited about this new and exciting time for our family. Stay tuned for updates :)

The 4th of July "Who is Who"?

2011-07-14T18:36:00.001-07:00

Can you tell who is who and what year?

Wer ist wer und in welchem Jahr?

Pool Time!

2011-06-23T21:16:00.001-07:00

There is not much else to do in this Texas heat! Did I really tell my parents to come visit us in August? After spending all of August in Germany last year I think I simply forgot how hot it gets in Texas. Oh wait! It's not August yet? It sure does feel like it! We have been going swimming in our Neighborhood Pool almost daily and the girls have turned in little Water Rats. Lily tells me about every five Minutes "Look Mama! I can wimming!" (She has a little trouble pronouncing the "S") and she really gets around great wearing her floaties. And Emmi has really learned how to swim! She can dog paddle about 5 yard distances and can swim even further on her back.We'll be working on swim STYLE next year. Today she learned to float on her back (She can only do it with her eyes closed which looks a bit creepy watching her float around in the pool). She still won't dive but she really wants to and has been practicing dipping her face in the water for a little while (okay, for about half a second that is, but that is actually quite an improvement from her flipping out about a drop of water getting in her face). Baby Steps :) !

Lily loves drying her hair under the hand dryer!

Straight out of the water...

Poolside Snack.

On the way to the Pool. Lily HAD to wear the skirt and don't try to carry the lunchbox for her...

Funny Lily

2011-06-21T09:59:00.000-07:00

Lily always tells on herself. It's hilarious...

Today at lunch:

Lily: Mama go outside!?

Me: Why do you want me to go outside?

Lily: I spit out my peach.

Me: You are going to spit out your peach when I go outside?

Lily: Yes Mama. You go outside I spit out peach.

Mhmmm...let me think for a minute, but I don't think I am going to leave the room...

Lily is very much into pretend play right now. If you see her holding her hands cradled up to her chest she is very likely is holding a pretend Baby. And if I ask her to do something that requires her to use her hands she will very carefully put her invisible "Baby" down and pick it back up right after she is finished. Very cute. I remember Emmi doing the same thing right around this age.

Emmi has been going to Summer Camp for a couple of weeks and Lily is very jealous. I felt bad for her thinking she really misses her sister, but apparently she was only jealous that Emmi got to take a backpack full of food with her in the mornings. So Oma sent Lily her own backpack that I have to fill up now every morning when we go to drop off Emmi. As soon as we get back home Lily goes and sits at her little table to eat all the goodies in it. She now takes her Backpack everywhere and she never forgets to make sure it is fully stocked before we leave the house.

Lily is quite the bad listener. She just doesn't care. And if I get mad at her and punish her by taking away her toy for example she just plops down on the ground crying for Papa. "Mama said NO! I want my Papa! Mama said NO!" I wonder what she thinks he is going to do?

Smart A**

2011-05-31T19:18:00.000-07:00

We were driving in the car today and I felt like I had to really tell Emmi and Lily how much I loved them. And I kind of expected to at least get a "I love you too Mama" back...

Me: "I love you Emmi. I love you Lily. You two and Papa are my three most favorite people in the world"

Emmi: "My favorite people is my best friend Lena!"

Me: "What about Mama, Papa and Lily?"

Emmi: "I think you, and Papa and Lily are just my (pause) ... people.

Well, I am kind of sorry I asked ;) ....

Same Day at Dinner....

Emmi: "Papa, can we get up from the table and you throw me up in the air?"

Dugan: "No, my food wants to sit for a little bit before playing."

Emmi: "My food wants to walk around!"

2 Years Old

2011-05-27T20:33:00.000-07:00

Dear Lily,

you are two years old which makes you almost a "BIG GIRL" but right now you prefer to be referred to as Baby. Even though you don't act like one very much anymore. If we tell you you are a big girl now you say "No, Emmi is Big Girl, I'm Baby." You do think you can do whatever your big sister can do and you love to copy her every move. She has thought you how to jump and dance and how to use scissors. You love to do puzzles and you love to read books. You are very independent and don't want to be helped at all. As far as you are concerned you can do it all by yourself. And if I pick you up and lift you in your car seat you have to get back out and climb in yourself, just to make a point. Despite being so independent you do enjoy to snuggle and so do we. You love to climb in bed with us in the morning and snuggle, until you get hungry that is. You still love to eat even though you have slowed down a bit on the amount. You favorite food are any kind of fruit and every time you go out in the backyard you check the Strawberry and Blackberry Bushes in hopes to find some berries. But you still love to eat anything else too. If you are hungry you don't say no to anything. The only small concern that came up at your 2 year old Check up was you walking pigeon toed which may of may not stay like that. But according to Dr. Suffredini this will give you an athletic advantage in regards of running fast. But I had figured as much already. It sure is hard to catch you! You are a little above average for height and a little below average for weight. To us you are just perfect! You love the water and you think you can swim. You love your pacifier and your baby doll. And you love to play with stuffed animals. Unfortunately you love to aggravate your sister but I don't blame you since she sure loves to boss you around. But most of the time the two of you play quite well together and I look at the two of you all the time and think how much I hope that you'll be such good friends forever.

We love you Lily!

Lily's Birthday Weekend

2011-05-27T20:15:00.000-07:00

We repeated last years family reunion for Lily's Birthday at Hyatt Wild Oak Ranch. I think we have to start making up more reasons to come here! What a blast. We watched Pinocchio at Outdoor Movie Night, made Smores, had a great Party for Lily and spent hours in the Pool. Thanks everyone for celebrating this special day with us!

Do you think she is scared?

2011-05-27T19:51:00.001-07:00

Nope... she actually went three more times!!

Things I don't want to forget...

2011-05-11T12:32:00.000-07:00

- Lily is fully potty trained except at night and I can't take any credit. She did it all by herself just because she wanted to wear panties just like Emmi. Her comment after she peed this morning: "Looks like apple juice!"

-Lily wears size 8 shoes and Emmi wears size 9. I guess soon Lily will be handing down shoes to her older sister. Or not since Emmi is soooooooo picky about the shoes she wears. She tried 15 (!) pairs of sandals recently before finally finding some that were comfortable for her. She didn't even care about color or style just fit.

- Lily loves to play doctor. Her and Emmi trade being patient and doctor. After checking Lily's heart with the stethoscope recently Emmi announced: "Lily's heart is not broken!"

- We live with a parrot. Lily will repeat EVERYTHING Emmi says. With no regards if she knows what Emmi is talking about or not.

- We have limited Lily's pacifier use to bedtime only which she has accepted quite well. If she needs her "lulla" during the day she climbs in her bed, gets all snuggled in and takes a few sucks before she is ready to go again. Works like a battery charger for her.

- Emmi and Lily are both convinced they can swim. Emmi draws her conclusion from having completed two sessions of swim lessons at the Y where she learned to dog paddle for a bit and float on her back briefly. And Lily draws hers from watching Emmi and being totally fearless and unbothered by the water. Emmi hates to get water in her eyes but Lily will jump in, go fully under and come up laughing when I pull her out. Unfortunately she just assumes someone will pull her out anytime she jumps in. I figured she'd stop once I'd let her go under for a couple of seconds but no such luck. Well, luckily we don't have a pool.

It's been a while

2011-03-29T21:17:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I wrote about all of the little things the kids are up to so here we go...

- Emmi learned how to ride her bike without training wheels. We are so proud of her. She has been using a balancing bike for a while and transitioning to a real bike was super easy. She was cruising down the street on her own after just a few minutes!

- Emmi also learned to make herself go on the swing which she commented with: "I think I am four already!"

- Lily is all about "Mine" and "I do it". She wants to do it all and she wants to do it all by herself. She refers to herself using I, Me, Mine and very seldom Lily. Emmi referred to herself as "Emmi" for much longer while Lily never really did.

- Conversation this afternoon:

Emmi: "I am hungry"

Me: "What do you want to eat?

Emmi: "Pasta"

Me: "Okay. Do you want Pasta too Lily?

Lily: "Emmi Pasta"

Me "What do you want Lily?"

Lily: "PIZZA!"

- Lily loves Puzzles! And she is really good at them. She has outgrown all of the wooden peg puzzles and has moved on to regular puzzles. She can do a 15 piece puzzle with just a little help and she will get it out over and over again to practice. She is better at doing puzzles then her big sister who hasn't shown much interest in it. Oh, and she loves doing puzzles on the ipod touch. But I am a little embarrassed about that since my parenting principles don't really include my not even two year old playing video games. But oh well, sometimes parenting just happens.

- Emmi's favorite thing to eat right now if we go eat out for lunch is ........

SUSHI! Tuna avocado rolls from Whole Foods to be specific. She still doesn't like Pizza or Fries. A picky eater for sure but not of the regular kind.

- Lily potty trained herself. She has been going on and off for a few months but now tells us almost every time. She still has about one accident a day but still not bad! And of course she has to go to the potty all by herself too. The only thing we are allowed to help her with, is hand her some toilet paper.

- Emmi is the whiniest kid in the entire world. We have never seen anything like it! She whines and cries about EVERYTHING! It is driving me insane!

- Lily's favorite word is "Hunger". She could eat all the time.

- Lily loves to aggravate Emmi. She knows all she has to do to make Emmi upset is walk up to her and tell her "My Mommy!". And our big cry baby falls for it every time. I am starting to think it's hilarious.

We did it!

2011-03-09T12:39:00.001-08:00

We spent TWO night away from the kids AND we did NOT call them once. We never get much time for just us and we weren't sure we'd still know what to do without having the kids around but guess what!? We had a great time!

We spent our little getaway in a little village in Austria sledding, skiing/snowboarding and hanging out in the sauna. The weather was great the hotel was awesome and we can't wait to go back...

Sledding down to our hotel!

I should have gone to the gym a few times before...

Fasching

2011-03-09T12:00:00.000-08:00

Waiting for the parade...

...and they even had real princesses in it!

The cutest Bee and Princess were with us :)

We timed it right where the kids not only get to dress up for Halloween this year but also for Mardi Gras in Germany. We watched the parade in Munich and had fun at the kids carnival on the Marienplatz.

Swimming

2011-03-09T11:30:00.000-08:00

We went to our favorite indoor pool several times and had a blast every time. Lily and Emmi are getting really comfortable in the water again after out winter break. We signed Emmi up for Swim Lessons right after we get back so hopefully this will help. Lily loves the water slides, even the really big one and we have to convince her that she cannot go down it herself. The best part about this public pool? It's pretty much "swim at your own risk" (So they expect me to watch my own children?! gasp!!!), so no lifeguards on duty spoiling the fun :) .

More snow!

2011-02-21T13:48:00.000-08:00

I was already doubting that we'd see more snow in Munich but we got lucky!

Uroma & Uropa

2011-02-21T12:48:00.000-08:00

We made a trip up to Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania to visit Emmi and Lily's Greatgrandparents. Emmi is always especially excited to see my cousin Maxi. It was a great visit. Lily loved feeding their German Shepard "Keira" sausage out the window and I am sure Keira was very very sad to see us leave ;) .

Lots of places to go on a farm!

And where Emmi goes Lily wants to go too of course...

Checking out the chickens! I think Emmi was a little scared, so she took Lily for support :)

13 Years Old!

Uroma

Uropa

Starnberger See & Schneemann

2011-02-07T13:55:00.000-08:00

Sledding

2011-02-07T13:40:00.000-08:00

We are in Germany again and got here just in time to go sledding before the weather warmed up and all the snow melted. The kids had a blast going down the hill and Lily didn't want to get off her sled anymore. Hopefully we'll have some more snow soon!

Odds and Ends

2011-01-10T19:21:00.000-08:00

- Lily is wearing pants, shirts and shoes Emmi wore last year. Never mind that she is almost TWO years younger then her sister. She sure is a growing girl and added almost 1 1/2 inches to her height over the past two months. Which means she can reach a whole lot of new things now, including doorknobs. I think I have less then a month before she figures out how to open them. If she can't reach something she wants, she also sure knows to help herself...

- Emmi who has always been VERY sensitive to cold, now mostly refuses to wear anything but skirts, dresses and short sleeves. And I stopped fighting. She does put on clothes once being cold outweighs her sense of fashion (that does not include pants or socks). I am dreading going to Germany though. I know she'll wear warm clothes eventually but I am sure Oma will have a nervous breakdown before that. My Mom is convinced that not wearing a hat gives you an ear infection, sitting on cold rocks does the same to your bladder and getting cold in general will give you the flu. And most woman in Germany my Moms age think the same and I know they will give me an ear infection telling me about it once they catch sight of my summery dressed daughter. I actually asked our pediatrician about it and she told me that the only thing Emmi would get from running around naked in the snow is frostbite. But this piece of information is totally lost on my Mom :) Who knows, maybe she can convince Emmi to wear appropriate clothes (i. e. socks in 20 degree weather). She'll be my hero if she does!

- While sitting at the table with a bowl of spaghetti Emmi came up with the following statement: "It's still a long time before we all die". End of statement and she went back to eating. ?????

- Emmi's friend Lena came over for a sleepover on the weekend and they had such a great time. They played "House", made Pizza, watched Piglets Big Movie and everybody was sound asleep by nine. I really hope this is what all future sleepovers are going to be like. (I know, lots of wishful thinking...) I can't believe Emmi is old enough for sleepovers!!

- Lily still hates the Y. She gets frantic once we start walking down the hallway towards the child watch and wants me to turn around. Just before we get to the toddler room we pass by the door to the pool which is the last straw of hope for her that I might turn there. Once it is clear we are not turning she starts crying and doesn't stop until I pick her up again a full 15 (!!!!) minutes later. So instead of me working out, Lily and I go swimming while Emmi hangs out in the preschooler area which she really likes. (Even though she tells me every time before I drop her off that she is going to cry while she is there. But I guess she is too busy and never actually gets around to it ;) )

- I love raising two sisters!

Christmas Morning

2011-01-03T12:54:00.001-08:00

I am not sure who was more excited Christmas Morning. Us or the Kids? Dugan and I were up before the kids were and we could hardly wait for Emmi to wake up. Emmi remembered right away what day it was, but when we asked her if she wanted to go see if Santa had come her response was: "Yeah, but first I have to get the bugger out of my nose!" (???) Lily had no clue what was going on and got a little mad when Emmi woke her up. But once they walked into the living room they were super excited. And Santa got it right! Emmi got a "Baby Doll with hair" just like she had asked for and Lily got her own big Baby Doll just like Emmi's (Just what Mama asked for so the fighting would stop ;) ). I think Lily was just as excited about the big chocolate bar she got in her stocking as she was about the doll :) . Christmas as a kid is a lot of fun, but Christmas with kids is just as great!

Ich bin mir nicht sicher wer am Weihnachtsmorgen aufgeregter war, die Kinder oder wir? Dugan und ich sind noch vor den Kindern aufgewacht und konnten es gar nicht erwarten dass Emmi endlich aufwacht. Als sie dann endlich wach war hat sie sich auch gleich dran erinnert welcher Tag war, aber als wir sie gefragt haben ob sie nachschauen mag ob Santa da war, war ihre Antwort: "Gleich Mama, ich muss erst noch den Popel aus meiner Nase holen!". Na toll. Lily war nicht so begeistert von Emmi geweckt zu werden, aber als wir dann endlich im Weihnachtszimmer waren war die Welt wieder in Ordnung und alle waren sehr zufrieden mit Santa. Emmi hat eine Puppe mit Haaren bekommen die sie sich gewuenscht hat und Lily eine grosse Puppe so wie Emmi (die Mama sich gewuenscht hat damit die Streiterei aufhoert). Noch besser als die Puppe fand Lily fast noch die Tafel Milka Schokolade die sie in ihrem Stocking bekommen hat. Weihnachten als Kind ist toll, aber Weihnachten mit Kindern ist fast noch besser :) .

Christmas Eve

2011-01-03T11:55:00.000-08:00

We spent Christmas this year in Houston with Dugan's Family and we had a wonderful time. We had our immediate Family party Christmas Eve and the girls had so much fun hanging out with their Aunt and Uncle, Cousin Coleman, Mark, Melynda and Ash, Nanny and Papa and Meme and Grandaddy. Compared to my family in Germany, Christmas at MeMe and Grandaddy's house is loud and crazy but definitely a lot of fun and I am so happy the girls get to have so much family around. Something I never had growing up.

Of course they loved all the gifts they got! Lily's favorite are wooden Icrecream cones that she has played with every day and Emmi loves the Microwave she got for her Playkitchen. After a fun filled day, Emmi made sure to leave out a cookie and Milk for Santa and some lettuce for his reindeer.

Reading books with MeMe

Nanny doing a crossword puzzle

Sooooo ready for Christmas!

Trying out some gifts...

Cookies and Milk for Santa!

Dieses Jahr haben wir Weihnachten mit Dugan's Familie in Houston verbracht und wir hatten alle viel Spass. An Heiligabend hatten wir unsere Familienfeier und die Kinder haben sich ueber alle Geschenke gefreut die sie bekommen haben. Im Gegensatz zu leise und besinnlichen Weihnachten wie ich sie von meiner Familie in Deutschland kenne geht es hier eher laut und froehlich zu, was ich inzwischen eigentlich auch ganz schoen finde. Vor dem Schlafengehen hat Emmi noch einen Keks und Milch fuer den Weihnachtsmann und Salat fuer seine Rentiere bereitgestellt...

Bits and Pieces

2010-12-21T17:15:00.001-08:00

- Remember our little baby bunnies? Well, they sure have grown quite a bit!

- It's December 21st and I spent half the day raking leaves in the backyard while the kids were running around naked playing with the water hose. Merry Christmas!

- We (re-) joined the Y last week. I am so excited! They have great childcare. There is a huge jungle gym for the big kids and a separate toddler and baby room. And they provide off site childcare for date nights! Unfortunately Lily doesn't share my enthusiasm for it. She did fine when we dropped her off on the weekend but today she spent 45 minutes screaming. She was so worked up she still had the hick ups when we were already back home. So I'll start dropping her off for just 15 minutes at a time and hope she'll get used to it. After all this is the same kid that doesn't care if I pretend to leave her in the grocery store!?

- Emmi is on an English language strike. According to the books I read on bilingual children this is normal around this age. She refuses to speak English unless she has to. She only switches to English if she is sure the person she is talking too definitely doesn't speak German. Before we met Santa she asked me twice if I was sure that he didn't speak German :) . She is on age level in both languages but her spoken German skills are about 6 months ahead of her English which makes her prefer German over English I think. It doesn't bother me and she communicates just fine in English but I wish she would speak English to me if we are around English speakers.

- We adopted a family this year through the Williamson County Brown Santa Program and we were matched with a two year old girl named Maria and her Mom. Emmi was so excited about picking out gifts for Maria and couldn't wait to meet her. We delivered our gifts last Sunday and it made all of us feel good to deliver some holiday cheer to this truly deserving family.

- Emmi has the weirdest food preferences for a three year old. She is quite a picky eater but with a very interesting variety. The only sweets she likes is anything chocolate or pudding. She doesn't like Fries or Pizza but loves Salmon and Broccoli. And the other day at Whole Foods she ate an entire package of Tuna Avocado SUSHI!?

- I think Christmas in Texas is finally growing on me. True, there is now snow and no Christmas Markets but I do enjoy all the Christmas Lights everywhere, Gingerbread House making, meeting Santa... . After all it's not so much about where you are, but who you are with. And listening to Emmi sing "Rudolph the red nose reindeer" and watching Lily dance to it would put me in the Christmas Spirit in the middle of August.

- I found 4 grey hairs last week. FOUR! I am not even thirty yet!

- Emmi hates seams in socks. She refuses to wear any. If I do get her to put some on she is screaming bloody murder if I try to make her wear shoes over them. "It's to TIGHT". This is really not a big deal in Texas since she can wear her Sandals most of the year anyway but I am not sure what we are going to do in Germany. I did order her some seamless socks and I am hoping it will solve the problem. She also has a problem with several other clothing items we are trying to deal with.

-I think Lily will eventually be taller then Emmi. And I already know Emmi will hate it.

- Es ist der 21. Dezember und ich habe den halben Tag damit verbracht Laub zu rechen waehrend die Kinder nackt im Garten rumgerannt sind und mit dem Wasserschlauch gespielt haben. Frohe Weihnachten!

- Wir haben letzte Woche unsere Mitgliedschaft in der YMCA erneuert. Das freut mich vor allem wegen der guten Kinderbetreuung. Fuer die groesseren Kinder gibt es einen Indoor Spielplatz den Emmi toll findet und fuer die Kleinen ein extra Spielzimmer. Und zusaetzlich zur normalen Fitnesstudio Kinderbetreuung kann man die Kinder auch Samstagabend abgeben und die Zeit zu Zweit geniessen. Leider teilt Lily meine Begeisterung ueberhaupt nicht. Als wir sie zum ersten Mal dort abgegeben haben war alles in Ordnung, aber heute hat sie 45 Minuten lang wie am Spiess geschrien und war so aufgeloest dass sie immer noch Schluckauf hatte als wir schon wieder zu hause waren. Jetzt werde ich sie oefter mal fuer 15 Minuten abgeben und hoffen dass sie sich dran gewoehnt. Immerhin ist das das selbe Kind das sich einen Dreck schert ob ich so tue als wuerde ich sie alleine im Supermarkt lassen wenn sie nicht zuhoert und kommt!?

- Emmi streikt und zwar auf deutsch. Englisch redet sie nur wenn es sich wirklich nicht vermeiden laesst. Als wir den Weihnachtsmann getroffen haben hat sie mich zweimal gefragt ob ich mir sicher bin das er nicht deutsch spricht :) . Ihr Englisch und Deutsch sind beide altersgemaess, aber in deutsch kann sie sich besser ausdruecken und bevorzugt es.

- Emmi hat ziemlich ungewoehnliche Geschmacksvorlieben fuer eine dreijaehrige. Sie ist ziemlich waehlerisch und bei wass sie sich dann manchmal so aussucht muessen wir nur die Koepfe schuetteln. Suesses mag sie nicht besonders, ausser es besteht aus Schokolade oder Pudding. Pommes und Pizza mag sie nicht, dafuer aber Lachs und Brockoli. Und gestern hat sie eine ganze Portion Tunfisch Avocado Sushi gegessen!?

- Ich hab letzte Woche 4 graue Haare gefunden. VIER! Und ich bin noch nicht einmal dreissig!

- Ich gewoehne mich so langsam an Weihnachten in Texas. Es gibt zwar keinen Schnee und Christkindlmarkt, aber dafuer gefallen mir all die mit Lichtern dekorierten Haeuser auch ganz gut. Und Weihnachtsmann und Lebkuchenhaeuser sind auch ganz schoen. Und wenn ich Emmi zuhoere wie sie Weihnachtslieder singt und Lily dazu tanzt wuerde bei mir auch im August Weihnachtsstimmung aufkommen...

- Ich glaube Lily wird mal groesser als Emmi. Und ich glaube Emmi findet das bestimmt nicht so toll.

Dear Santa... I've been good!

2010-12-13T20:57:00.001-08:00

Emmi und Lily durften endlich den Weihnachtsmann besuchen. Emmi hat sich schon seit langem darauf gefreut! Ich dachte dass sie es sich es in letzter Minute vielleicht doch noch anders ueberlegt und sich lieber hinter mir versteckt, aber da hab ich falsch gedacht. Sie hat ihm ihr Bild ueberreicht das sie fuer ihn gemalt hat, von der Puppe die sie sich wuenscht und hat ihm mitgeteilt dass sie das ganze Jahr lang lieb war. (Ich frag mich ob er sich das wohl nochmal von mir bestaetigen laesst?) Dann hat sie sich ganz freiwillig zu ihm auf den Schoss gesetzt. Lily war erst nicht so sicher was sie von der Sache halten soll, aber nachdem sie Emmi zugeschaut hat, hat sie sich das ganze dann auch genauer angeschaut.

Emmi and Lily finally got to visit with Santa! Emmi has been anticipating seeing him since forever! And as Santa does every year he came to the Luminary festival at the Wells Branch Homestead. I thought Emmi might make a run for it once it came down to actually talking to him but she didn't. She handed him her picture she colored of the Baby Doll she wishes for from him and told him that she was nice all year. (I wonder if he is going to double check this with me?) She even voluntarily climbed in his lab. Lily wasn't to sure at first and kept her distance but after watching Emmi she decided to check him out too.

Picking a Christmas Tree

2010-12-13T20:30:00.001-08:00

We went with Will and Audrey and picked our Christmas Tree a couple of weeks ago on Evergreen Farm in Elgin.

Emmi and Lily agreed surprisingly quick on a perfect tree.

Papa cut it down...

...and Emmi carried it home.

The End.

At least as far as Emmi was concerned.

She was super happy with her two feet tree but I wanted more.

I wanted something at least as tall as me and non native to Texas. And I got it.

If I can't have snow on Christmas I want at least a perfect tree...

Audrey, Will, Keegan and Avy picked too.

And after some fake tractor riding...

...and some real Marshmallow roasting...

...we took our trees home.

And next year I'll have to pick a taller tree since we were actually able to fit it IN our car, which means I didn't get a picture of a tree tied to the roof of our car. Bummer ;) .

Vor zwei Wochen haben wir unseren Christbaum von der Weihnachtsbaum Farm geholt. Emmi und Lily durften sich ihren eigenen Baum aussuchen was Emmi super toll fand. Ich wollte lieber was groesseres und auf jeden Fall keine Fichte. Und fuer Faelle wie mich gibt es zum Glueck auch "importierte" Baeume. Wenn ich schon keinen Schnee krieg zu Weihnachten muss wenigstens ein gescheiter Baum her :) .

Weihnachtsbaeckerei

2010-12-13T19:59:00.001-08:00

Wir waren dieses Jahr schon fleissig und haben Weihnachtsplaetzchen gebacken. Emmi's Lieblingsweihnachtslied ist dazu passend "In der Weihnachtsbaeckerei" von Rolf Zuchowski. Am besten gefaellt ihr die Stelle im Lied wo sie ganz laut "Du Schwein!" rufen darf :).

Zum verzieren der Plaetzchen hat sie sich dann Hilfe von ihrer Freundin Lena geholt...

We have been busy making some Christmas Cookies!

Lebkuchenhaeuschen

2010-12-13T19:24:00.001-08:00

1 1/2

2010-11-30T20:01:00.000-08:00

Where should I start to describe our little girl at one and a half years old? There are so many little things I want to remember and she is changing so fast that I feel I already forgot half of the things I swore I'd never forget. I'll try to write down as much as possible so I can come back to remember.

- If I had to choose one word to describe Lily I would choose "hungry". She is constantly hungry and constantly eating. She comes all the time and takes my hand and I have to go with her to the fridge where she demands "auf" ("open" in german) and then tries to get me to hand her the desired food. If she sees me cooking in the kitchen she instantly climbs in her chair ready to eat. And if we are at the park and I didn't bring enough snacks she starts soliciting other people for food if she sees them eating. Surprisingly she is below average for her weight and according to her pediatrician just seems to have a very high metabolism. Lucky her! She is not a picky eater either and eats almost anything.

- Lily is still in love with her pacifier. She has bionic ears and eyes when it comes to locating one. She can hear the little click sound that thing makes if you pick it up, from another room and instantly comes running for it. She is totally deaf though if we ask her to come or hurry up, so now guess our little trick to get her moving :) ...

- We also have another trick to get her moving but unfortunately it never works. Know the old "You better hurry, Mama and Papa are leaving!"? This one always worked with Emmi and still does but Miss Lily couldn't care less. The only response we get it Emmi screaming "NO, we have to take Lily with us!" while she tries to drag her over to us. I have gone as fas as hiding from her to see what Lily would do if she found herself alone in a grocery store, but she only looks around delighted that no one is watching and goes straight looking for trouble.

-Lily loves babies. Both my girls definitely have the Mama gene. They rarely play with anything else but dolls and stuffed animals and at 18 months Lily is quite an attentive Mama. She cooks for her baby, gives her the bottle, pushes her around in the stroller, constantly wipes her down and NEVER forgets to take her if we go somewhere.

-And Lily's babies always drink out off a bottle, they never nurse and neither does Lily anymore. Emmi had such a hard time when I weaned her at 15 months because I was pregnant with Lily, so I was going to let Lily nurse as long as she wanted to. But at 15 months she was done and never asked for it again and her babies only take bottles. Emmi still "nurses" her dolls.

-Lily also loves dogs and her little beanie baby dog "Wau Wau" comes right in second after her doll and gets to go to sleep with her too.

-Lily has a quite impressive vocabulary of about 50 words she uses consistently and she just started putting words together into two word sentences like "Bye Papa". Most of her spoken vocabulary is in German but she understands English just as well.

-Lily is an attention craver. If Emmi gets hurt so does Lily. She will actually fall down or hit her head against a table on purpose to make it look more authentic before she starts fake crying. She also loves to make people laugh.

-Lily doesn't sleep through the night anymore. At least not in her own bed and she sure knows that her parents are push overs who will let her sleep in their bed if she looks real pitiful. And we are still really good at making excuses of why we should let her sleep in our bed (teething, nightmares, cough, Tuesday... ) We don't even try to make excuses for Emmi anymore whenever she comes in between 1 and 3 am most nights. We just hold up our blanket so she can snuggle up. Yeah, I admit it is cramped sometimes, but I sure will miss it someday.

-Lily loves to to hold Emmi's hand when we go for walks. I never want to forget how she asks Emmi "hand, hand!" as she is running after her. And Emmi is sure to comply. They love each other so much!

Almost Camping...

2010-11-30T19:20:00.000-08:00

We almost went camping a couple of weeks ago with several of our neighbors, but chickened out last minute since the nights got a little chilly and we didn't have the appropriate gear. We still had a good time just going out to Guadalupe State Park for the day. Emmi and Lily enjoyed hanging out with the boys, catching bugs and throwing rocks into the river. Emmi loved holding hands with our 4 year old neighbor Zack and it didn't seem to bother her when he told her that he had another girlfriend called Isa who also lives on our street ;) . We grilled sausage wraps for dinner and hung out by the fire before heading back home. Emmi was already "freezing" despite wearing several sweaters and a hat while sitting by the fire, so we didn't regret our decision to not actually camp. We'll try again in the spring...

Happy Birthday Papa!

2010-11-30T19:10:00.001-08:00

We celebrated Papa's 38th Birthday earlier this month and Emmi and Lily were so excited about the cake. Each in their own way though. Emmi was excited to decorate it and wouldn't eat a bite and Lily couldn't wait to eat it. And we figured out that Papa apparently reached the age where it isn't safe anymore to actually put the appropriate number of candles on the cake... If we do this next year we'll have a fire extinguisher handy ;) ...

Angel & Devil

2010-10-28T18:49:00.000-07:00

Am Sonntag ist Halloween und Emmi wollte gerne eine Engel sein. Da gab es dann natuerlich nur noch eine Kostuemwahl fuer Lily... Erraten? Nachdem ich die letzten Jahre nie uebers Plaene machen heraus gekommen bin habe ich dieses Jahr endlich die Kostume selbst gemacht und bin auch ganz stolz auf's Ergebnis! Nachdem Emmi mehrer Wochen davon geredet hat ein Engel sein zu wollen und mir beim Kostum Basteln geholfen hat, hat sie sich jetzt auf einmal entschieden lieber eine Prinzessin sein zu wollen. Toll. Wir haben uns geeinigt dass sie fuer eine Halloween Party diese Woche eine Prinzessin sein darf und an Halloween dann ein Engel.

We are ready for Halloween! Emmi decided to be an Angel for Halloween this year, which means there was only one choice of costume for Lily... You guessed it! After making elaborate plans for the past three years of making the kids costumes myself, I finally did it this year and I am quite pleased with the result. Of course after wanting to be an Angel for several weeks and watching and helping me make her costume Emmi decided last minute she actually wanted to be a princess instead. Great. So we negotiated she'd get to wear her princess dress for a Halloween Party and the Angel Outfit for Halloween. I love my little Angel and my little Devil!

Snow!

2010-10-22T20:41:00.000-07:00

After a full week of just perfect weather we also got to experience the first snow of the season. The kids could have not been any more excited! The moment the first snowflake hit the ground, Emmi informed us that she wanted to learn how to ski. And I am not sure what exactly Lily thought, but she did think something edible fell from the sky and was very busy trying to catch the snow with her tounge. It was still to warm for the snow to stay on the ground, but seeing the snowflakes sure did make for a great atmosphere on our last day in Colorado.

Nach einer ganzen Woche Sonnenschein und blauem Himmel haben wir an unserem letzten Tag in Colorado auch noch den ersten Schnee der Saison erlebt. Die Kinder waren ganz begeistert! Als die erste Schneeflocke vom Himmel fiel hat Emmi uns informiert dass sie bitte Schifahren lernen moechte und Lily war sich sicher es fallen Suessigkeiten vom Himmel. Jedenfalls hat sie ihre Zunge gar nicht mehr in den Mund bekommen so beschaeftigt war sie damit Schneeflocken zu fangen. Der Schnee ist nicht liegengeblieben, aber die Schneeflocken haben trotzdem fuer eine schoene Stimmung gesorgt an unserem letzten Tag in Colorado.

And are you wondering where those two are headed?

Well, Lily knows...

...because if there is a bakery open then she can find it!

She just knows. Period. Just like that. Sixth sense I believe!

What a good time we had!

2010-10-22T20:08:00.000-07:00

They never caught a fish - but who cares? They didn't...

Why cry over not catching any fish if you can be swinging instead?

It's just downright impossible to get four people to look into the camera!

We did get them to look here, but what's up with the funny faces :)

They have great Hot Chocolate in Steamboat Springs!

It's exhausting to have so much fun...

Still no luck with the fish...

Ribs on the Kids Menu! Guess who wants to move to Colorado!

Beautiful Places

2010-10-22T19:15:00.000-07:00

Irgendwie dachte ich die Rocky Mountains sind den Alpen sehr aehnlich. Das letzte Mal als wir in Colorado waren war im Winter in einer anderen Gegend und mit dem ganzen Schnee sieht sich das ganze wohl um einiges aehnlicher. Diesmal sind wir nach Denver geflogen und ich war ueberrascht wie eben alles war. Ich glaub in ganz Kansas gibt es keinen einzigen Schlittenberg! Und auch in Colorado ist erst noch alles flach bis nach Denver und hinter Denver beginnen dann die Rockies. Einfach so aus dem nichts! Von wegen Alpenvorlandschaft, die gibt es hier nicht! Aber die Luft ist genauso kuehl und klar wie in den Alpen und wenn man die Texas wohnt geniesst man das... Und wunderschoene Ecken gibt es hier auch an jeder Ecke.

For some reason I thought the Rockies were a lot like the alps. Last time I went to Colorado we went to Telluride in the winter and I guess with all the snow they do look a whole lot more similar but without the snow not so much. The thing that I noticed first flying over Kansas was how flat it was. And when we were already over Colorado it was still flat all the way to Denver. And then the Rocky Mountains just kind of start out of nowhere. The vegetation was different too and it was a lot drier then I had expected. But the air was just the same. Crisp and clear! And we found beautiful places everywhere! And we were still in time to see the changing of the leaves of the Aspen trees.

Looking for a Moose

2010-10-15T10:25:00.000-07:00

Despite searching (literallly) high and low for a moose we never did see one. On Thursday we were so desperate that we called the tourist information to ask if they knew of someone having a pet moose we could go visit. I think they thought we were joking. We did see some elk in the distance and one in the middle of the town of Estes Park that we dismissed as a statue at first. But after turning around to take a closer look it did turn out to be a real elk laying around and eating grass in a front yard of a motel. Never mind that we had just driven 45 miles through RMNP without seeing any!?!

And no, there was no elk or moose or bear chasing us in this picture. I wish there was so we'd have a good excuse for taking a silly picture while almost dislocating Emmi's shoulder...

Und nein, in diesem Foto hat uns kein Moose, Elch oder Baer verfolgt, auch wenn das eine gute Entschuldigung gewesen waere dass wir fast Emmi's Schulter ausgekugelt haetten...

Waehrend im Englischen "Elk" und "Moose" zwei voellig unterschiedliche Tiere sind wird im deutsch-englischen Woerterbuch beides mit "Elch" uebersetzt.

Jedenfalls wollten wir gerne einen Elch (Moose) mit Schaufelgeweih sehen, aber obwohl wir ueberall gesucht haben haben wir nur einen Elch (Elk) mit Hirschgeweih gesehen. Und das mitten in Estes Park im Vorgarten eines Hotels. Davor sind wir fast 70 Kilometer durch den Rocky Mountain National Park gefahren ohne einen Elch oder Moose zu sehen! Moose waren leider auch am Donnerstag noch keine in Sicht und wir haben sogar die Touristeninformation angerufen ob sie vielleicht jemand wissen der sich die Viecher als Haustiere haelt. Ich glaube die dachten wir machen einen Telefonscherz...

Adams Falls

2010-10-15T07:11:00.000-07:00

Since we went during off season it sometimes felt like we had the entire National Park for our private use...

Da wir in der Nebensaison gereist sind hatten wir manchmal das Gefuehl den gesamten National Park fuer uns zu haben...

Colorado I

2010-10-15T06:30:00.001-07:00

So haben wir unseren ersten richtigen Familienurlaub in Grand Lake in Colorado verbracht...

Wir sind in unserem gemuetlichen Ferienhaus aufgewacht...

...haben erstmal auf der Couch gekuschelt...

...die Sicht auf die Berge und Grand Lake genossen...

...und dann viel Zeit im Rocky Mountain National Park verbracht.

This is what we did on our first family vacation to Grand Lake, Colorado. We'd wake up in our cozy cabin... Snuggle on the couch... enjoy the mountain lake view from our window... and then spend all day exploring the beautiful outdoors of Rocky Mountain National Park...

Odds and Ends

2010-10-13T19:25:00.000-07:00

- Everybody is excited about the crisp and cool fall weather including myself but we still reach temperatures in the eighties almost daily. Sounds like August in Germany when everybody complains about the heat. It's all about perception :)

- I had my appendix removed three weeks ago. The surgery was quick and the recovery surprisingly easy. The three tiny little cuts in my belly are almost invisible already. Despite having insurance the whole thing costs us about $ 3000 in deductibles and copays. Crazy!!

- Lily is a talker. Her vocabulary is expanding daily. She can say "Baby", "Nein!" (No), "Buch" (Book), Emmi, Blacky (our bunny) and a lot more. I have to admit we are probably the only ones who can really understand her but not bad anyway.

- Lily is also a copycat. She mirrors EVERYTHING Emmi does. Emmi reads a book - Lily reads a book, Emmi colors - Lily colors, Emmi cries - Lily cries, Emmi falls - Lily plops down next to her. You get the picture.

- Emmi has found a true best friend. I am so excited for her. Her name is Lena and Emmi just loves her. She talks about her daily and is asking for her all the time. They speak german to each other witch is so cute to listen to and they both love to play pretend. A great match!

- We started going to a Parent Child Yoga class every Tuesday and it's so much fun. Emmi loves it, even Lily participates, the teacher is great in capturing the kids attention and it's relaxing for me too.

-Emmi is also doing a floor gymnastics class on Fridays which she calls "going to school"

- We went on our first real family vacation last week (meaning we didn't visit family). It was the best vacation ever and I am working my way through the pictures and will post some soon.

Pumpkin Patch 2010

2010-10-13T18:57:00.001-07:00

Wir waren auch dieses Jahr wieder auf der Kuerbis Farm. Sowas sollte es in Deutschland auch geben! Ich haette das bestimmt toll gefunden als Kind. Lily und Emmi durften Pferde reiten und die Ziegen streicheln. Die Kinder haben einen Kuerbis angemalt und wir haben mehrere mit nach Hause genommen fuer unsere Herbstdekorationen. Der Herbst in Texas ist wirklich schoen!

I think I love going to the Pumpkin Patch as much as they do. There are no Pumpkin Patches in Germany so it's not something I grew up with, but I am sure I would have loved it as a kid too. Totally worth the drive to Marble Falls every year. This year we went the first weekend they opened which was already back in September and it was so much less crowded then last year. Lily and Emmi got to ride the horses which they both loved, Lily wouldn't touch the goats surprisingly considering she couldn't wait to sit on the horse, they painted a pumpkin and we took quite a few home for our fall decorations. I love the fall!

Hop! Hop! Hop!

2010-09-25T18:05:00.000-07:00

"Hop Hop Hop" is one of Lily's favorite words right now. It's her word for any animal that hops. Our rabbits, horses, frogs... . And her favorite "Hop Hop Hop" at the moment is a frog Papa found in our garage the other day and that now lives in our backyard. And Lily loves to go find it. Every time she remembers it she stand by the backdoor requesting "Hop Hop Hop"! and wants us to go outside. And Emmi being the animal lover she is obviously loved this little critter too.

And who wouldn't fall for those big eyes looking at you?

Well, I didn't. At least not enough to let him live in our house like requested...

...because even though I knew Emmi would take could care of him...

... I thought he might make a run for it and we'd have a free-range frog living in our house...

...so now we have a free-range frog living in our backyard instead.

"Hop Hop Hop" ist eines von Lily's Lieblingswoertern. Sie benutzt es fuer jedes Tier das huepft wie z.B. unsere Hasen, Pferde, Froesche... . Und ihr Lieblings "Hop Hop Hop" ist ein Frosch den Papa vor ein paar Tagen in unserer Garage gefunden hat und der jetzt bei uns im Garten wohnt. Und Lily befindet sich auf staendigen Gartenexpeditionen um ihn ausfindig zu machen. Jedes Mal wenn sie sich an ihn erinnert steht sie an der Tuer und bettelt: "Hop Hop Hop". Und Emmi die eh jedes Tier am liebsten gleich adoptieren wuerde fand unseren kleinen Besucher eh ganz toll...

Aus Emmi's Mund

2010-09-18T18:49:00.000-07:00

- Emmi macht mir essen in ihrer Spielkueche und ich will gerade anfangen zu "essen" da muss sie eines noch sicherstellen: "Mama, aber nicht richtig essen. Nur so tun okay! So wie Oma das immer macht!" Da bin ich ja froh dass sie mir das gerade noch rechtzeitig erklaert hat, bevor ich mir einen Zahn ausgebissen haette and meinem hoelzernen Apfel ;) !

- An der Kasse im Supermarkt. Emmi: "Mama, ich hab mich verliebt!", Ich: "In wen denn?", Emmi: "In dich Mama!"

- Dugan liest Emmi eine gute Nacht Geschichte vor. Mitten im Buch stellt Emmi fest (auf Englisch): "Papa das Buch ist in Englisch exra fuer dich!"

-Wenn ich Englisch mit Emmi spreche kommt sofort die Korrektur: "Mama, du musst deutsch mit mir sprechen!" Und umgekehrt wenn Dugan sein Deutsch mit ihr uebt: "Papa, you don't speak German!"

-Emmi: "Koennen meine Freunde heute zum spielen kommen?" Ich: "Nein leider nicht, weil ich bin erkaeltet und ich will niemand anstecken." Emmi: "Kannst du ins Krankenhaus gehen damit meine Freunde zum spielen kommen koennen?"

- Nach einem Monat in Deutschland war Emmi's Englisch ein bisschen eingerostet als wir zurueck gekommen sind und die ersten Tage haben wir einige lustige Kreationen zu hoeren bekommen wie zum Beispiel: "Papa, you can probieren on your shoes now!"

15 months old

2010-08-30T14:02:00.000-07:00

Lily....

...loves her paci. If you pick one up on the other side of the room and it makes this little click sound she immediately notices it and comes after it. I am already worried about her going to College with her paci. Well, not really, but getting rid of that thing someday is not going to be pretty.

...is sleeping through the night but is an early riser unfortunately.

...can make several animal sounds when asked (dog, rooster, cow, cat, hen) and is saying several words but you have to know her to understand most of it.

...will tell you "no" at lots of occasions but acts like she doesn't understand if she is the one being told "No". She doesn't care. She doesn't even care if she get's in trouble. Emmi at this age would break out in tears if I would just raise my voice at her slightly, but Lily couldn't care less. She just throws a fit if removed from a situation and goes back to it as soon as she can. WHILE SHE IS GRINNING AND LOOKING AT ME!

...eats about three times the amount of food Emmi does, even though I have no idea where she puts it. I can't believe she doesn't weigh 50 pounds! She has a build in food radar. She will climb into her chair at the table as soon as someone opens the fridge. It's impossible to hide food from her.

...is a monkey. She climbs chairs and tables and can walk up and down a single step without any support.

...is still nursing in the mornings, but only because I refuse to jump out of bed at 6 am to get her breakfast ready. So she opts for the (in her eyes) second best source of food, which buys me about 20 more minutes in bed before she is ready for breakfast anyway.

...loves her big sister and wants to be just like her. She copies everything Emmi does.

...is an entertainer and loves attention. If she knows something will get her your attention she will do it over and over and over. You tell her "Bless you" after she sneezes and she will fake sneeze again and again. If you laugh because she has jelly all over her face, she suddenly can't eat a jelly sandwich without having jelly all over her face.

Heringsdorf

2010-08-30T13:35:00.000-07:00

We used another rainy day for a train trip across the island to Heringsdorf where we walked the pier, fed the birds and ate some fish.

At the beach

2010-08-30T13:27:00.001-07:00

The rain did clear up and we got to spent plenty of time at the beach. Lily loved digging in the sand and moved some serious quantities and Emmi loved building sand castles. They both enjoyed getting in the water too which was just a little bit to cold for me. How much fun we had!

A week in Usedom

2010-08-30T13:03:00.000-07:00

From my grandparents house we went to the baltic sea for a vacation during our vacation :)

Four generations spending an entire week together!

It's not only a lot cooler in Germany, there is also a lot more rain. So instead of at the beach we spent our first vacation day "swimming" in the backyard. The kids had a great time and Grandparents and Greatgrandparents got to worry together about them freezing to death ;)

Visiting Uroma & Uropa

2010-08-30T12:35:00.000-07:00

We are back in Germany trying to escape the Texas heat. Unfortunately Papa couldn't come with us and has to brave the heat at home. We miss him!

A few days after getting here we drove to my Grandparents house and everybody was so excited to see the girls again. Emmi was most excited about seeing my twelve year old cousin Maxi who she has talked about a lot after last seeing him in December. It's a lot cooler then back home but still warm enough to hang out at the lake.

Emmi is three!

2010-08-30T11:52:00.000-07:00

Our little girl is three years old! She got up super early because she was so excited about finally getting her big baby. MeMe and Granddaddy came down for the occasion and Papa took the day off work to hang out with the birthday girl. Instead of a big pool party like we had originally planned we had a smaller baby pool party in the backyard in the afternoon and Emmi had a blast with all of her three year old friends.

The Blue Hole

2010-07-30T20:02:00.001-07:00

Nachdem wir an unserem ersten Badeplatz fast geschmolzen waeren, haben wir doch noch ein schoenes Plaetzchen gefunden um uns abzukuehlen. Leider 70 km von zuhause weg, aber die Anfahrt hat sich gelohnt. Dugan ist hier als Kind beim zelten gewesen und unseren beiden hat es auch super gefallen.

No, this is not a giant cookie, it's a hamburger patty and she surely wasn't letting go of it!

After melting away at the Pedernales River earlier, we finally found the perfect spot to stay cool in this hot weather. The Blue Hole in Wimberley! Unfortunately it's quite a ways from home but still worth the drive. Dugan used to come here camping when he was Emmi's age and our two loved swimming here too.

Reimer Ranch State Park

2010-07-30T19:43:00.000-07:00

Waere es nicht so heiss gewesen (38 Grad Celsius im Schatten) haette es uns hier ganz gut gefallen. Aber da es absolut keinen Schatten gab haben wir nach einer knappen Stunde wieder zusammengepackt und haben uns einen besseren Badeplatz gesucht.

Pretty but way too hot. We felt like we'd been dropped from an airplane out in the desert, there was not a single spot of shade to be found along Pedernales River. We'll be back in the fall but we only stayed for about an hours this time around.

Where we are at...

2010-07-29T18:54:00.000-07:00

- I have four more days as the mother of a one-year-old and a two-year-old and then, much anticipated by her, my oldest daughter will turn three years old next Tuesday.

- Lily is sleeping through the night, most nights, in her own bed

-Emmi is still not sleeping through the night but only waking up once now to come climb in our bed which is fine with us. She stopped having nightmares, which we think is a result of limiting her TV time to once or twice a week to very few DVD's that we know don't scare her.

-Lily can finish a bowl of hummus using just one single chip to dip. She can also finish half of a large Thundercloud California Club Sandwich with everything on it.

-We booked our first family vacation that doesn't involve visiting family. We are renting a cabin close to Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado for one week in the fall. We are sooo excited. Emmi can't wait to see a Moose!

-Emmi is wondering where she was before she was in my belly. The explanation that offended her the most was the suggestion that she was a tiny egg in my belly which she answered with: "I'm not a chicken!"

-While eating a bowl of chocolate pudding she also came up with the question of how babies come out of my belly. I answered "Well, I don't have a baby in my belly." which satisfied her for two more bites of chocolate pudding before she asked "But how did Lily come out of your belly?" I was getting ready to give her a big explanation when our neighbors rang the bell to ask if we wanted to come to the pool. YES we do!!!! I don't mind giving her details but I think she should be a little bit older so she'll be able to comprehend it. I wonder how much longer until she wants to know how the babies get INTO my belly.

- Emmi checks her legs after eating vegetables to check if they have grown already. I never knew telling a child "Eat your vegetables so you'll grow big and strong" actually works!

-Lily loves animals but she just especially loves dogs! As soon as she spots one in a book or in real she starts telling everybody "Wau Wau, Wau Wau, ..."

- Emmi loves everything creepy crawly. She'll catch rolly pollies, caterpillars, crickets, frogs... and then asks for a bowl to keep them. I am seriously thinking about setting up a terrarium for her catches but I am worried I'll find a Tarantula in there one day.

Hamilton Pool

2010-07-23T20:31:00.001-07:00

We discovered Hamilton Pool last weekend and we loved it! It's absolutely awesome! We got there shortly after nine in the morning since there are only 75 Parking Spots and it's one car in/ one car out once they are full. The limited parking keeps it from getting too crowded which is nice. It's a little hike to get down to the pool which is a little steep but was mastered by Emmi and the Pool itself is such a pretty oasis. Emmi loved climbing around on the rocks around the waterfall and Lily loved playing with the rocks and water. The overhanging rock wall keeps the Pool shaded almost until noon. We had such a good time!

Surprise Visit

2010-07-12T20:03:00.000-07:00

We surprised Doe and Pa with a visit in East Texas on Sunday. Doe was super excited to see the kids and we were able to take her back home to Pa for the afternoon which was nice for all of us. Doe is doing a lot better from the last time we saw her, but is still too weak to permanently come home from the nursing home. Emmi was excited to see Doe and Pa again, but Lily wasn't to sure. She held on tight to Papa every time we tried to sit her on their laps. The kids did great on the total of 8 hours spent in the car. Emmi slept the entire way home, but Lily woke up after 30 minutes and wouldn't go back to sleep until we reached our home exit on IH 35. Stubborn little girl! It was a great visit and we are so glad we went!

Sonntag haben wir Doe in East Texas mit einem spontanen Besuch ueberrascht. Sie hat sich super gefreut und wir konnten sie fuer den Nachmittag aus der Reha/Seniorenheim nach Hause zu Pa mitnehmen, was fuer uns alle schoen war. Doe geht es besser, aber sie ist zu schwach auf den Beinen um schon wieder nach Hause zu koennen. Emmi hat sich gefreut Doe und Pa wiederzusehen, waehrend Lily sich nicht so sicher war. Sie hat sich immer schoen an Papa festgehalten wenn wir sie Doe oder Pa auf den Schoss setzen wollten. Die Kinder haben die insgesamt 8 Stunden Autofahrt gut verkraftet. Emmi hat den gesamten Rueckweg geschlafen, waehrend Lily nach einer halben Stunde wieder aufgewacht ist und dann erst wieder eingeschlafen ist als wir bei unserer Ausfahrt von der Interstate runter sind.

Twinkler Park (as Emmi calls it ;) )

2010-07-12T19:46:00.000-07:00

4th of July

2010-07-10T06:29:00.001-07:00

Wir hatten wie jedes Jahr viel Spass am Unabhaengigkeitstag. Zuerst haben wir uns unseren Nachbarschaftsumzug angeschaut und sind dann zum Festival im Park gegangen. Emmi fand die Huepfburgen und den Kinderzug ganz toll und Lily all das Essen das es ueberall gab. MeMe und Granddaddy waren das ganze Wochenende zu Besuch was beide Kinder super fanden. Am Abend haben wir uns diesmal nicht das Feuerwerk in Wells Branch angeschaut sondern sind stattdessen in die Innenstadt zu Papa's Buero gefahren wo wir eine super Aussicht auf's Feuerwerk hatten vom 22. Stock.

We love 4th of July!! As usual we started out watching our neighborhood parade and then spent a long time at the festival at the park. Emmi had a great time in the Jumping Castle and riding the kiddie train and Lily was happy as long as the food kept coming her way. MeMe and Granddaddy spent the weekend with us too which the kids loved! We didn't watch the Wells Branch Fireworks this year but went downtown to Papa's office instead, where we watched the fireworks from the 22nd floor. Both kids stayed up until 11:30 pm!

Dies und Das

2010-06-30T11:56:00.000-07:00

- Lily sitzt am Tisch und isst einen Pfirsich und der Saft laeuft von ihrem Kinn und Armen. Emmi schaut Lily an und vermeldet dann ganz besorgt: "Schau Mama! Lily schmilzt!"

- Emmi redet manchmal im Schlaf. Letzte Nacht hat sie zweimal hintereinander gesagt: "Mama ist dumm!" Im wachen Zustand hat sie sich das noch nicht sagen getraut!

- Lily hatte gerade zum dritten Mal eine Nebenhoehlen und Ohrenentzuendung. Arme Maus!

- Lily hat vorgestern durch die Nacht geschlafen! Sie war einmal kurz um 10 Uhr wach und ist dann erst wieder um halb acht aufgewacht. Ich hab dreimal nach ihr geschaut weil ich mir sicher war dass sie wieder krank ist, war sie aber nicht. Letzte Nacht hat sich das leider nicht wiederholt, da ist sie wie ueblich mehrmals aufgewacht :(

- Ich hab mir eine neue Kamera gekauft und freu mich schon aufs Wochenende, damit ich endlich dazu komme sie richtig auszuprobieren. Ich habe auch meinen ersten Fotokurs angefangen, jeden Samstag fuer 3 Stunden.

- Lily "redet" mehrere Worte. Sie sagt "Mama", "mehr", "Kaka", "Baby", "Wauwau", "Alle Alle"

- Emmi ist 100 % zweisprachig. Ihr deutsch ist immer noch besser als ihr Englisch, aber im Englischen holt sie jetzt auch auf. Ich kann ihr auf deutsch sagen dass sie z.B. den Papa fragen soll ob er noch etwas zu trinken moechte und sie dreht sich um und fragt auf English: "Do you need a drink Papa?" Sie antwortet mir auf deutsch auch wenn ich Englisch mit ihr spreche und Dugan auf Englisch auch wenn er mit ihr deutsch spricht. Sie hat jetzt auch eine Freundin in ihrem Alter mit der sie nur deutsch spricht, was super ist!

Ein Tag am See

2010-06-21T20:46:00.001-07:00

Samstag haben wir mit Freunden an Lake Travis verbracht und hatten super viel Spass. Emmi hat uns immer wieder ganz stolz erzaehlt dass sie ganz alleine schwimmen kann (mit Schwimmgurt, Nudel und Schwimmfluegeln ;) ). Um Lily brauchten wir uns keine Sorgen machen dass sie uns ins Wasser faellt solange sie genug Nachschub hatte an Spinataufstrich, und zur allgemeinen Unterhaltung sind andauernd Leute vom Dach gefallen. Was fuer ein schoener Tag!

We spent Saturday with friends at Lake Travis. Emmi kept telling us how she can swim all by herself (with vest, arm floaties and noodle ;) ), we didn't need to worry about Lily falling in the water as long as there was an adequate supply of Spinach Dip which kept her busy and there were people falling of the roof for everyones entertainment. What a great day!

On top of the world

2010-06-21T19:56:00.000-07:00

Spielverderber

2010-06-21T19:17:00.000-07:00

Da haetten uns diese Amis mit ihrer Uebervorsichtigkeit schon fast mal wieder den Spass verdorben. Einer unser Lieblingsspringbrunnen hatte Probleme mit der Filterung und da ist irgendjemand eingefallen, dass man fuer die 4 kleinen Becken am Rand die ohne Witz 1 meter x 1 meter gross sind und 15 cm tief, eigentlich Rettungsschwimmer einstellen muesste um Sicherheitsstandards einzuhalten. Wirklich??????? Kein Witz!!!! Und da es fuer die Stadt zu teuer geworden waere da staendig jemand hinzustellen, der jeder Zeit bereit ist kleine Kinder aus diesen Untiefen zu retten, hat man erst erwogen den Springbrunnen ganz abzustellen und nach einigem Protest sich entschieden die Becken mit Beton aufzufuellen und den Springbrunnen Bereich wiederzueroeffen. Da haben wir uns gefreut und gleich mal wieder das kuehle Nass genossen...

Birthday Countdown

2010-06-18T12:59:00.001-07:00

Emmi has been talking about her upcoming birthday ever since Lily's Birthday. She talks about it EVERY SINGLE DAY! It's her most favorite topic. It usually starts of with her telling me her biggest birthday wish (as if I could forget, given the fact she has told me only about 200 times). She wants a BIG Baby for her birthday. No, not a real baby, that's what I asked her the first time she said it, just a big baby doll. She wants it so bad it's so hard for me to not give it to her before. But I am not, I actually don't even have it yet, but I ordered it at the toy store. And we now have to go to the toy store occassionally just so she can visit a similar baby doll that they have on display. And every time we have to leave without the baby it's like she is a Mama dropping off her baby at daycare for the first time. Hugging, Kissing, and telling me how much she loves "her" big baby and how she can't wait that long for her birthday anymore. I can't wait for her birthday either!

She also loves to talk about her birthday cake. She has changed her mind several times about what kind of cake she wants from a strawberry cake, to a bunny cake like Lily, to a duck cake, back to a strawberry cake. She has now settled on a Pony Cake and I told her she couldn't change her mind anymore since she insisted on buying the pan for it at Michaels. Now she just changes her mind about what color her pony cake should be.

We were planning to have a big Pool Party on the weekend before her birthday but since we finally realized that having a invitation list of 70 people for a three year olds birthday party was somewhat ridiculous we decided to just have a small party on her actual birthday at our house and she get's to invite all her friends that are actually her age. Which also makes it less stressful for me since I'll be in the middle of packing to get ready to take the Girls back to Germany for four weeks.

And she also tells me how everybody is going to sing Happy Birthday for her and SHE get's to blow out the candles which is going to make the other kids very sad because they don't get to blow them out. I am pretty sure this thought stems from when we are at a birthday party and she gets upset because she doesn't get to blow out the candles.

6 1/2 more weeks and our little girl will be three years old! It's going to go by fast for me but I know it's going to feel like an eternity to Emmi...

Tire Swing

2010-06-14T09:54:00.000-07:00

Wir sind ueber's Wochenende zu MeMe und Granddaddy gefahren. Emmi hat sich sooo gefreut! Sie waere auch ohne uns gefahren. Freitag Abend um 5 Uhr hatten wir fertig gepackt aber Papa war noch in der Arbeit.

Emmi war dann soweit: "Koennen wir jetzt fahren Mama?"

Ich: "Wir muessen noch auf den Papa warten."

Emmi: "Warum?"

Ich: "Weil sonst der Papa ganz traurig ist wenn wir ohne ihn fahren."

Emmi: "Wir koennen ja schon fahren und der Papa kann dann mit seinem Auto kommen!"

Leider hatte Uroma Nanny Freitag morgen einen leichten Schlaganfall und wurde ins Krankenhaus eingewiesen wo die Kinder sie nicht besuchen konnten. Ihr geht es aber schon wieder besser und wir fahren im Juli nochmal nach Houston um sie zu besuchen.

Ansonsten hatten die Kinder ein super schoenes Wochenende. Lily ist ganz verliebt in alle Maenner der Familie. Papa, Opa und Grandaddy sind ihr am liebsten. Sie bevorzugt sie sogar manchmal ueber mich, was neu fuer mich ist nachdem Emmi immer ein Mama Kind war und ist. Dieses Wochenende hat sie sich ganz ihrem Grandaddy gewidmet :) . Grandaddy hat fuer Emmi eine Reifenschaukel aufgehaengt was Emmi total super fand und wir auch ;) . Ich glaub das ist die einzige Schaukel bei der Emmi sich nicht beschwert dass sie nicht hoch genug schaukelt...

We went to MeMe and Grandaddys house over the weekend. Emmi was soooo excited! She didn't care if any of us were coming, she was going for sure!

At 5 pm on Friday Dugan was still at work but we had everything ready packed and Emmi asked: "Can we go now?"

Me: "No, we have to wait for Papa to come home."

Emmi: "Why?"

Me: Because Papa will be very sad if we go without him."

Emmi: "I know! We can go now and Papa can come in his car!"

Unfortunately Nanny had been admitted to the hospital on Friday for a mild stroke so the girls didn't get to see her. But luckily Nanny is doing better and hopefully we'll be able to go see her again in July. Other then that the girls had a fantastic weekend. Lily is in love with all the guys in the family. She is all about Papa, Opa and Grandaddy. She even prefers them over me sometimes which is new to me after Emmi ,who is such a Mamas Girl. Grandaddy build a super tall tireswing for Emmi which is really awesome. She loved it. And so did Mama and Papa ;) . I think it's the only swing where Emmi didn't complain that it didn't go high enough.

The Mystery of Age

2010-05-29T19:33:00.000-07:00

Emmi has been trying to understand time. Especially periods of time. She understands that she is a big girl, but that she is still going to get bigger. And she remembers Lily being a little baby but now "Lily can walk and say MaMaMaMaMa". We've been telling her stories about us being little and doing things just like her and she loves hearing those stories. But she can't really figure out where she was then. So when I tell her how I was also scared of Monsters when I was a little girl like her and how my Mom, her Oma, told me I didn't have to be scared she told me: "No, I was your Mama and I held you!" She thinks she was big when I was little. Cute! She generally understand that her grandparents are Mama and Papas parents but it's kind of hard for her to figure out the details.

All she wants to be when she grows up is to be a Mama. Everything is Mama's and Baby's to her. She'll see big bubbles and little bubbles for example and go: Oh look Mama, there are Mama Bubbles with their babies! She divides Boys and Girls into : "He is going to be a Papa, and she is going to be a Mama." She loves seeing Pregnant Women and loves to talk about the babies in their bellies and how she is going to have a baby in her belly when she is "really big" (with her hand up in the air big ;)) I explained to her recently what twins are since we know a couple and one of my friends from playgroup is pregnant with twins. So now Emmi wants two babies in her belly when she is big and a Mama. The more babies the better...

Aus Emmi's Mund

2010-05-29T19:14:00.000-07:00

- Letzte Woche waren wir gerade auf dem Heimweg vom Spielplatz und Emmi wollte wissen ob Papa schon zu hause war. Ich hab ihr erklaert dass Papa noch in der Arbeit ist weil er Geld verdienen muss damit wir uns was zu essen kaufen koennen. Erstmal kam nichts mehr, dann zwei Minuten spaeter ihre Loesung: "Ich weiss, Ich hab Geld in meiner Spardose!" Ich: "Ja, aber Mama und Papa brauchen auch Geld." Emmi: "Ich teil mein Geld mit Papa."

Waere das nicht schoen wenn das Leben so einfach waere?

-Emmi braucht manchmal ewig auf der Toilette. Als sie letztens mal wieder eine lange Sitzung hatte und ich ihr zugerufen hab ob sie fertig ist bekamm ich zur Antwort: "Nein Mama, die Eier sind noch nicht fertig ausgebruetet." Tja, jetzt weiss ich endlich warum sie immer so lange braucht ;) .

-Oh, und wo wir schon bei Toilettengeschichten sind: Kuerzlich erzaehlt sie mir bei jedem Essen ob das Essen/Trinken Pipi oder Kaka wird. Sehr appetitlich. In Restaurants bin ich dann manchmal ganz froh dass sie meistens deutsch spricht, das waere glaub ich manchmal ein bisschen zuviel Information fuer die Nebentische :)

-Letztens im Einkaufszentrum haben wir eine kleinwuechsige Frau gesehen die nur ein bisschen groesser als Emmi war, was Emmi sehr irritiert hat. Sie hat sich erstmal bei mir erkundigt ob das eine Mama war. Ich hab ihr erklaert dass die Frau eine Erwachsene war und dass es Leute gibt die ganz klein sind und Leute die ganz gross sind und alles zwischendrin. Emmis Antwort: "Okay, dann darf sie auch Cola trinken!"

Hyatt Wild Oaks Ranch

2010-05-29T18:39:00.001-07:00

Wir haben Lily's Geburtstagswochenende in einem Resort in San Antonio verbracht (ca. 1 1/2 Std. von unserem Haus). Wir waren letztes Jahr schon mal fuer ein paar Tage da und es hat uns so gut gefallen, dass wir diesmal mit Grosseltern und Tanten wieder gekommen sind. Emmi fand es toll Cocktails am Pool zu trinken und mit ihrem Schwimmreifen durch den kuenstlichen Fluss zu treiben. Lily fand den Strand am besten und hat viel im Sand gespielt. Emmi hat ihren ersten Sonnenbrand bekommen was nicht so toll war, aber irgendwie war es wert den ganze Spass den sie hatte. Sie hat Stunden im Pool verbracht! Sie war super stolz auf ihren Seepferdchen Schwimmreifen. Einmal hat sie mit einem 4 jaehrigen Jungen am Strand gespielt und kam dann angelaufen um ihr Seepferd zu holen um es dem Jungen zu zeigen wie sie uns erklaert hat. Ich glaub ihm war das ziemlich egal, aber sie hatte das Gefuehl sie hat ihn maechtig beeindruckt ;). Es war so ein schoenes Wochenende!

We spent Lily's Birthday Weekend at Hyatt Wild Oaks Ranch in San Antonio. It's a resort we went to last year for a couple of days and liked it so much we came back to with lots of family to celebrate Lily's Birthday. Emmi had a great time sipping (virgin) cocktails and floating the lazy river and Lily loved playing at the "Beach". Emmi also got her first sunburn ever, which was bad but also totally worth the fun she had. She spent hours in the pool! She was so proud of her little sea horse swim ring . At one time she was playing with an about 4 year old boy at the beach and then came running over grabbing her "seahorse" telling us she wanted to show it to the boy :) . I don't think he cared but she thought she really impressed him ;) . We had such a good time all weekend!

There once was a little baby...

2010-05-27T19:03:00.000-07:00

...who wasn't so little anymore...

...so she decided to have a party for her very first birthday.

So she put on her party dress...

...and invited lots of people who love her very much.

And then she had fun...

...hanging out...

...trying out her gifts...

...and eating cake of course...

...lots of it!

The End.

One year old!

2010-05-24T14:23:00.001-07:00

Our Baby Girl is turning one year old today. It seems like yesterday that she was a tiny little baby and we brought her home from the hospital. But has she grown and changed since!

She is quite the personality!

Very determined and opinionated. And very cute and funny. It's like she tries to be especially cute if she knows she is doing something she isn't supposed to, like climbing up the stairs, or playing with the phones, or unloading cabinets, or picking Mamas flowers, or eating food off the ground, or climbing furniture, or playing with the phones... We can tell by the big smily grin on her face that she is about to do something she isn't supposed too. And a lot of times she'll shake her head like telling herself no while she is doing it.

I can't decide if that's fortunate or unfortunate but she is a very good climber with very good balance, so at least she seldom falls off any of the things she manages to climb on. The unfortunate part would be that she is already able to climb on all those things she really isn't supposed to.

Oh, and she is a great eater. The only thing she won't eat is Baby Food. She want's what everyone else is eating and lots of it. She thinks our plates are the menu and she just needs to order. She'll start pointing at someones plate and as we start pointing out different food on it to her she shakes her head until we get to the desired food and she starts nodding. She literally eats anything. She has favorites but only if there is a selection. She prefers strong flavors very unlike her sister. She loves to suck lemons. Weird! Lily is not only a good eater she is also good at eating. We've been giving her a real plate ever since she started tablefoods and she hasn't dropped one, she also drinks out of a real glass and is doing good eating "sticky" things like yogurt with a spoon by herself.

This nodding/shaking her head really works out well for our "conversations" with her. She can answer simple questions like "Do you want to nurse?", "Are you hungry/thirsty?", "Is it time for a nap?", "Do you need your pacifier?". She understands a lot, but her spoken vocabulary really only includes "Mama", "Papa", "Nein" (German for no) and some animal sounds.

And she loves books. She has two favorite books about farm animals and she stalks us with them in her hands until we sit down and read them to her.

She loves her big sister and wants to play with her ( and her stuff) all the time. Much to Emmi's dismay sometimes. There is already lots of fighting going between the two of them with Lily being very vocal about her opinion too. But there are also all those sisterly moments of laughing and playing together that we love watching. Emmi is about the only person that can make Lily laugh out loud without having to pin her down and tickle her.

Her sleeping habits aren't really great. She isn't anywhere close to sleeping through the night yet. I have started night weaning her, only nursing her once around midnight whenever she wakes up and we bring her into our bed with us. (Yes, we still co-sleep) She doesn't mind to much not getting to nurse several times at night anymore like she used to, but it also didn't make her sleep any better as I was hoping. She still wakes up several times. Sometimes she goes right back to sleep, sometimes she is awake for up to an hour. No pattern. She does take two consistent naps during the day though. Not very long naps but at least naps I can plan on. And I can't really expect her to sleep through the night since her sister just now started to sleep through the night most nights (in her own bed!). I do hope it doesn't take Lily quite as long to do so.

I could sit here all night thinking about all the little things Lily does. It's so much fun watching her explore, learn and grow. How much she likes animals and gets so excited when she sees one, how she plays with her baby dolls kissing and rocking them and putting them in the play stoller, how she imitates her sister cooking in the playkitchen, how she stares strangers down until they smile at her, how she gets excited about taking a bath, how much she loves the water, how she rolls around in the bed in the morning trying to get as many snuggles as she can, ... And everyday I think how I just want to stop time for a little bit so she wouldn't change so fast, grow up so fast, how I want her to stay just like she is just a little bit longer. But everyday she learns something new gets a little bit older and I get excited how she can do more things, tries new things. So I guess there would never be a good moment to stop time, so I'll just have to try to soak in as much of my baby as I can and try to remember. I feel so fortunate to be able to stay home with my babies and watch them grow. There is nothing I'd rather do in the world.

I love you Lily! Happy 1st Birthday Baby Girl!

No shirts required...

2010-05-10T14:51:00.000-07:00

Waterfountain Season Opening

2010-05-10T13:58:00.000-07:00

Back in Austin we were greeted with very warm temperatures, so we kicked off the water fountain season for the girls. Lily loves fountains, just like her big sister! Luckily there are fountains to play in all over the place and at 97 degrees in May I wouldn't mind getting in myself!

Zurueck in Austin wurden wir gleich wieder mit hochsommerlichen Temperaturen begruesst. Zur Abkuehlung bei 35 Grad im Schatten ging es dann gleich wieder zu unseren Liblingsspringbrunnen. Lily findet die genauso toll wie Ihre grosse Schwester! Bei 35 Grad im Schatten und das schon im Mai wuerde ich da gerne selber mitspielen.

Auf dem Bauernhof

2010-04-26T01:08:00.000-07:00

Wir haben unser letztes Wochenende in Deutschland auf einem Bauernhof im Allgaeu verbracht. Die Kinder waren total begeistert. Wir durften zuschauen beim melken und wie die Kaelber mit der Flasche gefuettert wurden und haben frische Milch bekommen. Es gab eine Katze, einen Hund, einen Hasen und Schafe zum liebhaben und fuettern und ausserdem viel Platz zum rumrennen und Spass haben.

We spent our last weekend in Germany on a farm close to the alps. We got to watch how they melked the cows and Emmi "helped" feed the calfs with the bottle. And we got to drink Milk straight from the cow. They also had a dog, a cat, sheeps and a bunny to feed and love on. The kids had a great great time! We'll be back next time Papa comes to Germany with us!