Angel & Devil

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!

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!

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

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

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

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

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

- 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

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!