stuehrenbergs at home

Rock 'n' Roll Birthday

2010-01-09T22:17:00.006+01:00

Jacob's birthday party this year was a rock star party (thank you Linda for the supplies!). We had our two boys plus seven of Jay's friends. We had it at a music school. The day was snowy and the storm "Daisy" has been the talk of the town all week. But we made it through and everyone had fun. One friend of Jacob's, Phillip, said "this was the very best day I ever had my whole life." Another riend, Julius said "I've never had so much fun before." So I guess it was a good party!

At the top you see Jay's birthday sign (Floris was originally also going to have his party with Jay. It turned out otherwise, but his birthday was still today anyway). You can see Julius jumping and the boys drumming.

Here you see Nils ater his KISS ace painting. The second photo is Jay's riend Luca. Jay and Luca share a drum lesson each week. The cool cat in the sunglasses is Jona. Jona's older brother, Tristan, is Jay's friend from Kindergarten. Jona was bummed he wasn't invited (sorry!), but we gave him some temp tattoos and he was good.

Here is Caleb with his backstage pass (with a photo- photoshopped, of course!) and then Julius and the KISS boys.

We had karaoke, opened by Jay (Smells like Teen Spirit) and Nils (Monkeywrench) and stage diving onto pillows. Overall, it was a rocking good time!

Last of all, a band was practicing that day at the music school. They agreed to play some song or the boys (Nirvana, AC/DC and others) and the kids LOVED it.

New Year's Day

2010-01-03T19:01:00.005+01:00

There was no daycare at the hotel on New Year's Day until noon (how dare they!), so we spent the morning playing with the kids outside. We visited the animals, went sledding (notice Jay has decided that sledding is safer with some extra padding), and played on the playground. The last photo is of the awards ceremony. I have no idea why they got medals, they didn't do anything this past week. The week before Jay came in sixth in the kiddie slalom. I think there may have only been six participants, but I am not sure.

Swimming Time

2010-01-03T18:53:00.003+01:00

We went swimming almost every day after skiing. It was a ncie way to end our day together- pick up the kids from the daycare and take them swimming before dinner together. Plus, the water really helped our aches and pains!

The pool was amazing. it had a panoramic view of the ski and sledding hill outside and the mountains. There is nothing like being there at dusk, when the sky gets that perfect dark blue color, looking out on the mountains and snow while in a warm swimming pool. The pool was really one of the nicest parts of our holiday. As Jay put it, it was one of his favorites (waffles every morning, picking out his own food, the daycare and Kinderschnapps were his others).

Jay and Nils on the Mountain

2010-01-03T18:34:00.007+01:00

At the gondola station and on the gondola.

Nils, already bored and waiting for his turn to ski with M. Never mind that he quit ski lessons after one day! Jay on the rope pull.

M and Jay coming down the practice slope. Jay enjoying the view and M and Nils on the rope pull.

M and Nils. You can see Nils fell here. I could hear him, all the way at the bottom of the slope.

Jay again with M. He skied himself down this time. Pizzastuck is snowplow and Pommes (fries) is the call for parallel skis.

New Year's Eve

2010-01-03T18:29:00.005+01:00

New Year's Eve featured a party for the kids, fireworks, and a bonfire. You can see here how some kids are already tired. Ours lasted until 21:30 and then we had to put them in bed- not even the fireworks or kids playing in the hall right outside our room woke them up!

Jay and Nils loved going to the bar and ordering a Kinderschnapps (Sprite). The bartender would give it to them in a small snifter and they would toast and drink it with the other kids.

The bonfire at midnight also had Gluehwein (warm mulled wine) and it was perfect in the cold weather.

Diana Skiing

2010-01-03T18:09:00.004+01:00

Yes, I finally learned how to ski! I took lessons for three days and I learned a lot. I was supposed to have four days of lessons, but someone (M!) returned my boots instead of his.

Here I am in the gondola, deathly scared. I HATE the gondola, especially when it just stops in the middle. For some reason, I am perfectly fine on the open chair lift. Go figure.

Here I am on the first run. I swear the hill is steeper when I am standing over it! By the second week, I made it down the entire mountain (not easy!) with Michael. I will post Jay's ski photos next.

Christmas in Austria

2010-01-03T17:43:00.006+01:00

We have multiple Christmas traditions here. In Germany, the Christkind brings the presents on Christmas Eve, usually in the evening. We took that tradition, as well as Santa from the US (stockings only, to be filled overnight for the kids to discover on the morning of the 25th).

We wrote to both the Christkind and Santa to tell them we would be in Austria. The Christkind brought Jay his (finally!) lightsaber and Nils a Star Wars Captain Rex costume. Since we were still (trying to remain) asleep when the kids dug into their stockings, we have no photos of it. But the Christkind won the best gift prize this year anyway.

On the 26th, it snowed almost all day. The snow is too powdery to make a snowman or even snowballs, but we took some clumps of snow we found and buried Nils.

Food, Glorious Food!

2009-12-31T15:02:00.009+01:00

Nils gives the food here two thumbs up!

Jay eating with the kids from the Kinderbetreuung (Kiddie Care). He doesn't want to have anything to do with us anymore!

As practically everyone knows, Jay and Nils are not interested in food. For Jay, even sweets and dessert are not too interesting. Except ice cream, of course. Every night there is ice cream for dessert here. Naturally, the kids will eat so they can have ice cream. But it doesn't stop there- they really eat quite well here!

Austria at Night

2009-12-31T14:52:00.003+01:00

Here are some photos of us at night. The hotel had a nighttime stroll with torch-candles. We also went to the local Weihnachtsmarkt. The temperature was -16 or so and very, very cold, so a Gluehwein was very welcome.

Austria Holiday

2009-12-31T13:47:00.005+01:00

We were in Austria for two weeks to ski and relax. M was overdue for a long vacation and the boys and I really should learn to ski. We chose an amazing hotel; we can't believe how lucky we were. We searched and searched for weeks on the internet, not knowing if we wanted a hotel or a house, not knowing which part of Austria we wanted to be in, nothing. We were happy with our choice before we arrived, but once we got there- WOW. We fell into holiday mode right away, normally it takes a couple of days to finally relax (and the fourteen hour drive, full or traffic, did not help either!).

I'm just adding a few photos at a time. Here are some from our first day, when we decided to go outside sledding. We met the cat (Amadeus) and the kids had a lot of fun playing with him.

Football Ole!

2009-12-31T13:32:00.004+01:00

We took the kids to their first professional soccer game. They've been to hockey games, but never soccer (in Germany, go figure). Our local team worked its way from the third league to the second league last season. So we went to go see them on a Sunday afternoon with some friends. At the end of the game (we won), our team was in the top two of the table. At the end of each season, the top two teams from each league move into the league above and the bottom two fall to the league below. Needless to say, the crowd was pretty excited.

ps- it was COLD too. Note Nils in his hooligan gear. If an adult came dressed like that, the stadium staff would probably not let him in!

Zoo 2

2009-11-21T12:53:00.007+01:00

I think I've probably blogged about the zoo a dozen times, not just once. We had a beautiful fall day and took the kids to the zoo. In the fall, you never know when the good weather will end and the endless rain will begin here, so any nice weather needs to be taken advantage of!

This zoo has a delphinarium, with show, so we got the extra tickets to the show. We got a little wet (exciting for Nils, tragic for Jay), but it was a great performance by the dolphins.

Last of all we have two photos of Nils: one as a clone trooper (in his own self-made costume, note the "armor" on his arms and head) and in his birthday crown on the 2nd.

Portfolio Day, Chez S, Vivaldi

2009-11-10T12:30:00.005+01:00

Jay's school had Portfolio Day for the parents. Basically, the parents are invited into the classroom for about half an hour and the children take them on a tour of their work. You can see Caleb, Jay's friend, in the background here. He is half Asian and has the same haircut as Jay. He also is an Adidas freak, so I wonder if people mix the two of them up.

Here we have Nils eating his lunch in his "restaurant-" he doesn't want to eat with me at the table anymore! At least he's eating....

We took the boys to see a Kinderkonzert of Vivaldi at the symphony hall. It was done really well. Each season was a prince, trying to woo a princess with his music. Afterward, we went to a restaurant and enjoyed a coffee while the kids played.

Sleepover

2009-10-07T08:27:00.002+01:00

The kids slept over at a friend's house on Monday night (see Green Day concert, below). Everything went well, the boys know the house and family really well since we have been getting together about once a week for three or four years. Jay and Nils slept together in one bed. when my friend, Susanne, went in to say goodnight one last time, she told Jacob that if he needed anything or was scared, he could call her. And then Jacob responded "why would I need to do that? I have Nils here with me." Awwww ....

(OK, I paraphrased that since I wasn't actually there to hear it. But it was something like that and very sweet.)

We get Susanne''s kids next weekend and Jay and Nils are already deciding on what games they'll play. I think a sleepover in the playroom with a fort may be part of it. Time to start planning!

Do You Have the Time...

2009-10-06T12:48:00.004+01:00

to read about the Green Day concert? We went to see them and they were fantastic!

Of course, it was more a Billie Joe Armstrong show. He briefly introduced the drummer (Tre Cool) and didn't even mention bassist Mike Dirnt. The show was great, but we got there later than we would have liked. We thought that 8:00 meant GD wouldn't come on until 9:00 or even 9:30, but when we got there at 8:35 (the tickets gave the start time as 8:00), we had already missed the first two or so songs. Not too bad, but the opening song is always awesome. They played for over 2.5 hours, so we definitely got our money's worth!

I have a couple video. I was hoping to attach a song from Dookie called "she." It is Jay's favorite Green Day song because the drums are so great in it. I was really happy that they played it so I could show him it. But the video is too long since we recorded the entire song for Jay. Sorry, hope this other one will do!

Kartoffelfest

2009-10-06T12:29:00.005+01:00

I don't think a month can go by without some kind of Fest going on here. This one was for the harvest, Kartoffelfest (potato festival).

Before we went to the Kartoffelfest, we went on a bike ride and the kids collected conkers (horse chestnuts) to throw into the water. Here are some photos of the kids gathering them up. I liked how the sun was shining down on them as they gathered their chestnuts.

You can see the kids here on the playground (Jay climbing again!) and Jay as spiderman.

Jay the Climber

2009-10-03T18:59:00.002+01:00

I think this speaks for itself.... :)

AWC Golden Anniversary

2009-09-26T18:50:00.003+01:00

My club celebrated its 50th Anniversary this year. We went to the party at a castle in the area. Here are some photos.

Airport Games

2009-09-13T17:47:00.010+01:00

Nils here. I'm writing to tell you all about the great day we're going to have.

Let's start the day off right and slurp (inhale!) some cereal. Then we're off to the annual airport family festival. This year's theme is track and field and they will have all sorts of "events" for the us to compete in.

But no-one can compete, of course, without a proper uniform! That means the first stop has to be the face painter....

Now I can go hunting. Of course, there isn't so much to hunt for in the airport. Lucky mum and dad (and their wallets!) are here.

And on to the sporting events- bungee pull, 40m dash, pole vaulting, long jump. And there are all sorts of other things for kids to do- meet the city mascot, arts and crafts, get eaten by a crocodile....

Whew! What a day, I'm beat. After taking off that tiger face, though, I sure do love to get my fingers all into mummy's face cream.

Nils' First Day of Kindergarten

2009-08-07T17:34:00.000+01:00

OK, Kindergarten is the German word for preschool. Nils missed the cutoff by one month and had to wait a year. A very long year. Last year was the first time our state ever established a birth-date cut off and I was disappointed that we just missed it. Oh well, that meant that he got a spot in a Kindergarten that we greatly prefer over the one Jay attended. It is a wonderful place and since the first day, he has never looked back. He goes 8-12:30 and has the option to return 2:30-4:30. He usually goes 1-2 afternoons a week- they have all sorts of special afternoon programs like treasure hunting, baking or pottery.

End-of-Summer Odds and Ends

2009-08-01T17:17:00.005+01:00

A mosaic that Jay made in an art course over the summer. It's a crane. I was kind of bummed that the school put it on the wall- I wanted it for home!

Kirmes

2009-07-25T17:07:00.001+01:00

Some photos from the annual Kirmes. It's kind of like a county fair, minus the animals.

San Francisco/ASIJ 20

2009-07-15T16:52:00.008+01:00

Some photos from my trip to San Francisco for my ASIJ 20-year reunion.

Lago di Como, odds and ends

2009-06-16T16:12:00.007+01:00

Day Six took us to Menaggio and on a train ride (the car kind) through the city. We also went swimming and enjoyed a dinner on the terrace. The ice cream man came right after dinner, so of course we had to get some for the kids. Three ices in one day, they were pretty excited. I don't think two in one day (prior to this holiday) ever happened, let alone three!

Lago di Como V (cinque)

2009-06-16T15:13:00.006+01:00

My biggest wish for our Italian holiday? To eat really good, really authentic Italian food from a mom and pop kind of place. Agritourisma are all over the place, but many can be quite touristy and not what I really wanted. We had a recommendation for one up in the mountains with excellent food and an amazing view of the Alps (not the lake this time!). So we took the almost one hour drive to this place. The views were amazing, the food looked delicious, and..... Nils melted down. So badly that we had to leave early and not eat. I don't know if I'm over it yet. The small bit of anitpasti that we got was fantastic though.

On an upside, on our way back, we found a wine place and got some great wine where the locals shop. We also (before the Agritourisma fiasco) walked about in our town to find the waterfall that we'd been hearing for entire stay. (We did find it).

Lago di Como IV (quattro)

2009-06-16T14:54:00.006+01:00

Day Four was sunny and we took full advantage of the weather. Linda, Sacha and Soffian went their own way for the day, so we decided to try and find a place to hike and see some more nature. We took all sorts of winding roads, trying to get to a point on our map that our Navi could not seem to take us. We tried to find it ourselves, but that wasn't any good either. Somehow, we ended up on a mountain road that got narrower and narrower, rockier and bumpier, and more fun with each curve. At the end was a little path and we walked in, not knowing what to expect. We hiked up quite a bit, but since we weren't prepared, we had no water or snacks and the boys started getting thirsty. So we hiked back to our car and went back to the house to go swimming.

Lago di Como III (tre)

2009-06-16T14:35:00.005+01:00

Day Three saw us on another boat ride, only to save the increasingly cranky boys from meltdown. Two days of rain and no swimming (with a pool teasing them, right outside our window) were too much. So even though the weather was not so great, we took a ferry ride to Bellagio. I really wish we could have gone back and seen it on a good day. It was beautiful, with medieval steps leading to the top of the city. The start of the day you see here is the market in Lenno. We were hoping that an icon artist that we saw on Sunday would be there, but, alas, she was not.

Lago di Como II (due)

2009-06-16T14:08:00.006+01:00

Day Two (Monday) was was a rainy one, so we couldn't do too much with the boys. We ended up going to nearby Gravedona to visit the beautifully preserved church (11th century) and walk around. Here are some photos and, yes, that is Nils wearing a Batman mask in the church. Some arguments are just not worth having. We also went rock collecting (I have two rock hunters) and threw some pebbles into the lake.

After the church, I wanted to see if we could get to a church up in the mountains that we could see from our balcony. So we took a small, winding road (the turnoff looked like a driveway, we almost missed it!) to a church in the clouds.... only to find it was a different one than the one we could see from home! But this one was much higher and had an amazing view.

Lago di Como I (uno)

2009-06-16T13:49:00.007+01:00

So here we are, back from our Italian holiday. It was nice, but I think that Switzerland was a bigger hit for the kids. One more church or scenic view and we would have had a rebellion on our hands! Linda, Sacha and Soffian (my sis and her family) came along and it was great to hang out and have fun together. We have to plan another trip together again!

Anyway, it was absolutely beautiful and our house was great. We had a nice view of the lake (only 500 m away) and a private pool. The kids loved the pool, but it was cold. The day we arrived was horrific, with pouring rain almost the whole day. Sunday was beautiful, then we had another two days of rain and clouds. Finally, for our last few days, we had beautiful, sunny weather.

Here are a few photos from Day 2 (Sunny Sunday). We went to a city called Lenno and visited a villa known for its gardens. We go for walks on the woods quite often and it was strange to me to see woods with pam trees and ferns in them. The kids enjoyed running about and looking for lizards. We then took a water taxi from the villa back into town, a bit hit for the boys (all five of them!). We (they, I don't eat ice cream) had ice cream overlooking the water and everyone was happy.

Last of Soccer

2009-05-31T11:43:00.007+01:00

Soccer for this school year has just finished. Here are some photos from the last week. (Including when Nils "lost" his pants while running!) The photo of me is, once again, by Nils. He is really turning into a good photographer!

Nils and Nolan II

2009-05-31T11:39:00.002+01:00

Another play date with Nolan, this time at his house.

Play Date with Alexander & Katarina

2009-05-31T11:32:00.003+01:00

The day after we got back from Oma's, the kids had a play date with our friends Alexander and Katarina (their parents were not there this time). After a bunch of playing, we all grilled and had dinner together. It looks like Jay and Nils have been instructing Alexander and Katarina on how to use a light-saber.

Visting Andre

2009-05-31T11:26:00.004+01:00

Andre, Michael's cousin, is Jay's godfather. We went to visit him as well during our visit to Oma. He has an 18 month-old son, Max, and a newborn daughter. (Ouch!) Andre got extra points from the kids for giving them a whole bunch of light-sabers from Kelloggs. I think they must eat a lot of cornflakes in that house.

Visiting Oma

2009-05-31T11:10:00.009+01:00

We went to visit Oma and Kurt last weekend. Here are some photos from our visit to a huge park. There were a lot of different playgrounds and one garden in the park with a koi pond. The kids got the fish to come and "kiss" their fingers. By the way, what is with Jay and Nils touching the statues' bottoms?

Crafty Nils

2009-05-18T13:24:00.003+01:00

Here we have Nils doing some crafts. He loves glue. He has (on more than one occasion) simply spread glue all over a piece of paper and given it to me as a picture. I've learned not to touch his art too quickly or I may get stuck to it!

Three Little Bears

2009-05-18T13:11:00.005+01:00

Jay's school today had a performance of the story "Goldilocks and the Three Bears." First his class performed it for the whole elementary school, then for the parents. They kids may have given it their all for the school because a few of them (Jay included) were a bit worn out when it came time for the parents. There are a lot of kids here, I know- this is actually both of the Reception classes. They did a joint performance.

Baseball 2009

2009-05-17T13:27:00.005+01:00

It's baseball season again! This is also my third time blogging about Jay and baseball. Nils is still on the sidelines, but I suspect he's having more fun than Jay.

Mother's Day

2009-05-17T13:19:00.002+01:00

You know how Jay and Nils love to go to the river and just throw pebbles into the water. They've expanded into pebble collecting. We spent Mother's Day at the river and baseball (next blog entry). The kids each gave me a pebble as a Mother's Day gift. I am Stein reich, the German expression for "filthy rich" (it literally means stone rich).

Nils and Nolan

2009-05-17T13:16:00.002+01:00

Nils is the type of kid who is happy playing by himself or trying to tag along with Jay and his friends. He really doesn't have any friends of his own (*sob!*). So when he kept talking about a boy in his class, Nolan, I thought he might like having Nolan over to play. Mind you, he has been going to preschool for almost two years and this is the first time he has gotten excited about playing with another kid. Mostly, he plays by himself or reads. Here are two photos from their playdate last week.

May Day III

2009-05-17T12:51:00.008+01:00

Unbelievable, but this is the third May Day (May 1st) that I'm posting! So of course I have to show you photos. The camera ran out of battery power right when we got to the horses, so I don't have any of those for you.

The re's always next year.

Gooooaaaaaaaaallllll!

2009-04-29T14:16:00.005+01:00

Jay finally scored a goal in soccer this week! He is not the most amazing player and goals are all that count to five year-olds. Sadly, there were only four kids there this week (not that it mattered to Jay, the best player of all was still there). It was a little rainy- we've had the kids out playing soccer in the snow and a November downpour. So this was nothing. I actually have meant to bring my camera to soccer since August and finally remembered it this week. So if it took this long for Jay to get a goal, I am glad that I was there to capture it on film. Now I might have to bring it every week as Jay's lucky charm!

Super Nils!

2009-04-16T14:05:00.000+01:00

The kids love to dress up, they have just moved (somewhat) beyond lions, bats and frogs. They now love superheroes and Star Wars. So I got them some new costumes. Here is Nils in Superman. Of course, it is not enough to be the Man of Steel. He likes to stuff a pillow down his front as "muscles" and have you hit him. The other day he went another step and stuffed a pillow down his pants to have even more muscles. Jay followed and we soon had a butt dance (Sir Mix-a-Lot anyone?)

Easter Sunday

2009-04-12T13:41:00.000+01:00

Here are a bunch of photos from Easter Sunday. The kids had an egg and candy hunt and in the afternoon we went on a walk to the river. We had a Star Wars themed Easter (how did the Easter Bunny know that is the boys' favorite??) with Star Wars eggs and Star Wars toys. It was great.

School "Performance"

2009-04-10T12:35:00.000+01:00

Once again Jay's class had a performance that wasn't a performance. Or a recital. It was just that the kids invited the parents into the classroom to see what they have learned so far this term (in their music & movement class). At one point siblings and/or parents were invited to join in, so up Nils went and tried his best to shimmy along with the rest of the kids. This term's theme was Broadway songs and they learned "Do-a-Deer" and "Blue Skies." I'm sure they learned more (I've heard Jay singing from "The King and I"), but that was all we got to hear. We also got to hear a rhythm helper with m-i-ss-i-ss-i-pp-i.

Lake Como

2009-04-09T09:20:00.002+01:00

We booked our vacation! We are renting a place in Italy right on Lake Como (where George Clooney has a house...). Here is a link to the place we got:

http://www.lakecomohomes.com/displayproperty.asp?p=223

Sorry, Linda already called me first to ask if she and Sacha and Soffian can tag along. No more room!

Long Time Overdue

2009-04-09T08:52:00.003+01:00

I knew I hadn't blogged in a while, but over three months is a lot longer than I thought! Once again, my usual excuse (no photo ops in a while) is the culprit. But I guess what it really is that I never carry the camera. So I'll recap some recent events.

A few weeks ago, we went shopping in the city. Of course Jay complained the whole way there that it's sooooo boring. As soon as we got to the first store, we saw that there was a radio station promotion going on. They had face painting and balloon rides for kids. Jay and Nils said they wanted to do it, but we were convinced they'd chicken out at the last minute. Nils chickened out on face painting and Jay on the ride. Nils almost didn't take the balloon ride. But.... at the last minute he decided to (all rides were alone or it would be too heavy for the tiny balloon) and loved it. When he got out, he decided to get his face painted too. Jay didn't want to do the ride until he saw Nils do it. So he went also. The promoters took some photos and printed them out for us. I have to scan them in and post. The photos are a bit dark so I'm not too confident that I can post them, but we'll see. After the rides, we went upstairs and bought Super Mario Cart for our wii.

Speaking of wii, we made Jay's reward for filling in enough on responsibility chart one game of wii a week. If he fills everything (perfect week) then he can play two times. He loves bowling. In fact, he is even better than me. And I actually am trying to beat him!

Jay has also started drum lessons. I just read a book by the former drummer of Semisonic (check out my "consuming" bar on the side of the blog main page). It made me want to go and buy all their CDs. Well, there were only three and I already have one (and, no, it is not the one with "Closing Time"). But it was a good look into the life of a band.- Jay better either be a super-mega-star or break out that physics textbook! And from the way the book sounds, they were a relatively well-grounded, sober band.

Anyway, once Jay started drum lessons, Nils wanted them too. Rather than tell him he needs to wait another year or two, my first answer was "Why? We don't need two drummers. How about guitar or bass?" Poor guy.

This week was the beginning of spring break. On Monday, the first actual day, Jay cornered me at the breakfast table. Our conversation was basically this:

J: Who is coming over today?
D: No one, I thoought we'd have a relaxing beginning to break.
J: Then whose house am I going to?
D: No one's; we're taking it easy today.
J: Then where are we going today?
D: Nowhere really. Maybe for an ice cream and the playground later on.
J: Again? Oh no.
D: We haven't been to the playground for a year!
J: Man, that is soooooo langweilig (boring). This will take an ewigkeit (forever).

I have now survived three days of Spring Break. Today is day four- tomorrow and Monday are holidays, so I think I can pull this off. Wish me luck!

Other, random Photos

2009-01-26T21:45:00.002+01:00

Some photos don't really fit into an entry. They're just regular life, or the kids horsing around. Here are a couple. I also have a video of the kids all excited, watching the Foo Fighters on TV. But I've made about eight blog entries tonight, so I will leave that to another time. Videos take forever to upload!

Aquarium

2009-01-26T21:39:00.005+01:00

We took the kids to the aquarium on Saturday. They were pretty excited to see the sharks and eels. But if course, the best part was the indoor playground at the end. The photos didn't turn out that great (they're all blue!), but a couple are okay.

My lunar and regular calendar birthdays

2009-01-26T20:39:00.002+01:00

I love how I wrote in my January 1 entry "I have until CNY anyway." Well, CNY is here today. And I still don't know what the Year of the Ox is supposed to bring. But I made spring rolls and ate them. And I baked my birthday cake and prepared for my birthday party (brunch). I was born on Chinese New Year. I think as a kid I tried to get two birthdays out of that since not so many people can calculate their lunar birthday each year. it never worked.

Jacob seemed disappointed that the party won't have any kids. And then I told him he wasn't going to be there either. After that, he told me that I'm not invited to his next party either! And that I'd better save him a piece of cake.

Jacob's Fifth Birthday Parties Part II

2009-01-12T20:58:00.000+01:00

Jacob's class party was almost a week after his birthday. There were three birthdays that week and we didn't want to overdo the kids on parties. He and a classmate split a party at Legoland. Here are some photos.

Jacob's First Ski Lesson

2009-01-11T21:29:00.002+01:00

We took the kids sledding in the ski hall on New Year's Eve. Of course, three days later all that snow and cold weather began and we could have saved a bunch of money! Oh well. They loved sledding. Jay even had to go back for more and begged to learn how to ski. We sent him to a Taufkurs. Basically, it's an introduction course to see of your kid is ready for real ski lessons. Jay is. We decided to do more lessons in the late fall and go on a ski holiday over Christmas break next year. Maybe Nils will be ready by then too. Oh, and me too. Yikes.

Take a look at Nils' face. No, we did not get a cat (I am really allergic anyway). He got scratched by another kid. But for a while, people kept asking me if we got a cat.

Jacob's Fifth Birthday Parties

2009-01-07T20:41:00.000+01:00

Jacob turned five on January 7. How quickly time goes- my baby is so independent now! We had a family party on his birthday. Oma and Kurt came, as well as the usual suspects: Emma and family, Alexander & Katarina, Tristan & family. It was more a play date with cake and hot dogs, but it was fun. Jay wished for cupcakes, so I made a cupcake tree. Actually, they're carrot muffins with cream cheese frosting, but he calls them cupcakes. Hey, if they buy it.....

Winter Wonderland

2009-01-06T21:07:00.000+01:00

We got quite a bit of snow and cold weather here in early January. It usually doesn't get very cold here in the winter. In fact, I have said for a couple of years that it could, in my opinion, get a little colder and that would be nice. Um, I didn't mean -12! And a couple of inches of snow paralyzed the city. What I wonder is this: I live on a street with a fire station. Why didn't we get plowed? Strange.

The kids wanted to build a snowman. And of course, on a -12 day, they chose the absolute coldest place to build one: directly on the riverbank, where it is really windy. The snow was too dry to build a snow man, but they had a lot of fun playing. Michael and I were frozen and had to practically beg/carry them back home. Next time, they can play in the courtyard out back.

Hockey Day

2009-01-05T21:16:00.000+01:00

We wanted to make the last day of Christmas break special for the kids. The local (pro) hockey team had a rare afternoon game that day, so we went to go see them. Jacob and Michael went to a game last year and Jacob lasted only one period. We were hoping that they would go for a little longer this time. Nils and I went along this time too. It was a bit rough in the second period, but we managed to stay the entire time! (Fries bribe). And our team won too.

Merry Christmas!

2009-01-01T18:19:00.003+01:00

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of you. It's Year of the Ox. I have no idea what that means, but I will have to look it up later. I technically have until Chinese new year anyway.

Christmas everywhere is different and Germany is no exception. The big day is the 24th. In the US, the big day is the 25th. That's when families visit each other, call long-distance relatives, and so on. The 24th is kind of a "prep" day for the big day. Here, the 24th is a big family dinner and gift-giving evening. And the bonus- both the 25th and 26th are official holiday. A dream I would have loved when I worked at Nordstrom.

In Germany, the Christkind (baby Jesus) brings the gifts. And at about 4 pm. When I was little, Santa brought the gifts and we would either open them after mass (midnight no less) or the next morning. Michael and I have reached a cross-cultural compromise. Santa fills the stockings with a small present and the Christkind brings the bigger one or two presents. And, yes, the kids only get two or three presents each. And none from us.

We hadn't really reached a decision on the actual when to open the gifts since, until this year, the kids were too small to do anything but wait until Christmas morning. A cruel idea, according to Michael. And to me, since I like to sleep in and the kids usually let us.

This year was a little different. We went to mass at 4 pm, like always, and came back and had our dumplings for dinner. The kids went to bed and at 11 pm we rang the doorbell and pretended that Santa and the Christkind were here. We woke up Jay and Nils and came downstairs as fast as we could, but we just missed Santa and the Christkind. We even went outside, pyjamas and all, to look. Of course, someone drove by at that exact moment and saw our reindeer PJs and that our kids were up at 11 pm. Oh well.

We let Jay and Nils open their presents from Santa and the Christkind and then they went happily up to bed. They slept until almost 9 am (yipee!) and waited a long time until asking to get dressed and go downstairs for breakfast and the last two gifts- from Marijo (Nils' godmother) and a neighbor.

Now that Christmas and the New Year are over, the prep for Jay's birthday parties begins. Yes, parties, not party. More on that another entry.

UNICEF

2008-12-16T14:20:00.008+01:00

Every year, my club decorates a Christmas tree for UNICEF on behalf of the American Consulate. This year, I had the honor of heading the project. I love how that sounds so big and important! It's not at all- it was only me because no one else volunteered to help. Which was fine- I am a control freak. The day after decorating, there was an official opening, with UNICEF performers from all over the world. My in-laws came and I brought Nils since I couldn't find anyone who could pick him up from school.

The performances were fantastic. There was a five year-old pianist from Japan, two thirteen year-olds from Vietnam and Japan who performed a piano duet, some opera singers from the Met, a steel drum band, and so on. Of course, what was the absolute best for Nils? The breakdancers from Magdeburg! He loved the head spins and leaps. Now if you pretend to rap, or even make beat-box noises, he starts to (try to) breakdance and tries to spin on his head. That I have to get on video for you.

Jay's School

2008-12-16T14:08:00.004+01:00

Jacob does judo at school every Friday afternoon. By then, he is pretty tired from the week and it is nearly impossible to get him out of the house and back to school. And every week he has a great time and tells me likes judo. He just forgets by the time it's Friday, 3 pm, one week later! Here are some photos from the judo session. There's one of Jay, waiting to start his "fight" and a couple of Nils entertaining himself and the baby brother of another judo student.

Last week, all on the same day, Nils had two preschool Christmas parties and Jay had a performance (that was not a performance, according to the teacher, but the kids sharing what they do in class) at school. Unfortunately, we could not do all three. I volunteered at one of Nils' parties, skipped the other, and Michael went to Jay's school. The kids do yoga in their music & Movement class, so they demonstrated a couple of positions. Jay is in the dark red shirt in the back. And then they sang "Ain't No Mountain High Enough," complete with choreography, and did the "Macarena" with their own words. The parents participated too. If you're on Facebook, there's a video..... And which party did I choose for Nils? the one with Santa coming, of course!

The Christmas Market

2008-12-16T13:48:00.007+01:00

I love Christmastime in Germany. The markets (Weihnachtsmaerkte) are amazing. We are lucky to have one right at our feet here since we live in the historical district. And since it's not such a busy area, like the downtown, the market is only open on weekends. We like to go when it gets dark (about 4:00) and let the kids ride the carousel, get them some sausages for dinner and maybe even drink a Gluehwein (mulled wine). After Nils' birthday party on Sunday, we went out to the market. I have a photo each of Jay, Emma, and Nils on the carousel.

Nils' Birthday Parties

2008-12-16T13:29:00.007+01:00

Nils had two parties this year. We usually do it this way so we have one, small party (family only) and a party with friends. Since we returned from the US only two days before his birthday, it worked out perfectly. His birthday (Tuesday) was his first day back to school. Michael took the day off and Oma and Kurt came down for the day. On Sunday we had a party with his godparents and a friend of his from school (Olivia). Olivia's older brother, Max, is in Jay's class at school and the kids all play pretty well together. Emma brought her face painting kit and went to work on the boys.

Oops! I almost forgot to title this! More Vacation Photos

2008-12-16T10:53:00.004+01:00

Here are Jay and Nils with their grandparents the day we arrived in the US. I also have the kids at Krispy Kreme (donuts are their new favorite, thanks to Grandma). No Krispy Kreme here, but Dunkin Donuts did the trick. Also a photo of me! with Nils, of course.

The bottom photos are of Jay and Nils with their cousin Karolina. She's four, so right between them in age. We went to a lake (fake) and playground by some outdoor mall nearby and they watched the ducks and played together.

Photos from our Holiday

2008-12-16T10:07:00.012+01:00

We were at my parents' home for Thanksgiving- the first Thanksgiving the kids ever had in the US. I'm not sure Nils really gets it yet, but Jay is familiar with it. All the grandkids were there, so we got a photo of them together. It wasn't easy to get all six of them to look at the camera at the same time, this was the best photo we could get. The first photo is of my nephew Soffian and my dad entertaining him.

We also went to the new Udvar-Hazy Air & Space Museum. The Space Shuttle Enterprise is there. Of course the kids loved it, but they also have the "mom, please don't make me take another picture again."

Chinese Blogger

2008-12-12T23:20:00.003+01:00

Why is my Blogger in Chinese? It took forever to figure it out so I could change it! Maybe if I blogged more often, I would have the menu memorized. Or I should have gone to Chinese school, like my parents tried (unsucsessfully, I regret to say). Anyway, I will get more up this weekend. A lot. Really. But only if I can get the 5000000000000 circles for Jay's school's snowman project cut out in time. I'm not even going to try to put the commas in there. Are they called commas when they're in numbers?

Do Pigs Snore? Oh Yeah!

2008-11-16T15:58:00.012+01:00

We went to a farm/petting zoo/cafe today with the kids and it was cold. I don't think I would want to hang out and drink coffee and eat cake right next to a pig stall, but we had a good time. Jay and Nils visited the animals, fed the goats, and even petted some horses. Of course, right as we were leaving, Nils fell face first into a huge mud puddle. Poor guy, we didn't want to touch him and all he wanted was to be held. He fell right next to the goats, so I'm sure there was goat poo in there too. Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeewwwwwww!

Other Random Photos and Jay's Endless "Posing"

2008-11-05T18:32:00.005+01:00

Yikes, check Jay out. How do we stop his endless posing? He either does some weird Zoolander thing or goes silly on us and sticks out his tongue. Here we have him and Nils trying out the do-rags they got as party favors from Emma's treasure hunt birthday party.

And do you think Nils, just maybe, likes stickers?

Fall Day

2008-11-05T18:21:00.002+01:00

We wanted to take advantage of the nice weather since, in Germany, you never really know if it will come again before May. Or June. Anyway, we decided to take the kids to an animal park in a nearby forest. However, when we got there it was closed for mating season. Apparantly, in order for baby pigs and deer to be born in the spring, the animals need the kids to keep away and get in the mood. How do you explain that to a two and four-year old?

Me: Ummmmm..... the animals had such a long summer with all the kids visiting them that they need a couple of weeks off to rest. Kind of like vacation.

Jay: Where are they going to?

Me: Nowhere. Like in Herbstferien when we stayed here.

Jay: Oh. They can go to the Schweiz (Switzerland) like we did too.

Me: How about we go for a walk in the woods instead? You can jump in the mud puddles.

Jay: That's our surprise today? But I've already done that before.

Anyway, they really liked jumping in the mud puddles. And just walking without being hurried along because we had to get somewhere on time. Maybe we can even do it again- even though now Jay has done that twice. ;)

Halloween Part II

2008-11-05T18:09:00.003+01:00

Like a horror movie title. Wait, it is a horror movie title!

Here are some photos of Jay and Nils for the Halloween Trunk-or-Treat. Basically, since we can't really trick-or-treat here, we gather at the International School and park our cars, decorate the trunks and hand out candy. Since Jay wondered why Michael and I were so lame at the Halloween party, we dressed up. Of course, this meant serious stress for me during the week to get the car from M, drive across town to the only store that sells costumes, and be back before 11:30 when Jay's school gets out. (Insane, isn't it?) Naturally, no other parents were dressed up.

Michael got some dry ice at the airport and the kids all loved it. Some called it "the cauldron of doom." I kind of like that.

Halloween Part I

2008-11-04T20:17:00.004+01:00

The hottest ticket of the year around here is the American Women's Club's annual Halloween party. I've managed to avoid going until now- sugar! Noise! Overstimulation! Obnoxious big kids! We went this year and it was great- I can see why people join just to get first stab at the tickets.

Some quotes:

Jay "Mommy, why did all the other mommys dress up and not you?Result: I was the only mom dressed up at trunk (trick) or treating later that week.

Jay to his friend John "Hey John, what are you?

John: "I'm Obi-Wan Kenobi. He's a Jedi Knight."

Jay: "I'm a bat."

John: "Oh." (Turns away)

Result: Jay had to get a new costume for trick or treating. This is after he messed up his original (Ok, maybe it was a little big) costume, then took over Nils' bat. Photos of that shall come soon. Really!

Alexander's Birthday Party

2008-11-04T19:43:00.006+01:00

Here are some photos from Alexander's birthday. The kids gave him a construction set- eye goggles, ear protectors, etc. every time Alexander come to our house, he puts all that stuff on, so we thought it would be a good gift.

But what is up with Jay's posing? Ouch!

September Photos

2008-11-04T19:27:00.006+01:00

Check out Jay's pose on the carpet! What's up with that? Grrrrrrau!

Here we have Jay and Nils asleep in our bed. Awwww...... The time on the photo file says 5:24 am, but what on earth would we be doing up at that time? And actually taking photos???

And a treat- an actual photo of me!

Typical Photo of Nils

2008-11-04T19:24:00.002+01:00

Typical Photo of Jay

2008-11-04T19:22:00.001+01:00

August Photos

2008-11-04T19:12:00.004+01:00

I don't have too much from August. Just a visit to the zoo and a visit from Oma. And Nils decided to stop wearing daipers. So of course I have to embarass (bare ass!) him.... But not too badly! He fell asleep with nothing on his bottom. I can't bring myself to post the other photos.

Ouch

2008-11-04T18:47:00.002+01:00

I am almost ashamed (no, I am ashamed) of how long it has been since since my last post. I've got tons of photos for you and some info. Mostly photos since the stories and info are so after the fact that they seem inconsequential now. Don't tell the kids that though! Of course my sun rises and sets over them.

What is my excuse?-----No time? ----Computer problems? ----Work? ---- No...... plain old laziness. So here are some photos, enjoy!

Quick Update

2008-08-10T15:38:00.002+01:00

No new photos or anything, but some news here:

The construction here is going pretty well. We have a room now (or at least the frame of a room) where the roof deck used to be. Laundry is a pain though- you have to trek through a temporary trapdoor to the upstairs, ducking and crawling while carrying your load because a basket is too bulky. Fine if the clothes are dirty, but you'd better be careful when they're clean! And of course there's no power upstairs right now and we operate the washing machine with about 10 extension cords strung together. The dryer keeps blowing the fuse out so we have to air dry everything on racks in our bedroom. Which means one load per day or else we have no place to dry it. And we can't do the load until the workers leave since they need the power from the extension cords. And there's no power, so no lights. So you'd better get the clothes from the washer before it gets dark or it's tough to navigate your way down and keep them clean!

On to better (but maybe not as comical) news--- Nils is completely toilet trained in quite a short time! We went swimming last week and today and the kids loved it. I want to get them into lessons during the school year. The pool is a public one but spotless and brand new. So we get cheap facilities that aer well maintained too- bonus!

Nils has been going through a bit of a rebellious period lately. He does a lot of creameing and shouting to anyone in his voice range (a lot of people then) and places his hands on his hips and says "go straight to bed!" or "time out on the sofa!" You know who he must sound like then- uh oh.

I'll try to get some construction photos in this week.

Smaller Handbags, Here I Come!

2008-07-26T17:32:00.003+01:00

Nils chose this week to no longer wear diapers- yay! Of course, we've had crappy weather for 2 weeks and were trapped inside. And the day that it turned nice again he decided this and we're still trapped at home. And next week the work on our house begins, so it will be hard to take the kids out a lot. But I am still very, very happy that he decided, on his own, to wear underpants. And that he's doing very well with it too. Yipee!

We took our first outing today sans diapers and it was a success. Of course, it was just a walk for about 15 minutes.... we wanted to go to the playground, but ominous looking storm clouds and thunder scared us off and we took a quick spin around the main street here. Jay was the same age when I took away his diapers- it took him barely two days to get it down. But 2 years, 7 months- not bad!

Friday, we had the scaffolding put up on the house. The roofer comes Monday and we'll be fully underway. I cannot believe that it took six months to get a building permit for a new roof and to build a room on our rooftop deck. Until I spoke with my neighbor and it took them two years for a permit to tear down an old building and build a new one. It is the historical district after all.

Amusement Park

2008-07-26T17:19:00.005+01:00

I've meant to make this blog post for about 2 weeks now. Or at least since I made my last posting, since we did these both on the same weekend.

We took the kids to their first amusement park. It was geared to younger kids and actually looked like a ten year-old would be bored here. Anyway, the kids loved it. Michael, Nils and I went on a pirate water ride- Jay chose to stay on shore. Smart for him because Michael and I got soaked. Nils stayed dry- he started crying so I huddled over him and then he loved it. Go figure, he's a fish and cried because he got wet. (It was pretty intense though).

Michael took Jay and Nils, individually, on the huge Ferris wheel too. They loved the view and everything. I can't deal with heights like that when I'm in a non-enclosed space (see the Switzerland entries for an angst-filled photo of me ready to go in a gondola- and that's closed!). We also went on a tractor ride, trampolines, massive slides, a train ride and a huge play/climb-ground.

Before I had kids (shoot, even three days before we went!), I always swore that I would never, ever be the type of mom who would let her preschooler run around in only a diaper and tee. Well, I became that mom! There was water on the playground and rather than try to limit Nil's playing, we just took off his shorts- we had more diapers but not more pants! Of course, I shall choose not document evidence of this alleged incident- no photos of Nils playing in his diaper!

Legoland

2008-07-06T18:27:00.009+01:00

Since Michael was away all last week, we did nothing but family stuff over the weekend. I made sure our errands were all taken care of and he passed on his weekly badminton game. Saturday was beautiful and we decided to go to the newly opened Legoland in our area.

I have to admit that I was a bit disappointed when we first got there because I always thought it was an outdoor park for smaller children. Instead, it was inside- why would we want to be inside on such a beautiful day? Well, we went anyway and it was good because it was about 11:00 and we wouldn't want the kids in the sun at that time anyway.

Legoland had a ride through a castle with a dragon, an Indiana Jones exhibit (complete with quiz questions for the kids), a lego factory and more. Look at how thrilled Jay is to be next to Batman (!). Notice the cool Foos tee too! We even bought the photo of use that was offered at the end of the dragon ride- very unusual for us! I have to scan it in later this week so you can see it.

Of course the best part for the kids- the huge play area in the cafe at the end. Oh, and eating fish sticks and fries outside while watching ducks. After eating, we went on a paddle ride on the water. Nils, the fish, looks like he's about to fall in a couple of times, but he was safe. Notice that I have a photo of myself in the blog now twice within a one-month period! Amazing.

Linkin Park

2008-06-29T12:38:00.003+01:00

Ten days and two concerts- what a life! We went to see Linkin Park last night. After the Foo Fighters (and my well-known obsession with Dave Grohl), I wasn't ready for Linkin Park. We were still listening to the Foos- and watching Jay and Nils headbang/air guitar to Monkeywrench and other Foos songs! So I didn't expect much for the show.

The show had three opening acts. We missed #1 (arrived just as they finished) and missed #2 (N.E.R.D.- we were eating dinner). But we saw #3 (HIM). Linkin Park came on at 10 pm and played only about 1:15 or so total (including the encore!). But for a short show, they rocked. Chester's vocals were amazing and Mike's rapping rocked. I have to give props to Chester's vocal coach- anyone who can scream like him and not ruin his vocal cords, especially on tour, must have a great teacher.

I've attached some photos of LP here, one of them is so you can see how many people were actually there. General Admission was packed- we estimate about 8000 or so were down there. I don't know what I did wrong, but we no longer have the two videos we took. Grrrr..... it really is my fault for not properly uploading the data to my computer. You live, you learn.

Foo Fightin'

2008-06-20T17:40:00.012+01:00

Ahhhh.... the Foos. I love the Foo Fighters. I love Dave Grohl. I love music with lots and lots of guitars. My life suddenly changed the minute Nirvana (Dave again!) entered the music scene and grunge became the new big thing. (Remember wearing leggings, combat boots and flannel shirts? OK, don't admit it and I won't either). Smells Like Teen Spirit changed music and pop culture for Generation X forever. OK, maybe I'm being a bit dramatic, but damn that music (and what it spawned today) is still great.

The Foos rocked. The opening number (Let it Die, a current fave of mine) was awesome- we have a video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pO5PPXiaFk4 Monkeywrench and Everlong were other great numbers, closer to the end. And many other great songs in between- they would play one after the other without even stopping. One song would end and seamlessly meld into the next. Awesome.

Part of me realized how old I've gotten though. When we left, we saw the tour buses, etc and there was NOBODY there hanging out, waiting for a close up glimpse of Dave and crew. What?? The old me (Betty, for those of you who remember) would have pulled the car to the side, parked and hung out, waiting. But the me now realized it was close to midnight on a school night and a friend was kindly watching our kids for free at home- he had to work the next day too and didn't get the Foos to boot! So home we went.

Ship Ahoy!

2008-06-17T11:26:00.013+01:00

We spent the weekend making the boys' bed into a ship. We got two beds at Ikea (Kura) and converted them into L-shaped bunk beds. The bed is made so that (when it's single) it can be a low, four-poster bed with a ladder for climbing and playing.

When the child is older, you can "flip" it and it's a (somewhat) high bed with play space underneath. Jay has had this bed for a little over two years and we bought Nils the same kind. We (Michael!) then did a lot of sawing, connecting and reinforcing to make the beds overlap each other.

On Friday we went to the hardware store and got a ton of stuff- ropes, nuts, bolts, and big, colorful plates to make the ship. The idea was simple: the ship and waves would be for playing but also protect Jay from falling out of bed. We've also ordered a play telescope to attach and have our eyes on a ship-shaped steering wheel.

I've spent half an hour trying to properly format this entry. Sometimes Blogger is so frustrating. I just want the photos to line up and the text to be justified!

Switzerland- The End

2008-06-10T19:43:00.003+01:00

So now you have seen a recap of our whole Swiss trip. Our very last day, Friday, was another rainy one. Thursday was more or less dry enough for us to have a cookout in the national park. But Friday was another story. We didn't really have any other rain plan than (a) an indoor pool or (b) a drive. We chose Plan B.

We weren't sure at first where to go, but everything kind of unfolded on its own. We ended up finding a mountain road that was only one lane. That meant you could start the ascent only from on the hour to twenty minutes past. And you could start your descent only from half past to ten before. If you showed up outside of those times, there were spaces to wait until you could go.

We drove up and it was worth it! Too bad it was so foggy- the view must be amazing on a clear day. We couldn't see anything of the view- with my fear of heights that was probably good! Here are some photos of the road.

We also took another narrow road to the very top of a mountain. Once we got to the top, we kind of got out of the car, walked around it, and re-entered to start the descent. Lame, I know. Well, Jay played a bit in the snow and then Nils woke and we wanted to get going before he started to demand out! out! out!

Here at the end you can see Nils back home playing with the pots and pans. Some things, no matter what country, language (Swiss German is a completely different language) or elevation, stay the same!

Switzerland (Still Rainy) Day Six

2008-06-10T19:05:00.007+01:00

Uh oh- our last day and we have no rainy day plan! What to do? Well, it was more or less dry, just light rain every now and then. Michael had bought some eggs at a farm down the street a day before- they were good- and we went back to visit the animals. It as actually a farm that kids can come and live at for (I guess) a week at a time. So it was meant for kids with a big play area and a lot of kid-friendly animals.

After our farm visit, we went back to the national park to have a cookout by the rapids. We started by simply throwing pebbles and rocks and splashing about a bit. Then we went for a little walk and grilled at the end. It was a little chilly and a bit damp but a lot of fun.

ps- the eggs were so good we bought another pallett (30!) to bring home with us!

Switzerland Rainy Day Five

2008-06-10T17:39:00.007+01:00

We got to use our rainy day plan. We only had one rainy day plan, so hopefully all will turn out okay! Tune in to day six to see.....

Day five was rainy ut that didn't stop us- we're German! We just put on our wellies and rainwear and go outside anyway! We went to some caves on the other side of the lake. St. Beatus lived there and they're named after him. Nils kept looking for spiders and bats but we didn't see any. We did see some stalagmites and stalagtites of course, as well as a river.

We weren't allowed to take photos inside the cave, but we have some of our hike up to it. The kids hiked the whole way up the mountain, in the caves (900 meters in and 900 meters out) and all the way back down. For that they got ice cream at the end!

Switzerland Day Four

2008-06-10T17:19:00.005+01:00

Are you tired of the day by day account of our vacation? Be glad you don't have to come over and watch the slide show!

On Day Four, we took a ferry ride to a larger city, Interlaken. We needed to buy Nils new pants since we only packed 2 pairs- one was dirty (see snow and mud reference, yesterday) and the other had a broken waistband. Rather than drive half an hour to the city, we drove 10 minutes to the port and took an hour and a half ferry ride there and back. Because of the ferry timing, we had only about an hour and a half to find trousers in a town we knew nothing about. Stress! Yes, we did end up getting some pants.

Of course Jay had to wear his rain pants (rubber overalls- what are they called in English?) and wellies on the boat because that is what sailors do, Mama.

On our ferry back, we were lucky (co-incidence!) enough to catch a paddle boat back. The kids were mesmerized by the machination of it all. We were lucky- it was the most beautiful day of our whole trip and we spent three hours of it cruising a crystal clear lake. Does it get any better? (See Day Five! Ha ha ha!)

Day Three

2008-06-10T12:55:00.015+01:00

Day Three we found ourselves in a national park a only ten minutes away. We actually went back to it a few days later for a picnic. We didn't know what to expect, just that there were some waterfalls there. We drove in and decided to park pretty early into the park. This is very unlike us, we like to check things out first and then stop. But the kids seemed excited, so we went to check out the river.

A great, gushing river! With mini falls and lots of rocks to throw, it was great for the kids. We put their wellies on and took them down.

Later on, after a lot of puddle jumping, snail inspecting, and pebble (and stone!) throwing, we got back into the car and headed towards the waterfalls. It was definitely a hike to get there, but worth it! Jay climbed the whole way himself and Nils did about half. That's a lot since it was steep, uneven and Nils was cranky since he was getting tired for his nap.

Kindergarten Update

2008-06-10T12:53:00.001+01:00

When I picked Jay up from Kindergarten today, his teacher told me that he shared his vacation story with the class. (Everyone gets to do this when they go away). He said "we went to Switzerland and I got to drink water!" Of course, the teachers thought it was funny but they wondered- does he never get to drink water? On the contrary, he has never been a milk drinker until we went to Switzerland and juice, except one glass at breakfast, is banned. So all he gets is water! What he meant was that he got to drink water straight from the river....

Swiss Holiday Day 2

2008-06-09T21:11:00.008+01:00

We had only a couple of wishes for our Swiss vacation: a cable car ride (Michael), to visit a farm and buy real, unprocessed cheese (me), to go on a boat ride (Jay), to throw stones in gushing rivers (Nils) and to visit a cave (rainy day backup). We got to do all that and more.

On day 2 we went on a gondola ride. More specifically, we took a big circle and rode a train up a mountain to a cable car. Then we took an 8 minute cable car further up the mountain. From there we took a half hour gondola ride back down the mountain to another set of trains and finally back to our car. Whew! Nils was so wiped out by the end that he fell asleep in Michael's arms on the train.

The train ride was cool- the tracks have teeth so they can grip the cars when they go up the mountain. I am not so good with heights, but I still wanted to do all this (the big trip was my idea). I was a little worried that I'd lose my breakfast, but I made it! There's a photo of me holding Nils before the cable car even leaves the station and I have a nervous smile on my face. And cable cars are huge- it is not easy to rock them. Imagine my anxiety as we approached the half hour gondola ride! By the way, this is one of the very few photos that you will see of me on this blog!

There's also a photo here of Nils looking like "Oh damn, there go mom and dad trying to cram some culture in me again."

Of course, as soon as the kids saw snow they ran for it. But it's muddy snow and Nils lost a shoe right away and got mud all over his sock and pants. Our house had a washer, but no dryer, and we didn't have too many pairs of long pants with us! And only on day two....

Swiss Part I

2008-06-09T20:52:00.007+01:00

There are so many photos and stories to share that I have to break this up! We just got back from Switzerland on Saturday. We went to the Berner Oberland, by the Thuner See (Lake Thun) and Interlaken. We had a cute little house that had a great view of mountains, the lake and, of course, cows. Here's the first set of photos. I think they are all from our first day and the morning of our second.

Knights (Dare I Say D&D?)

2008-05-11T20:17:00.000+01:00

When did I become the type of person that goes to medieval festivals on the weekends? Since I gave birth to two boys who LOVE knights and dragons. To Nils, every church we see is a Ritterburg, or knight's castle. Anyway, if I start dressing up for these things, please find me a therapist! We went to a festival (ha ha Lin!) and the kids were excited to meet a real knight (ha ha kids!) and see all kinds of medieval stuff.

Of course Jay is not allowed to have toy weapons, so he was the lame kid who brought a stick and used it like a sword. He doesn't really mind these kinds of things usually, but tht day he really wanted us to get him a sword. We would have settled for a shield, but he chose ice cream instead. Here are some photos.

May Day II

2008-05-01T20:32:00.000+01:00

It was May Day here again and we watched the Maypole getting raised and took Nils on a horse ride. Not a pony ride- horse. He had (like last year when he was only 17 months old!) get on the biggest horse possible. Jay didn't want to this time around.

I don't have as many photos as last year. The Maypole is essentially the same, as were the bands, foods and Maibowle, a light wine punch that is served at the party every year.

Take a look at last year's entry and see how much they've grown!

http://stuehrenbergs.blogspot.com/2007/05/may-day.html But don't hit the links for the vidoes- I cancelled my MySpace account and the old links no longer work. Sorry! When I get around to it, I'll repost them in there.

Nils at Baseball

2008-04-20T20:42:00.001+01:00

No, Nils isn't playing too. But sometimes he wishes he could! But most of the time he's happy running on the field or playing on the swings. This past week he actually ran to the very end of the field and back- soccer field distance from us!