Kartoffelfest

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

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

AWC Golden Anniversary

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

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

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

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!