Happy 7th Birthday Alex

We spent this afternoon at Sensopolis, a giant indoor playplace/kids' museum for Evelyn and Alex's birthday. Note the scale of this spaceship... the chairs underneath. It was filled with 3 floors of aliens, life-sized video games, and simulations of life on a spaceship.

This little treehouse was 3 stories tall.

And indoor rock climbing as well. Alex made it very close to the top, and Ethan made it ALL THE WAY up.. he was so proud. (It's about 2 stories tall.)

Evelyn loved the giant castle (she is actually standing in the doorway), with lots of rooms to see, a dress-up room, a dragon's lair, a dungeon, and a ballroom with a life-sized video screen with two dancers so you can follow their step.

Queen Miss.

Dinner at this place was fresh, made-to-order and fabulous. We had so much fun! Closed the place down, got home at 9:00 and Alex didn't even want the ice cream I made for him, he was so tired. So we sang over a Birthday Strawberry instead.

Happy Birthday little guy. You are getting so big and tall, I can't believe that you're already 7! You are so sweet and loving, and not too big to cuddle with mommy, whom you say you'll marry some day. I'd marry you too, little guy. Stay smart, and sensative, and curious forever. We love, love, love you!

Happy 5th Birthday Evelyn

This little girl turned 5.

She got a way-cool fairy princess castle to play with (sorry that Mommy gave away most of your other toys before we moved- oops!)

We made that iconic American treat - Rice Krispy Treats for her Kindergarten class. And then headed out to lunch at -- little girl's choice -- McDonald's of course, with her girlfriend, Sydney. Sydney helped us ice her cake for later that night...

After tucking the kids in, Evelyn got to hang in Mommy and Daddy's bed for a while and read extra, extra, extra books.

And it was a Happy Birthday's all around. Tomorrow we head to Sensopolis, a grand indoor playplace for her and Alex's birthdays.

Your smile lights my day, little girl!! We love you!

You Never Know What You're Going to Get

What does it mean when the man you've been married to for almost 15 years scrambles eggs and puts the cooked batch of eggs back into the bowl he used to beat them when they were raw?

Only to find out that he "always does this." "What's the big deal?"

Who is this man I married?  

Dog Welcome if Quit, Clean and Not Too Geant

This is the response I got via email when I inquired for hotel reservations. After much mulling over I realized that he means: "Dog welcome if QUIET, CLEAN and not too GIANT." A little lost in translation.

And not sure if my dog qualifies as giant or not. Furry, yes, but giant?

And then the fact that we have 3 children is a bit of an issue apparently. German families have 1 child... maybe 2 children if they are a larger family. Three is unheard of. So hotel rooms have a double bed, or in rare cases, a double bed with a single bed (for your one child). And the thought of squeezing a family of 5 into a 3-bed room (dreisbettezimmer) is just not possible. Sleeping on the floor, using sleeping bags, not an option. Five people? Must have five beds. So I have to book two rooms- one for the adults and one fur die kinder.

Hopefully the kids will be QUIT and not too GEANT.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Ethan, Alex and Evelyn designed and built this Leprechaun Trap last week in hopes of THIS YEAR getting that darned elusive little guy. The designing and building was mostly accompanied by Alex's personal musings: "Are leprechauns real? How big are they? I think they're really fast - I once saw one flash by. I don't believe that leprechauns are real."

Signs on the trap warn to "Do Not Enter" and "Out of Order" since leprechauns are wont to ignore directions. And since they like shiny things, plenty of glitter glue went on as well. Not bad considering these were the only crafts in our empty house at the time: a shoebox, an egg carton, and some glitter glue.


On St. Patrick's Day morning, the boys woke to find this note and mysterious footprints across the trap, the note, and the table (how fun that markers are washable!)

Ho Ho Ho, Hee Hee Hee, Really Good Try, but you Can't Catch Me. Better Luck Next Year.

Ethan was mildly suspicious that the footprints ended at the table and that the candy left by him was candy we ALSO happened to have in our cupboard, but in his eagerness to go along with the fun his comments stopped there. "I think the other leprechauns picked him up in their leprechaun ship."

Alex, however had to give running commentary through breakfast about how the whole thing was a fake.

"These footprints are fake. They are just marker, look they rub off."

"Some of these footprints are facing the wrong way."

"This candy isn't from a leprechaun, this is our candy. It's from our cabinet."

"I don't think a leprechaun wrote this note."

A similar scenerio occured last year as well. But that doesn't seem to stop them from building the trap each year and hoping beyond hope that one day they'll catch one. Nor do they take the leap of asking if MOM planted the whole thing either.

Sometimes it's just fun to pretend.

The Waldenbuch Farmer's Market

I wish I had a picture, but I feel like I stand out enough... I don't need these vendors thinking I'm that cooky American again! So words will have to do.

The Farmer's Market comes every Tuesday throughout the year. Rain, snow, freezing winter it's here. Right behind the boys' bus stop, up the hill from me. Just a walk. Yesterday I bought eggs, chicken and a bounty of vegetables and fruits. I would have bought more but I was an hour early and not everyone was even set up yet. The produce guy is patient while I practice my German and he likes to practice his English with me.

When I got home I noticed that the package of chicken had a sticker with the family name and location of the farm: Waldenbuch. Here. Right here. Now that's a short line from farm to table. Same thing for the eggs and the winter vegetables.

I can say one thing: the Germans have done their agriculture right. Small villages separated by rolling hills of farmland. The farms feed the villages they are next to. How simple is that? What has the industrialization of food improved upon over this model? Nothing, that's what. Except maybe the increased need for preservatives, hormones, and antibiotics, increased oversight by bloated government agencies, and an overabundance of food (and waste).

It's clear to me that part of the reason that housing is so much smaller, closer spaced, and has more floors than US housing is that it preserves the vast green space so the farmers down the road can support the houses and the families that live there.

And that was the best chicken I've ever had. And my eggs are so orange, they are the color of the sun. No grocery store egg can even compete.

Oh, and I got some kick-ass boots today. Of these, I have a picture.

Die Erste Tag fur Kindergarten

Evelyn dons her hauschuhe. Slippers are required as it's so muddy and yucky outside. They each do a Mr. Rogers thing when they get inside. These shoes stay at the Kindergarten.


There is a large entryway where each child has his/her own hook and cubby for jackets and their snack. There is no structured learning until 9:30 in the morning, so each child can be dropped off whenever the parent wishes between 7:30 and 9:30. So it's a nice, easy start - no rush, anytime will do! You're never late and it lends to an easy classroom wind-up as the children trickle in here and there rather than all come in a crowd.

The pick up is the same. On the second day I rushed to pick her up at 12:00 thinking I was late because many parents were already leaving. When I asked the teacher what time to pick up, she said "whenever." The children who stay for lunch move into another room; the children who are not staying for lunch just continue to play and may be picked up whenever the parent chooses between 12:00 and 1:30. Again: you're never late!

Here is Evelyn in the classroom. It's well after 8:00am, but you can see only 3 children have arrived. The class is so cute with canopies, learning centers, and typical German wooden toys. The little girl across from her is from Ghana and speaks English as well as German. They are already friends.