The Simple Things in Life

Yes...it has been a while since the last post, but this is not because we haven't been busy. Along with trying to enjoy the nice weather and preparing for the new kids' room, we have taken the time to enjoy some family time.

Since it has been a while, I'll post the newest pics first.

Thursday was a holiday in Germany (Ascention Day), so in the afternoon we headed to a small village that had a small festival with homemade bread and pizza from a wood fired stove. Yum.
Since the village was in the sticks, there were plenty of farm animals for Quinn to look at...and some bales of hay that the kids were jumping off of. Quinn saw the kids, saw them jumping on the hay, looked at us to see if it was OK, and then started at it...and had a blast. Sometimes, the simplest toys are the most fun. He definitely is not allergic to hay.

The place was packed. The food was great, and the band playing traditional German music got your toes tapping. Quinn clapped along. Plus, there was beer for Papa! Yumm! My productivity after two beers for the rest of the afternoon was not very good...

Before Quinn took his nap, we 'bribed' him with the afternoon's event, saying: when you wake up, we'll go eat some pizza. When he woke up, his first words were 'Pizza essen' (eat pizza). The kid doesn't miss anthing when it comes to food.

As I mentioned, we are getting ready for the second child, which means that we are moving our office into the entry way. The whole act started last week with a trip to IKEA on a Friday night, which turned out to be the right move. We were exhausted, but it was finished. We even had dinner there: schnitzel & fries. Not very healthy, but very kid friendly.

If you've built IKEA shelving, you know it should be simple, but can eat up weekends in a hurry. We learned the hard way that Quinn doesn't like it when I use the big drill to drill holes.

He does, however, like it when the computer is much more accessible to him. Even though it was unplugged, he couldn't help from typing...

Quinn's other pasttime: taking my good pots and pans out of the drawer and putting them back. The kid loves to clean, sweep, and vaccuum. He DOES NOT get this from me.

Finally...in reverse order, is our trip to the zoo 2 weeks ago with our friends Tanja and Rene, which was their birthday gift to Quinn that we finally took them up upon (Thank You!). We had a good time, and the boys had fun as well.

Kids just love animals!

Oh...what I would give sometimes to know what was going on in Quinn's mind.

At the end of the day, especially after a great day today, where we got a lot done, and had a blast with Quinn outside (including a trip in the city for ice cream). We ran and rolled in the yard, played 'touchdown', and laughed. It was such fun. It makes it all worth it.

It is not all fun and games. Even though today was as close to a perfect day as one could have, Quinn has his days, and has been more difficult. We have heard that this is a phase, where the kids try to test their boundaries and where everything is 'mine'. It is not that Quinn is all that bad. He has, after all, spoiled us a bit...since he is generally a great child.

We have heard that this phase is normal, and that it is replaced by the 'why' phase. I can say that I'm really looking forward to this. Like any other parent, I have my days as well, and I was at my wits end last weekend. I had no idea how we could be good parents for our one child...let alone a second one.

I called my mom. We chatted for about 2 hours. It was nice to just vent a bit...and to hear that Quinn and I were 'normal'. As a parent, many times, all I want to hear is that my feelings as well as the actions of my child are 'normal'.

My mom also told me a great story from the time when I was Quinn's age...maybe I'll share this another time. But, after chatting with my mom, poking my head in Quinn's room and seeing him sleep so peacefully, I realized why children are so very cute when they sleep:

It's a self defense thing: so that the prehistoric men would not eat their children when they hit their 'terrible twos' and to give the 'modern man' a reminder of their love for their child, to remember that it really isn't all that bad, and that tomorrow will be yet an even better day.