Tourists at the Munich 'Emba Sea'

Trying to make the best out of a given situation, we combined a required trip to the Embassy in Munich with a long weekend in the Bavarian capital.  Eva found the coolest youth hostel in Germany (and perhaps the world ?), just south of Munich, Burg Schwaneck.  Build in the early 1800's, the burg (castle) gives an idylic, romantic view of the Isar as well as of the Alps on a clear day.

On Sunday we headed to Schloß Nymphenburg in the city.  We did a lot of walking and some good caching.  There was also a super cool playground near the entrance.  The weather was cold and crisp ... almost a bit too cold for the long walk.  In the afternoon, we visited our friends Keith and Manu..

As we were getting packed up on Monday, I told the kids that we were heading to the embassy to get their passports renewed so that they could fly to America.  For some reason, Emily though she was going to the doctor to get a shot.  Later (as told to me from Eva), as Quinn went out of the room to help Eva, she asked him if he knew what we were doing.  Quinn said yes:  we're going to a sea.  What, asked Eva.  Yes, Mama, a sea.  Papa said that we're going to the Emba Sea.

Embassy.  A new word for Quinn.  It is little things like this that really make us smile.

Before the Embassy, we headed back into the city center for some 'big city' tourism.  Surprisingly enough, the kiddoes wanted to wait out in the cold for an additional 10 minutes to see the Glockenspiel.  While this is a must for all tourists to Munich (and something we've seen a few times), I thought that our kids - exposed to such cool things like TV, video games, and interactive books - would find it boring.  But, they remained interested the whole 15 minutes

The trip to the Embassy took a bit longer than desired, but we got done what we had to do, and then headed back home.  Back to reality...for a few days at least.

Sturmfreie Bude

Two weeks ago, during Halloween Week, Eva and the kids headed to her parents.  Kindergarten was closed, so we had to find a solution to take care of the kids ... or to both take vacation.  The kids love visiting Oma and Opa and the family, it helps Eva (and me) out, and Eva gets to catch up with her friends and family.  This time, I didn't take vacation to join, so I had a very quiet, boring week alone ;-)

The highlights of the trip were a visit to a zoo and a super cool pool with Tante Nina.

No pics of my week...nothing exciting happened.  I just worked and completed honeydos ;-) And did some piddling around as well...All kidding aside, it was great to have the family back - especially as Quinn and Emily race to me from the train, but the quiet was rather nice.

Happy Halloween 2012

With Eva and I not being the most creative souls on the planet, Halloween (and Karneval) brings an especially interesting challenge:  creating costumes for the kids.  This year, the kids' new kindergarten made the event even more challenging:  the kids had a Halloween Week.  Yes, the kids could dress up the whole week.

Yes...multiple costumes.  Thankfully, we could come up with some good solutions (also borrowing from friends).  And, as an extra bonus, Emily even let us take her picture in her costume, something we were not allowed to do the previous year.

Yes, of course, there were pumpkins to be carved.  Quinn picked out the most difficult 'face' (the bat), and Emily let me freestyle her face.  All in all, I think they turned out well, and they looked especially good with the candles in them at night.

 Towards the end of the week, the Kindergarten had a sort of coffee and cake event to let the kids and parents get together - some in their costumes - to celebrate the fall festival.  It wasn't quite a Lanternfest, but sort of a mix of various traditions.  The important part was that the kids had a blast, and the parents could chat a bit with each other - something especially important in a new kindergarten, where there are more strangers than friends.

 Thankfully, the kids still love going to their new kindergarten.

Hiking and Caching

With Fall coming into full swing, we combined a trip to the mill to get various grains and flour for homemade bread and müsli with a nice hike and caching experience.

 In hindsight, it was a great afternoon, despite Papa being very short of patience.  Can't say what was wrong with me, but it made a wonderful event somewhat suboptimal.

 Thankfully, we only did about half of the caches in the area, so the next time we head to the mill, I'll make sure I wake up on the right side of the bed so we can have an even better time.

Racing and Flying (Kites)

Wow.  Has it really been almost a month since my last post that had pictures in it?  On the 3rd of October, the day of the German Reunification, which is also a national holiday, there is a race in the city.   When Eva and I were first in Germany, it was I who did the running, and Eva did the cheering.

Many years and two children later, it is Eva who did the running and I did the cheering (and keeping the kiddoes happy).  Since there was plenty of snacks and stuff to see, it was easy to keep the kids busy.  They did a great job cheering all the joggers ... especially their favorite racer:  Mama.  Quinn said that he wants to do the kid's jog next time.  Eva had a great run, and has come a long way since she started jogging.

After we got back home and rested a bit, we headed outside and flew a kite.

 Unfortuntely, the wind had mostly died down, but this didn't keep me from trying to get the kids to run around, trying to get the kite in the air.

...I think I'm the only one that got tired running around...