Family Road Trip: June 2009

As odd as it may seem, 3 business days after my annual pilgrimage in the Alps, we loaded up the family Skoda and headed on our family vacation. Since our first day of vacation, a Thursday, was a public holiday, it allowed us to start off with a long weekend with Eva's parents in Herbstein, which is right next to a national park.

The whole thing started off a bit challenging...as Quinn wasn't feeling well and was beginning to run a fever. But, since he was still active, eating, and drinking (e.g. his normal self), we hit the road and played tourists the first full day there.

There was also a Messerschmitt rally going through the city. It was no accident that these small cars looked like rolling bomber cockpits. After WWII, all companies that were part of wartime production had to either change their 'product' for peacetime or cease to exist. The famous Messerschmitt bombers started producing these practical vehicles which are now a cult vehicle.

Quinn's fever keep us a bit worried, and we finally broke down on Friday and headed to the doc for some help. He had a light ear infection, and he got his first antibiotics of his life. He was doing better by Saturday...

...meanwhile, Rainer and I play in the background. The house that we rented for the weekend was great for kids, and it is too bad that Quinn didn't feel well enough to take advantage of it all.

On a walk with Opa.

Even though he didn't feel 100%, he was a trooper, especially when he saw the toy tractor.

On Sunday morning, we hopped in the station wagon and headed to Hamburg to visit our friends, Mirja and Thomas and their newborn son, Moritz.

Eva and I met Mirja in Atlanta, where Mirja rented one of my rooms when she was doing her internship with Siemens. Via Mirja, I met Eva...and the rest is history...

Shortly after this picture, we left the playground. The following 45 minutes, Quinn screamed nonstop because he didn't want to go. This was the worst temper tantrum that I have experienced to date. This was, unfortunately, the lowlight of the trip.

Hopefully, this would be the exception. In general, Quinn doesn't throw many fits, but he does have my temper...and when he gets mad, he gets mad. Temper tantrum ensues.

Quinn and Eva blowing bubbles...which makes everything better.

Mirja and Moritz.

Then, it was off to visit our friends in Denmark: Keith, Manu, and their young daughter, Johanna. The hour long ferry to Denmark was a great way to keep Quinn busy...he loves all sorts of heavy machinery: boats, trains, tractors and the like. And, ferries were no different.

The Danes are known as hotdog eaters (at least that is what the Lonely Planet told us), and I was excited to get a dog on the ferry. Quinn liked eating it with his hand without the bun.

Keith and Manu took great care of us. They had a small room 'guesthouse' adjoining their house, which offered a great place for us to crash. Since it was basically mid summer, it was light from about 330am until past midnight...

Denmark, like most Scandinavian countries, are not exactly cheap to visit, but they make up for the cost with flair and quality. Even simple things like pastries or hamburgers had that extra touch that made you want more.

Quinn got to meet Johanna, and quickly become another play friend. Both had issues with 'sharing', but besides the normal 2 year old behavior, they played great together. On the ride home, Quinn wouldn't stop talking about Johanna.

Now, one if his puppets that he now brings into bed is called 'Johanna'...very cute, especially when he tucks Johanna in.

The seemingly national food of Denmark: the hotdog. Yummy. I think I had a couple every day.

The 'Hamlet' castle in Helsingor. It is named as such, as Shakespear's Hamlet takes place in this castle.

Just outside the castle, there was a small piece of beach that we stopped at to have a picknick and to let Quinn play in the sand. For a 2 year old, sightseeing is boring...looking at castles is even more dull. Building sandcastles, on the other hand, is what defines a vacation for a 2 year old.

That is Sweden on the other side of the water...

Our favorite pic of the vacation. We actually got Quinn to smile.

The summer residence of the Danish royal family. While their yard is much larger, it is full of weeds. Ours looks better ;-)

Just to let you know in advance, I'll get in trouble for posting this pic. First of all, we do normally give our son more nutrition than hotdogs and fries, despite the numerous pics with bad nutrition. Second, Eva will not like this pic of her eating this burger.

As odd as it may sound, this pic is evidence of the best burger that both Eva and I ate in our lives. No kidding, in Denmark of all places. I would go there again in a heartbeat...it was just a small burger cafe, nothing fancy, but the burgers were freshly made and were absolutely heavenly.

OK, these royal gardens had less weeds, and the hedges were amazing.

Yes, those are hedges forming the royal crest.

The hedges were so well cut and thick, that we could put Eva's camera on it to help us out with a family pic (Quinn was sleeping in his stroller).

After the royal gardens, we went to the beach. I was cold and windy, but that didn't stop Quinn from wanting to build sand castles. I got to schlepp water for him for his 'reinforcements'. He really loved giving me the buckets to fill up...

You can't go to Denmark and not do at least one day in Copenhagen. While we are not 'big city' folks, we wanted to see the city. We thought we could take a sightseeing tour by one of the many canal boats. Since Quinn loves boats, we thought he'd be happy enough to allow us to enjoy the tour.

Yes...that is our son eating cookies at 10m. But, on vacation, some rules are a bit more relaxed.

After the water tour, we walked around a bit more. Quinn had just fallen asleep, and we were super proud of ourselves that we timed it so well: Quinn was asleep, we were hungry, and there were tons of these cute street cafes for us to sit down at and enjoy the great weather...

About 5 minutes after this pic, it started raining cats and dogs. Quinn woke up, and our romantic afternoon lunch turned into a flight into a dry restaurant.

We had our raingear with us (of course), and I had my waterproof sandals ;-) so we just hit the road when the rain let up a bit. A bit later, we met Manu and Johanna at a city park, with cool stumps for Quinn to jump off of.

On our final Saturday of vacation, we headed to a medieval festival. Quinn was mesmorized by the horses.

...and the knights were cool too. Since it had rained almost all of Friday, the grounds were rather muddy. Quinn thought it was great, of course, wanting to walk through the puddles instead of walking around them. Typical boy.

On our way back to the beach. More sandcastles to build.

We had a huge bbq our last night with our friends. With the long days, we could stay outside in the relative warmth really late, and enjoy our last evening in Denmark.

We had a little bit of everything: grilled fish and sausage, various salads and veggies, beer, wine, and most importantly our friends.

As with all good things, they had to come to an end. Keith and Manu were great hosts, and they took great care of us while allowing us to also 'do our thing'. It was great to sit in their house for dinner, with all the windows and doors open, feeling the cool breeze, while Keith plays his acoustic guitar, while we start getting the kiddos ready for bed.

Our short stay in Denmark was just a tease, leaving you wanting more. The Danes are a very friendly and helpful folk. You always feel welcome. It is a very bike and eco friendly area, and I can't wait to go there again...

Unfortunately, we couldn't beam ourselves back home. We had 1000km to drive and an hour ferry in between. Knowing that no one likes to sit in a car for 1000km, let alone a 2 year old, we got up around 4am and hit the road...hoping that Quinn would sleep until the ferry to Germany.

All in all, he took it all like a champ. We made much better time than expected, and Quinn was happy the whole way. How did we do it: he listened to his favorite CD the WHOLE way home. Eva and I know the whole CD by heart.

...a small price to pay for freedom...

Pinkeln lassen

Quinn had quite a few visitors his first days in the hospital, including his Aunt Nina, who hopped on a train to Erlangen after finishing her night shift at work after hearing that Quinn had been born.

Quinn is definitely taking after his father by taking lots of naps. I'm particularly happy about this because I now have a great excuse for taking a nap. The breast that is pictured is mine and not Eva's.
Here's Quinn in his hospital crib with his name tag.
Another picture I took while Quinn was napping. I'm getting pretty good at taking pics with one hand...
When the little guy is napping, you can tell he is dreaming about something because of how he moves his eyes and hands. I definitely wonder what he is dreaming about...maybe about the 'good ol' days' of swimming around in Eva's belly.
As is tradition from Eva's part of town, when the mother and child is still in the hospital, the father throws a party for their family and friends.

"Wir wollen das Kind pinkeln lassen"

Roughly translated, we want to let the child pee. Between the lines, this means that it is the father's last chance to really get hammered before the family comes home. So, last night, I had our neighbors and friends over for a small party to celebrate Quinn's birth.

Eva'a parents and Nina did a great job getting everything prepared for our guests! Only on very rare occasions does one see Eva's mom drinking...and below we have proof of the special occasion.

As is becoming 'tradition', the Gould-Göttgens party was a great time. We played the music louder than we should have and we drank more schnapps that we needed. It got especially loud when I played Quinn's theme song: "The Mighty Quinn". Nina hamming it up for the camera with a beer cap in her eye.
Before we picked Eva up from the hospital, we got the condo all ready for our new arrival. I even cleaned the toilets!
Here I am with Quinn shortly before leaving the hospital. The weather was perfect for the event - a beautiful spring day.

At the hospital, they had a map of the world, where we could put stickers denoting origins of the newborns' parents. I put a sticker over Borger, my hometown.
Now we are all home. Quinn has been perfect since we got him home. He's barely crying. He showed extreme patience when I was changing his diaper for the first time. I'm definitely going to have to get better at it (and faster). But, I think Quinn will give me tons of opportunities to practice.

We're now trying to settle into our new lives as parents...the next chapter of our lives has now begun!

Berchtesgaden with the Parents

After coming back to Erlangen and having a few days to rest and relax, we drove to Berchtesgaden with my parents. Eva and I would only stay one night, and my parents would stay for almost a week.

This way my parents first time in Germany, alone, without us paving the way for them. Needless to say, Eva and I were both a bit worried that something bad would happen, but they did a great job, had a great time, even made a side trip to Salzburg, and made it home safe.

The day that we were there, we had fantastic weather. We were hoping for some snow, but sunny, blue skies are always welcome.

Above is the view from near the center of the city, looking into the valley.
After bumming around in the city for a bit, we went to the nearby lake, Königssee, to get a bit of fresh air and to go deeper into the national park.
Alongside the lake, there is a bobsled and luge track. We were stoked that people were actually riding, and after about 30 tries, we finally able to catch a pic of a bobsled racing by. From the sound, it sounds like they are going relatively slow, then they whip around the corners really fast.
You can actually pay to ride the bobs through the track...but we'll do that next time when Eva is not pregnant. Despite not having ridden the bobs, we still felt compelled to take a pic on top of the podium (with my parents on my left).
The two of us on the edge of Königssee.
On our ride home, we stopped by to see Keith and Manuela in Munich. It was great to stop by their place and to spend a few relaxing moments with friends during Christmastime.

They had prepared a 'Weißwurstfrühstück' - typical of Munich and even Bavaria - which consists of pretzels, white sausages, sweet mustard, and most importantly - Weißbier (Wheat Beer).

Eva drove the rest of the way home...