Don't Try This at Home

Enjoying our last days as a family of two, we did a few things that good parents can't do with children:

1. We played with our food. As we were eating our evening bread, Eva noticed that my half eaten piece of bread looked like Africa. Unfortunately, there are no pictures of the Africa-shaped bread to post. However, if we find a piece of bread that looks like the Virgin Mary, we will take pictures, sell the bread on ebay, and retire.

2. We drug dirt into the house...lots of dirt. Ok...maybe not that much. We bought some new pots for some houseplants, as well as some new dirt and plants after work today. It was dark and raining outside, so Eva decided to plant the plants inside.

...now I'm feeling really domesticated. I hope our child didn't see this poor example that we set this evening as parents.

All Quiet on the Western Front

Well, the projected date for the birth of our child was yesterday. Now the waiting game begins in full force. We're getting really good at twiddling our thumbs.

Eva is doing really well and is back to normal after a spell of the flu.

The (Long) Word of the Day

As earlier mentioned, from time to time, I'll post some really fun (and long) German words. They always look rather ominous, but they are usually just a bunch of small words stuck together.

Today's word is: Breitenmarkteinführung

Roughly translated to: Broad based market launch

Breiten + Markt + Einführung = broad based + Market + Introduction / Launch

Girl's Weekend

While I was off in the States a few weeks ago on a business trip, Eva took the chance to have a 'Girl's Weekend' with her close childhood friends, the Ischen: Babsi, Susi, und Ecke.

They went up to the Fränkische Schweiz just north of Erlangen and booked a weekend at a 'Wellness' Hotel...complete with sauna, spa, and massages.

Of course, the girls celebrated a bit, but Susi and Eva had non alcoholic champagne.

...and between all of the 'wellness' they had some time for a hike...

Preparing for the Change

January and early February has been filled with excitement and preparation for our 'new arrival'. As we get closer and closer to the calculated 'due date' of the 25th of February, I get more and more jumpy when I get a call on my cell from Eva.

Below is Eva on her last day in the office, taken around the 12th of January. The social structure is built pretty well for the family, and the mother gets 12 total weeks of paid maternity leave - 6 weeks before and after the birth of the child. There is also an additional ~ 10 months of subsidies for the parent staying at home and a bonus 2 months if the other spouse stays at home as well.

Time will tell if I can and will take this 2 months of government subsidies and time off of work to be a full time dad.

Sounds good...until you hear that the sales tax here is 19%.

Eva had a great going away party with her co-workers...and got some really nice flowers.

We wanted to see if the socks we bought would fit. They seem so small...
Despite a relatively warm winter, we finally got a few inches of snow.

The word of the day...

One of the many beauties of the German language is its ability to take little words, stack them together, and make a really big, ominous word. A word with 30 letters can relatively easily occur.

So, from time to time, I thought I'd share a few words that I get to stumble on in my day to day life.

The word of the day is: Geburtsvorbereitungskurs meaning 'birth preparation class'. Geburt (birth) + Vorbereitung (preparation) + kurs (class). See how easy German can be!

Speaking of Geburtsvorbereitungskurs, below is a picture of Eva and the rest of the gals in her birth prep class.

Preparing for the new arrival...

As those of you with kids know, there is a very distinct phase that a pregnant woman goes through...some call it 'nesting', others call it 'we'd better get that kid's room finished, or we're in big trouble'.

This phase started for us in November. After going to various furniture stores, we found what we wanted, with better service, online. The crib and the diaper changing station came in about 4 weeks (the furniture store quoted 12 weeks for the same stuff)...which was just in time for my parent's visit to Germany in December.

My dad and I started putting things together...

... otherwise known as quality time with my dad (Hold the light!...only my mom and dad will understand that one).

Here I am mid progress. The crib is about done.

Now we have to paint a wall. Four white walls are just not kid friendly. Eva did a great job with the rag painting after effects.

Now the real magic: the woman's touch. The room with the finer touches...ala Eva.

The diaper changing station with both German and English books...and our olive tree that is hibernating here during the winter.

Now the waiting game begins...

New Year's in the Bavarian Forest

After all of the Christmas and birthday festivities, we took my parents to the airport (they had a 10+ hour delay in Frankfurt) and had a few days of work before we headed to the Bavarian Forest for New Year's with Eva and her family - 12 of us in total.

We took the chance to experience the joys of packing one last time without children. Read: we packed way too much. The caption for the pic below would read: and where's the room for the kids?


I was wanting to go cross country skiing in the Bavarian Forest...but there, unlike Colorado, was no snow. So, Eva being the great wife she is, suggested that I bring my mountain bike. Perfect idea! Even though there was no snow, there was plenty of mud.


Pic during one of our afternoon hikes along the 'klein Arbersee'. I give Eva tons of credit: even being 8 months pregnant, she has the energy to do some hiking. Next year, I'll carry our child during the hikes...

For New Year's, we did a sort of While Elephant Gift event (Wichteln). Everyone brings and wraps something that they don't want, and through various rules of the game, you end up with someone elses 'junk'. Below, Eva's cousin Sebastian with a new apron.

I forgot to mention...we stayed in this really small village right next to the area brewery (which makes 3 million liters of beer a year)...literally 50 meters from the brewery...which was right next door to the village church.

...how cool is that ??? Part of the brewery is on the left...and the church is on the right.


Another picture...from the bottling part of the brewery with the church in the background.

Not to make you think that we sat around and drank all day, but we did take a brewery tour one morning. The tour guide was one of the two brothers that owned the brewery. The brewery had been in the family's hands for about 150 years.

Even though his age made it difficult to walk, his mind and heart was full of the history of the brewery and the family.

After the tour, he invited us to the little cafe next door, we had a few beers, and he told stories of the area, the family, and the family business...of course, with a half liter of beer.

All in all, we had three hour tour, led by the owner, with a half liter of their beer. Cost: Free.

Below is a picture of me with 10,000 of my new best friends.


Some of the winter scenery during one of our hikes.

The half bald man in the pic below is me 'kegeling'. It is a German form of bowling. 9 pins instead of 10, and the goal isn't always to knock all of the pins down. Similar to bowling, however, is that beer is never very far away.

Göttgens and Lümmer family photo. Believe it or not, but all of us are standing on the same level. If our child is lucky, our child will get some of the Göttgens and Lümmer height genes.

Despite the lack of snow, I did make it out one day for some cross country skiing...the routes weren't that clean, but there was just enough snow. I went on one route that took me to the Czech border (border crossing sign in the background).
On our last day, the whole family went on a hike together. Below is Konstantin and Eva's dad playing 'baseball'. Eva's dad had some issues hitting the 'ball', so Konstantin just made the snowball bigger and bigger to help out.
As with just about all German hiking trails, especially in mountains, there was a mountain 'hut' (Berghütte) along the way. It was particularly foggy that day, giving a particularly eerie feeling.
Inside, however, was warm and cozy...a perfect chance to warm up and to get a bite to eat before the hike back to the valley.
The next day, we headed back home. It was a great and relaxing week in the Bavarian Forest. Eva and her family have been going there for almost 20 years, so it is a very special place for the family...and a place that we'll continue to go to as a family.

... next time, we just need to leave room for our child...

Eva's 30th Birthday Party

The time had finally come for Eva to turn 30. We had the celebration at Eva's parents' place - in the basement where the bar is. We brought in as many tables as possible and decorated the tables with small Playmobil figures and assorted Duplo blocks.

Eva took the whole turning 30 really well...it also helps a lot that she still looks about 24!

We had a nice brunch - stocked with lots of cake, coffee...and later a real meal. Below is a quick snapshot at one table, with Konstantin and my dad in the background talking about politics and heavy metal music.
Unfortunately, there aren't many more pictures...I was too busy trying to film the whole thing, that I didn't have much digital camera action going on.

Hopefully, when Eva and I figure out the digital video camera, we'll post a few snippits of the event.

...with all of the digital capabilities these days, I thank God that we didn't have digital cameras when I was in college...

The Annual Christmas Pics

As with previous years, here's our 2006 version of the 'Christmas next to the tree' pictures...

ok...this one doesn't have a tree in it...but a good picture of Eva nonetheless.

Pre Christmas Cheer with the Schmidt's

While my parents were having their week of fun by themselves in Berchtesgaden, we were keeping the cheer rolling...and had a nice dinner with Tanja, Rene, and their son Henrik at our place.


Here's Henrik hamming it up for the camera in our chair. Actually, Rene was getting ready to change his diaper, and I was to keep him busy. He was just learning to sit up, and he almost fell over shortly after the pic was taken. I need to get used to watching out for those things.

These kids are quick these days...

For the Pi Kapps (and especially for Ize), under the white covering is the orange chair that was in Ize, Krier, and Bull's room in the old house (the original old house) that Ize gave me for graduation.

Henrik was having fun unpaking his father's gift...

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...

Nürnberg's Christmas Market (Christkindlesmarkt)

On Friday after work, before heading to Hattingen for Christmas Eve, we headed with my parents to the world famous Nürnberg Christmas Market (Chriskindlesmarkt). Tourists come from all corners of the planet to see Nürnberg all decked out in its Christmas Spirit. The Christmas Market of Nürnberg stemmed from the middle ages with Nürnberg acting as a trading center for the region allowing the local woodcrafters and bakers to sell their wares.

One of the advantages of going on Friday evening: the tour buses are gone and there are mostly locals around...which makes it much easier to find food at the food stands, and, more importantly, some hot mulled wine (Glühwein).

Above is the famous fountain of Nürnberg. If you find the ring and turn it once, it will bring you good luck and bring you back to Nürnberg. But, beware, there are two rings on the gates of the fountain. Just a hing: the ring that has a huge line of tourists behind it is not the right ring!

A view of the Christkindlesmarkt with the Frauenkirche in the background.
A view of the markets. Each one of the lighted posts represents a row of small buildings selling Glühwein, foodstuffs, and Christmas goodies.

Christmas Baking

Before all of the Christmas festivities got started in full force, Eva and my mom took an afternoot to bake some cookies: some American and some German style. You see Eva below making some very fancy chocolate cookies - with a thin layer of jelly and dipped in chocolate.

Here's my mom in action preparing a fresh batch of white chocolate cranberry cookies for cooling.
Here's a quick view of the results. It is a good thing we took this picture...since there are now no pieces of evidence that they baked at all! Ohhh...I love home baked cookies!

For a great recipe for Lebkuchen (German Gingerbread cookies) that Eva used, please see the site of one of our friends, Daffy.

*** note to the English speaking community: if you want the receipe, let me know and I'll translate for you. The Lebkuchen are awesome!

60th Wedding Anniversary

On the 11th of December, Eva's Grandparents celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary. In the morning, there was a short church service followed by cake, coffee, and lunch at Diergardts (the same restaurant we had our wedding reception).

It was great to hear all of the stories from Eva's grandparents and their friends about the 'old days'. When I asked about the weather on the day they got married, Eva's grandfather said that it was so cold that the water in the flower vase froze.

Here's Kurt and Inge Göttgens with their three sons (from left to right) Wolfgang, Rainer, and Uli.

Congrats on the 60th!