Frühlingshochzeit - Spring Wedding

Last weekend we were invited to my cousin Philipps and his wife Doros "spring wedding" in Hattingen. We enjoyed getting together with the family and had a wonderful time. Thank you, Philipp and Doro!

We tried to take a family picture but Quinn would not let go off the Pretzel he was eating. I tried... as you can see in the first picture. So, Quinn is basically eating in 90% of the pictures that were taken.

My Dad thought it would be a good idea to let Quinn go down the slide. Quinn really enjoyed it. He enjoyed it so much that when my Dad thought 'two times should be enough' Quinn kept on walking back to the slide wanting to go down again... and again... and again...
Here is a picture of Quinn at the dinner table. Thanks Kocka! We love that pic!
And here is another one of Quinn - eating...;-)

Big Boy

Quinns first day in day care was on the 7th of April. So far, he is doing really well and after me being there with him for 3 days, we even started separating. He is becoming a big boy...

Winter Wonderland

This year for Easter the weather was perfect - if it had been christmas... It snowed, it was cold and we had to hunt for Easter eggs in the house. But, it was a great weekend and we enjoyed it nonetheless. Easter Monday (a holiday in Germany) the sun actually came out and we went on a wonderful hike in 'Fränkische Schweiz'.

Following my (Eva) family tradition, we colored our Easter Eggs on Good Friday. Quinn was a great help coloring the eggs! ;-)

Quinn searched for Easter Eggs on Easter Sunday - with some help from Daddy!

The Easter Bunny had even left some new toys for Quinn to play with!

On Easter Monday, we went on a hike in 'Fränkische Schweiz'. As a tradition in this area, the women of each village decorate the fountains with Easter Eggs and flowers. A very nice tradition - even nicer when they are not covered with snow!

Quinn was so excited - he wanted to jump into the cold water!

The hike was wonderful and very relaxing! I just wish we had been wearing another layer of clothes. It was so cold!

We hope you all had a Happy Easter!

Vacation in the Bavarian Forest

Last week we headed to the Bavarian Forest with Eva's parents. We had a small apartment in the country with lots of peace and quiet. We've stayed at this place a few times before and the owners have taken great care of us. If you are in the area, you can't go wrong staying here. http://www.postwirt-lam.de/

Even though the weather didn't provide the Spring weather we were hoping for, we made the best out of it. After all, there is no such thing as bad weather...just the wrong clothes.

Hiking
We hiked together every day but one. Some tours were longer than others, but it is always refreshing just to get outside in the fresh air. This was our big test for Quinn's hiking backpack. Thankfully, he loved being schlepped around by his dad.
On one of the many, many well-marked trails in the Bavarian forest.
One of the great bonuses of most German hiking trails, especially those closer to the Alps, is that the trails tend to have small Biergartens, restaurants, or mountain huts to offer food and refreshment to tired hikers. Some even have playgrounds. Below is a pic on the Kötztinger Hütte . We were there pre-season, so we practically had the place to ourselves (we met the local priest there). In full season, this place is packed, as it offers a great view of the valleys...not to mention their split pea soup and fresh beer. Eva and her dad overlooking the valley near Lam.
It is also common to have crosses at the peaks of the mountains or hills, as shown below. When you consider that this cross is almost 100' tall, that the wood has to be pulled by horses on narrow hiking trails, and that many of these crosses are very, very old, they are even more impressive and beautiful.
During our hikes, we had only one hairy stretch, that we weren't too sure if I could make it through safely. With some help of Eva's dad, I made it through fine. Quinn slept through the whole section. Amazing how he can sleep in his backpack.
We did have a few hours of blue skies during the vacation...and when the sun peeked out, we tried to take tons of pics ;-)

Sledding
The family of the apartments where we were staying offered us to borrow their sled for a day so that Quinn could go sledding (and so that I could pull him up and down the hill). With those good intentions, we headed to the ski mountain, the Großer Arber. Unfortunately, their sledding hill was closed, but we found something that worked.
I had issues steering the sled.
Eva's Dad is a speed freak
Apparently, Quinn can fall asleep while sledding as well.

A pic with Quinn's Grandparents after sledding.
We also visited the local zoo. Quinn had some troubles finding the birds to look at, but he was fascinated at the larger animals. The goats were especially cool since the females were super pregnant, and they looked like they would pop at any moment.
The vacation was also filled with lots of firsts for Quinn. Being on vacation, it is a bit more difficult to cook and prepare his normal veggies, so we let him eat mostly from our plates. He finally tried french fries, potato dumplings (Kloß), cranberry jelly, and the like. While he still prefers mostly veggies, he really liked the dumplings. He was indifferent to fries...which we are sure will change. Basically, he'll eat anything...except cucumbers. Don't know why he doesn't like cucumbers.

While he took his first steps a few weeks ago, he really started to walk independently while we were on vacation. Now, he is fully mobile...and getting faster.

Quinn and I looking over a menu and blowing bubbles together. He looks so cute when he blows bubbles!

The pic below is so Eva's parents. They are such sun birds. It wasn't really that warm out (hence their long pants and jackets), but the sun was shining. So, they head out on our balcony and sit facing the sun...loading up on the energy and to save it for the next rainy day.

Finally, a picture of the 'typical' Easter decorations of the area. With luck, we'll get to take a hike this weekend to look at all of the Easter Fountains in our area, so we'll post more later. These decorations, coupled with a nice hike and sunny weather, is the invitation for Spring to finally start.

Barcelona and Birthdays

Packed in between coming back from the US and Quinn's first birthday, was a quick two day conference in Barcelona. It would have been nice to tack on a few days of sightseeing before or after the conference (with Eva and Quinn of course!), but trying to pull this off before Quinn's birthday would have been a bit stressful.

So, I did the quick out and back trip in less than two days. Normally, these sorts of events are packed full of presentations and networking (eating and and socializing at the bar ;-) in a hotel conference hall that looks the same regardless of whether you are in Vegas, Barcelona, or Shanghai.

Thankfully, before heading to the airport, a sightseeing trip of the city was planned by the organizers...which finished at the airport. Convenience! Above is a pic of the original city walls - originally a Roman outpost to protect shipping channels into the Mediterranean.

Below is a pic of the Gaudi Cathedral, Templo expiatorio de la Sagrada Família designed by the famous Spanish artist and architecht, Antoni Gaudi, which is still under construction. My pictures do not do justice to the magnificance of the cathedral, so check out the links for more.

Of course, on the weekend following the trip to Barcelona, we celebrated Quinn's first birthday. We had a great weekend planned with lots of hiking and relaxation, but unfortunately Quinn was sick with a stomach virus, and the weather was really bad. We tried to make the best of the situation, but Quinn couldn't keep down food and wasn't his normal, happy self.

Having to stay in the house all day didn't help much either.
We started out the day by going to the doctor (which requires a trip to the emergency doctor on Saturday). But, when we came home, somewhat relieved, we started the festivities. Quinn's grandparents and Nina were in town to celebrate the occasion. Quinn still hasn't figured out the whole 'unwrapping gifts' thing, but we think this will soon come.
Of course, Quinn's favorite present was the red balloon, which he tries to stick in his mouth and bit. I'm petrified that he'll really bite down on the thing and pop it.
Happy 1st Birthday!
A small police car from Tick Tack Oma and Opa. Eva's parents brought this for them to give to Quinn, and they had some issues getting through airport security - who thought it might be a bomb.

Quinn and Eva reading one of his new books.
Quinn really likes his new giraffe. He shows his affection by putting it in his mouth.
We had to help him blow out his candles. I hoped that he could dig into his first birthday cake, which Eva made just for him, but with his stomach issues, we decided not to let him have this luxury. Made the cleaning up a bit easier.
Despite the weather, we tried to go out a bit. Here we are...dressed somewhat alike. Like father, like son.
Quinn looks super cute in baseball hats, but he just doesn't like them on his head. After putting the caps on, he promptly takes them off. Maybe he thinks it is some sort of game.

All in all, despite the health issues and weather, it was a great weekend. It could have gone a bit more as planned, but the most important part was that we were together, as a family.

Garden Day

We had some awesome spring weather today. So, after breakfast, we headed outside! Quinn got to go on three walks and play a bit at the playground. In between, Eva and I worked in the yard. We are all a bit tired, and we got to use some muscles that haven't been used since the last yardwork in the fall, but we had a blast...and got to tank up on some sun.

Below is a short video of Quinn practing walking taken the end of January. As you've already read, he's already taken his first solo steps. He loves practicing with his little walker/cart, and we think he'll soon be fully mobile on both feet.

Firsts

This is the blogpost of Firsts...

Quinn received his first Valentine's Day card last week. My cousin Lea sent it to him. She is 8 years old and created the card herself. Very, very cute. Thank you Lea!

Here is Quinn analysing the card.

I bought Quinn his first pair of shoes yesterday. He walked his first steps without holding onto any hands or items on Monday and so I thought that it was about that time... He's getting old...;-)

Last week Sunday we visited our friends Keith and Manuela and their new daughter Johanna in Munich. It was a gorgeous day - cold but sunny - and so we took the kids for a walk in a close-by park. We had a wonderful time and cannot wait to go back in summer.

Quinn enjoyed looking at the ducks with Daddy.

Ohhh... and this is my first blog post! Eva...;-)

Da Da

My heart melted this morning. It was 630am and I just got back from my morning jog. Quinn was just waking up (and therefore Eva as well). Eva had already taking Quinn out of his crib and he was playing in his room. I poked my head in the room to say good morning...

...and Quinn looked at me and said 'Da Da'.

Wow! My heart stopped: Quinn finally called me 'Dada'. It was clear and could not be mistaken. Daddy!

Then he looked at the light in the hallway and said 'Da.......Da'. (For the English speakers in the audience, 'da' is the German word for 'there'...and Quinn is in this phase of pointing to stuff and saying 'da'.)

So, maybe Quinn has a bit more work before he gets 'Daddy' right, but as far as I'm concerned, today was the day he called me 'Daddy', even though our lamp is also 'Daddy'.

Looking back a bit, the link below shows a bit of what we do when I get up early on the weekends to take care of Quinn. We get the eating part out of the way...then we play.



Last weekend, we tried out our new hiking backpack with Quinn, and we took a hike in the area. Quinn had a blast: he fell asleep. Something is wrong with Eva's new camera...it seems to put way too much grey in my hair when it takes pics ;-)
Last Sunday, the sun finally came out...so after taking care of the condo (Quinn loves the vacuum), we went to one of the playgrounds in the area.
Quinn loved being pushed...
Quinn and Eva on the swing.

Do You Believe in Miracles

Even the mention of the words 'Do you believe in miracles' still brings goosebumps to my skin. While I was only 6 years old when the 'Miracle on Ice' occured, it is still a poignant event in my (sports) psyche. It embodies all of the makings of a Hollywood film: the undefeatable, highly experienced (professional) Russian hockey team vs. a bunch of college kids from the US. Let's not forget that this was 1980 and the world was in the height of the cold war.

Oh, and it was the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, NY.



I still get goosebumps when I see this clip. If you have the time, here's a good 10 minute recap of the game.



So, when I travelled two weeks ago to the US to attend a sales conference in Lake Placid (with a 'normal' biz trip in Philly the next week), I was excited to be able to see this quite ski village in the winter. I was there a few years ago for an Ironman, but it was the summer, and the 'Miracle' is just a bit different without snow.

Thankfully, we had a few hours off during the conference to see some of the highlights. Sort of a mini Olympics. (Please forgive the poor 'video' editing. I'm an amateur.)



After doing some of the 'events'...even curling...you get a bit of an appreciation of the sport - especially biathlon. Those athletes are in and out of the shooting range in 25 seconds. I can't even get down on my belly and stand back up that fast.

Thankfully, I'm back home in Erlangen...enjoying the wonderful winter here: 35 degrees, grey skies, and light rain. Depressing. But it is home, and it is great to be back with Eva and Quinn.