Sledding

It's been really cold here since winter, and we've got quite a bit of snow...which lends itself to sledding. On Wednesday when Quinn asked if I could take him and Emily to Kindergarten / Daycare via our sled, I found a lame excuse to buy me some time.
On Thursday, I was out of excuses, so I took off my suit, put on my hiking boots, bundled up, and pulled the kids to Kindergarten / daycare via our sled. I felt like a horse. Quinn loved it; Emily didn't like the the cold wind on her face.

Notice the position of Emily's gloves.

After Kindergarten, Quinn, Eva, Emily, and our friend Anne went sledding at our Obi Hill. Quinn wanted to sled all himself. Notice how he is now big enough to go 'no hands'. I'm sure Eva was freaking out.

It's not a huge hill, but the kids love it...and it is only a 5 minute walk from our house.

As long as there is snow on the ground, our weekends will be filled with sledding, cold red cheeks, and hot chocolate!

Thanksgiving 2010

Nina and Eva's parents came down for Thanksgiving this year...which we celebrated last Saturday. While I was slaving in the kitchen, the girls tooks the kids to a forest park. Eva's dad provided emotional support and re-upholstered our chairs (which were looking rather shabby after almost 4 years of kiddoes...)
There was this huge teeter totter (Wippe) that looked more like a bridge.

Everyone came back ice cold.

Emily treats her gloves like her socks...she always tries to take them off. Seems like it is almost impossible to get gloves or mittens for kids that will fit over their coat and stay on...

Emily is taking after her big bro...and likes to read. She is starting to grab books and shows that she wants to sit on our laps and have us read to her...

Our little girl all hussied up for Thanksgiving dinner. When we told Quinn that we were getting 'all hussied up', he said he didn't have a dress (I guess he thinks that 'hussied up' means wearing a dress). I think Eva told him that he could get 'hussied up' without wearing a dress...and I told him he could wear a skirt if he were Scottish. As usual, no one understood my joke.

Family pic I.

...the Goulds...

...me and my 22lb farm raised fresh turkey.

...which gave us leftovers for a week...one of the best part of Thanksgiving dinner!

First Snow

Last week, we had our first snow of the winter. Not much...and rather wet, but Quinn was super excited when we told him when he woke up that it had snowed.
He raced to the window, got ready relatively quickly (ate breakfast and brushed his teeth), and asked if he could play in the snow.

The parent in me thought...well, no. The child that remains in me knows that I did the exact same thing when I was younger.

Quinn loves jumping in the snow piles ... and just horsing around in the snow. And, I have to struggle with keeping my parenting 'devil' quiet. After all, the clothes will just dry out.

Laterne, Laterne

Emily is getting more and more confident on her feet, but we are still in the phase where there are a lot of falls (and resulting head injuries due to our condo that completely lacks soft floor surfaces). Emily is getting tired of hearing Rule #1: Protect the Noggin' (which I created when Quinn started walking).
Here, I think Emily looks like she is dancing...

The 11th of November is St. Martin's day (Martinstag) and was the day of his entombment. Kindergarten children celebrate and reenact his funeral procession his day with stories and songs of his life (and the famous cloak story) as well as a latern procession.

There were at least 50 kids from Quinn's Kindergarten (and the daycare downstairs) and easily that many parents (if not twice as many). Quinn decorated his lantern.

Eva even helped out with the design by burning a hole in the lantern while trying to light the candle and stabilizing it. For as much fire that these kids were holding, there were no reports of fires in the area.

Passing the Test

Both Quinn and I passed important tests this weekend:

I made homemade spätzle (egg noodles from the southwest part of Germany called Schwaben) for the first time and had some of my homemade goulash and kohlrabi (a type of turnip) to go with it. Only a Sunday Sauerbraten gets more German that this. I might not be German, but I can cook like one.

After spending this morning at an indoor playground (it was raining, and Quinn needed to get rid of some pent up energy), we stopped at the airport on the way home to look at the planes on the observation deck. As one of the planes was taking off, Quinn said (and I'm not exaggerating at all): Papa, the plane is fixin' to take off. I hugged him for that one. He might not be Texan, but he might could talk like one (yes, for the German readers, 'might could' is horrible english, but it works fine in Texas).

New Morning Routine

Since we got off daylight savings time last week, the kids have been waking up a bit earlier than normal. This has a great effect: we are all ready for work, kindergarten, and daycare about 15 minutes earlier. So I've been using that time to read to the kids a bit before we head off to our daily routines.
Last weekend, we took advantage of the nice fall weather and went on a hike. Of course, to make it more interesting for Quinn, we planned a break with some great bakery pastries.

Of course, we don't tell Quinn we're going for a hike (because he doesn't like hiking), but he loves these 'walks in the forest' where he can pick up dead branches (he always tries to get the big ones that he can barely carry), kick fallen leaves, walk on fallen logs, and throw stones.

Eva and I like getting some fresh air and sharing one of our loves with our children.

Emily likes the naps as her Papa is schlepping her around in her hiking backpack.

Walking...and the Alps

Emily is walking now. It (her newfound mobility) started a few weeks ago with her standing on her own and then taking a few steps. While she is still unsure while on her feet, she tries to walk all the time.

She is definitely stubborn (like her mother ;-) and is bound and determined to walk and eat like us. While I love her determination, it does make a mess while eating. A dog would be helpful in this phase.
After landing in Munich after my trip to the US and Canada, Eva surprised me with a short road trip into the Alps for the weekend.

We took a gondola to get to a 'children's hiking trail' with little wooden huts lined along the way that explain the forest and mountains. We were a bit surprised to see snow already.

We never really got to the huts...Quinn was too busy throwing snowballs and making snowmen.

Emily went along with the whole thing. She didn't really like the coldness and wetness of the snow...but I'm sure this will change.

...at least we had her bundled up...

Our Bed & Breakfast had a small playground...

...with lots of leaves that Quinn heaped on the slide before he slid down...

Who needs fancy toys where there are leaves around. I love fall and the crunching of leaves under your feet!

Quinn reading to Emily before going to bed...He is such a loving big brother.

Before we went home, Quinn, Robin (friend of ours) and I went on an old steam train. This coal powered steam train was originally build in 1889 and served the mountainous Alps. On the steep sections, the train uses a cogged wheel and a special cogged middle track to climb up the mountain, which was around 16% in some places.

Quinn wasn't too thrilled at first (it was cold), and I had to bribe him with a cheap pinwheel to get him to smile for the camera. After the trip (about 16km total), all he could talk about was the super cool train ride.

This was truly an impressive piece of machinery...and a great time.

I'm Going to Kansas City, Kansas City here I Come

About 2 weeks ago, I got to stroll down memory lane a bit when I headed to KC to see my college running partner, salsa eater, and great friend Sam get married. BW and I were in the wedding party, so it was a chance for our threesome to catch up again and pretend we were young.

...we're looking older aren't we?

The wedding pictures were taken at the Nelson, and I loved the huge badminton birdies. Being back in KC evoked lots of nostalgia ... and I did my best to eat all of the great KC BBQ and Midwest home cooking as possible.

I'm glad that Sam found Steph (and vice versa)...and even though she is a Cardinals fan like Sam, she's a great match and is a great compliment to my great friend!

Unfortunately, Eva couldn't join me in KC, but we decided to bring a bit of Germany to the new couple: we presented the wedding party and guests with a Germany style wedding homework: I prepared a few canvasses and brought paint, and all the guests had to paint a heart.

I wish the both of you all the best in your journey together. May your passion for each other, the romance, the friendship, and the fun get better with each year of marriage! Thank you for having me there at your wedding!

Fall Day in the Forest

A few weeks ago, we took advantage of a nice early fall day, and headed into the Fränkische Schweiz for a hike through the forest and the 'zoo' (though not a zoo in the traditional sense...no exotic animals like elephants and giraffes...mainly European animals).
Quinn and Emily had fun feeding the animals...

All in all, a great way to spend a weekend day...we even got home feeling a bit sunburned.

First Birthday

On Friday morning, Eva flew back to her hometown to go to the bachelorette party of her close childhood friend, Babsi. I got to stay at home and play full time dad for a few days.

Unfortunately, it rained most of the time, so I had to get creative...activities included carving a pumpkin...
Going grocery shopping (Quinn loves to weigh the fruits and veggies)...and baking cookies...and going to the Fireman Festival. But, at the end of Saturday, Quinn was bouncing around like a caged lion...so I made him go outside in the rain and run until he was tired. Which he did for a few minutes.

Quinn posing with 'his' pumpkin. I let him pick out a design from the internet, and he, of course, picked one that was relatively difficult to carve. All in all things turned out well, but I was glad to see Eva come home last night.

Quinn also hit another milestone last week: he can start and stop all by himself on his bike now...

We also celebrated Emily's birthday today. Number 1. Hard to believe that our little baby is already one year old.

Emily totally loved her walker/doll carriage. She giggled like crazy using the thing.

Quinn really liked helping Emily unwrap the gifts...he'll probably get to help Emily at Christmas, and them I'm pretty sure she'll have it figured out.

Grandmom and Grandpop also sent Quinn a few more DVD's of his favorite Disney character: Handy Manny (Meister Manny).

Quinn reading Emily her new book (Thanks Grandmom and Grandpop!)

Emily getting her first sugar rush. I baked the 7-Up cake (my mom's recipe) that I loved as a child. Now I know why it tastes so good: you put a pound of butter in anything and it tastes good! Lots of nostalgia for me.

Emily absolutely loved her musical birthday card...Happy Birthday, Emily!

As with such milestones, things are bittersweet. Our little baby is a bit older now, and it is crazy to see how time flies. Both kids are getting their own personalities, and are becoming more independent in their own ways (Quinn wants to play more with the neighbor kids and Emily wants to feed herself). During those times when you are with them, they sometimes drive you crazy ... but you try to stop yourself from hoping the day to end soon, because you also know full well, that you will blink and they will be teenagers.

I'm not too sure if I'm the only one that has this struggle, but I know that I should spend more time cherishing the moments when Quinn is bouncing around like a molecule in excitement when I come home and less time stressing out when he is being too loud or when he doesn't listen.