More words...

Quinn starts talking more words that we actually understand! He learned "Oma" (Grandma in German), "Auto" (car in German), "Eis" (for icecream) and "Dan" (for Danke - Thank you) this weekend!
He still gets Papa and Daddy mixed up though. We'll have to work on that one before Rob comes home!

Habits

Quinn has gotten into the habit of always getting a chair when I am working in the kitchen. Whether that is preparing breakfast, doing dishes or cleaning up: Quinn gets the chair and wants to 'help'.

Afterwards, the dishes are clean (!) but the kitchen is under water and both Quinn and I need to change because we got cleaned, too...

It is like that with almost all the housework. I vacuum: Quinn wants to help by turning it on (and off before I am done...), changing the speed/power and pushing the vaccum around the house. I sweep the floors: Quinn gets his broom and helps. I do laundry: Quinn gets it out of the washer- and does not care whether it's actutally clean or I just put it in...

Now the big question is: Who did he get that from???

Sommerfest - Party Time

Last Friday Quinn's day care had a little party for all the kids and their parents, grandparents and friends. Since Rob was in the States, my Mom came down to join us. Quinn had a great time - and so did we!

At the beginning, we all got together and sang a couple of songs. One was "If you're happy and you know it..." - in German. I didn't even know that existed...

After the singing, there were different things for the kids to do. Quinn was really good at throwing the balls at cans. He loved it, too! And he had conviced some 5-year old to always run and get the balls back...


... and then there was icecream. Quinn didn't really know how to eat it though - he normally eats his icecream with a spoon - and so Mom had to finish it...
Another excitement was playing with water. Quinn liked that as well - and so did Oma.

Is he thinking: "How did my pants get wet?" Or rather: " Oh boy, what did you do???"

The afternoon was wonderful and after eating from the wonderful homemade buffet, we went home and enjoyed the warm evening. Quinn was so excited he would not go to bed until 2 hours after his normal bedtime. But, after all: we missed you Daddy!!!

At the pool...and with the pigs

When Eva's sister was here a few weeks ago, we headed out to the local pool (within walking distance from our place) to enjoy the great weather. The kids pool was pretty large and just the right depth for Quinn. The cold water didn't bother him a bit.

It was fun to watch him use his watering can to water...the pool.

This last weekend wasn't nearly as nice, but we headed out anyway.
Saturday was a bit nicer. There was a huge event where our town was trying to win the competition for the most active city in Germany, where the winning city gets 100,000 EUR for the local sports teams. There were all sorts of booths and things to do. We thought that Quinn would like the huge 'bouncy room' (Hüpfburg), but his first experience was as positive as we were hoping. At least he tried.
Later that day at a local park...with a pretzel.
We woke up, or shall I say that Quinn woke up, early. We decided to be a bit spontaneous, pack some breakfast, and head to the some of the local hiking trails for a 2 hour hike. Quinn was chatting for much of the way, but took a power nap the last 30 minutes.
It would be a stretch to say that he is talking now: his vocabulary is limited to Mama, Ja, leer (empty), and DaDa (we don't know if that is a reference to me or anything that he is point to).

I've been practicing the vowels with him when I change diapers: AAAAAAAAAAAAA, EEEEEEEEEEEE, IIIIIIIIIIII, OOOOOOOOO, UUUUUUUUUUU. He seemed to get out a few oooo's today. And, I swear he pointed to a picture of Eva's Mom and said Oma. As the new words come in, we'll keep you updated.

Visiting the wild pigs on the tail end of the hike. Quinn seems to like the little ones (you can see one near his right hand), and he is a bit scared of the big ones...
This is what happens to bananas that are lying within Quinn's reach. They have no chance.
Well...another weekend has ended...off to work.

Wear Sunscreen

I remember when this text came through all of the email servers at CU. Back then, I don't even think Spam was a commonly used word yet. The Urban Legend was that this was Kurt Vonnegut's commencement speach to MIT. In reality, it was from Chicago Tribune columnist Mary Schmich.

Lots of good advice along with some new cliches in this video version. Amazing how an old memory can be reignited after a few quick searches on YouTube.

...always wear sunscreen...

Texans in Germany

It is hard to believe that my folks landed in Germany almost a month ago for their 11 day trip through Germany. As with any trip, the time seemed to fly by...but thankfully we have some great memories, pictures, and video of the trip.

My folks did great after landing in Frankfurt. After picking them up around 8am, we got back in the car for another ~4 Hour drive + 1 hour ferry ride to meet up with Eva's parents and sister on the North Sea island of Borkum. They napped for an horu or so in the car, but once we caught up with Eva and Quinn at the dock, they were full of energy...definitely required to keep up with the little man. The weather ont he North Sea can be sketchy, but we had unbelievable warm temps and blue skies. Notice on the pic with Quinn and both sets of grandparents the gradual decline in height as you move to the left (Gould) side of the pic.
Three generations of Robert Goulds...barefoot on the beach.
Borkum was known as a whaling comminity, and the 'fence' below is of whale teeth and bones - a few hundred years old.
Quinn is slowly starting to dig ice cream, and we finally let him eat the ice cream on his own. It got a bit messy, but he figured it out.Oh...the North Sea! One big sandbox for Quinn.A few family pics before heading to dinner.After our 2 days in Borkum, we headed back home (a 700 km trip) to head to work, which left my folks home alone with Quinn (the real reason for their visit ;-) Quinn having fun as Eva is blowing bubbles.
Another great advantage of their trip was that the European soccer championship was in full swing...and my dad did a great job rooting for Germany, I have to admit, it was a lot of fun during the world cup going out to the Biergartens or Restaurants/Bars to watch the games, but it is a bit more difficult to work around the bedtime of a 1 year old. This European was definitely exciting...and Germany finished second. Now the (soccer) focus turns to the upcoming soccer season and the World Cup in South Africa in 2010.
Quinn opening his first Duplo's. He had a ball with the bag (of course), but got into the swing of stacking the blocks. Thanks Jessica, Charles, and Landon! We've been playing with these a lot, and I've also built some interesting sculptures...one was especially funny, but it didn't pass the censor (aka Mommy) and I couldn't post the pic of the anatomically correct Legoman.Day at the zoo! Nürnberg's zoo is one of the best in Germany, and it received a new addition this winger: ababy polar bear that was born in the zoo: Flocke. She doesn't seem much like a baby anymore...I had a hard time deciding which of the two pics below to post...so I took the easy way out and posted both. This first one is a great view of both my mom and Quinn looking very interested (at something).But, this one of Quinn hamming it up for the camera is precious as well.Another good one of Quinn and my Mom.My dad took great care of Quinn at the playground (at the zoo and near our place). He noticed that Quinn is pretty much fearless, which will change once he busts his head a few more times.My Dad tought Quinn how to slide by himself, which still seems crazy dangerous, but Quinn loves sliding by himself. Here is a pic of one of the practice runs.After a relatively calm week at home, we headed to the other side of Germany to head to the Bavarian Forest to do some hiking and to catch some of the mountain air. A pre hike family pic and another three generation picture below.
Mom and Dad took care of Quinn for a few hours so that we could rest a bit, and Quinn loved hiding in the drawer. A family pic outside our hotel. We've been staying with Familie Brandl for a number of years at their Landgasthof Postwirt. The family run B&B is very well kept, they are extremely friendly, treat us exceptionally well...and the food is simple but amazing! If you are in the area, you can't go wrong staying here. Tell them that crazy German/American couple sent you.
A short walk before heading home.
Before heading home, Mom and Dad did some laundry...and my dad took Quinn on a few airplane rides in the laundry basket. We had a great time with my parents, and most importantly, Quinn got to spend more time with his Grandparents from Texas. My folks were super with Quinn and were very active playing with him. We think he had a blast as well...

We are already looking forward to the next visit from Grandma and Grandpa Texas...and Quinn is as well.

Big Word of the Day

I haven't posted one of these in a while, but I came across a good big (German) word of the day:

RV-Altersgrenzenanpassungsgesetz

But, it gets worse...this is really one of those sneaky German tricks to make a word seem smaller, since RV is an abbreviation for Rentenversicherung. So the full word is:

Rentenversicherung-Altersgrenzenanpassungsgesetz

47 letters and one dash. What does it mean? Roughly translated: this is the law that sets the retirement age for the German Social Security system.

Who said German is a tough language to learn? It is certainly more efficient than the english equivalent that needs 11 spaces and 60 letters ;-)

A real post with pictures will soon follow...

Unglaublich: 5 Years in Germany

On Monday, I celebrated my 5 year anniversary in Germany. It is still hard for me to believe that it has been 5 years already. To borrow a cliche: how time flies.

A lot has happened in that timeframe...I got married, built a house, planted an apple tree, had a child (as the German saying goes). I have been gracefully accepted as a son into Eva's family, for which I am very grateful. I have embraced a culture that can be difficult at times, but more often than not, it is a much more user friendly, outgoing, and service oriented society than it gets credit for; I believe my new culture has also embraced me. Despite the distance, I have become closer to my own parents and family. Eva and I both feel at home in our neighborhood, where we chat with the neighbors, wave at the local hairdresser, and take walks or hikes in the area; while Germany is still foreign, I have lived in only one city, my hometown in Texas, longer than I have lived here. I have seen cities, cultures, and things that a small town kid from West Texas could have only dreamed of.

I am living a dream that started as a small seed with my first German class at the University of Colorado. After I started working for Siemens, the seed became a goal, and 5 years ago, this goal became a dream fulfilled. A lot of people ask why I wanted to go to Germany, and it is still a question I cannot fully answer. It was just that way.

I also never thought that I'd be spending my 5 year anniversary, alone, in a hospital.

Yep, a hospital. Last Saturday, I sliced two fingers and ligaments while changing the blade on my lawnmower. Surgery on Saturday and in the hospital until Tuesday. The hospital here is an excellent teaching hospital, but there is no A/C (it was 90+ (30+ C) degrees last week), and you have to pay extra for TV. My iPod and Konrad Adenauer's Erinnerungen (Memoirs) kept me sane while I was there. The frequent visits from Eva also helped a lot. Thankfully, all is OK, and it looks like things are healing fine. Just have to wear a cast for 4 weeks. The doctor wanted me to keep me out of work for 4 weeks, but I negotiated him down to 2 weeks.

Despite the cast, I'm able to do a lot. I've been working a bit from home, but I've been enjoying the extra time with Eva and Quinn.

I know I've been a bit behind with my blog posts of late. My folks were here for two great weeks in Juné. I'll post a longer post of their visit next...even if it is a bit chronologically backwards. Nonetheless, here are a few random pics that I wasn't able to post before my folks got here and a few after their trip. Enjoy.

First, a short film of Quinn Mowing the lawn with his new lawnmower.

Here are a few pre injury pics from early June: go figure, of me and Quinn mowing the lawn.Quinn helping Eva bake a cake: Eva does a great job involving him in our activities. It allows him to do 'big peoples stuff', and it keeps him from screaming.

Quinn has always liked books, but he now picks up the books and plops in your lap. His way of saying: Daddy, read to me. So cute! Note the cast on my fight hand: post injury pic.

Home Alone: Day IV (and points thereafter)

OK...I admit it, it took me a while to post the final day of our Men's Weekend (also known as Eva's girls weekend). But the highlights were pretty simple:

First: go running and hit the playground. It still amazes me how fearless Quinn is, like most kids are, when he's climbing the steps to the slide. I guess that will change after he busts his head a few times.Then we had to clean up our mess that we created the previous 4 days. Quinn was a big help sweeping the condo (this is not a staged pic...he really likes running around the house with the broom or mop).Finally, Eva came back from her trip...and had a sweet gift for Quinn: a (plastic) lawnmower like mine. He had a blast showing me how he thought the lawn should be mowed.

Despite all the fun we had...it was time for Eva to be back home to both of her boys. I'm glad I got to have the weekend, as I think it allowed me some good quality and quantity time with Quinn...and I definitely learned a lot. I'm hoping that Eva will have another girls weekend ... but not too soon ;-)

The week was relatively quiet. Today we got out after Quinn's nap to catch the last lap of the Bayern Rundfahrt, a multi stage tour of Bavaria. The final stage was today, and the finish line was practically in our backyard.

Quinn had a blast with all of the flags. Who are those folks on the bikes, anyway. While Quinn was checking out miscellaneous stuff on the streets, Eva was noticing the legs of the pro riders, and I was checking out their bikes! Wow!Then, we hit one of the biergartens that is close to home. They have a small playground for kids so the parents can eat and drink in some semblance of peace while the kids get dirt.

Back to work tomorrow. It has been in the 90's the last week (32 C), so our office will be nice and warm on Monday. There is no AC in my office complex, so the building can get pretty warm. The blinds are automated to keep the sun out, but after a week of such warm weather, it can get pretty unbearable in the afternoons. Then, add the suits and ties of our office attire, and it gets even more difficult.