Quinn even had a chance to meet his sister today...and this is his 'what do I do with her now' look.
Doesn't he look a bit devilish here?
Super cute with her tongue out...but still with some blood on her forehead.
Of course, we put on our football shirts (thanks to Mom and Dad!) and our CU hats. Since we lost to CSU, I put on my Miracle in Michigan T-Shirt on, hoping for better days of CU football while reminiscing on one of the best days of my life (almost as good as my wedding day, of course ;-).
There are no bleachers, just a soccer practice field with some goalposts, but it is still football, and it is live!
We brought our camping chairs, and Quinn took mine - forcing me to pace up and down the sideline in Ize fashion.
Quinn and his football. He loves the darn thing, and we're still playing 'touchdown' when I get home from work. I think this may be the reason my body hurts all the time...I'm getting too old.
At least we could leave the weekend on a high note: One of the forest stations 'near' our house had an open house. We've been wanting to go there for a while, and we thought that this was the sort of field trip that would be good for all of us: Eva got a break from her boys, Quinn got some more fresh air, and I got to spend more time outside with the Quinn I'm used to.
It was about a 25 minute bike ride through the forest, pulling Quinn in his chariot. Of course, the first thing he sees when we park the bike is a girl eating ice cream. So we had ice cream.
I'm super paranoid when he's climbing, but he does really great, and it seems second nature to him.
One of the forest paths. When I told him this was not the path to ice cream, he immediately turned around and started running in the other direction. I think this was the only time he listened to me all weekend.
The mini roller coaster was the highlight. Quinn was the last one to get to go down...it was way past closing time, and I was getting a bit worried that Quinn would get hungry on me (and I, in my infinite wisdom, didn't bring anything to eat).
Quinn got a new hat for fall, and was dorking around a bit when putting it on. We thought he looked like a Smurf (Schlumpf) ... or even worse, a Frenchman ;-)
This is typical Quinn: he sees his Papa do something (trying to fix his car) and he tries to do it himself. On this particular occasion, he went into our utility closet (Abstellkammer), got my electronics screwdrivers, and started 'working' on his car.
Family pic: all of us hussied up before going to a friend's birthday party.
Mama and son.
There is finally a way for me to watch live college football games on TV. A while ago, I connected our flat screen in the living room to the computer as an extra monitor. Last week, I subscribed to espn360.com, which streams tons of live college football games.
But, we overcame our laziness of having to drive. After getting up, we packed our gear, picked up breakfast at the bakery, and hit the road.
Our destination has a sort of 'path' for kids so that they can experience different things: from walking barefoot on different things like pine cones to pebbles, to crossing a hanging bridge (the logs were connected to chains that were freely hanging), to a maze, to a huge hanging xylophone. 
Of course, we had to take a break and eat our breakfast...
The weather was perfect, and it turned out to be a great way to spend the morning and early afternoon. We were beat...but for some reason, Quinn was full of energy and didn't want to take his nap.
I'm sure the neighbors love us. We're not exactly quiet...running up and down our yard, tackling, fumbling, and chasing the ball. Ideally, I do this to help tire Quinn out...but I seem to always be the one out of breath. The little guy is getting pretty good at holding on to the ball (when I try to create a fumble).
It brings a very warm glow to my heart when I come home from work, and I can barely put my pack on the floor before I see Quinn getting our 'helmets' (matching CU baseball hats...I've got him convinced that you cannot play football without helmets...which was my trick to make him wear a hat to protect his head from the sun...).
His toolbox contains the basics...but no drill. Guess who has confisicated one of my Bosch cordless drills? Do you think I could let him have it without the battery...no way...
Here's a blast from the past...yup...this is me...in my super cool Mobil uniform.
With daycare being closed for 3 weeks, Eva took a week and headed to her parents for some fun in the sun (and a few additional hands to take care of Quinn). Quinn is pictured below wearing his football 'helmet'. Go Buffs!
Quinn, Nina, and Frank...Quinn really took a liking to Frank...
I drove up with Eva and Quinn and stayed for the weekend...while the week alone was nice, and yes, I did enjoy eating in front of the computer, it was also great to have them back.
...working on a puzzle with Lea...
Blast from the past II: the logic behind my baby nickname: Butterball
Not to let you think that Quinn is only running around playing football, he loves using his kitchen and cooking for all of us.
Oma got to eat all of his great meals. It is amazing how quickly he can make a pizza AND ice cream. Oh...a child's imagination.
I did take one night when I was back home to head out with Rene for a great meal: I wasn't all that hungry, but after seeing Rene's order, I also ordered the 'light' meal: Schweinshaxe! (Etwas Fränkisches, natürlich). Pork knuckle with kraut and a potato dumpling. Yummy!
You can order old fashioned oak kegs in various sizes...and the cute little guy you see above is the 15.8l variety.
The top tap went fine...but shortly after the pic of me and the side tap, I gave the tap one more 'tap' of the mallet, and I succeed in pushing the rubber grommet, more or less, into the keg. The result: in 'boy and the dike' fashion, I shoved my finger in the whole to keep the tasty beer from spraying all over my lawn and flowers.
The weather wasn't ideal, but it was mostly dry...we played a bit outside with the kids and chatted inside.
Quinn even played nicely with the younger daughter of our friends.
I painted in college during the summers to help pay for college, and painting takes me back to these carefree days. Get up at 6am, go to work (no shower, no shaving, no tie), come back at 6pm, run, grill, have a beer, chat with friends, go to bed.
He waited mostly impatiently for the chance to ride on the boat...and was not happy when I made him get off to allow other children a chance.
Quinn's swimming 'lesson' consists of some singing in the group and getting used to water. Quinn likes jumping in and out of the water, and even lets me throw him into the water...
Getting thrown from the instructor to me.
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...
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.
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. 
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.
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.
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.
