Trip To Germany

We've been back from our trip to Germany for a little over a week now, and - as usual - reality kicks back in way too soon.  The good news is, we all recovered pretty well from our jet lag and (I am probably jinxing myself here) most nights, Annelee is sleeping better than she was before.  Let's hope she keeps that up.

So, Germany.  After an uneventful flight there (yay) we and our luggage (yay) arrived in Duesseldorf to be picked up at the airport by my Mom.  We got the train to Bielefeld, then drove the last bit home.  Overall, we were only about an hour later than we anticipated.  I'll take it.

The fun kicked off almost immediately, with Marion, Sebastian and Tobias coming over in the afternoon.  Vivian and Tobias played, Annelee, too (in between bouts of clinging to me).  We saw a lot of them, which was nice and gave Vivian and Tobias a chance to get to know each other a bit better.  Vivian also made some new friends, Gerti's (the neighbor) grandson Junis and my schoolfriend Heike's three girls.

We jumped on the trampolin at Marion & Sebastian's (I want one!), went to the Safari park with everyone, went to the playground several times, rode a walk-bike (not sure what the exact translation of that one is), drew with chalk, played cards, carved a pumpkin, made jello (Goetterspeise - please, no one tell Vivian that you can get that here, too, I keep telling her it's a German thing), and went for a walk with a lantern with a real candle (you didn't read this, Anne) while singing songs. I'm sure I'm forgetting things.

The return flight was also pretty much uneventful (which is how I like my flights), even though Annelee was a bit cranky at times.  Overall, still smooth sailing.  And we arrived early (!) and with our luggage (did I mention "yay"?)

Pictures to follow over the next few posts.

I'll leave you with one of Annelee and Vivian on the huge trampolin, with Omi, Grosspapa and Tobias watching them.

A Package for the Page Princesses

This morning, the girls discovered a package from Aunt Betsy and Uncle Mike in the mail.  They were very excited to open it (especially Vivian, who knew what was going on).  They may have gotten their gifts mixed up (er, modeled them for each other ;) ) – but they sure had fun unwrapping them and loved them.  Vivian is also excitedly looking forward to getting her first magazine.  Thank you so much, Aunt Betsy and Uncle Mike!

Vivian holds up her new T-shirt ...

... and Annelee follows suit with her new jammies!

Annelee in Vivian's T-shirt.  And, yes, that's a semi-naked Barbie in the foreground.  Of course!  Our house is full of them!  ;)

Vivian pretends to read the letter

Vivian with Annelee's pants

Casey & Ernie Visit

A couple of weekends ago, Casey and Ernie came to visit us in the 'Burgh.  We had some yummy food, played cards, created art and hung out and just took it easy.  It was a fun weekend.  Thanks for coming up, Casey & Ernie!

Casey had brought clay for us to make a sculpture.  She created a boat and then we all created ourselves.  That was lots of fun!

Ernie with that great T-shirt of his

Casey builds the boat

Vivian plays with "Annelee" (created by Casey)

Annelee supervises while snacking on some melon

Vivian just loved to mash the clay around

Of course some clay ended up in her face  :)

In the boat: back - Ernie, Casey, a lizard (on the back rim), Will.  front - Vivian, Annelee on our sole remaining fish.  In front of the boat:  Jonas & Mattias, Franziska (lying down so my head won't fall off)

 As per usual, the chef created some wonderful meals ...

Dinner prep

Multi-colored beets, melon, melon foam, caramelized pecans, goat cheese, bacon, salad.  Delish!

Cupcakes were on the menu, too.

I'm pretty sure at least some of the icing made it into her mouth

Got icing?

And last, but not least, various Barbie-play and cuddle sessions!

Even Ernie got roped into playing Barbies

Annelee was never quite happy when not in fully body-contact with Mommy.  Good thing this is just a phase!

Morning cuddles with Aunt Casey

Casey, the girls, and (of course) Mermaid Barbie

Dippers

Heiko and Christel gave me some very intriguing 'dippers,' as Vivian would say, for breads and stuff. One was a pomegranate vinegar, one is thistle oil, and one is a mystery vinegar. All were sehr lecka ('Sarah Lecka,' as Aunt Susan would say)! I am so happy I remembered these as I was preparing a caprese salad and wondering what to do with a baguette. Danke papa und mama Lang!

Crazy Crawlers

I love when our two girls play together and have fun!




Click here for a direct link to the video if you can't see it above.

Idlewild 2011

The year in the title indicates that I should have a previous year's post to link to ... but I still don't have that one up.  :(  Maybe one day ...

Anyways, about a life-time or so ago (last May, I think), Marina and Kris, Katherine and I took our children (four at that point, Corwin & Kyra, Emma, Vivian, both Katherine and I were pregnant) to Idlewild.  It's about 1.5 hrs from here, so it's really just a once-a-summer trip.  Last year was fun, so we wanted to do this again. 

This year, only Kris and Marina (and Kris' cousin Morgan) and Vivian and I (I took a day off work, Annelee went to daycare) made it.

First and most importantly, Vivian and I had a wonderful and fun day together.  I thoroughly enjoyed her company, and the bonus of not carrying a diaper-bag or pushing a stroller (sorry, Annelee ;) ).  It was fabulous.

Last year, we had gone to the story-book forest first, and by the time we were done it was time for me to head home so that Vivian would at least get somewhat of a nap.  So we didn't manage to go on any of the rides.  We fixed that this year.  We went straight for the rides and spent pretty much all our time on them.  We didn't get to go to the Soakzone, but I think that's high on the agenda for next year.

The first ride we went on was one of those "plunge you into the water rides".  The carriages were pulled up a steep incline and then plunged down toward the water.  I had absolutely no idea if Vivian was going to start crying hysterically, laugh manically, or something in between.  I know I was thinking "what am I doing on this ride?!?" when we were pulled up the incline...

The verdict?  Vivian LOVED it!

So much that she then dragged me on the "Octopus", and patiently waited in the long and slow moving line to ride it.  I tried to watch her very blissful and enchanted face during the ride, but my stomach did not appreciate it, so I quickly focused on things further away  ;)

We got a few more adult-supervision rides under our belt before heading to the kiddie-zone.  There, you can only ride if you are under 56 inches, so we put the kids on lots of rides and watched them having just as much fun on those little rides as they did on the big ones.

We finally left Marina & Kris and their crew to head home, but not before we had an ice cream and went on one last ride.  The entire walk back to the car I had to explain at every single attraction that you can't possibly do them all in one day and that we needed to save them for next year.  Vivian is so ready to go back already!

We will most definitely be back there next year with Annelee and Will.

You were supposed to balance balls on the airstream, but Rapunzel had to test her long hair, of course

Going down that first ride, just before we hit the water

It's hard to take a picture of a short and a tall person when strapped into a ride, especially when you are one of them ...

Kris and Corwin waiting for the ride to start

My favorite shot of the day ... she's having a ball!

Everyone minus the photographer (Vivian, Marina with Kyra, Morgan, Corwin, Kris)

Serious about his driving

Looks like she's steering wildly and loving it

This ride is known as the "baby cage".  We contemplated slipping them a 20 to keep the cage locked for an hour   ;)

Morgan and Corwin.  The stick is to help pushing, not to "encourage" the kid to do the work  ;)

I did one of those rides with Vivian and they are hard work!  THEN I found out there was one for children w/out adults.  Sigh!

The things parents do to get their kids to smile for the camera ...

A very special water fountain

Nap time!

I love how Corwin is all focused on driving and Vivian's just relaxing and enjoying the ride

The final stretch, both are now fully into it!

Riding the motor bikes

Monkey Girl

Up until last summer, Vivian was the least monkey-like and risk-taking one of her friends. I kind of liked it that way. This has definitely changed this summer. Suddenly, she's climbing and jumping and sliding, mostly by herself (she used to ask for a lot of help). Occasionally, though, she will still ask for help. Almost always, she will ask someone (anyone, even strangers on the playground :) ) to watch what she is doing.

It took me a bit to adapt to that new normal. I still often hold my breath (I'm a chicken, what can I say), but I've also gotten quite good at saying "no, you climbed up there, you need to figure out how to get down". She usually does!

Today, Vivian asked that we go to Dormont Playground. It's probably one of my favorites just because it is so different from your standard play equipment (a slide, a climbing structure and one or two sets of swings). Instead, the playground is one huge wooden structures with opportunities for climbing, running, balancing and sliding all over the place. I posted pictures of it before, you can find them here in my post from November 2009 (and while you are at it ... look at how small our kids were then!).

Today, Vivian proudly showed me her latest monkey-skill. And of course I had to document it.  And post it for all of you to see :)