A few weeks ago we took a trip to the Nuremberg zoo - by train. We all enjoyed the train ride and seeing the animals. Finn and Lily especially enjoyed the seal and dolphin show. Sadly, the Nuremberg zoo does not have elephants anymore - we'll have to go to Munich to see them.
Finn and Lily loved the little goats, and we bought a couple boxes of those pellets from the machine to feed them. Finn was convinced they were eating poop!
This dolphin was BIG! And if I remember correctly, the oldest one they have, 50 years old!
Panthera Leo
Ursus Maritimus
Panthera Tigris
Homo Pullensis Wagonis - my favourite species. :)
Life is going well. Finn and Lily are enjoying going to preschool ("Kindergarten"). Lily has taken to her group of peers and teachers like a fish to water. She loves it there. When they have their weekly gym class even the older boys admire her for her climbing and balancing skills. She is fearless! And the other day her teachers figured out how to make her talk more quietly when playing with Finn. (She has a VERY LOUD voice, no kidding.) They just have to ask her to please speak German, then she'll start whispering right away - in English. :) Her German is getting better all the time though, she has no problem communicating with her friends.
In the afternoons we either hang out at home or go places. Finn and Lily do hip hop dance at my gym once a week, and Finn does Kinder music at preschool one afternoon.
Before bed we often have our "family time" where we play a game or read and act out a story with Schleich and Playmobil figurines (Lily's all time favourite: Daniel in the lion's den). For nighttime story reading we just finished my favourite book from the Narnia series: "The Horse and His Boy". We started "The Voyage on the Dawn Treader". It will come out in the movie theaters before Christmas, maybe we can take the kids to go see it.
Sweet dreams!
And good morning! Blue is especially cuddly in the mornings.
On the weekends we enjoy spending time with Neil. Exploring in the forest, riding our bikes or crafts on rainy afternoons are a favourite.
Here Neil and the kids are playing with "Playmais" - corn starch based foamy blocks that are a lot of fun. You can cut them, mold them, and they stick together if you moisten them a bit on a wet cloth.
Here is what Finn made with minimal help - he loves playmais.
Lily's Nemo fish
And Neil's creation. That's supposed to be me - I didn't know whether to be offended ("Did he really want to marry Pamela Andersson, but she happened to be unavailable?") or relieved ("So - love DOES make a guy blind, phew.")
By the way, Neil put my mini-me in THIS dress - the dress he picked for me to wear at Claus' and Julia's wedding. He's been bugging me to wear it around the house. I think it might be time to make use of our babysitter and get out a bit more...
This weekend we are laying low. Finn is sick (yes, AGAIN), but to spice things up a bit he came down with a case of scarlet fever, and we think he has a virus on top. The scarlet fever is being treated with penicillin and most of the symptoms are gone by now, but the cough is still there. The rest of us are also battling sore throats and headaches, but we're hanging in there.
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Today our friend Thorsten was over to put up the tree house we got from them. Jana didn't want it anymore, and Finn and Lily have outgrown our small plastic house and slide. The house is put together and secured in the ground, all we need to do is put the slide on once it has settled a bit. In the spring we will paint the roof and move the sandbox from its current spot to underneath the house.
Lily "helped".
And, last not least, we are SO HAPPY that grandpa's bypass surgery went well and he is recovering at home. We wish we could be with you, but then again, a quiet house is probably better for you right now. We will see you next year, one way or another!
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