New beginnings

Finn and Lily had their last day at their Kindergarten yesterday. Out for the summer! We are looking forward to having lots of fun together. I enrolled Lily in a swim class, so we'll be headed to the pool every morning for the first two weeks of August. She is excited!

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The third week of August Finn, Lily and I will fly up north to spend a week with Oma and Opa. We're hoping for beach weather!

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Finn is looking forward to spending lots of time with his toys and his cat. Lately he has been trying to convince Blue to be a "circus cat". I took some pictures of one of their "training sessions" the other day.

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"Finn, what is in that laundry hamper you are dragging around?" - "Um - nothing!"

(Could those blue eyes deceive you? You bet!)

"Brother - you in there!?"

He sure was. At first Blue was happily sitting in there. Then he just jumped out. This is the "trap" Finn made to catch him again. Cat toys in the blue box.

It worked. Blue back in the basket. This time Finn put something heavy on the lid so the "black panther" couldn't escape again.

This is where the horse is being prepared for its show act with the black panther.

Shoot. Panther does NOT want to ride horsey. Maybe a few pieces of bread will lure him back in the saddle?

And while I was watching the circus show unfold I thought I would help Neil out (who was happily snoozing with Lily in his arms upstairs) and help him get ready for his new job. I titled this post "new beginnings" because Neil will start commuting to Munich come Monday! He will be doing pretty much the same thing, so a few minor adjustments was all it took.

Plus, that jacket cost 60 Euros, we can't let it go to waste! :)

Neil's new job is the reason that he won't be able to come to Oma's and Opa's place with us. But the kids can't wait. Their bags have been packed for a long time and they ask me how many more days until we fly at least 5 times a day.

"Mama, can Rosalie come on the plane, too?" - "Sure, we'll ask Opa if he will pay for another ticket for her!"

Neil had a couple days off this week and we have made good use of them. When the sun is shining we are out there! (We've had a lot of rain and cooler weather lately.)

Friends gave us this toy. You can build different things with it, and for a while we had this in our yard.

But after a day or two off work Neil simply couldn't stand it anymore. The boring play structure was transformed to this:

And this:

The kids LOVE their new vehicles!

And since it was a gorgeous day we thought we would have a campfire later that night. Neil showed Finn how to start a fire using a magnifying glass (Gee - thanks, darling!). Finn literally played with that for hours.

Meanwhile Lily helped Daddy pitch the tent. Our tent only sleeps three. (That's my story and I'm sticking to it!) Unselfishly, I let Neil have all the fun and sleep outside with the kids.

Campers are moving in.

Animals have to stay outside.

I realized we had nothing to grill over the fire so I ran to the store to buy some sausages and this. S'mores are a campfire must-have!

Lily is still not a fan. She likes the ingredients separately just fine, but a s'more is just not her thing.

I have a picture almost like this from two years ago in Canada, look:

http://agermancanadianadventure.blogspot.com/2009/06/campfire-fun.html

Lily, where did the rest of your s'more go?

Found it!

I'm afraid the German side of the kids comes through at the campfire. They much prefer THIS over a grilled marshmallow. Silly kids.

Later at night, after a much-needed shower, it was off to the sleeping bags! Lily lasted until about 11pm, then she decided she wanted to sleep in her bed. I awoke at around 3am in a panic because I smelled fire and someone was running around in my bedroom making funny noises.

No worries, though. It was only Neil (who had somehow missed out on that much-needed shower and smelled like a fire pit) shooing the cats out of our bedroom. He had come inside to use the bathroom.

Well, good morning! Hope you had a restful night (ha ha). Finn LOVED sleeping in the tent. He said he would never sleep in the house ever again. That was before the rain started again, though. Now he seems quite happy in here.

I have more picture, but they will have to wait!

My laptop screen is broken and we need to send my laptop in to be repaired (still under warranty, thankfully!). I hope I will have it back soon. Meanwhile I'll be taking pictures for later. :)

Enjoy summer, everyone!