We took a trip and guess where we went?

On Friday afternoon we drove all the way to Munich for ...

... three hours filled with amazing acrobatics ...

... mesmerized kids munching their way through giant bags of popcorn ...

... huge animals really close to us ...


... like, "I-could-touch-you-with-my-trunk-if-I-wanted-to"-close ...

... a nice view of various carnivores' backs ...


... teeth ...

... and (really close) profiles ...

(which, by the way, made Finn completely forget about his plans to "jump in the arena and fight the tigers with his trusted sword 'Dragondeath'", and instead had him jump right into his daddy's arms)

... Jana's favourites - horses ...

... and more horses, including a feisty youngster that made me fear for the girls' safety in that first row (knowing very well just how far a horse's back legs can kick) ...

(you can see him crow-hopping again here, on the very left).

But all went well, we had a great time, and on the way home (because the kids were STAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARVING!) we stopped at a big yellow Swedish furniture store to buy a few kiddie meals and some other essentials (that I hadn't known we needed but was ABSOLUTELY certain we did the moment I laid eyes on them).

Some of the pictures are blurry because using a flash was not allowed. And there was lots more that I didn't post pictures of: amazing acrobats from all over the world, llamas, dogs, and Lily's favourite - the clown. Thank you, Grandma and Grandpa, for giving Finn and Lily circus tickets for Christmas! They really really enjoyed it.

A place for creativity

Finn loves doing crafts, drawing and colouring. He often amazes me with the things he comes up with. The other day he found an empty toilet paper roll in the bathroom, asked me for some paper, glue and scissors and how you spell "dragon race" and half an hour later he invited me to play his new board game with him. The toilet paper roll is a dragon eating monster and if you don't watch out you end up in the prison tower. Pretty cool, uh?

All that drawing, cutting and glueing takes place at our dining room table, and since we only have that one table to eat at we are constantly cleaning away half finished projects. So it was time for a new addition to Finn's room. Can't really see it from here, but

from here!

His own desk!

When did he get so big?

Wasn't THIS what I saw when I walked in his room just a short time ago?

But, there is still quite a bit of the little boy left, too. You just have to know where to look. :)

Proudly presenting to you tonight ...

The Finn and Lily show!

"It is not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves."

(Sir Edmund Hillary)

What you can see in this picture:

a five-year-old boy wall climbing at the local climbing gym.

What you can't see in this picture:

a story of courage, trust and building confidence. Overcoming his fears was not easy for Finn. He is NOT a daredevil at all, and often won't even try if he thinks he cannot do it. Last time we went wall climbing he only went up a few feet, and coming down didn't go well. He didn't keep his feet on the wall, so he starting swinging around and got some scrapes and bumps. Which was the end of that wall climbing session.

But thanks to his daddy who patiently taught him how to take one step after the other, and thanks to Spiderman on youtube who showed him how to safely "jump" down the wall by keeping his feet on it, Finn is becoming an avid wall climber. And he loves it! ("Mama, when I looked down, the ground was A HUNDRED MILES away!" :)

So proud of you, Sunshine!

More pictures:







Picnic with a view

of this:

A surprise from Canada

The other day a parcel arrived in the mail, curtesy of our friends M&M! Thank you so much. We are happy you had a great vacation in Canada and that you got to spend some time with the family.

Thank you Grandma for sending my much loved steel-cut oats home with M&M! Breakfast is saved! And thank you, M&M, for the other neat surprises. Everything was a hit! I had to read the book to Finn and Lily twice right away.

My favourite, of course, was this fridge magnet! I have actually done the first discipline, in Algonquin National Park! A memorable experience for sure. I wouldn't do so great at climbing (plus, if it's a Black Bear it wouldn't do much good anyway), but I know some little people who are working on it. That's a whole other post though. :)

Finn and Lily happily unpacking. Those streamers were a huge hit, and led to a chain of events I will talk about in a bit.


Tearing (literally) into the marshmallows. By the time I had taken a few pics HALF the bag was gone. Finn stuffed three marshmallows in his mouth at one point.




Well, remember those streamers? What happened next reminded me of those "If you give..." children's books ("If you give a moose a muffin" and "If you give a pig a pancake" are Finn's and Lily's favourites.) One thing led to another and so by the end of the day we were having a pajama party in Finn's room (decorated with the streamers), with a chocolate cake fresh out of the oven, loud music, dancing and singing. I wasn't sure about doing this right before bed - a load of sugar and crazy dancing are not generally known for their sleep inducing qualities - but Finn and Lily fell into their beds happily and slept like rocks.

P.S. And THIS is how we rode over to Kindergarten that same morning. It was "bring a toy" day. Other kids bring a little matchbox car or a dolly, Finn and Lily choose to bring their stick horses. Of course they needed horse shirts and their cowboy hats to go with them. I could talk them out of the boots though. :)

Admiring herself in the mirror - she's such a girl!

1-11-11

I just realized yesterday was 1-11-11. Or 11.1.11, written the German way. Not that it matters, after all it's just a number like any other, but I needed a blog title, and nothing really exciting is going on around here. :)
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So this is what monumental things we did on 11-1-11. Neil went to work, I took Finn and Lily to Kindergarten, then went to the dentist for a cleaning and a check-up. The dentist likes me so much he wants to see me again on Friday. Some of my fillings are brittle and I need some other work too. Oh well.
Picked up some groceries on the way home, then hurried to Kindergarten to pick Finn and Lily up. Finn had an appointment with his dermatologist. I had phoned the office on Monday because a birthmark on Finn's head seems to be growing/changing.

The dermatologist looked at it with his magnifying glass and while it looks a bit suspicious we will just keep an eye on it for now and go back in 6 months. Lily wants to go back RIGHT AWAY though, because after choosing the little blue horse from the toy box at the office she now wants the yellow one instead, or maybe even one of the cool rockets that Finn picked (and Lily keeps stealing). And if you think this is NOT a big deal, you certainly are not parenting a 3-year-old girl right now. She is SO sad. And WHY can't we go back right now? And the yellow horsey is SO MUCH nicer. And this whole matter is SUCH a nice excuse to throw a tantrum or five. Oh the drama...

In other news, our organic/meatless eating (or less meat eating) is going well. The biggest challenge is that while Finn and Lily are not overly picky eaters, they seldom love the same foods. Finn loves tofu (Lily not so much), Lily likes beans and tomoatoes (Finn hates them), etc.

We found that peanut tofu (tofu with peanut pieces) tastes great in an Asian stir-fry, and that we don't miss the ham in corn quiche. I replaced it with broccoli fleurets and Neil never noticed the ham was missing until I mentioned it halfway through the meal. Once I step up my training schedule in preparation for the triathlon next summer I will probably supplement my diet with a protein shake every morning, but right now we all get everything we need. And I try to keep everyone happy by making desserts like pudding or "Dampfnudeln" (sweet yeast dumplings cooked in milk) with vanilla sauce

or baking giant oatmeal cookies (with chocolate chips for the kids, raisins for us). They are organic and whole grain (oats and wheat), and I also sneak some nuts in there, plus I replace the refined sugar with (much less) raw cane sugar. I think all this absolutely qualifies them as health food and justifies eating them in large quantities. :)


As you might be able to tell from this post I have been slacking in the picture taking department. It's not my fault though - I couldn't. Try taking pictures when you can barely raise your arms enough to hold your own toothbrush. No worries, though, I'm on the mend.
And next time I decide to enroll in a 2-day-swim-camp I will make sure to actually get to the pool beforehand and practice a bit. If you usually swim maybe (MAYBE) once a week and then suddenly swim between 8-9k (5+ miles) in a single weekend (and not just swim, but TRAIN with gadgets like resistance bands and hand weights) it is bound to have a lasting effect on your arms and shoulders (and legs and even abs, in my case). Still, I learned so much and would do it again in a heartbeat!
Oh wait, I DID sign up for swim training again next Saturday. But it's only 2 hours, so this will be a breeze. Yeah right. :)

HAPPY 2011!!!

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We made it to Rostock and back home safely, and had a good time with Oma, Opa, Omi Lotti and Auntie Ulli. There were more presents (of course), we went swimming, to an awesome indoor play place, to the beach, out for cocktails (Neil, Claudia and Ulli), and even to the movies (everyone minus Omi Lotti). We watched "Rapunzel" ("Tangled" in English), and even though it was in German both Finn and Lily did really well and enjoyed it.

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And since I've gotten a few comments on how Finn and Lily are in pajamas in about every other picture, here is one more. :)

They love their fleece PJs to pieces, and even though Santa brought them new ones they are still stuck with these because the next bigger size is MUCH bigger and the pants are falling off them still.

Lily got a preschool book for Christmas, and really enjoys doing "school work".

She also got some tattoo pens from Ulli, and sported a few new tattoos as a result (as did Finn).




Something that was really popluar 30 years ago and is still good today: "Eierlikör" (something like egg nogg, but stronger) in little chocolate wafer cups. Lily wanted some too, so she got some vanilla sauce in hers. She's hooked!

And are you ready for this?!

The AWESOME SPIDER FINN is on the move again!

Little sister is unimpressed though. Her new horsey needs some grooming.

When Spider Finn turns into a little boy again (although I am not allowed to call him "little" anymore) the good deeds do not end. It is his mission to keep Omi Lotti fit and running around for many more years. The ever popular "wheelbarrow" comes in handy for the purpose.

New Year's Eve we spent at home eating, drinking, and being merry. Opa made a fire on the patio, and there were fireworks!

The spectators getting ready.

Opa had a rocket for each of us, including Grandma and Grandpa. Did you see your rockets? :)

Hot punch to keep us warm from the inside.

And then some more fun in the house.

Finn's favourite fireworks were these little table fireworks. BOOM! Boy, did those caps ever fly off! Not putting it under a lamp was a great idea. Not only a few cheap toys but tons of aluminum glitter foil confetti came out, enough to cover a good portion of the living room (by the time we had used them all up).

New Year's Day we spent in Warnemünde. Feeding the seagulls:

Eating:

Trying not to slip on the huge ice puddles on the beach:

Trying not to be blown into the water. (Actually the wind was coming FROM the water, but it was very VERY windy indeed.)

And now we are back home. We still have a few days together before it is back to the grind. It's a new year and we hope it will be a good one for all of us - and for you, whoever you may be :) . We are not big on New Year's resolutions, really, but one of mine is to cook more vegetarian meals, and mostly avoid mass production meat. Personally, I am at the point where I'd rather eat some beans or an egg than some poor chicken that was raised under cruel conditions and is full of antibiotics and other stuff I don't even want to know about. We buy a lot of organic foods already (dairy, grains, eggs, bananas, vegetables), and after a trip to the organic foods store today I know I will cook more fish and try out new meatless recipes, because organic meat is crazy expensive. Luckily Finn and Lily like tofu and eggs. And I did buy some organic hotdogs for them too, so the poor kids won't be completely deprived of processed foods. :)

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