Things are going well here. Lily loves her new bunny, Flöckchen ("Small Flake") a lot, and Finn has somewhat recovered from the shock of accidentally killing Snowbell. New bunny safety rules are in place, so hopefully something like that can never happen again. The kids are still out of school for Pentecost Break, so we are leaving for a few days to go visit Oma and Opa (Neil has to work). 

Finn, Lily and I built (well, assembled) a bunny hutch the other day, and Timmy and Flöckchen love their new home. Now it will be up to daddy to take care of these two fluffy bundles for a few days!

And here is a video of Finn riding Fritzi. The two of them have progressed to loping, which Finn loves (who doesn't?). Fritzi is just a bit stubborn at times!

Bunnies and life lessons

Last Saturday we went to check out baby bunnies at a breeder's place. The kids have wanted bunnies for quite a while now, and so has Mama. :)

The original plan was to just look at the bunnies, then get things ready at home (rabbit hutch etc), go to Oma's and Opa's for a few days and then pick up the bunnies. But the bunnies were selling fast, so we decided to take two home right away. The breeder loaned us a cage as an interim home for them.

Lily picked an all white fluff ball with blue eyes, which she called Snowbell, "Schneeglöckchen" in German.

Finn said this little fellow hopped right into his heart, and he named him Timmy.

At home there was a lot of cuddling with the bunnies going on.

And play time under the tree house

and on the patio

And then tragedy struck. This is the last picture of Snowbell before the accident. While they were playing with the bunnies under the tree house, Finn took a step back and stepped on Snowbell - something I had feared could happen. I had told the kids repeatedly to always make sure where both bunnies were before they moved their feet. Now of course I regret leaving them alone with the baby bunnies. Finn came and told me right away, and although Snowbell was still moving and hopping around we took her to the vet clinic. The vet took an x-ray, which showed nothing of concern, but her breathing was too fast and she wouldn't eat or drink. Snowbell got some pain killers and we were told to let her rest and come back in a week.

I left to go to the barn while the kids and Neil stayed home, and about three hours after our vet visit little Snowbell took her last breath. The kids were inside the house playing, so Neil phoned me with the news. We decided Timmy shouldn't stay alone and that another bunny would help Lily get over her loss quicker, so I went to the breeder's place (it's close to the barn) to see if he had another female baby bunny, while Neil got things ready at home for Schneeglöckchen's funeral.  

After I got home we told the kids what had happened and let them say goodbye. It was heartwrenching. They were both devastated. Finn had to learn that not all mistakes can be undone, and that your prayers sometimes aren't answered the way you want them to be.

Having a new bunny to cuddle helped Lily a little, and Timmy loves his new companion a lot. The new bunny is named "Flöckchen" - Small Flake - and she is already a little bigger than Snowbell was. She is white with brown and grey patches, and very cuddly.

The next morning, Lily got up super early again (ever since we've had the bunnies the kids have been getting up at the crack of dawn), and apparently there is nothing like some bunny cuddle therapy at 6 in the morning to help you face the day.

A Girl in a Dirndl, a Boy in Lederhosen, and a Chinese Princess on Mother's Day

On Mother's Day, Oma and Opa arrived back in Munich from a 2 week China vacation. They had a great time in China and were really impressed with what they saw and experienced. They were greeted in style by their two little Bavarian grandkids - all dressed up in traditional garb.

Oma and Opa had a birthday present for Lily, which Lily absolutely loves - a car and camper from "Sylvanian families", a British toy. The little rabbit family has a ball going camping!

By chance, the little girl rabbit of the family had the same dress on as Lily!

Our Mother's Day picture. 

And here is Lily in the Chinese Princess outfit that Oma and Opa brought back. So pretty!

The day after Oma and Opa left to go back home Lily and Finn got all dressed up again for the Kindergarten May fest. It was a really nice event, with lots of siblings and parents/grandparents attending, and the Kindergarten kids performing some Bavarian dancing and singing.

The Kindergarten May pole had to be put up, too, of course.

Neil joined us after he came home from work. Good thing we live just across the street!

Children and adults alike enjoyed playing games, like this "Beer Slide".

Handsome young man.

6 years old!

Happy Birthday, Lily!  

Such a big girl you are. We love you to the moon and back!

Since her birthday was on Saturday we had the birthday party that afternoon. Lily picked a princess fairy theme, and it was such a nice party. All things pink and purple, a princess castle cake, balloons, bubbles, paper tissue flowers (see above) that Neil made, happy little princesses and fairies, a treasure hunt, decorating their own little treasure chests, games and fun, and the predicted bad weather never came - it was the perfect party, if you ask Princess Lily.

The cake I made turned out nice, if I may say so myself. :)

P.S. And where was Finn? He was invited to another birthday party, and he couldn't decide for the longest time if he wanted to attend that. But finally I told him to go and have fun, since at Lily's party he would be the only boy. So I took him to that other party in the afternoon, and on the way he confided in me that the birthday girl (she is in his class) has a little crush on him. Well, it turned out that he was the only boy she invited! Ha ha. (He still had fun though and was back before our party ended, so all was well.)