Getting ready for Easter!

March has come and gone, and now it's almost Easter! The kids just started their two week Easter holidays, and school already seems lightyears away. (Well, not literally, as the building is just across the street, but you know what I mean.)

In March both Neil and I turned a year older. We had two nice little birthday celebrations. Finn and Lily gave me these pictures. As you can probably tell, spelling is not their strong point, in German OR English. 

They also wanted to give me socks, because they couldn't take looking at all my hol(e)y socks anymore. So I took them to the sock section of a department store, gave them some money and turned them loose. I lurked behind some clothes racks so nobody would run off with them and tried not to see which colorful pairs they picked. After a while they proudly marched to the cash register with their loot. Finn came and found me because the generous amount of money I had given him wasn't enough, so I gave him some more. They absolutely loved shopping for me, and I will have new, colorful socks to wear for years! :)

Since both Neil and I turned 39 this year we kept our birthdays low key (WAAAIIITTT! I can NOT be turning FORTY next year!!!). One afternoon I took this to the stable to celebrate with my friends there a little. Finn decorated the muffins with cowboy hats (wafers and a soft toffee candy). He loves baking and cooking, just like his mama.

Neil got street hockey sticks and running shoes for his birthday. And imagine, two of the three hockey sticks are child sized! Now they can all play with really good sticks and Neil won't have to use a broom :)

Spring came early this year after a mild winter and we love the warmth and sunshine. Lily helped pull weeds out of the flower bed. Thanks to the bunnies being mosty locked up in their enclosure we actually have some flowers!

Yesterday we decorated the garden for Easter. At some point this week the kids and I will color some eggs and decorate the house. We'll have an Easter party to go to so we will most likely also bake some Easter cupcakes. Gotta keep them busy during their school break!

The bunnies are doing well. They love to escape from their generous enclosure to check out the yard. The kids have been building little cities under the bushes and of course the bunnies love the tunnels Finn and Lily dug for them.

Here is Lily opening up the tunnel for Flöckchen:

Flöckchen happily disappears into it, but it gets pretty narrow down there.

For a moment I could see myself digging a stuck rabbit out of the hole, but she managed to squeeze out the other end and thought it was the funnest game ever!

Again! And again!

Last weekend our stable hosted a big horse show, an annual event with lots of horses/riders competing (a stable tent was ordered and put up), vendors selling tack and clothing, food stands etc. I happily agreed to help with announcing during the classes, doing doorman duties (opening and closing the gate to the arena for the contestants) and baking some cakes. I not so happily agreed to participate myself, but in the end I got talked into riding. Finn and Lily helped me clean my tack before the big event.

Warming up my trusty Mo before one of our classes. Mo was a little excited because of all the commotion, the strange horses and the noise, so he had a little more "go" than usual, but overall he handled it all very, very well. 

Waiting our turn

That's the show photographer taking pictures during one of our rides

The rest of the family was there, too. Finn and Lily had a very important job, they were "Schleifenkinder" (ribbon kids), handing out the prizes after each class. 

They LOVED their job. (Finn with the white hat.)

They gave ribbons and prizes to the little stars (this Shetland Pony and his rider won 4th prize in one class, leaving lots of big horses in the dust - everyone cheered for Rocky)

And they gave prizes to the big stars with their really, really good horses. This horsey here thinks the treats in that basket he just won smell really good.

Lily ALWAYS petted and thanked the horses, too, very sweet.

And three times they even got to give a ribbon to their Mama. Phew. I knew I really had to pull it together or they would be so disappointed if I didn't win anything. Mo got two bags of horse treats for our third places.

A fun weekend for all, smiles all around! By the way, the girl next to me is one of my real life heroes. She's a bone cancer survivor who wasn't given much of a chance at all, and was told that if she survived against all odds she would never walk again because she is missing so much of her hip and leg (bone, tissue, arteries). Not only is she walking again, she also bought this horse from my trainer just a few months ago and pretty much won every class she competed in, winning the overall champion. She can't walk far and she is always in pain - but on her horse she flies. Hats off to you, Raphaela!

Happy New Year, by the way. :)

Hope everyone who might still be checking in here had a great start into 2014! Happy New Year! :) Things over here in good ole' Germany are going well.

Spring is here already - we conveniently skipped winter altogether. Some recent pictures:

I put the bunnies in an enclosure because our yard needs a bunny break. Once the grass has grown a bit they can come out again. Also, I would like to actually see the tulips and crocusses bloom, and not just look at their nibbled off remains. Timmy was absolutely not impressed with me. He now spends his days trying to gnaw through his prison bars and digging tunnels. Poor bunny.

Lily is going to school and enjoying it for the most part, except for the studying, sitting still and having to complete those silly work sheets. Her first report card described her as "outgoing and talkative". That's one way of putting it. :) In her free time she is designing her own shirts, among other things.

She and Finn have also learned how to ski. Not easy to find snow close to home this winter. Hopefully Neil can take them skiing in northern Austria next week when they have a week of school holidays.

On top of his career as a natural born chiller, Blue wants to get into playing poker professionally. Lily got him started on Uno and he won several rounds paws down. He also insisted he DID NOT cheat. 

Mo, the wonder horse, is still very much alive and kickin'. Spring must be in the air, as he had some outbursts more fitting with a 3-year-old stallion than an almost 18 year old gelding. Yeehaw!

After working up a sweat nothing beats a good roll, if you ask Mo. 

Some days, the kids and I just hang out being silly. We'll make pizza (can you guess which is my side?) ...

... while having a crazy kitchen dance party (with Jana). 

 And when home work is taking too long or is very difficult, they put their super helmets and goggles on and they are done in no time. No, really, it works! They swear by it!

And, last not least, Lenny says: Chill, people. As long as the floor heating is turned on all is right with the world. Good night.

A trip to the museum

Here is another post from Neil: Today Finn got a reward for doing a good job cleaning his room, putting laundry in the bin and brushing his teeth (without being asked). Lily already had her reward and chose to go swimming at the indoor swimming pool. Since my swim trunks got ripped within 15 minutes of getting in the water (thanks Finn) I am kind of relieved that we have no pictures from that event. Finn actually chose the classic trip to Playmobil Funpark, but since they are closed for the winter we went to the Deutsche Museum instead.

Here are some pictures. They really love playing with water. The first time we went there Lily got her right boot soaked (it was a cold winter day and we travelled by train) so I got to dry it with a blow-dryer. I had to smile when I saw a father today drying a wet boot...

First we got some lunch

 Then we headed down to the children's area

 The water gate was a big hit.

 This guitar needed some tuning. Finn and Lily got straight to work.

My highlight was the original WW1  submarine (are you also reminded of "Das Boot"). We also spent a long time working in the "Mathematical Cabinet" doing puzzles and playing with blocks. I looked up the solution to one puzzle that had me baffled. There is so much neat stuff there! I think that I actually enjoy going to the Museum there more than the kids do!

November!

So here is what we've been up to - in reverse order. Newest news first. :-)

November has been really nice so far. We even went hiking in the Alps one weekend, and stayed at a "Huette", a serviced cottage, over night. We had a great time, even if we got rained on pretty badly at the end. It took us a couple hours to get back down the mountain to our car, and we were absolutely drenched when we got there, but not a single word of complaint from Finn and Lily. They loved the adventure.

Also, we were pretty crafty. Finn, Lily, and Neil worked with clay at a pottery place. They made dishes, Lily made a cute dog, and Neil and Finn made dragons. This is Finn's dragon. It has a secret chamber to store treasures in, or a candle. 

And myself? I didn't play with clay, but I got to make desserts for a birthday party the kids attented. It was a mermaid themed pool party, so I brought a birthday cake, cupcakes, and a sand pail dessert consisting of blue jello, vanilla pudding and cookie crumbs. 

Finn and Lily are doing well. Lily is getting used to going to first grade and doing homework every day. She is enjoying school so far. Finn also likes school on most days. He sits beside Lily and helps her when it's needed. According to their teacher they are stellar students and very well behaved. Glad they can hold off on the fighting until they get home. Finn likes to read. I think he'll grow up to be a bookworm like his Mama. Today he came home with a children's novel from the school library and read the whole book in an afternoon. Something about beasts and dragons. :-)

Neil is enjoying having every Friday until Christmas off to reduce his overtime. A 4-day week doesn't sound bad, but it's a little pointless when the amount of work you have to do stays the same. He sure is keeping busy at work. The kids really enjoyed spending time with him during their fall break earlier this month. Canoeing, swimming, wall climbing, working with clay, and we went to Munich two Sundays in a row (once to the zoo, and once to a minerals and crystals exhibition).

The cats and bunnies are doing fine, too. So far the cats are not showing any signs of distress from their heart defect. Hopefully that will be the case for many years to come. The funny bunnies are busy digging up the yard, leaving little piles of droppings in their wake and running away from us when it's time to put them in their hutch at night. I'd say, it's pretty much bunny heaven compared to being kept in a cage all day like others of their kind.
And Mo, of course. My dream of a horse come true. He is in amazing shape for his age and I enjoy being with him so very much. This horse will make a rider out of me. Every little move I make in the saddle elicits a prompt response from him because he thinks I'm cuing him to do something. I'm learning to have a much better seat with better balance and timing. Fun times!

See you around! :-)

Canoe Trip

Here is a rare post from Neil. Finn, Lily and I went on a canoe trip on Monday and I would like to share a few Pictures.

The weather was beautiful.

We took time to stop and explore. We even climbed a steep hill to reach...

 a real cave (luckily no bears).

 It was a fun adventure in a beautiful fall landscape full of colours.

We mastered some tricky rapids (we went down this one again with Lily too).

It seems Finn didn't like getting wet. Lily didn't mind so much (the second time anyway - the first time a wave came over the side she was upset too.)

We fed ducks and saw herons, falcons, a rabbit and a fisherman. All in all the trip was a big success. More adventures are sure to follow this week, since the kids have fall break and I have time off work...