Strawberry Fields Forever

A friend of mine from my old college days in Munich, but who has been living in Minneapolis, was passing through Cologne for a couple of days on her way to Corsica. We have not seen each other since our wedding, so with Birgit's help, we rented a car and drove down to Cologne to see her (Uta) and her two boys Lukas and Dominik.

 Uta's family in Cologne had thought of the ideal activity for the kids and us: strawberry picking. I have to say, it has been ages for me and it was a first for Sophie. 

 Here is Dominik and Sophie showing their harvest so far.

 Sophie trying to catch up with Lukas. 

After the hard labor there was still some time to play lego and football in the garden, while Uta and I were catching up on the past few years.

These strawberries were turned into strawberry jam with black pepper and fresh mint. Yummy!

Date Night Followed by Sophie Night

Yesterday, Andrew and I had our first proper date night in a long time and hopped on a train over to Cologne to see the symphony play Bach and Mendelssohn, while Sophie was cared for by Berit and Dennis. (Thank you!)

We arrived early enough to have a pre-concert Koelsch beer or two.

 In return for us going out we had promised Sophie a "Sophie Day" today: swimming in the afternoon, home-made pizza, and a movie.

Sophie was absolutely enthralled watching "Mary Poppins." So much that we had to keep reminding her to eat her pizza. While I was snoozing on the couch by the time the kids went to the bank with their father, Sophie watched the entire movie. It made a nice change to all those princess movies.

Granddad Visiting - Day Trip to Cologne

Granddad and Debra hopped on a quick flight to come and visit and see our new place for a few days. Sophie very much enjoyed the extra attention - and extra rations of chocolate, cake, and ice cream. The weather was not in our favor. There was even a big thunderstorm one morning with hail and rain blowing sideways on the way to preschool. Luckily we had rented a car for the visit. We still managed to show our guests a little bit of the area we now live in, including the ice cream parlor next door. 

On one of the days we headed to Cologne, only a thirty minute drive from us. It stayed mostly dry for our excursion.

 Our first stop was of course the massive Cologne Cathedral. Inside, Sophie was full of questions:

"Why do people go to church?" "Why are we here?" - to look at the artwork; take a look at the beautiful windows. "Oh yeah, there's a princess! And a dead man. Mama, why is he dead?" (Jesus being taken from the cross). Then she continued on with Daddy and Granddad and could not believe how many dead people were there and why. 

 OK, time to do some shopping now. 

 Important stop at one of the many cafés to refuel with chocolate cake and a warm drink. Sophie loves Granddad's sweet tooth!

 Not too much later, time for something savory and a Koelsch for Mama and Daddy. Granddad and Debra were almost kicked out of the brewery (Malzmühle) for ordering coffee and tea!

Walking off the pounds in the alleys of the Altstadt. 

It was nice having Granddad and Debra here - please come visit again soon.