Oktoberfest (Warning: almost no Sophie in this one)

Girls night out (my "little" sister Berit and I) to the Oktoberfest in Xanten (http://www.oktoberfest-xanten.de/). We left Princess Sophie behind with Oma for the evening.

We found out once we arrived at the festival tent at 7:30pm that while we were taking our sweet time getting ready - as girls do - the party was already in full swing. Who would have thought that it starts at 5pm already? Don't others have kids that need to be put to bed first? 

 We were lucky to get two more tickets and had some catching up to do. While the other folks were already dancing on the benches, we inhaled our roast pig and chicken respectively, took some big sips of beer...

 ...and joined the party.

 Back to the roots?

 That liter of beer looks so light in Berit's hand.

 This boy must have borrowed his dad's lederhosen.

  German dance floor for advanced dancers

 Yuck! We're definitely not in California anymore! No wonder my head and throat hurt the next morning! And it was not from the beer and the singing. 

 The demise of a Grown German Man in pictures.

 Is it me or is he spinning?

 A little off balance. By the way, his friend actually took a picture of his pal as well before he helped him up. I love how these men take care of each other. 

You might say I'm such a cruel nurse just watching this guy go down, but it was self-inflicted, right? And see in the background the paramedics were already on their way to him - except he then declined their help. He's a tough MAN after all. And it was nothing a cigarette couldn't fix.

Of Monsters, Rain Boots, Koffers, and Bees

With all the rain last week we had to think of some silly games for inside.

 How about this for a scary Halloween costume. Note to self: must visit California next year in October for pumpkin patch, Halloween and some of the best weather of the year.

 A perfect fit I say.

 They journey to and from Anke's was almost over and I had still not taken a picture of Sophie's own brand new 'Koffer.'

Finally back for more ice cream when the sun came back. We had a bit of a bee scare this time. Look closely - it's flying right by Sophie (it only looks as if it landed on her hand). Sophie of course panicked and screamed. Talk about getting the German stare from the other tables! The bee finally drowned in Sophie's ice cream. What a way to go. 

(Just noticed the shot of the cigarettes and lighter - yuck!)

In Rainy Gütersloh

Daddy is back at work in Detroit, so Sophie and I decided to join Oma on a four-day trip to help babysit cousins Kiron and Luca in Gütersloh. Luca had just spent a few days in the hospital and has to take it easy at home for a week before he heads back to school. He is definitely getting plenty of attention - Sophie adores him!

 The two little ones getting to hang out in Luca's room 

 It's been very rainy for the past few days, so we took the opportunity to play in Kiron's "Kindergarten" in the back when there was a break in the clouds. Apart from a swing, and real bunny rabbits, he also has a trampoline (which Sophie kept calling a Zeppelin for the first day) and a walnut tree with plenty of fresh walnuts to munch on in the play area. 

 After Sophie got to join Kiron at music school today, they wound down in the bath together squirting water on each other's heads.

Here is a picture of their last spa date in April 2010.

Cousins!!!

For an afternoon today we had all five cousins together at Oma's house. It was chaotic at times, frequent roll calls, noisy, never dull but above all good fun!

 From the left: Luca (11), Thore (17 months), Sophie (3 1/2), Talea (3), and Kiron (2 1/2)

 So glad Oma lives on a low traffic street (play street)

Someone is going to be tired tonight!

 Dirty feets!

 Girls' play

 Boys' play (with supervision from auntie Berit)

 Kids' play

 One more shot because they are just so cute!

Ice cream treat for holding still for the family portrait

A Trip Down Memory Lane

(Get ready for a lot of pictures)

We took Sophie to see my old stomping ground and hometown Bad Bentheim today. She was so excited and could not wait to see the castle. Too bad I did not have the camera ready to capture the look on her face when she first spotted it in the distance. 

 Ready to explore the princess castle.

 Look at that blue sky!

 The princess garden - unfortunately no access for little Sophies.

 Daddy is telling stories of princesses and knights. And pointing out some bullet holes from a certain era that shall not be mentioned at this time, and cannon balls from the Napoleonic Wars along the way.

 The castle park. Octoberfest tent on the left. 

 The princess and the castle ghost

 Walking down the stairs like a princess

 Three icons in one picture: that old Mercedes, the Bismarck statue, and the defense tower

 After Sophie had literally explored every corner in the castle from the top of the defense tower and the dining hall to the dungeon, we joined my brother Stefan's family at the Forest Farm (Waldbauer) - a place that my grandmother used to take me to over 30 years ago. 

 Talea and Sophie trying in vain to lure the deer

 Thore and Sophie on the see-saw, with Alexandra's help

 A big family dinner Italian style - looking forward to many more of these

My uncle Gerrit and brother Stefan with the kiddos while Alexandra and I get to finish our wine. 

Busy Week of This and That

Just noticed that is has been a few days since our last post. Sophie has had a fairly busy week of going to preschool, eating spicy ice cream (I think every day this week - they should start a reward program for us), enjoying the warm and sunny weather, playing with her dolls and just doing this and that. 

 Here we are in the morning off to preschool. I love my bicycle, and Sophie loves her bike seat.  Andrew named it Stuka, as it says Junckers along the frame.

 Doing a show with Berit at IKEA. 

 Cleaning windows in her witch costume.

 Ladybug rain boots (in 80 degrees temperatures) to complement the wings which I was carrying by that time.

 Ladybug girl fighting the big monster.

 One new favorite activity is listening to stories on CD, some of which are Berit's (Bibi Blocksberg, the little witch, is one she enjoys).

Her big reward for this week was to stay up and watch a princess movie (she chose Snow White) with snacks to go along. Fletcher is dreaming of his prince, too. I think this was during a sad part of the movie. 

Tomorrow we are off to see Mama's castle. Pictures to follow.

All Creatures Great and Small

Andrew is back in California for a few days, so we decided to take a Sunday excursion to the Kleve Zoo today where they had a special naming event for their baby animals. The weather is still gorgeous by the way. 

 We saw all kinds of different animals. After Sophie freaked out when a fly landed on her arm by the honey bee exhibit (Thanks, Andrew!), we quickly moved on to a special birds of prey exhibit. This was an eagle owl. Sophie and I got to pet it (as did a bunch of other kids) and Sophie got to keep a feather!

 While we checked out the birds, Oma was sitting by the campfire roasting "stick bread." That must be the ultimate German equivalent to roasting marshmallows. It tasted delish!

 Around the corner we faced arguably the biggest cow (bull) we had ever seen. He seemed friendly - other people were petting him. Hard to believe that they are herbivores. Holy cow, I'd better start eating more spinach!

 The meerkats had four offspring called One for All, All for One. They were too cute.

 We saw another species there in abundance: little creatures that were jumping around, squealing, screaming, running all over the place - not sure where they got their energy from. 

At the end, a pony coach ride worthy of a little princess.