What Do Princesses Do All Day?

Ever wondered what princesses do all afternoon?

 Well, first they create a play-doh dinner. (Our neighbor, Lina, two doors down and Sophie)

Then they come over to our house, pull out their fancy dresses and get the watercolors flowing.

Düsseldorf Boat Show

Another Sunday trying to find something fun to do. Since having worked for Messe Düsseldorf more than ten years ago now, I have been wanting to visit their boat show just once. People have told me how impressive it is to see the superyachts being hauled in to the exhibit halls. This year,  I had a chance to see it for myself. I knew Andrew would not object to scouting out our future yacht. We strung Sophie along on stories of the fabled kids area which in the end turned out to be rather mediocre. In fact, Sophie was far more interested in giving us her opinions on which boat we should purchase; preferably one with three bedrooms, one of which would be hers, one of which would be ours, and one for guests. She also liked big kitchens, bathrooms with showers, and flatscreen TVs. 

At this point I was ordered to remove a particularly unflattering picture of Andrew.

 Not wasting any time - straight to the superyachts.

 For some boats, one needed an appointment or invitation. We had neither. Their loss.

 One of Sophie's choices (her shot). It was actually quite reasonably priced.

 No expense spared on this exhibit - even carted in some real sand.

 Nice little boat, inspected by Sophie.

 The police boat.

 So much for the kids area.

 Canoe test track.

 A definite favorite, along with the waterslide paddle boat next to it.

The magic of 3D glasses - making everyone look like an idiot.

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.

Trains and Dolls

Sophie had our next door neighbor Andrés over for a play date. They are interested in very different toys, but I think they enjoyed the company. Sophie was also fascinated by Andrés' baby brother Adrian and spent quite some time entertaining him.

Nelson among the row of dolls. Who does he think he is?

Snapshots with Daddy

Someone is jetlagged - guess who?

 Visiting "Das Uerige" (beer hall) during a brief shopping break.

I'm seeing ghosts. Shopping for Carnival costumes.

Ice Cream Date with Tiger

While waiting for Andrew to make his train journey home from Leipzig, Sophie and I took Tiger out for ice cream. 

 Chocolate was the flavor of the day.

Tiger enjoyed it, too. 

Cousin Kiron's Birthday

It was Kiron's third birthday, so we headed over to Gütersloh for a quick overnight trip to help celebrate. Sophie and Kiron play very well together and they are always happy to see each other. 

 Sophie helped unwrap presents.

 Birthday cake at the kids' table. Note the miniature snow shovel and broom. All Kiron needs now is a lawn mover. He wants a pink one.

 I don't know what it is with Sophie's male friends to always want to try on her dresses. Kiron almost did not want to let go of this one. Very handsome.

Chilling in front of the TV at the end of a long day.