Town Again

Everyone had more shopping they wanted to do, so town was the logical choice.  Besides, there were things they'd seen and wanted to see again or buy, so off we went.

But not early.  Goodness, I guess we wore them out.  Kenley was first up at 9:45, Hannah soon after and then we had to wake up Hunter.  After pancakes for breakfast - with the last of the KILO of fresh strawberries we'd bought the day before - we headed to the market to get more strawberries along with food for dinner and etc.  There's a lot of etc. in our diet.

It was warm again today, but a tad cooler than yesterday.  There were the usual stops - ice cream (glacée if you want to prepare yourself for France) French fries (pommes frites), and ubiquitous Bratwurst (no translation).  We came upon a street artist had done a pastel on the pavement of Gesche Gottfried, the notorious woman of the spitting stone.  Cool.

I forget sometimes to notice the pretty details in town.  We finished our ice cream at this fountain and rinsed our hands in the cool water.  

Afterwards we went into the Church of Our Lady and enjoyed the quiet and cool of the interior and the kids learned a little something about Gothic architecture (Hunter wanted to know why it was gothic since it wasn't dark and black.  Different Goth.) 
 
They were all happy with their shopping and visiting other little sites as well.  Here they are outside the shop that sells the wooden figures from the Erzgeberge.   

Hunter purchased something from the paper model shop and got a freebie of one of our German lighthouses.  He worked on that while the girls worked on potato stamps and I worked on dinner.

Food all over the table for dinner.  Parmesan crusted chicken with mushroom sauce (rosa and chanterelle), green beans, roasted potatoes, tomatoes with basil or mint, strawberries.  Kenley loved the mushrooms and I have to admit to a bit of disappointment that H+H preferred their chicken with ketchup (ughh) but they loved it and fought over seconds.  (Don't be surprised if they ask for MeeMaw's world famous chicken when they get home; I told them you have the recipe.)  No leftovers! But that was not enough!!! They finished off the ice cream, adding sprinkles and chocolate.


When the table was cleared off we took a little walk in the cemetery and admired the flowers and plants and enjoyed the cool evening air.  What a relief from the heat of the day.  A round of 31 and more bedtime reading and off to sleep.  It's only 11.  Not too bad.  


Affinghausen tomorrow.

Watt, Water, Tacos

What are we doing today MeeMaw?  Well, Watt.  What? Time to take a walk in the mud and muck of the North Sea.  Kenley was concerned about the tides, as was I, since high tide was about 3PM.  So the plan was to get up and get going rather early.  A simple breakfast of cereal and fruit and leave, real quick.  I think it was 11.  We are not very quick, it seems.

But we got to the Watt and I discovered that I didn't have much juice in my battery!  Oh horror!  I keep intending to upload pictures from Kenley but it's always 11:30 when I think of it.  But there are a few pics. 


Hannah provided the usual screaming and squealing and O M G and that sort of thing. They're funny!  


We'd brought the kites and a frisbee and badminton racquets and a soccer ball along, but it was TOO HOT to play (by the way, forget the jacket request from Hunter) to spend time in the sun.  We drove over to Bad Bederkesa and looked at the little castle there and used the playground a bit, but it was Monday so all the buildings were closed. 


Back to Vegesack and a short visit to the pool.  Wouldn't you know it - they thought the water was too cold!  But they ran into Alisa and after a bit of pol time we went home together and invited her to have tacos with us.  She was quite impressed with the tacos - a new experience for her -  and Hannah declared it the best food yet.  (I am such a cook. Frankly I thought the chicken was better.)

A few rounds of 31 and then off to bed and story time.  It's just getting interesting and I think I have to take it with us now in the car and read on the road.  We all want to know what's going to happen next!

Short Sunday

Of course Sunday is just as long as any other day, but since the kids were GONE for 5 hours, it was a different sort of day at Camp MeeMaw.

Julika invited them to come swimming and swimming fit the bill since it was sunny and approaching HOT today.  Invite accepted! (All my worries about cool and wet were for naught; it's now getting to "be careful what you wish for."  I hope it isn't this warm in Paris!)

First, breakfast!  We wanted our German traditional breakfast and we talked about it the day before:  boiled eggs (or scrambled if you want), cold meats, rolls, cheese, jams, fruit.  It worked out great.  Hunter had scrambled eggs and a boiled egg (declaring he really liked them), Hannah + Kenley had scrambled eggs and assorted other things.  Everyone yummied up on the rolls, absolutely no surprise since Germany has the best bread.  

Then they were gone.  I did the wash and some cleaning up and general keeping up and later Werner and I watched the Germany-England game.  Funnnnyy!  I was in and out doing the wash and only needed to listen to the neighbors to know what was going on.   NO cars on the street.  Except for the goals when yelps and hoots and vuvuzelas were tooted, it was deadly silent out there.  W E I R D.  Of course afterwards, it was cars and horns and vuvuzelas and screaming and carrying on.

The kids arrived back STARVING.  We had roasted chicken, green beans, zucchini, salad and fruit.  Kenley tried the zucchini, Hannah and Hunter ate lots of green beans.  Hunter tried mightily to avoid the salad by dumping it in the flowers and then in the toilet but the girls never let him get away with it!!  That was funny. The last of the ice cream was eaten with chocolate sauce and sprinkles and I swear they are eating like stevedores.  

Here's the only picture of the day:  Kids sitting on the side of the tub soaking their DIRTY feet before heading to bed.  Tomorrow they will be even dirtier- it's off to the Watt. (Hannah looks grim, but she was only theatrically posing. It was fun for them all. But she did have a sort of bad hair day in the morning.) 

Kraxelmaxel, Peggy and Football :(

I can't believe it's still Saturday. Oh - wait - it isn't! It's Sunday! But Saturday was at least three days long and it has only just become Sunday, so really, we're talking about Saturday.

So, Saturday was Peggy and Julika and Felina (and Felina's boyfriend Dergo, pronounced not at all the way it is spelled since he comes from Serbia or some such) but not Wolfgang because he's off in France gliding with friends.  Peggy offered several activities - the pool, the beach and river, a bike tour or the ropes course. Since we had planned the ropes course anyway, everyone thought it would be even more fun to do with friends.  Correct.


But first we had to shower and such and it was time for Hunter to comb his hair. It was a group request, so Hunter had to comply.  What a hoot.  He spent a good bit of time enjoying "the look" before he shook it out.

With Peggy and the girls it is always a bit awkward at the beginning.  After all, they only see each other once a year and beginnings are not so easy.  We met at the ice cream parlor, made our intros and went in our own cars to the rope park.  We were NOT the only ones there!  It's vacation time and though we'd let them know we were coming, we still had to wait a bit, and had time to eat some food, and get comfy with each other.  


Julika is half monkey and can zip through this course.  Hunter wants to challenge Hannah and Kenley, but that's not so much fun for the girls, so we paired the two monkeys (Hunter and Julika). And did they have fun.  Julika was always the first to do the course and challenged Hunter with "I can do it better than you!!" and in English!  Hunter of course was up to the challenge and always managed to do whatever Julika did.  That let the girls have fun too. Sometimes Felina and Dergo were between, sometimes not.  Werner brought up the rear.  I got my exercise trying to get pictures of them all all over the place. (Next time, someone else can be the photographer and I'll do the ropes course.)

The start was hard - everyone was a bit nervous but they all bucked up for everyone else.  What's amazing too is how much each one is responsible for themselves - you get the orientation lecture and supervised practice and then participants are pretty  much responsible for themselves. Staff are always looking though, but definitely not holding anyone's hand.


It took about three hours to do, over courses that were gradually more difficult, longer and higher in the trees. Pretty amazing.  Only Hunter and Julika did the last parcours where you had to jump and swing into a vertical net and then climb up to the last platform. 



Whew.  Back to Peggy's for hamburgers and Bratwurst.  And while we were preparing the food, they jumped on the trampoline like they'd been penned up all day.  Wish I had their energy.

After filling up on the salads and burgers and brats, the "little" kids jumped some more (??!!) and Peggy, Werner and I watched the beginning of the USA-Ghana match.  We hurried home to catch the end, but the kids HAD to shower before going to bed so the showers were quick and in the end the girls were standing in their towels watching the final minutes.  What a disappointment!  Oh well.  It was still a fine fine day.

Thanks, Peggy!!

Circus Belly, etc.

Friday.  I just realized that since I stay up so late posting these things, the day on the post is wrong for the actual events.  But you've figured that out.

Breakfast on the terrace.  What?  We're eating outside?  Well, yes, whenever we can.  It wasn't as warm today as the previous few days, but since our terrace is so protected, it gets W A R M and it is very sunny.  So Werner put up the second umbrella, which was great until the breeze blew it over - twice!  But we got through breakfast:  pancakes with initials and/or chocolate chips, strawberries, apricots, syrups.  Pretty filling if I say so myself.

Then the boys went to do the recycling and the girls went to the supermarket and then the kids were on their own for a while (iPads, electrogear - it was unbelievably quiet) while I got the final unpacking put away .  Seems time for that is scarce.


But the time flew by - lunch of MeeMaw's famous grilled cheese sandwiches and then off to Circus Belly!  Cirque du Soleil it is not, but charming in its own way.  Of course, we took the hard way there - a bike trip.  About 45 minutes through back roads and little paths and along a few fields of wheat and by the railroad and stop for an ice cream and then the circus.  

What a hoot. We thought we could pay with our bank card and forgot our own rule: it's cash on the barrel head here.  We had to borrow back from the kids!!!

It hasn't changed much - there's still the amazing guy balancing on the multiple rolling cans, the flame thrower, the lions and tigers, the alligators and snakes, the camels (they still stink) and the plate twirler.  Some parts seemed a bit less refined - the chimp kept swiping a hand at the yipping dog who wouldn't go sit in his place, for instance!  

On the way back we stopped to pick up pizza since there was little time left for cooking.  (Waiting outside, Kenley and I saw a horse-drawn wedding carriage.  Cool.)  Hunter and Kenley had eaten Bratwurst at the circus and they all shared two packs of Sour Spaghetti (sour! and we read later 1000 calories per package!  Ow!) Besides salad and pizza, they bit into fruit and scavenged cake from the day before.  I'm still getting used to how much they can eat these days.  A LOT.  

Then scrub teeth and story time.  Tomorrow is a big day - we'll get together with Peggy and the girls (Wolfgang is off gliding in France) and do our Ropes Course.  Maybe swim.  Definitely grill hamburgers! 

Market Day, etc.

Can you imagine - I forgot to take my camera to the market! But we did get there and saw Herr Meyer the fishmonger, Herr Schmidt the Potato Man, the Cheese Lady, the Veggie Ladies, and a few others.Our baskets and bags were overflowing with fish and bread and green beans and chicken and cold cuts and fruit and even a little piece of Butterkuchen.  And while walking along the shopping area, Kenley spotted a vuvuzela  - those horns that are driving everyone nuts at the World Cup.  Now we know why.

The girls painted their napkin rings and did a great job; Hunter opted to kick the ball around and leave his plain.  OK.  The laundry got done - again.  Two loads - again.  Thank goodness the weather is warm and dry - laundry dries in a hurry.  After lunch, it was clean up and organize; Hunter thought he'd watch some of the Italy WC game but he sat still too long and fell asleep in the chair.  I guess we're not quite over the jet-lag.

Later it was back out on the bikes again and a chance to try out those horns.  And did they hoot!  The nearby cows and calves were really excited or agitated or something - there was a good bit of mooing and running around.  And I immediately restricted hooting in at or near the house.  (We have to live here after the kids leave!!!) 

Then we found a playground at Hannah's insistence and they got to work out even more pent up energy. Where does it come from, and can I have a little?

Dinner was amazing.  Kenley came in and complemented on how good the salad looked, Hunter said he could smell it outside and it all smelled great, Hannah jumped in to set the table, this time al fresco.  They ate two fish patties EACH, potato patties, green beans, salad of tomatoes and mozzarella, we had Matjes and red perch, and then Hannah wanted dessert!  So she found the sample of Butterkuchen from the morning and we ate that.  Even though Hannah said she didn't like nuts, it seemed to nevertheless disappear from her plate.  Leftovers?  Not much.

Then they got the TOWEL LECTURE. Sorry, moms and dads.  Three kids, two and a half days, 10 towels will not get it.  So we identified our towels once again and we're going to try to remember to hang it up and use it again. If not, the dreaded TOWEL LECTURE will be repeated.  They don't want to hear it again, believe me.  It's boring.

Chapter 3 read.  Silence. I think they fell asleep.

DAY ONE - Off to a Good Start

•  1.  Eat French Toast
•  2. See the city (pigs, Roland, magician, Rathaus, Dom, Schnoor)
•  3.  Eat Bratwurst
•  4.  Play
•  5.  Eat French Fries
•  6.  Watch USA win
•  7.  Eat Ice Cream
•  8.  Watch Germany win
•  9.  Eat Spaghetti
• 10. Sleep

Sleeping "in" is relative.  I got up at 8am after the usual sleepless interludes plus a visit from Hannah in the night- first she joined me in bed and then on the floor next to me. Hunter stumbled into the shower shortly after 9, the girls within 30 minutes of that.  Actually, I thought that was pretty early considering the day before. But it was sleep enough.


My breakfast suggestion of French (!) toast was enthusiastically seconded by everyone, so we had fresh strawberries and French toast with syrup, powdered sugar, cinnamon sugar and combinations thereof. Y U M. We'd thought we needed to go into the city to buy helmets, but then Neighbors to the Rescue !  Gerd and Renate have several extras, and there were two that fit Hannah and Hunter to a "t" saving us time and effort finding new ones.  Cool!  Thanks Gerd and Renate!


To the train and into the city. We see all the regular sites and would you believe it - the magician was on the steps of the Rathaus!  He entertained us with his tricks and the kids were tickled to see him again.  We found ice cream, we fed the hole in the ground where the Bremen Town Musicians sing, we saw the spitting stone, Hannah found a teeeeennny bear, Kenley took a load of pictures, and Hunter FINALLY had a Bratwurst after almost 24 hours in Bremen.  When we went into the Dom, a nice old man asked if we wanted to climb to the tower.  Well, yeah.  That was a first for Werner, can you believe.  And it's not hard to believe that my legs were a bit wobbly after  265 steps up and then down.  Wow.

Walk around the Schnoor and lollygag in the Stone Shop then RUSH to the train so we can watch the USA play in the WM  (yeah team!) but not really so much because Alisa was home and it was more fun to play with her and then FINALLY we get to take a bike ride and eat dinner and a salad with flowers and watch GERMANY win and then listen to more of the story and go to bed and that is all for today!  The end.


PS Hunter says bring a jacket, but it looks like it's getting warmer.

Here We Are !

The trip was smooth and uneventful, except of course at the very beginning when I realized we'd forgotten the big carry-on bag with the book, snacks, and needlework.  Thank goodness for good people - we recovered it all and recovered our composure in time to say our goodbyes.

There were no tears, but perhaps a butterfly or two.

Hannah collapsed about 2 hours before landing.  Kenley kinda dozed here and there.  Hunter, naturally, never closed his eyes on the plane.

There was a boring and long layover in Frankfurt, then in Bremen we had to wait a bit for a taxi big enough for the five of us and all our bags.  What did the kids do?  Get ice cream, and ordered it all by themselves!  I think whatever German they've learned before is going to be on their tongues before they know it.  Kenley already says Danke and Bitte like a champ.

After showers and shopping and pizza, I read the first bit of our summer book.  Hunter was asleep after the first paragraph.  Though the girls thought he was faking, he was NOT! 

Now they are all fast asleep and I am soon to follow.  More adventures tomorrow.

 

Ready

Not "Ready or Not"  because we are ready for you guys!  Look:  we even have the table set.

You know we do "green" - we like to recycle and we like to save energy and time and so on and so forth.  And of  course we like to eat "civilized."  How to do that all at once at the same time together?  Easy.

I made a tablecloth.  And I made some napkins.  And Werner made some napkin rings.  Each day we will eat civilized with tablecloth and napkins (and please, don't forget the candles!!!) but of course, since we are being "green" we can't just toss the napkins into the wash every time.  We'll reuse.  And it will be nicer because we will each have our own napkin ring.  Hunter is blue, Hannah is red, Kenley is pink.

I've decorated my napkin ring a bit, and so has Werner.  You guys can decorate your own napkin rings, and quite frankly, I think the napkins and even the tablecloth could use a bit of color.  Would you like to paint them, too????