Halloween 2011

Even though I had limited space in my suitcase when we flew to Germany, I managed to carry both girls Halloween costumes.  They dressed up and we went to a friend's flat for a Halloween party.  The girls had a great time carrying their bags and dressing up.  We also dressed up to go to the library and the shops (pharmacy, library, florist and cafe) were giving out candy.  The rest of the week, every time we got ready to leave the house, she grabbed her skunk costume and said, "help"!  So cute!

Spreewald and Potsdam

Last weekend was a long weekend, so we headed south to Potsdam and Spreewald.

We will go back to Potsdam for more exploring, but we enjoyed pancakes in the Dutch quarter.

In Spreewald, we rented bikes with baby seats and we rode about 20 miles in the UNESCO Biosphere reserve.  It is such a cool area.  You can rent canoes or kayaks and travel by boat to guesthouses and pubs along the rivers.  There are also tons of bike trails.  We road from one small town to another, stopping at two brewery/restaurants along the way.  They both had huge sandpits where the girls played happily for over an hour while Mommy and Daddy had beer and food in the sun.  Happy days.

New words

Katherine's new words:
Lizzy
I pooped (when she didn't)
monkey
cow
outside
Tschuss (bye)

Lizzy's new words:
Guten Tage
Guten Morgen
Danke
Tschuss
It's unusal.
I didn't realize.

This week, Lizzy has been speaking a foreign language.  When we ask what she is saying, she says she is speaking Spanish or German.  She must be hearing and learning, but it is coming out as her own new language!

Berlin by Lizzy

A random selection of sights from Lizzy's point of view (with the last 3 by Me and Jim)

A Farm in the middle of Berlin

We were exploring on the way home from yet another park in Berlin, and we stumbled upon Mauer Platz, a somewhat famous spot right around the corner from our current apartment.  It is right next to where the Wall used to be and was set up as a place for children to come and play and learn because there was no kita or kindergarten there at the time.  It is somewhat hippy, grass-roots and right up our alley.

We met a Canadian friend there yesterday, after a rainy Sunday.  Turned out to be quite a messy adventure and I am on the third soak of Katherine's pants in Oxi.  I think there are probably more pics on Lizzy's camera, which will be added later.

In the moving process...

 The glass table which looked great for staging but caused several injuries.

 The shipping container and packing truck leaving the house.  Where are they now?

 I am pretty sure we have the exact same picture of Lizzy.  The have several new cabinets here in Berlin.

Some photos of the girls and the house as we got ready to move to Berlin.

We've Moved!

The Family has officially moved to Berlin, Germany.  As a result of this major life change, I did not blog our entire summer!  I will attempt to catch up the summer with a few photos, but will not dwell too much on Indiana summer, as we are currently in Fall in Berlin and hoping to take lots of photos with our new camera.

So far, we have explored the subway, the trains, the taxis and lots of walking!  We have yet to take  bus or a boat, but would welcome anyone to visit for a boat or double-decker tour of the city because Lizzy is definitely interested.  Mostly, we have checked out the playgrounds, which are mainly wood and look like a challenge course.  All sand, so we get pretty dirty daily, but they are around every corner, so we stay busy.  In between playgrounds, we typically stop for a coffee and pastry.  So far, I think Lizzy's favorite is the scheineohre, which is a pig's ear, which is called an elephant ear in Indiana.  So as you can imagine, it is a healthy mid-morning or afternoon snack!

We walked to the pool today in the rain and went for a swim.  The pool was super cold because all the school groups come for lessons and they keep the kids busy.  We left when Katherine's lips turned blue and people were talking about it...not sure what they were saying, but...

The girls are sleeping or keeping each other awake in the same room.  Katherine has climbed out of the pack n play already, so I moved it to the center of the room for less climbing footholds.  Still, she can get her leg on the top now, so it won't be long.  Think Lizzy will get a regular bed and Katherine will take the toddler bed when we move to our permanent accommodation.

We hope to have somewhere with a guest room permanently set up so that visitors can show up at the last minute.  Can't wait to see everyone!

Lizzy is Three!

Lizzy had a party at the local nature preserve. We had a great turnout for fun including roasting hot dogs, a nature hike complete with net fishing in the swamp for bugs, cake and roasting marshmallows for s'mores. We were lucky and had a beautiful sunny day, one of few amongst days of rain!

Our trip to Kansas City

Follow the link. Amanda takes great photos and has already blogged our trip!

http://drewdailynews.blogspot.com/2011/03/cousins.html

Katherine's First birthday

We celebrated Katherine's birthday today at home. Lizzy enjoyed helping her open her presents and singing "Happy Birthday." Katherine definitely enjoyed the heavily frosted monkey cake! The bags, bows and wrapping paper were her favorite gift! Thank you to everyone who wished her a happy birthday today. I can't believe she's already one!