I ended up making 48 cupcakes for all the kids classes at school plus my class at church!
I also had to make heart-shaped mini pancakes for breakfast.(Isn't Aiden adorable in the morning!?)
For my sweetheart... we had a hot, sweaty night together at spin class!! My friend, Rich, was the instructor. After a great work out we had dinner at one of our favorite Irish restaurants and then went to a Spa to relax. I don't know why I only took pictures at the spin class.... I totally forgot.Happy Anniversary
Whitney: 21 months
Connor: 7 years old Aiden: 5 years old
Whitney: 21 months
Connor: 7 years old Aiden: 5 years oldOur 3-year anniversary of arriving in Germany came and went. I was so busy planning our trip to Berlin that I totally forgot about it. I wanted to go by our boarding house where we stayed and let the kids play at the park again, etc.. We'll do it before we leave, we have to!
Berlin
FINALLY!!! When we told the boys we were moving to Europe I asked each of them what they knew of Europe and what they wanted to see while we were here. All Connor knew was the Eiffel Tower in Paris and Aiden wanted to go to the Berlin Zoo. Before we left the US he would watch Animal Planet constantly and knew about this zoo because it has over 8000 animals and more species of animals than any other zoo in the world. We kept pushing Berlin back because it was so close and it seemed so easy to get there and we just assumed we would go another time. Well, our days are now numbered! We have to squeeze in as many more trips as we can before we leave Europe. I found a great deal for all of us to go for 2 nights over President's weekend so we went! Jeremy did not join us for a couple of reasons. 1. He didn't really want to go 2. He had to shoot up a bunch of landrovers that were being sent over to Afganistan in Ulm, Germany. Since Monday was not a holiday for the Germans he had to go. But, with his blessing, we went without him and had a GREAT trip!!!
This was the first time in the 3 years that we've lived in Germany that we've actually taken the ICE train somewhere!!! I can't believe it took us this long. AND I can't believe I was doing it for the first time with all 3 kids by myself. I was a little nervous...
All settled for the 5-hour train ride which seemed to fly by. We had 4 seats in a square with a table in the middle of us. It was perfect! All the kids were plugged in the entire time.
My sweet Whitney...
Even though she had her own seat she still wanted to sit on my lap most of the way. I didn't mind.
WE MADE IT!!! We got off at the main train station and then had to figure out the local public transportation to get to our hotel. We figured it out and were so happy to get to our room without any trouble.
The next morning we got an early start hoping to see and do as much as possible. Whitney was checking out the view from our hotel room waiting for the boys to finish getting ready.
Our hotel. Bears were everywhere in Berlin!
Walking back to the train station
Had to stop at Dunkin Donuts every day. They were on every corner!
We made it to the zoo where we spent most of the day
That little fence did not make me feel very safe from that Rhino!
The Hippo's were a big highlight of the day! You could see them playing above and under the water.
Again... little fence. BIG RHINO!
Petting Zoo. (I hate these things!)
Had to take a little break to play at the park and hit the souvenir shop!
This was where Knut used to live before he died
These wolves were howling so loud! I couldn't believe that sound was coming from wolves until I saw it. It didn't sound like wolves on TV... I thought it was kids screaming in a microphone for Fasching. It was so loud!
Talking to Daddy
These lions were kind of creepy. We were so close to them. They seemed agitated and were pacing back and forth quickly. They were looking right at us. Connor said he saw the Male lion licking his lips so we decided to get out of there!
Lunch at the buffet. Schnitzel mit pommes, bratwurst mit brotchen, Spagetti, and the wonderful german fried potatoes Bratkartoffeln (or 'taters as my Uncle Philip would call them!),
Next was the aquarium - I gave Aiden my camera in here and he took so many pictures to make a book with. I didn't post his pics so I wouldn't take away from his book. :)
Had to stop for some ice cream and Apfel Kuchen! We were all starting to feel very, very tired right about now! Plus we still had to figure out how to get back to the hotel.
We got back to the hotel and were totally bored. The only English channel on TV was CNN. We heard about the Sony Center and that they had lots of restaurants, a huge movie theater that played English movies, and also a LegoLand there. We decided to take a cab since it was dark out and went to check it out. We found the cinema but they weren't playing any kids movies in English that night. Strike One!
The kids loved the huge TV screen in the middle of the square - just like New York!
More bears and great people watching!
We found lego land but it was closed. Strike Two!
We found a little Italian restaurant for Pizza and a good Soccer game on the big screen that the boys were totally into. Score!
We decided to go back to the room for another exhilarating game of Uno. Those darn boys beat me every time!!
The next morning we headed out early again. Of course stopping (again) at Dunkin Donuts at our first stop - Alexanderplatz. I found a step-by-step walking tour online and wrote it all out before we left. It was excellent with very easy instructions and everything is within 2 miles. We skipped a few points on the tour (like Museum Island - the kids would have never made it!) so it was nice to be able to tailor it for yourself.
The bad news is that Aiden took so many pictures at the aquarium that my battery light turned on first thing so I had to be careful with how many pictures I took since I did not bring the charger with me. For regular followers of this blog, you know how hard this must have been for me!
King Titan and his mermaids. So many beautiful fountains in Berlin but none of them were on, I'm assuming due to the cold weather. I wish I could see it in the spring or summer.
Statues of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. You can see the famous Fernsehturm (TV Tower) in the background.
Berliner Dom
A nice surprise was finding an unexpected Art Market
Unter Den Linden... not nearly as beautiful as the pictures in the winter.
Neue Wache (New Guard). This is a war memorial and built for a single piece of art inside...
...'Mother and her dead son'. The circle in the roof is open to the elements so that rain, snow, hail, etc.. can fall on the statue symbolizing the suffering of the civilians during the war.
Aiden wanted a picture with this car. He loves Mercedes and has declared this is the car he's going to get when he grows up!
Brandenburg Gate
Victory Column
A well-deserved lunch. We walked so much in the cold and drizzle. The kids were SO GOOD! Keeping up with me and never complaining. I wanted to keep walking to have lunch in the Reichtag which has a restaurant in there with "breathtaking views". But, the kids saw Vapiano's and desperately needed a break!
After lunch we walked about 4 blocks to the Checkpoint Charlie museum. We spent a little too much time at lunch so we had to rush through the museum a bit. The kids don't usually like to read and look at everything in museums anyways but I had to push them along in here. They were genuinely interested in all the ways people tried to escape from the East.
All the history about the Berlin Wall is so interesting and the kids had so many great questions! It was great to be here and see it all in person.
We were pressed for time after the museum so we had to eat dinner on the train. The kids had spagetti and I had a bowl of Chili. We had so much fun we forgot we were on a train. It sure made the trip go by fast!
Our train didn't get back to Mannheim until almost midnight. I thought for sure the kids would fall asleep but they were ALL fighting it. Even Whitney.. playing the piano with headphones on for a solid hour. No Sleeping! We finally got into our beds, safe and sound, a little before 1am. We were all beat! But we don't regret any of it for a minute.
This was the first time in the 3 years that we've lived in Germany that we've actually taken the ICE train somewhere!!! I can't believe it took us this long. AND I can't believe I was doing it for the first time with all 3 kids by myself. I was a little nervous...
All settled for the 5-hour train ride which seemed to fly by. We had 4 seats in a square with a table in the middle of us. It was perfect! All the kids were plugged in the entire time.
My sweet Whitney...Even though she had her own seat she still wanted to sit on my lap most of the way. I didn't mind.
WE MADE IT!!! We got off at the main train station and then had to figure out the local public transportation to get to our hotel. We figured it out and were so happy to get to our room without any trouble.
The next morning we got an early start hoping to see and do as much as possible. Whitney was checking out the view from our hotel room waiting for the boys to finish getting ready.
Our hotel. Bears were everywhere in Berlin!
Walking back to the train station
Had to stop at Dunkin Donuts every day. They were on every corner!
We made it to the zoo where we spent most of the day
That little fence did not make me feel very safe from that Rhino!
The Hippo's were a big highlight of the day! You could see them playing above and under the water.
Again... little fence. BIG RHINO!
Petting Zoo. (I hate these things!)
Had to take a little break to play at the park and hit the souvenir shop!
This was where Knut used to live before he died
These wolves were howling so loud! I couldn't believe that sound was coming from wolves until I saw it. It didn't sound like wolves on TV... I thought it was kids screaming in a microphone for Fasching. It was so loud!
Talking to Daddy
These lions were kind of creepy. We were so close to them. They seemed agitated and were pacing back and forth quickly. They were looking right at us. Connor said he saw the Male lion licking his lips so we decided to get out of there!
Lunch at the buffet. Schnitzel mit pommes, bratwurst mit brotchen, Spagetti, and the wonderful german fried potatoes Bratkartoffeln (or 'taters as my Uncle Philip would call them!),
Next was the aquarium - I gave Aiden my camera in here and he took so many pictures to make a book with. I didn't post his pics so I wouldn't take away from his book. :)
Had to stop for some ice cream and Apfel Kuchen! We were all starting to feel very, very tired right about now! Plus we still had to figure out how to get back to the hotel.
We got back to the hotel and were totally bored. The only English channel on TV was CNN. We heard about the Sony Center and that they had lots of restaurants, a huge movie theater that played English movies, and also a LegoLand there. We decided to take a cab since it was dark out and went to check it out. We found the cinema but they weren't playing any kids movies in English that night. Strike One!
The kids loved the huge TV screen in the middle of the square - just like New York!
More bears and great people watching!
We found lego land but it was closed. Strike Two!
We found a little Italian restaurant for Pizza and a good Soccer game on the big screen that the boys were totally into. Score!
We decided to go back to the room for another exhilarating game of Uno. Those darn boys beat me every time!!
The next morning we headed out early again. Of course stopping (again) at Dunkin Donuts at our first stop - Alexanderplatz. I found a step-by-step walking tour online and wrote it all out before we left. It was excellent with very easy instructions and everything is within 2 miles. We skipped a few points on the tour (like Museum Island - the kids would have never made it!) so it was nice to be able to tailor it for yourself.The bad news is that Aiden took so many pictures at the aquarium that my battery light turned on first thing so I had to be careful with how many pictures I took since I did not bring the charger with me. For regular followers of this blog, you know how hard this must have been for me!
King Titan and his mermaids. So many beautiful fountains in Berlin but none of them were on, I'm assuming due to the cold weather. I wish I could see it in the spring or summer.
Statues of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. You can see the famous Fernsehturm (TV Tower) in the background.
Berliner Dom
A nice surprise was finding an unexpected Art Market
Unter Den Linden... not nearly as beautiful as the pictures in the winter.
Neue Wache (New Guard). This is a war memorial and built for a single piece of art inside...
...'Mother and her dead son'. The circle in the roof is open to the elements so that rain, snow, hail, etc.. can fall on the statue symbolizing the suffering of the civilians during the war.
Aiden wanted a picture with this car. He loves Mercedes and has declared this is the car he's going to get when he grows up!
Brandenburg Gate
Victory Column
A well-deserved lunch. We walked so much in the cold and drizzle. The kids were SO GOOD! Keeping up with me and never complaining. I wanted to keep walking to have lunch in the Reichtag which has a restaurant in there with "breathtaking views". But, the kids saw Vapiano's and desperately needed a break!
After lunch we walked about 4 blocks to the Checkpoint Charlie museum. We spent a little too much time at lunch so we had to rush through the museum a bit. The kids don't usually like to read and look at everything in museums anyways but I had to push them along in here. They were genuinely interested in all the ways people tried to escape from the East.
All the history about the Berlin Wall is so interesting and the kids had so many great questions! It was great to be here and see it all in person.
We were pressed for time after the museum so we had to eat dinner on the train. The kids had spagetti and I had a bowl of Chili. We had so much fun we forgot we were on a train. It sure made the trip go by fast!
Our train didn't get back to Mannheim until almost midnight. I thought for sure the kids would fall asleep but they were ALL fighting it. Even Whitney.. playing the piano with headphones on for a solid hour. No Sleeping! We finally got into our beds, safe and sound, a little before 1am. We were all beat! But we don't regret any of it for a minute.
1 comment:
What an awesome trip! Much more modern there than I expected.
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