ErlebnisWald Trappenkamp

The temperatures started to cool a little bit, so we spent Saturday at ErlebnisWald Trappenkamp. The outdoor park is a a nature park which has different areas for children to explore.  The first thing we came upon was tunnels made from bushes. The girls laughed as they ran through the tunnels, peeking their heads out every so often  to make sure Eric and I were still going in the same direction. The next area we explored was the Butterfly garden. The girls were careful searching for butterflies as there were many bees throughout the flowers and herbs. 

Our journey throughout the park led us past some deer and into the forest. In the forest, we found Wichtelwald. Wichtelwald is a path with wooden animals and/or imaginitive props to make Willi's, the little Nome, journey exciting and merry for children as they followed him. There were 11 stations the girls had to find and each one had it's own activity.  Some of the stations were learning about mushrooms, feeling like a bat by hanging upside down in the tree, and spotting numerous forest creatures. They had a fascinating forest experience following Willi.

After finding all of the stations, we then found a path that had replicated a wolves den for the children to crawl through and a beaver's dam for them to climb on. The girls found these fun to explore. We then ventured to the activity area where there was an obstacle course and long zip-line. Eric and the girls had a great time playing on this. After getting worn out, we made tomahawks. This was a craft being done near the large Indian teepee they had set-up. 

Our day ended with a trip to the ice cream store with Nele and Jonas which was a great way to end our vacation.  We would be heading home early Sunday morning as we had a 5 hour drive ahead of us and we knew there would be many construction zones.

Wildpark Eekholt

Thursday we visited Wildpark Eekholt. The park is set-up to display animals in their natural habitat. Click for more information about Wildpark Eekholt Since we were in northern Germany, the animals are all found in the north and their cages are large enclosed natural areas. Essentially, we walked on natural paths through a forest, grassy areas, and along a river to see the animals. The kids had fun searching for the animals in their natural cages as they were not as easy to find like in the zoo. They thought it was funny to hear the wildboar babies squeal and run around. We also saw many European red deer  and a few white deer that are almost extinct.

We watched a live bird flying demonstration. The girls sat in the front row and we sat behind them. They spoke about the birds and then the birds would fly right in front of us, over our heads, or between the rows where we were sitting. The demonstrator was cautious throughout the show as there was also a stork who took flight over the area and was not part of the show. Some of the birds we saw were falcons, hawks, and owls. I did not see one of the owls take flight and as I turned my head to look for it, it was coming right in front of me. The wings ever so quickly scanned across my face. The girls thought it was neat to view the birds so close. The presentation was interesting and amazing to see the bird's full wingspan. 

After the show, the park gave kids the opportunity to feed some of the animals. The girls had fun feeding the deer. The leader gave them corn kernels which was different than the normal food you could purchase, so the animals loved being close to the kids. The one buck had a antler rack that had at least 16 points on it.  

We ended our visit with a trip to the large playground with trampolines, obstacle courses, and  a climbing wall.

Beach Kalifornien

Beach day!  We spent Wednesday at Beach Kalifornien on the Baltic Sea. The weather was awesome for our beach day- partly cloudy, light breeze, and temperatures in the mid 80s. Jonas gave us instructions to park in a field near an area on the beach that would not be in the midst of the tourists and campers. 

We parked the car and ventured towards the promenade. The beach has a large promenade with sand dunes on the water side to separate it from the little towns at the coast. The promenade is very active with bicyclist, rollerbladers, and beach goers as it goes a long distance on the coast. Click for pictures of the Beach and Town  However, upon approaching the sand dunes, I immediately noticed some beach bathers had no clothes on. I informed Eric of this as he was starting to climb the sand dunes with our gear. He then noticed the sign for nude sunbathing. Jonas apparently forgot to mention this part to us. We continued on the promenade farther down from this area to set up our beach stuff when we thought we were in a safe area. We put our towels down, set-up the sun tents and realized there still was some nude sunbathing around us, but not as noticeable as in the marked area. We were here and the girls were already having fun, so we just accepted the German beach culture and  made the most out of our family beach day and would try to be cautious when taking pictures.

Adeline headed for the water, but stopped short when she put her feet in as it was cool. Emmie concentrated on making her first sandcastle. The girls had fun collecting colorful stones and seashells to decorate their sandcastles with. In the late afternoon, the ice cream man on his bike rang his cowbell on the promenade, so Emmie had a chocolate ice cream as her snack. Six hours later and an empty cooler,  we decided it was time to head back to the house.  A fantastic day at the beach was had by everyone!

Vacation Part 2: Week with Dageförde Family

Monday we continued on our vacation to the Kiel area, where we will be spending the week with the Dageförde family. Eric met Jonas when Jonas was working at DCX in MI, then we lived close to Jonas and his wife, Nele, in Esslingen, and have stayed in touch over the years. Nele's parents live close to Kiel, so they invited us up for the week to stay with them as they are also vacationing. The girls found the drive through Hamburg neat, as they could see the port activity with the large cranes unloading the containers from the cargo boats. I think it helped the girls could relate to our container and the coarse it took as I informed them the route our stuff would take.

We arrived at our destination and quickly settled in. Finja, Jonas's 2 year old daughter, had fun playing with the girls toys and wearing their shoes around the house. After a barbecue dinner, we made plans to sail with Jonas's stepfather, Erwin, the next afternoon. Erwin lives close to the marina, so we would meet up with him as the boat was mostly ready and only needed minor preparations before we could sail.

Tuesday afternoon, we sailed around the Kiel harbor. The afternoon was warm and sunny, but had a pleasant breeze for being on the water. We boarded the sailboat and began our afternoon cruise. Cick to see pictures of harbor Eric steered the boat, while Erwin managed the sails. The girls had fun exploring the cabin area. They were amazed to discover the toilet on the sailboat. The girls had fun waving to the people on the big cruise ships and the kids in the harbor just learning to sail. Eric made our ride interesting too, for at times, he had the boat really tilted to one side. By the middle of our tour, the girls had their sea legs and found the experience to be fun. I eventually took them near the front of the boat as we were sailing past the beaches. It was a great afternoon for our family.

Annual Family Gathering

Our visit with the Meier family also coincided with the annual gathering of the entire family on Sunday. This was wonderful as last time we visited, we also attended the gathering and met everyone. Everyone talked about how big Adeline has grown as they last saw her when she was 18 months old, plus how sweet and cute Emmie is. The day started with brunch at a restaurant on a little lake. After brunch, they had little row boats which we could use. Eric oared his ladies around the little lake in the early afternoon. After playing on the  playground, Adeline getting a scraped knee, and then having some ice cream, Eric took Adeline back out in the boat.

In the late afternoon, the entire family went back to the Meier house. They were hosting the cake and coffee portion of the gathering. All of the Aunts made different cakes and tortes, so there was a delicious selection of apple, mandarin orange, and red current (Johannisbeeren) treats to choose from.  We also received fresh honey from one of the cousins as he has his own beehive he cares for.  Spending the sunny summer day with everyone was a nice way to end our visit with the family.

Schloss Bückeburg

Saturday morning we awoke to noises from the little farm which is across the street from the hotel as our balcony door was open due to the warm summer temperature and lack of a/c in the room. The girls thought it was so neat to hear the roosters crowing and watch the sheep walk around and baa from our balcony. Fortunately, the temperature has cooled off for the time and it is now pleasant and enjoyable to be outside.

For breakfast this morning, Jonas took Adeline with him to the bakery to get the fresh baked goods. This is Jonas's task each morning. Adeline was happy to be going on this journey without the parents. After some time, the kids rounded the street corner and had 2 bags filled with warm baked goods, plus each of them had a roll in hand. 

The girls are very excited as we are visiting Schloss Bückeburg. This is a castle that still has a real princess living in it and we are going to tour it. Click here for castle pictures (under schloss) When we arrive at the castle gates, Adeline is quite excited about everything. 

We walk through the gates and across the bridge, observing everything that is going on in the garden area and in the moat. The kids enjoy watching the ducks and fish swim in the water. We then continue our walk to see the entire exterior of the castle. The girls eyes twinkle with excitement when they see the princess's house! They are in constant chatter about it and what it will look like inside. While waiting for the tour to begin, the kids play around in the garden hedges as they have created a maze with their layout.

It is finally time for the tour and we are excited to see how the castle has been decorated.  Click here for interior castle pictures  The tour starts in the chapel. Adeline cannot believe the princess has her own chapel, but thinks this is very neat and sits quietly in the pew, looking at everything. We then journey upstairs to start our tour of the rooms. We only tour the second floor as the family resides on the third floor. The girls loved the ballroom. Adeline liked it for the large crystal chandeliers and knowing this is where concerts and balls take place. Emmie liked looking at the cherubs and horses which were painted on the ceiling.




When our castle tour concludes, we then tour the stable. In addition to visiting the white, black, and speckled horses, the girls like to hear the horses' names, age, and where they were born. The stable also has a small museum consisting of saddles and carriages. The saddles are from different era's and from around the world. The kids have fun trying out the different saddles.

We concluded the afternoon with a light lunch, a walk through the little town, and ice cream for dessert. 

Vacation Part 1: Weekend with the Meier Family

After a warm early afternoon drive of high speeds and traffic jams on the autobahn, we arrived safely to the Meier home. Inge and Werner,  Eric's mother's cousins, and their family, Carsten, Christiane, and Jonas, were happy we could spend time with them again during our stay here in Germany. They loved seeing how big Adeline has gotten and meeting Emmie. The kids immediately connected and started playing with one another.


On Friday, our families ventured to Minden. The town created a water bridge canal and a set of locks to keep the boats continuing on their route, respectively. The water bridge is at an intersection of two major river routes and is an actual bridge filled with water going over the the river, allowing the boats going each way to not collide.  Click here to see pictures of the waterstreet (it is only in German) Click here to see pictures of the locks Our  plan was take an afternoon boat ride through a set of locks and along the water bridge canal after our picnic lunch.

After our lunch and anxiously waiting at the boat terminal for our 3pm tour, we were notified at 2:20pm by the captain, a train carrying oil had gotten into an accident and was leaking oil on the tracks which was then flowing into the water. Therefore, the locks would be temporarily closed for safety reasons. At 3pm, another crew member informed us they did not know how long the locks would be closed, so the cruise was canceled.

To make up for no boat cruise, we took the kids to Salz und Zuckerland. We visited here before to watch them make their own candy when Adeline was just starting to understand the taste of lollipops. Eric and the girls had fun picking out their own hard candy and lollipops which had been made in the little candy shop. There were many flavors to choose from, including Black Forest, which tasted just like the cake. With the kids enjoying their candy, we enjoyed some afternoon beverages in the biergarten before heading back to their house for a barbecue.

A/C works great...

in our car.  Sunday, we were very thankful for having our car to get to church. Once again, the temperature hovered around 35-39 degrees C (95-100 degrees F) on Sunday. Sarah found a microwave for us, so it gave us an excuse to jump in the car and take a ride over to Wiesbaden in the afternoon. Never thought the car's air conditioning would feel so good.  Initially, Eric was thinking he was going to escape the heat by going back to Sweden and his hotel room, but then I quickly reminded him, he is on vacation these next two weeks! 

We have had the fans going in the rooms all day and night and are making our trips early in the morning and short. This morning, Eric and Adeline went for a run/bike ride at 7am to beat the heat. They made it 7km through the fields before it became too intense. They were back home by 8am. We are planning on going to the pool this evening and most likely a few more times this week.

We are preparing to head up to the Hannover area and then farther north to Kiel for vacation later this week. Upon checking out the weather for the upcoming weekend, I came across the posted image. The image indicates the country's temperatures for Friday. I have never seen the entire country in RED! 

We are doing our best to stay cool. We have learned to nod our heads as we listen to the German's claim, "this heat is not normal." This intense high temperature is what we know as a summer here as I also blogged about it in the summer of 2006 when we lived in Esslingen. For us, this is a normal summer in Germany as this is all we have experienced in our time spent here, 4 years ago and now. 

PRTM Summer Outing

Saturday was PRTM's annual summer outing. PRTM's Frankfurt office and their Munich office join together for this annual event.  The weather forecast was sunshine and hot for the Rhein Rhinegau which was the chosen destination/ activity this year. The Rhein Rheingau is a large area along the Rhine River that is famous for making Riesling wines. Click for Rheingau information  At 10am, we met at the downtown office to board the bus. The girls and I met Eric's boss, plus we got to visit his office on the 14th floor. He has a great view of Frankfurt when he is in town. We also met another family with 2 little girls and speak English. The girls immediately connected and took the front 4 seats of the bus in front of the large window. They acted like they were the drivers. The tour bus only had seats on the top so it was like riding on a double decker bus. After picking up more colleagues from the hotel, we then continued on our journey to our 1st destination of the Rheingau Johannisberg.

Around 11:30am, the bus dropped us off in the small town, so we walked up the streets to the Schloss Johannisberg.  Click for Castle Johannisberg information The temperature was quite warm and the sun was intense, but we knew of the tasty reward when we made it to the castle. There we had a light snack, soft drinks, and of course wine from the Rhinegau in the courtyard overlooking the vineyards. Eric and I had already visited this location in 2005, so I have posted a picture from our first visit as well. The girls enjoyed walking under the vines and looking for the grape clusters that were starting to grow.

We left there at approxiamately 1:30pm and walked about 2.5 km (ie approximately 30-40 minutes) through the vineyards to Schloss Vollrads. Marie, the trip coordinator, intially told us the walking paths are paved and suitable for strollers; however, we found majority of them to be natural paths or dirt paths. Despite the intense heat and hot sunshine, Eric pushed a sleeping Emmie along the winding path. Adeline and I casually walked with the group and she sometimes jumped on the stroller for the ride down hill. 

At Scholss Vollrads,  the courtyard was reserved for us. Click for Castle Vollrads information It was set-up very nice with cloth covered long tables and many large  umbrelllas  to help us stay cool. We dined on BBQ meats, numerous hot and cold side dishes, plus a large assortment of seafood. This was all accompanied by water, soft drinks, and local wine. After our meal, they had games and some activities to keep the kids and adults entertained. Majority of people stayed in the shade as it had become quite hot. For dessert, they brought out a chocolate fondue which the girls loved dipping their fruit and cookie sticks in.  There also was an assortment of fruit and mousse cups to end the afternoon. 

When we returned home in the evening, we learned it had been 44 degrees Celsius in downtown Frankfurt, which is 112 degrees Fahrenheit. Even though it was record breaking heat, we had a beautiful summer day in the vineyards. 

30 seconds and I'm off....

That is the amount of instruction time Eric gave me about the Audi A4 combi he had just picked up from the dealership. This is our rental car till our auto comes in at the end of July. Eric jumps in the passenger seat and says, "I'll help you out as you drive me downtown." I have not driven a car since the end of May and he needs to be in the Frankfurt office in 30 minutes. What!!! ( I never drove when we were in Stuttgart either.) 

Everyone is in, buckled, the air conditioning is blasting, and off we go to the Autobahn. Good thing my mom taught me how to drive a manual as this was not the time to learn how to drive a 6 speed. A little nervous, but we made it to the Autobahn and were headed into downtown Frankfurt. Of course along the way, I am learning how the car operates, what the posted signs mean, and how to properly drive on the Autobahn. 

Once we get into downtown, the streets are narrower, so I am more cautious as it is tighter driving space with the cars parked on the side and the roads have numerous twists and bends. The girls are excited to be in the city and see all of the taxis. They sing out their taxi song they made up along the way.  At the left turn intersection, the light says I can turn left, so I do, but it is right in front of a small train that is coming at me and then I look in the mirror and think I almost took out a businessman crossing the street! Yikes! What has Eric gotten me into!? He replies, "Just make sure you do not hit anything, the car is still a saleable car for them as it only has 1500 kilometers on it and pedestrians have the right of way." On to finding his building amongst the tall high rises and we come across the intersection with no lights and a policeman directing traffic. Under 5 minutes till his meeting, we pull onto the street with his building. He states just pull over somewhere and let me off. It is a one way street with no where to pull over except on the sidewalk. Getting nervous and passing his building, we got stopped by the red light. He jumps out to head back to his office, hopefully he is only an elevator ride late to his meeting. I go around the block again and this time learn of a safer area to pull over and let him out next time he wants me to drive him to work. Us gals make it back to Hofheim and stop in at Aldi's to get a few things since the day's temperature is already 80 and it is only 10:40am. 

We have already been to the drink market and back in the car. Adeline asks me the entire way home if driving up the hill is so much better than pulling the bike trailer or pushing the stroller. Of course is my reply to her. I then ask her if it is better than her walking up the hill and her reply is yes, as I am not so sweaty. Honestly, I did not realize how steep of a hill we walk till today when I drove it in the car twice. The girls are already done riding in the car after our few errands this morning. 

Our town is under major construction directly in front of the train station at the bridge and another major road. They plan for the project to be complete in 6 weeks. They  have it routed to just a single lane in each direction at the bus station. Normally it is 3 lanes in one direction that make a loop around from the bus station (which is at a lower street) to the train station (higher street). There are numerous one way streets in the downtown area too, so it is not convienent to get to the train and bus stations by car with the roads being closed and traffic being rerouted.

Thankfully we have our Garmin to keep us going in the right direction. It is nice though after being sick all week to have the car to jump in and get  groceries. It is parked on the street for now, waiting till we find another reason for us to go somewhere outside of Hofheim. 

A good week or a bad week?

This week brought about some major ups and downs so I am not sure if it was a good week or a bad week. 

The week was wonderful starting out as we celebrated Emmie's 3rd birthday on Sunday. Monday afternoon, Adeline came down with the stomach bug along with Melanie and Thorsten. Thus, we canceled the birthday gathering for Tuesday, which was Emmie's actual birthday.  I still decorated the apartment on Monday evening, so when Emmie awoke there were more decorations and some presents for her to open on her actual birthday. 

A restful Tuesday morning aside from Emmie's birthday excitement and Adeline was feeling better. While the girls were having lunch outside, our neighbors across the street brought over decorated cupcakes for Emmie and Adeline in celebration. The girls enjoy talking to Heinrich from our garden to his 2nd floor window throughout the day. 

At lunchtime on Tuesday, I also received a call that Eric's iphone was in at the store. The bad part was they would not hold it till Thursday, which meant in the heat (it has been in the 90s), we would take an unplanned bus trip to the store. Since Eric's visits to the cellphone store have lasted for hours, I packed a lunchbox and an activity for the girls. We were on our way with not knowing how long to expect to stay there, except probably a long time as this new iphone would have to be registered under me and my Visa is only good for 1 year. If you recall, it took over 4 hours for Eric to get me my cheap cell phone with his 3 year Visa and numerous paperwork. Arriving at the store, we waited a few minutes and then we got the same lady who worked with Eric.  She put in the initial requirements from my visa and bank  to get an approval and within a few minutes, we had a phone number. This meant I had been approved for the new iphone with a contract. I still am not sure what took Eric 4 plus hours to get a contract when I did it within 10 minutes, but I was not about to question it. I had her turn on the phone to make sure it worked and then us gals went shopping as we had lots of time to spare till the next bus.

Tuesday afternoon to Thursday morning, I caught the stomach bug. Thankfully, the girls were really good and let me rest. In addition, it has been hot here, so the meals have been light and easy. By Thursday evening, I felt much better to sit with them outside as they played in the pool. 

Friday we pick up our rental car, so it should be an eventful day for us.

Happy 3rd Birthday Emmeline Rose!

Today is Emmie's 3rd birthday! Like all children, they grow up fast and bring us many moments of laughter, love, and happiness.  I am posting a picture from each year to see the changes and recall memories!

Here is the picture we sent out in our announcements:

Emmie noticed Adeline had on her dress. If you recall, this is the same dress Emmie wore for her 3rd birthday party!

1st Birthday:

Favorite color: Yellow

Favorite vegetables: Peas

Favorite fruit: Apricots

Favorite ice cream: Blue one

Favorite meal: Snacks

Favorite stuffed animal: Poohie

Favorite person: Hissy (Sissy)

2nd Birthday:

Favorite cartoon: Sesame Street - Elmo

Favorite book: Curious George

Favorite Superhero: Batman

Favorite Princess: Cinderella

Favorite friend: Ella A.

Favorite clothes: Jammies

 Emmie happily carrying her favorite babydoll: Goo-Goo Baba Baby

Monkey Birthday Celebration

Emmie turns 3 this week and asked to have a monkey birthday. Sunday, we threw her a monkey birthday party. In the morning, Eric laid out the Curious George face cake details and I quickly frosted it as it was already getting warm and the frosting consistency was thin. Emmie completed his face by placing the eyes on him. We took it into the storage area in the basement, so the frosting would not melt from the heat.  Eric then took the girls out for a long bike ride, while I  continued making the treats and organized the apartment. When they returned, we decorated the apartment with balloons, streamers, and Curious George colored cut-outs. 

The afternoon was perfect for a monkey for a party as it was another warm and steamy day- just like a jungle. Eric put on Jack Johnson's cd from the Curious George movie to get our party started. After our guests arrived, we had  Emmie  open her presents as she was very excited about them. The highlight of her gifts was the princess/ fantasy world playmobil items- horse and carriage with bride and groom and the unicorn with waterfall. I think Adeline is enjoying her sister's gifts, too.

We then all sang Happy Birthday to her and she blew out the candles before the wind did. We served chocolate fudge cake with cookies-n-cream or chocolate cookie ice cream. (The ice cream was from Aldi's American week-- perfect timing.) I also made monkey cupcakes to go along with the theme. The chocolate rice krispie treats went over well with everyone as they had not tasted these treats before. (I could find numerous different manufacturers of chocolate krispies, but not a single box of regular rice krispies.) Melanie brought over some red raspberry jello for an additional refreshing treat. The kids enjoyed the little treats of animal crackers, jelly beans, and m&ms in the mini cupcake liners along with the bananas I had out to snack on. 

After the treats, the kids had a scavenger hunt looking for paper bananas filled with candy. They then played soccer and catch with Adeline's baseball mit and ball.  

Emmie's 3rd birthday party was fun and everyone enjoyed the sunny festive afternoon. We are very thankful for the friends we have made here to help us in celebrating our little girl's special day!

Steamy Saturday

Saturday was hot and steamy - high of 93 degrees. The market was busier early in the morning than normal, which meant no one wanted to be out inthe sun as the heat was very intense already at 9am. We spent a quiet morning indoors awaiting the big afternoon soccer game. Two showers later and we were on our way to the Wendel's to watch the game.

A hot afternoon with cool treats and a 4-0 victory by Germany made for a fun afternoon. Hanna, Adeline, and Emmie opted to play in the pool instead of watching the soccer game. After the win, we came back to our place to BBQ. Luckily, our overhang has a little shield for the BBQ as it suddenly became very windy like it was going to storm and the temperature drastically dropped ( a relief from the heat), but we never got a drop. Not sure if we convinced Melanie and Thorston to get a gas grill, but they enjoyed the quickness of it compared to a charcoal grill as we were hungry.  After they left, Adeline and I made Emmie's chocolate cake and cupcakes for her monkey birthday party as it had cooled down a little to turn the oven on.

You know it is hot when...

This week has been hot and steamy so I have come up with my list of "you know it is hot in Germany" when:

1. The clothes dry in under 4 hours outside.

2. The chocolate in your cupboards is melting.

3. It is 10 degrees cooler in the shade and under the umbrellas.

4. On Monday the the store's freezer are full of ice cream and frozen treats; however, by Wednesday there are only 1 or 2 packages left.

5. Everyone is at the mall for air-conditioning in the stores.

6. It is 10am and you are not the only ones ordering ice cream in town.

In addition to my Monday being crazy, Eric had the worst hour plane ride ever Monday morning it is almost funny. It started when the lady behind him took her socks and shoes off, put her feet on his arm rest, and then started clipping her toenails. A guy near her coughed so hard and for so long, Eric thought he must have caught something or the guy was going to produce a lung, and then someone nearby passed gas throughout the entire ride he had to cover his mouth and nose with his shirt. To top it off, the pilot had to abort the initial landing into Copenhagen and fly around again to land. He was so thankful to just get off the plane and even happier it was not one of his flights across the ocean.

Tuesday morning,we went to the kindergarten Just as I thought, she meant to come on Thursday as she mixed up Tuesday/Thursday in English, so it was a quick visit and then back home to get relief from the heat. Melanie and her girls came over in the afternoon to relax and play in the pool too. Wednesday morning was shopping again. Melanie so kindly met me at the store to drive back my groceries and Adeline as I could not peddle fast enough for the food to stay cool (even with my freezer bag). Our farmer across the street has posted he has fruit available, so we ordered raspberries, cherries, and gooseberries. We will get them tomorrow morning after he picks them. 

Thursday morning we walked back to the kindergarten. We met Emmie's teacher, Sabine. She is very nice and excited to have Emmie in her class. Emmie will be one of 8 girls in the class of 25 children, ranging in age from 3-6 years. After our meeting, they invited the girls to stay and play for a while! Wowee... free time for me, so I went home and cleaned up the apartment before it got to hot. Melanie then took us the to mall as I am busily preparing Emmie's monkey birthday party for  Sunday. It was quite busy and nice relief from the heat. It also was a great shopping trip for me in getting party supplies (Melanie knows all of the stores to look for supplies), plus clothes as they are having their summer sales. I  put on a little fashion show for the girls as I was trying on the different items! Our neighbor's asked us to watch Zoe for a little while in the afternoon and Adeline was very excited her to come and play. Zoe was fine as she waved goodbye to her mom, but then once back in the apartment she started to whimper. After about 10 minutes of whimpering and asking for her Papa, she fell asleep in my arms. It was so hot, she and I were sweating, so I laid her on the couch where she slept for 45 minutes till her Dad came and picked her up. 

Friday morning, we walked Eric to the train station. He was not even on the 9:18am train yet and he was sweating. He along with the other men, will be carrying their suit jacket all day long, but no one will be wearing them due to the heat. We picked up a few items since we were in town.  The air was warm already, so we stopped to get ice cream. The window door had not been opened and all of the ice cream had not been put in the display, but there were already customers dining in who were eating ice cream. Our friend was working and we were so happy to see each other.  She gave the girls a little bigger scoop this time, I think because it is so hot. 

The weekend here will be hot (90 degrees plus) but one full of events, as Germany plays Saturday afternoon, we are having a BBQ, and will be celebrating Emmie's 3rd birthday!

We wish everyone a wonderful Happy 4th of July!