Making some noise

Monday afternoon was Adeline's first session with the trumpet. It should be an interesting finish to the musical year. I  have informed her where and when not to practice so she does not scare Bandit or upset our neighbors. 

Thursday morning, Steinburgschule's first and second klasses along with the kindergarten children who will be attending next year journeyed into the forest for Waldestag. The children were divided into groups for the outing. Adeline was hoping to get paired up with Emmie, but it did not happen The groups rotated through activity stations set-up in the forest. At one station, the children took off their shoes and socks to walk across various forest items. At other stations, the teacher ponded on a log, so they could hear the echo sound and used leaves or the tree bark to copy the texture using crayons. The girls had a fun time doing the various activities at the six different stations while learning about nature.

In the afternoon, a recreational group came and offered various playground equipment for the children to play on at the school. Adeline and Emmie had Vicki, Adeline's friend, to push and pull them around on the various wheeled items. Bandit was also entertainment for some of the girls as they enjoyed walking him around the schoolyard and paying attention to him. The girls and Bandit had a good time during the warm enjoyable afternoon.

Circus Carl Busch

We attended the early Sunday evening performance of the Circus Carl Busch. The surprise outing brought much joy since it was gloomy out. Upon arriving, Eric and Adeline picked up our tickets while Emmie and I got in line before majority of the crowd arrived. They let us in the tent with the concessions as it started raining 15 minutes before showtime.

It was a mad dash for the seats when they opened the path to the main tent. We found our seats a few rows from the ring. We had an excellent viewing area and maintained a safe distance. The rest of the crowd gathered in and we had the entire row to ourselves. The lights dimmed, the music started, and then the show began. 

The clowns brought about much laughter with their acts, while the dazzling girls performing their acrobatics in the air brought many ohs and ahs. Adeline, initially thought when the tightrope walker fell off the wire during his routine it was part of his act. We explained to her it was not as that was why he tried it again and this time successfully finished his routine. The girls enjoyed watching the camels perform. When they saw the Alpacas jump over the sitting camels, it brought about big smiles.

During intermission, Eric took the girls out to the animals. They petted the numerous horses and walked over by the elephants.  

The girls munched on cotton candy as the second half of the performance began. One of the clowns was walking around looking for a volunteer, when he stopped and asked me to assist him with a jump rope act. At first, it was just swinging the rope by our seats in the aisle and then he led me out onto the main floor as the area amongst the seats was not big enough for his liking. 

He put the jump rope away, made a little joke about me being taller than him, and put a headband with a nail sticking out of it on my head.  He then gave me a green skinny balloon to blow up while he blew up a large round pink one. He motioned for me to try three different times while he blew up his, but  I could not. He produced an air pump and inflated the green balloon. The clown placed me on one side of the ring while he walked to the other side.

 The green balloon became a bow and an imaginary arrow was going to pop the big pink balloon. His aiming was off on his first try as the balloon did not pop when I tried to bounce it on the headband with the nail that was on my head, but it popped on the second try. We then switched places to do it again. This time another clown brought out the balloons. 

The first balloon was handed to me so quick it never even made it into my hands and went up in the air. The clown asked me where it was since he requested it and all I could do was shrug my shoulders and look around as it happened so fast. The second balloon popped as the clown handed it to me, which made me jump. The third balloon had a string attached and when the clown handed it to me, it also went up in the air as the string was cut. The clown with the arrow came over as he was getting impatient since I did not have any balloons yet. I pointed upwards to where they went along with the crowd who was pointing up as he kept asking where the balloon was. He then asked for a fourth balloon and this balloon quickly deflated in my hands. This frustrated him, so he intentionally handed me the bow balloon the wrong way as the second clown brought him out a new balloon. When he was at his place across the ring, he told me to turn it around as I had it backwards, so I turned myself around with his motion. He shook his head, walked back over to me and stepped me through how to use it properly. On the way back to his spot, he made the cross signal and said a quick prayer. His motions brought even more laughter from the crowd. I finally made my shot and the balloon popped. He finished the act by making me a pretty pink flower balloon. 

Upon returning to my seat, Emmie wanted to hold my balloon and Adeline wondered if I saw her pointing up to the ceiling on the first balloon. It was a fun moment to be in the circus.

The second act finished up with a few more clown acts, a tumbling act, and a magic routine to name a few. The show concluded with the elephants parading around and the entire cast doing one last performance.

It was a wonderful family show and a memorable one.

Finally

Somehow the second top front tooth managed to hang in all week long. On the weekend, she got to the point where she could not eat or talk without the tooth causing some minor pain or it was bleeding enough to disrupt her meal. Eric finally sent her into the bathroom to remove it and she could not. I assisted her and after a few minor twists along with a few screams, it was out. She was now happy and onto wondering how much the tooth fairy will leave her for this one. 

Mexican Fiesta

With our shopping outing earlier in the week, we held our own mexican fiesta on Cinco de Mayo. Even though it was not warm and sunny weather to enhance our atmosphere, we enjoyed our feast on some tasty mexican dishes. The girls liked everything I made, although the quacamole and quesadillas seemed to be their favorite. It was all so delicious that after the clean-up, we partook in a siesta.

We changed our celebration mood to birthday in the afternoon as it was Marie's second birthday. We had a great time joining Melanie and Thorsten to celebrate their little girl's special day. Adeline and Emmie joined right in playing with the other children and eating the delicious cakes throughout the event. We wish them many more moments filled with love and laughter with Marie and their family.

This Weather

"This weather! Rain, sun, wind, rain sun, wind." This is Emmie's description of how our weather has been the past month. We have had rain almost everyday. Some days they have been downpours and others intermittently with a light drizzle. What makes it even worse is the sun will shine real bright mid day for two hours and then the rain returns and brings hail with it. It seems May is following in April's footsteps

Fortunately, we have had enough other things going on to keep us busy. Adeline and I went shopping for a fountain pen as they are going to start using those in her class for their writing assignments. She also has changed seats in the class, so she is sitting in between her two close friends and away from the silly boys.

I attended Adeline's class parent meeting where I met the new math teacher and learned about what to expect till the end of the school year. In addition, they covered the class trip information Adeline will be going in a few weeks. I received four papers of information- three of the papers are various forms to be filled out and one paper is her supplies list as they will be staying overnight for three days. I only understand the supply list, so Eric will help me with the big unrecognizable words before I sign on the dotted line.

They have started demolishing the kindergarten building. Emmie and I talk about the daily progress they are making in tearing it down on our way to school as we peek through the canvas barrier they have set-up. They are doing it all by hand as there are a few guys with hammers and saws who cut a piece down and carry it out to the dumpster near the street. She found it funny when she could see right through her old classroom and into the other classroom on the other side since all of the walls were removed.

Flavors of the USA

Tuesday, Sarah and I took the girls on a roadtrip to Ramstein.  Jorge printed out directions for us just in case the navi had a hiccup to ensure we had a successful girl's outing. Preparing for the trip, Adeline knew the trip was a big deal because I had made a two column shopping list. The German army checked us in at the military base's visitors center and then we were on our way for a few hours of shopping. 

Entering the main shopping area and seeing the various restaurant advertisements made my mouth water. Our first stop was for a snack break as Adeline wanted a sub from Subway and Emmie a taco from Taco Bell. I could not resist the temptation, so I joined Emmie and had a taco too. After we were reenergized, we walked through the mall to the main store. 

As Sarah puts it, I had perma-grin for the first hour seeing all of the familiar items. She laughed as the girls talked non-stop for the first hour. They would recognize various items we used to have or questioned if we needed them now or if they could have them because they remembered them. While I was answering their questions, the cart was quickly filling up and it was time we checked out. We definitely needed a break after all of the excitement, so Chili's was our next stop. 

The flavors were just what we needed for a taste of the USA. The waiter made us chuckle because he kept referring to us as guys even though we were the only table with girls as we were surrounded by numerous tables full of servicemen. After a satisfying lunch, we headed back home.

On the way, my personal secretary, Adeline, updated my shopping list. While she was reading, Sarah and I laughed because the list consisted of tasty sauces and sweets that can only be found and purchased in the US. The girls caught a nap before we finished up our shopping in Wiesbaden. We managed to get almost everything in the trunk, except the bags with chips and bread. After dropping Sarah off, the girls discussed  our purchases and what we should eat now and save for later.

When I finally had everything in the house, I cleaned off a shelf just for our US goods that will be rationed over the next few months. When it was all put away, I asked them what they would like to eat for dinner. They both exclaimed, "Lucky Charms!" I will not get the Mother of the Year award for letting them have a bowl of it for dinner, but the smiles were priceless as they enjoyed every bite and played the game on the back of the cereal box. The memories of eating American cereal are irreplaceable when it is a novelty. 

Knocked out

Adeline's story of how her first top tooth fell out:

So I was in my bed. I went to get up and all of a sudden I slipped and I hit my mouth on the wood rail. Then my tooth just popped out. So I yelled for mommy. Emmie yelled, "Sissy's tooth!" so mommy came running. Mommy said it was unbelievable. Then we all ran to the bathroom. It was bleeding a lot. We took care of it and it stopped bleeding after a few minutes. Emmie looked for my fairy tooth purse and found it. We have not put my tooth in the purse yet. 

ps. I was in my bed because I was tired.

We have been watching Adeline's top teeth naturally spread apart for the past month to the extent she has gapping holes on either side of her two top baby front teeth. Both of her two front top teeth have been getting looser every week, but were taking their time falling out. Eric said that when he left on Sunday afternoon to fly to the US, is the time it would happen. He was right as the first  tooth fell out not even two hours into his flight. Fortunately, he had email access on the plane, so Adeline emailed him the story and attached a picture for proof. We are now waiting on the second top tooth as it is just barely hanging on.