Go Germany!

Tonight Germany plays in their quarterfinal game in Eurocup 2012. The girls are excited about this as they have gotten into the spirit and have been practicing their cheers. Emmie is cheering for Greece since she really liked their beaches and Adeline is rooting for Germany. 

At school, Adeline was the only one wearing her jersey in her class, where Emmie joined with all of the boys who have worn their jerseys all week long along. 

In the evening, friends came over to watch the game with us. We celebrated with an international buffet of American snacks and had French champagne and German beer to go along with it. 

It was a fun evening and Germany won 4-2. They now have a spot in the semifinals and will play on Thursday evening.

Location Perks

Eric finished up his project in a little town outside of Zurich this week. He has managed to enjoy the scenery and atmosphere of his job location when not in the office these past few weeks. He arrived home with a specialty torte from the town of Solothurn. The torte was delicious and a great finale to this project.

Vorlesetag

This morning, Steinbergschule held their Vorseletag. This is the time when an a student from the older class reads a book to a student who will be entering school next year.  Adeline's class performed this task. Unfortunately, it was raining outside, so it was held in the gymnasium. Adeline and her classmates found a mat to sit on and then the kindergarten students who are coming to school (including Emmie) ran to find someone to sit next to. It worked out for Emmie to be with Adeline along with another girl.  Most of the students had two kindergarteners with them. Emmie agreed that Adeline did a good job reading the book. Adeline informed me her teacher demonstrated how to, but because she read slower, she did not get to finish the book. 

Afterwards the children played games and then visited Adeline's classroom. They also learned that Emmie is not the only sibling from Adeline's class who will be attending school next year. Both girls said it was fun morning being together in the school.

H is for..

Happy Father's Day! 

This afternoon, we hosted a house BBQ.  It is not Father's Day here today, but we thought it would be a fun summer gathering. I worked with my neighbor, Briggi, to coordinate a house BBQ in our yard. Everyone attended, including a few neighbors who do not live under our roof.

At one point, we had over 20 people in our little area. The weather was sunny and warm and great for being outdoors. Briggi made her famous strawberry bowl drink for us ladies while the men served themselves from the cooler packed full of beer. When the grill got going, it was non stop for about an hour of cooking, but the meats were delicious along with the numerous salads each family made.

Euro Cup 2012's schedule had Germany versus Denmark playing in the evening. Everyone moved over to our neighbor's place to watch the soccer game. We stayed for the first half as it was getting late. Germany won their match 2 to 1 and secured a spot in Friday's quarterfinals.

It was a happy day for everyone.

"auf der Baustelle"

Even though it rained in the morning, the kindergarten still held their summer festival in the afternoon. The theme of the festival was "auf der Baustelle" (on the building site) which was very appropriate since they are constructing the new portion of the school on the grounds. The playground area had construction tape all around it and cones scattered throughout. The teachers dressed in the blue overalls the construction workers wear while on the job. The children sang a construction song to start the party. The children played construction themed games of stacking bricks and racing with little wheelbarrows. Eric and I enjoyed a beer and Applewine while Adeline and Emmie played the games and on the playground. It was a fun afternoon. We left just in time because as we got home, the rain came down.

Wein, Sekt, und Roses

We enjoyed a day in Eltville am Rhein, the wine, sparkling wine, and rose city, as it was the location for Eric's company's Values Day. The company organized numerous activities for employees and their families to participate in throughout the oldest city on the Rhine River. 

When school was finished, we drove to Eltville. We first arrived at the welcoming center which was at Kurfürstliche Castle, an old castle along the Rhine River with beautiful rose gardens.

Our first activity was a Rhinegau Adventure treasure hunt. It turned out to be a family oriented tour of the city and the guide did her best to incorporate the children into looking for unique things on buildings and structures. We did learn many interesting facts about the city and found it amazing how a little town has over 350 types of roses growing throughout it. I am assuming we reached the treasure when we ended up sampling a local Reisling wine and the kids had kinder wine at a wine tasting venue. 

Eric was able to quickly get from Zurich to join us in time for the Cafe Tour. We were given a list of the three cafes in town and their specialities we could sample or choose our own. Our table was reserved for us in the first cafe when we arrived. We ate chocolate tortes while Eric selected a strawberry torte. Continuing on, we stopped at the ice cream cafe. Emmie's selection of a Mickey Mouse ice cream treat was the highlight. 

At the Altstadtcafe Glockenhof and our final cafe, we choose the famous Eltviller Rosentorte. It was very pretty, but we were not very hungry by this time. The inside filling was good, but not being a marzipan fan, we nibbled on the rose.

Fortunately, the weather cleared up and it became warm for the outdoor evening festivities. We strolled over to the other castle, Castle Crass. They served appetizers and drinks on the lawn overlooking the Rhine River. They also had a few activities for the kids to keep busy and carnival games to keep the adults entertained. Emmie managed to catch a little nap on one of the huge beanbags they had on the lawn, too. 

For dinner, they offered a wonderful BBQ buffet with many delicious meats and salads to choose from. It  was nice to have dinner sitting along the Rhine River. For dessert, everyone enjoyed the dessert table that included crepes with Nutella. We spent the evening relaxing on the beanbags and chatting with Eric's co-workers. It started to rain, so we found a tent to move under for a little while. When the rain let up, we ended our wonderful time in the city of Eltville.

Snails

This week Adeline's class completed their snail project. After Easter break, the kids brought in snails and put them in a glass aquarium in their classroom. Adeline has learned alot of information about the snail's anatomy and how it survives, along with a tongue twister poem she had to recite. Apparently there were babies at one point too, but the teacher has no idea where they went because they are so small. It has been a fun learning class for her. Adeline has captured her own weinberg snail and is caring for it outside. She is also sharing her knowledge with Emmie and Emmie's friends when they find one or two in the yard.