Happy 4th of July!

The warm afternoon on Hubbard Lake was spent swimming, boating, and having fun with our family and Laura's family. We finally got to meet our newest family member, Mason. We all took turns giving him lots of attention as we were making up for the last 10 months we missed out on. 

In the evening, we consumed s'mores while we watched a beautiful sunset which lead to the excitement of the fireworks. 

We are thankful for our hosts who made the 4th of July celebration very enjoyable and memorable.

Warm Welcome

At the Frankfurt airport, we are grateful we made it through the airport lines with no hassle. We managed on the long plane ride, even though two of the three entertainment systems were not functioning properly. Even though we had to wait to get our luggage at the Detroit airport due to incorrect luggage claim information, we still arrived sooner that planned in Michigan. My parents were not expecting us so quickly, but they were thrilled when we came through the doors.

Summer vacation was starting out on a great note with a stop at Steak 'n Shake. It is hard to stay stressed when you consume some missed American tastes on a hot summer day while you are with family.

In the warm evening, the girls played with their cousin, Hannah, in numerous water activities. They had a fun time cooling off together.

We managed to stay up late enough to help ease our jetlag.

Busy...

Even though it was the first weekend of summer vacation, it was not a relaxing one for us. 

Saturday, we shopped for the school supplies. Emmie picked out her pencil organizer case. With the help of the store clerk, we found the specific binders and folders Adeline's teacher requested.

Early Sunday morning, we dropped Bandit off at the breeder's house. He remembered the house and quickly laid down as we discussed the paperwork while he would be in her care. We managed to leave with only a few tears.

We made it back to Hofheim in time for Adeline to sing with the school choir in the city's summer festival. She took her place on stage, while we found a spot at a front table with Uschi. The songs are now familiar to Emmie and me as this is our second year of hearing them.  After the show, the girls enjoyed a treat and found a few rides to go on.

In the evening, I checked in for our flight. The excitement of flying tomorrow is lost when the check-in process asks if I am willing to volunteer my seat since the plane is already overbooked. I am just praying it all goes smoothly for us at the airport and we have a safe flight.

Rainbow Pony Party

Emmie's 5th birthday celebration was a rainbow pony party. She selected the design for her cake and helped make the numerous treats to be served. 

Even though it started to sprinkle when the kids arrived, it did not ruin the party atmosphere. The kids ate ice cream in decorated ice cream cones before Emmie opened her presents.  They did their crafts on the picnic table which we fit on the patio and under the balcony. Singing and cake consumption occurred while we let the grass dry up. Despite the high humidity and heat, they all had fun galloping and racing against one another in the various pony games we played.

Everyone had a great time celebrating Emmie's birthday and left with smiles on their faces. Emmie was excited to play with her gifts and enjoy more of her birthday treats in the evening.

Tschüss Kindergarten

Emmie's last week at kindergarten was spent playing on the playground and continue watching the new kindergarten house being built.

This week the construction crew had great organization for bringing the prebuilt walls to the site and dropping them into location. It was very interesting observing how quickly and efficiently they operated for this phase. They had the building constructed within a six hour time period.

Passed 2a with flying colors

As the school year wraps up this week, Adeline has been the recipient of numerous awards. 

She was awarded two certificates from the Bundesjugendspiel. The first one was for placing first in the sprint race. The second one was for being the most athletic girl in her class as she accumulated the most points based on her overall performance.

In addition, she received a certificate for completing the instrument carousel program in the Hofheim music school.

We are very proud of her performance in school. Her teacher has approved for her to be in the third class next year.

Rhein Regional Route

On Saturday, we biked the local portion of Rhein Main regional route along a path that took us through the fields. Adeline likes using her gears to conquer the hills. Bandit is still getting used to being in the trailer, but after an hour or so, he finally accepts he must ride it in it in order to come along with us. There are different sights along the route to stop and see. We stopped and ate lunch at a lookout point. While having lunch, we decided to head over to a tall look out tower. 

We discovered the tower is at a new park they built that also has a restaurant and playground area. Eric and the girls climbed the tower, while I stayed at the bottom with Bandit. The tower also had a glass floor. The girls found it neat to look down where they just climbed up from.