Welcomed with a wagging tail

Before the car was parked, Colby was greeting us with his wagging tail on the driveway as we arrived at Eric's parents house. We were all very happy to pet him as we exited the car and give him many warm greetings along with hugs to John and Ruth. 

After unloading our baggage and settling in, Adeline and Grandpa took Colby for his daily evening stroll. Adeline was thrilled to walk with him. Emmie constantly petted him as she was playing and adjusting to the house throughout the night. 

We spent the evening and Tuesday catching up with family. The girls enjoyed their McDonald's lunch and the afternoon at Nick and Laura's house. In the early evening, I  packed a few bags for our Northern Michigan festivities. 

The girls were super excited that Colby was coming on vacation with us. He did not want to get left behind as he closely followed us around the house and to the car as we got ready. We managed to get all packed in the vehicle and were ready for our northern Michigan summer vacation to begin. Our first destination was Lost Lake Woods Club at my mom and Ray's cabin. 

On our way!

Monday morning came quick as we were up early and off to the airport.  It was a breeze checking in our carry-on suitcases and heading through security.  Once again, Emmie's babydoll was given a check-up and passed. 

Delta finally upgraded the aircraft and as it was a newer aircraft with personal monitors for games and movies. Unfortunately, the monitor was in the headrest of the seat in front of us, so the passenger in front of Emmie may have felt some extra turbulence from her tapping the screen to play the games. We even managed to get in a small nap, so we were all refreshed when we exited the plane.

At first, I told the girls to walk the long corridor to passport control, but then I let them jog to burn some energy off before we stood in the long line. As we were gathering our luggage, an agent  came over to look at our paperwork. He asked me a few questions and then wrote on the paper. I thought we were now clear for the next stage of customs. I was wrong for as soon as the desk agent saw our paperwork, he sent us right over to the Agriculture screening area for our suitcases to be scanned again. Our suitcases were loaded right on and just as they were going through the scanner, the agents found some duct taped plastic bags with various stuff in them which could not be quickly identified by the Asian family they belonged to in front of us. Once this was found, we were told we could go without any more questions; however, we could not leave as our suitcases were not even all the way through the scanner. Finally, we had our suitcases and were on our way out the door to meet my Dad and Denise to begin our hot summer in the USA.

Eröffnungstfest

Summer vacation started with a holiday on Thursday. Even though it was cool and windy, we still enjoyed our indoor BBQ with Thorsten, Melanie, and the girls. 

Friday morning, us girls went to the mall for a few things and came home with a few bags. I took full advantage of the summer sales that had just started for some items the girls need for next school year. 

In the afternoon, Eric took Adeline out for lunch and dessert, while Emmie and I relaxed and watched a movie. Fortunately they made it back in time before the rain started. 

Saturday morning, Adeline and I shopped for her school supplies, while Eric and Emmie went out for a morning treat and then on a bike ride. Unfortunately, it started to rain, so their bike ride was short. They still had a good time together.

Sunday afternoon was our time on stage during the Eröffnungstfest in downtown Hofheim. Eric managed the cameras and Emmie and Uschi sang along to the tunes. Adeline was nervous about being on the big stage, but once we started singing, she did fabulous and even put her song notes down halfway through. The crowd was very responsive to the songs and the kids were smiling after their thirty minute performance. 

We celebrated with a few carnival rides and ice cream. We then walked through town to see more of the festival.

We ended the evening watching Germany beat Canada in the FIFA Women's World Cup match. 

Our suitcases and backpacks are ready for the summer trip to begin tomorrow. Please pray for a safe journey back to Michigan for us. 

School's out for Summer!

Adeline completed her first school year in Germany. The last day was a short day as she was there for less than three hours. They spent the time packing up the classroom and cleaning it. Adeline received a nice letter from her teacher outlining her verbal, written, and mathematical skills and social development throughout the year. The letter also had her teacher's recommendation for Adeline to advance to the second class in the fall. This letter is considered her report card as they do not receive grades in the first couple of school years. 

Adeline then went to Clara's house for lunch and the early afternoon to play one last time before they both depart for their summer vacations.

Emmie's last day of kindergarten was longer than normal. She stayed and had lunch with the other kids for the first time. She liked the bean soup that was served as the main course. 

In the early evening, we rehearsed one last time for the upcoming Choir concert on Sunday during the Summer festival. It will be interesting to see how the actual performance turns out. I cannot translate all of the songs I am singing, but the tunes are good and it is fun to be participating in this with Adeline.

On the walk home, Adeline spotted Uschi sitting at the local restaurant. We stopped to say hello and ended up staying and having a drink with her and her husband as the evening weather and the conversation were very enjoyable.

We are looking forward to a few lazy mornings and relaxing days to kick off our six weeks of summer vacation.

Princess Emmie

This afternoon we celebrated Emmie's fourth birthday with her school friends. 

While the girls were in school, our apartment transformed into a pink princess palace. I put my engineering skills to use as I constructed the fairy cake. I was very thrilled when I had enough cake layers stacked to create a dress form to accomodate Barbie. Emmie was very clear that it was to be a pink dress, so I made bold pink frosting and carefully covered the cake and the doll. 

When Emmie came home from school, she was very happy to see her fairy cake. She put much thought into how she was going to design the dress. She carefully placed the flower and butterfly confetti and then created ruffles with the white sugar balls. 

Six children arrived for an indoor afternoon of fun and games. We started the party with making crowns and wands. They then played for a little while with the princess toys. Henrik was a good sport being the only boy. Melanie and Adeline did a fantastic job helping me organize the kids. The children sang Happy Birthday and  Zum Geburtstag Viel Glück before indulging in their cupcakes. 

Everyone changed into dress-up clothes while I put on Wii's Disney songs. Adeline did her best to sing along with the princess movie songs while the small ones did a little dancing to the tune and lots of watching the movie clips. Clips from the Car movie were also a big hit with the kids. Then everyone wanted their nails painted, so I pampered them with sparkling nail polish. While the nails were drying, I sliced up the fairy dress and another round of cake was consumed. We then played some games and did another craft before the children left. 

Princess Emmie had a great time celebrating her birthday with her friends! 

Let the celebrating begin

It is the last week of school for the girls. Time sure goes quick when children are in school. We have a good, but busy week ahead of us as we finish up the school year and get ready for our summer vacation.

In the morning, I attended a meeting for our church's summer vacation bible school. The week long program is not until August, but since majority of the workers will be away on summer vacation, we have to do the planning now. The theme is Beach Blast, so it should be a good time for everyone having the beach throughout church. I have also volunteered to teach the four to five year old class along with Melanie.

After the meeting, I went shopping for Emmie's birthday cake. Her Princess birthday party with her school friends is tomorrow and she changed from wanting a castle cake to a fairy cake last night. I hope the six round cake tortes in different sizes I picked up will be enough to create a Barbie dress.  

In the afternoon, Adeline kicked off our week of celebration. Monday afternoon, her class performed for the parents. This was her last class of the year and they showed us the different poises and routines they have been learning the second half of the year. Uschi was able to join us in the studio for Adeline's dance and Adeline enjoyed performing for her special visitor. 

Afterwards, we celebrated at the cafe with some ice cream and beverages. It made it even more fun when Babette, another lady who helped us make the transition over here, entered the cafe and joined us at our table. It was a good feeling when we were the "locals" in the cafe. 

In the evening, we made cupcakes for Emmie's birthday party. The girls enjoyed cleaning out the bowl with the leftover batter. After Melanie helped me find the frosting recipe from the original German cake mix box I had thrown away, they liked decorating them with sprinkles. They also helped me do a quick measurement for the fairy cake. The tortes I bought are not exactly the right height to incorporate Barbie's legs and my bundt pan is too big. I texted Briggi and she has an old glass bundt bowl I can borrow for the cake. After another quick dry run at 9pm, her glass bowl appears to work. At 10pm, I put the cake in the oven to bake and when it is finished cooking, I head to bed. 

Happy Father's Day!

The calendar says June, but the temperatures feel like fall. Even though it was a cool and windy weekend, with a few sprinkles, it did not stop us from enjoying a bike tour. We started out on the normal path out of Hofheim, but then we followed the signs to some different paths. 

We first passed a large rose garden. Even though the gate was locked, it was still a pretty sight to bike pass. Emmie also gained more confidence riding this portion of the path. It was slightly sloped which helped her momentum as she got started. 

The next portion of the tour took us down a beautiful path covered by old trees. Emmie continued on her bike along the way. We did have to walk some of the portion due to the path incline, but it was just as enjoyable. It was a priceless picture watching Eric and Emmie ride together down the path. 

We stopped for a snack and then headed back home as it was starting to get late. Adeline did a great job biking almost the entire route we took. It was not until we were close to the Kriftel pool, that she asked to be connected. We made it home just in time as it started to rain heavily when we were cleaning up from our day out on the paths.

We served Eric pancakes to start out his day on Sunday. This was a tasty treat for all of us to share in. 

We hope all of our family and friends who are fathers or are going- to- be had a special day creating special memories with their loved ones.