Family of 6, Part 2: April 2014

Lily found these chocolate ladybugs sneaking some of her apple juice :) Her 10th birthday was a bit sad as I was super sick with a horrible ear infection. But Carl and the kids went to Spring Lake for a picnic.

Hanna made Lily's favorite cake--Mocha Cream Torte.

Happy Birthday, Lily.

We drove to Riverside for National History Day CA. Our first dinner--Claim Jumper. Yummy!

Lily at her poster. She was in the top 6 finalists.

Maggie and Hanna's exhibit.

Riverside--we walked from the Convention Center around town.

We met George Washington!

They fired musket.

It was fun for Lily to see the women in suffrage costumes since that was her poster's topic.

Queen Victoria was present as well :)

On our drive home, we stopped in Ventura and visited Opa and Oma for a short time.

Then we visited Georg and Jacqueline and the cousins.

The kids and I were so blessed to be able to fly to Germany for 3 weeks. We flew from SFO to München to Berlin.

Our friend, Theo, showed us Berlin at night.

This is indication of where the Berlin Wall used to be.

And here is a section of the wall as a memorial.

Of course we needed to visit the local playground everywhere we went.

The kids and I took the Strassenbahn (street train) to downtown Berlin. Here we are starting out our tour :)

While we waited to get into the Pergamon Museum, Lily ate her Brötchen and fed some visitors.

The Ishtar Gate inside the Pergamon Museum...a gate that Daniel may have gone trough in Babylon.

The kids and I were amazed at the ancient structures and mosaics!

This was in Ninevah.

Brandenburg Tor

Reichstag

Siegessäule

Tunnel to the Siegessäule had heat sensitive lights :)

We climbed to the top of the Siegessäule

Looking down the stairs

Parts of the beautiful mosaic at the Siegessäule

Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Kirche

Delicious pastries from the bakery...we also ate a "Berliner" (jelly doughnut). I got this delicious Streuselschnecke Mit Rote Johannesbeeren (Red Currents).

Gärten der Welt (Garden of the World) Oriental Garden

Spring is coming!

Inside the English maze

Italien Garden

Picnic in the park

Christian Garden

Japanese Garden

Church in Berlin--such a joy!

Our friends

Our last dinner--Berliner Döner

Off on the train--Berlin to Hannover, Hannover to Hude

Hude and Bremen

Die Weser

Trey loves nutcrackers. My cousin, Johannes, is such a patient tour guide and shopper!

Every meal is delicious with Johannes and Nadine.

Across from their house.

Nadine, Maggie, and Lily (back seat) are ready to go!

Bad Zwischenahn

Zwischenahner Meer

Ammerlander Bauernhaus

Everyone wishes these were real!

Trey love Legos and learned how to say "Haben Sie Lego?" to everyone. Yes, my name is on everything! It actually says it on all personalized items in Germany.

Cute decorations

The countryside has so many farmhouses in northern Germany.

Our sweet family!

The kids enjoyed the neighbors too--and playing lots of soccer.

We took a long walk around Hude...and this is what we saw.

Closter Ruinen--I couldn't get enough pictures here (as you can tell)!

We had fun even in a little rain.

Bakeries always help on rainy days :) They love kids and give samples too!

Onkel Johannes und Edith came for tea/coffee/cake.

Our room--one for Lily, one for me, and one for Trey (he switched the bedding so his would be more manly).

On our way to Bremerhafen, we saw so many nests and many storks and their nests.

Auswanderer Museum

We have come from CA, USA to Bremerhafen, Deutschland!

At the Nord See (North Sea).

Off on the train to Bochum. Tschüss Hude!

Cousin's Familie in Bochum

With Tante Siglinde and Onkel Manfred

With my 3 cousins, aunt, and uncle.

Trey found a friend!

With my 3 cousins :)

Lily found a friend.

Photos in Tante Siglinde's wash room...and there's my mom, grandmother, grandfather, great aunt...

We love Tante Siglinde--and going shopping for flowers (they gave us roses).

German playgrounds are excellent!

Daisy chains with Marie.

It's such a treat to walk and chat with Tante Siglinde.

ICE CREAM!!!

Hanna got spaghetti (made to look like spaghetti) and Maggie...lots of chocolate.

I got hazelnut and nuts, cream, and caramel....delicious!

Lily and Trey got the fun faces of Biene Maja

Julian and Jacob and Trey...boys loving Julian's green car.

Fun second cousins and fun playgrounds.

Jacob can sail, so Hanna and Maggie went off on Kemnader See.

Trey, Lily, Marie, and I found duck eggs, swans on eggs, and a huge swan paddleboat to rent.

There are the others.

This is the papa swan, who let us see his eggs.

This was drawn by my grandfather.

Tante Siglinde and Onkel Manfred treat us to a morning and lunch in Hattingen.

The buildings are so beautiful and so old. We like the Bügeleisenhaus (iron house) built in 1611.

I think this is my favorite photo of the kids :)...but there are so many to choose from.

St. Georg with the crooked steeple (so that if there was a fire and the steeple fell, it wouldn't fall on the expensive church building).

Delicious pizza upstairs with this view outside.

Maggie checks out some art.

My uncle and aunt.

Our fun family with Ellen and her kids.

Delicious dinner with Onkel Wolf, Ellen, and Jacob, Julian, and Marie.

Onkel Wolf

Jacob and Trey--buddies!

Tschüss Bochum!

We are tired!

The countryside from Bochum to Nürnberg is so lovely. I took all these out of the train window.

Würzburg (can you see the castle on the hillside?)

Nürnberg

We enjoyed walking to the nearby park with my cousin Raphael, his wife Kathrin, and their kids.

Soccer time!

Samuel and Trey were fast friends.

Second cousins

A ride on the U-Bahn (Subway)

In the old city

Ostermarkt (Easter Market)

Heilig Geist Spital (built 1332-1500) and Schöner Brunnen (originally built around 1385).

Ice cream time again :)

Albrecht Dürer house.

Up to the castle--which is about 1300 years old.

I liked the castle dove.

View over Nürnberg

With Raphael and Kathrin and kids

Silly faces

Reading with Tabitha, Deborah, and Samuel

Another excellent playground

Pommes at Curry Karl's

Bakery items to round off lunch--Granat Splitter, Käsekucken, and Oster Häsen. Lily didn't feel well and Raphael carried her. Turns out she had strep throat.

Tea time with Onkel Joachim and Tante Elke

Delicious Erdbeertorte (strawberry torte)

Tante Elke and Onkel Joachim

Palm Sunday service in Raphael and Kathrin's church--so wonderful!

Fellowship lunch afterwards

Hanna and Maggie's pen pals from Früssen came to visit.

We had lots of fun with Elke, Charlotte, and Pauline.

Lily found another friend.

Hanna got her dream of a photo with a German ambulance!

We ate dinner at a cute cafe...here's my place serving and my latte macchiato.

We ordered wiener schnitzel with pommes and salad, baggers (potato pancakes), and kaiserschmarrn with vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, and apple sauce to share.