Lunch with Dad

David is working at Technical Institute of Munich, doing combustion research that he will hopefully be able to apply back at his job in Ohio.  At the end of the first week here they had a typical Bavarian lunch that people could pay to attend, it was a day when several alumni were there to visit the campus.  (Bavaria is the German state that Munich is a part of).

The Weißwurst ('white sausage') is a Munich speciality. Traditionally eaten only before 12:00 noon – a tradition dating to a time before refrigerators – these morsels are often served with sweet mustard and freshly baked pretzels. Leberkäs, Bavarian baked sausage loaf, often served with potato salad, is another delicacy of the region.  ----I copied that from wikipedia, and all of those things were served at this lunch.

The boys favorite part was playing on this hill next to the metro station.

Life in Germany...

We live in a nice apartment on the 20th floor of the Olympic Press Building--I'll try to get a few pictures of the building and our view posted in the next few days.  The summer olympics were held here in Munich in 1972, and we are RIGHT here at the park where it all took place.  It's so cool.  We can go on a nice, pretty, shaded walk on great trails and see fields, tracks, stadiums, the building where the swimming events were held (which we're going to go swimming at one of these days).  It's neat.  Every time we walk that way we see something new.  We've seen what I'm guessing are summer track camps going on, so we've seen people running sprints, practicing throwing the javelin and the high jump.  AND plenty of soccer.  My Benjamin is in heaven.  : )  (Hunter and Preston enjoy it, too)  : )  There are several playgrounds around this building/complex, and we spend good time outside every day.  (We would NEVER survive staying inside all day!)  So, here are some pictures at the playground...I love the playgrounds here.  They're all sand, so the boys have had a great time digging and many of them have pails and pulley systems and chutes to pour the sand down, it can occupy them for a good amount of time.  : )

 One of the buildings in our complex, just a picture to show that they have boxes and most people have some beautiful plants/flowers.  It makes the buildings pretty and brings life to the place!  : )

 And we try to keep some sort of nap routine...these guys are tired every day from all of the walking, running, exploring and playing!

 Benjamin and I are also working through a pre-K book.  It's nice to have that time with him and he's been surprisingly willing to work on it.  He's so ready for kindergarten and is already getting excited...at this point the biggest decision he's worried about is what kind of backpack he'll have.  : )

Happy Father's Day!!!

The day after we arrived in Germany was FATHER'S DAY!!!  :  ) We woke David up with "breakfast in bed" (the first time I can remember that we actually were up before him!) and he and the boys enjoyed breakfast out on the patio.  There are hundreds of pictures I could post of David with his boys, but I'll just post two.  He is an amazing father and an absolute rock in our family.  Honestly, the best thing I ever did for my boys was marry their dad!!!

Happy Father's day to my dad!!!  I wish I could see him, but since we're in Germany and he's in the Philippines a phone call was the best I could do.  : )  My dad is a man of integrity, that is the best way that I can describe him.  He has always been a source of comfort, stability and wisdom in my life.  Happy Father's day to my father-in-law, who I am eternally grateful to for the example he has set for his family, particularly David!  : )

On to Germany...

Getting to Germany was a big adventure by itself!  I didn't get enough pictures to document the different legs of our journey, but here's what I've got:

 Train station in Copenhagen.  We rode a passenger train to Hamburg, Germany.  It was nice because we had a booth/table to sit at.  Pefect for snacking and coloring, which kept the boys fairly happy.

 The really cool thing was that our train drove right onto a ferry like this and crossed the North or Baltic sea (not sure which-all connected to Atlantic Ocean)...

 In Hamburg we had a very crazy time getting onto the train, but eventually got to our sleeper car with our three boys and everything that comes with them.  : )  We quickly got them all ready for bed and then we all slept the night away quite peacefully as the train traveled to Munich/southern Germany.  I was awake by 5:00 and had a wonderful, peaceful time watching the beautiful countryside and the sun rising over the Alps--their tips were glowing orange.  GORGEOUS scenery.

In Munich!!!  Stay tuned for an update on the first week and a half in Munich.

The beach!!!

We were SOOO excited to get to the beach in Denmark.  Especially because David got away from his conference a little bit early and got to be with us on that adventure.  It was chilly, but Benjamin and Hunter waded in the water and had a GREAT time.  

Random pre-trip pictures

These are pictures I took before our trip, and I just wanted to get them on here.  First is just a fun picture of happy Preston, the rest are of the boys ready for a family walk.  Benjamin and Hunter dressed Preston up in a helmet because it was "so cute", and then Benjamin loaded up the backpack with a soccer ball--he's got priorities, you know.

About Denmark...

Let's see, a few things I learned about Denmark.  They have a royal family that is very popular with the people.  Queen Margrethe II has been the Queen since 1972!  She and her husband (married in 1967) have two sons.  They are both married and each have 4 children.  The currency is a krone, worth about 20 cents in US money (I think that's a close estimate).

Children at a bus stop (there is a great public transportation system)--most kids attend day cares from a very early age for much of the time.  Because parents work, but also because of a very strong belief that it is best for the children to have the free play time with lots of other kids.

I love to see the fresh flowers!!!!!

Bikes, bikes bikes!  Everybody rides bikes to get around, and I mean everyone!  People of all ages and even the 8 months pregnant neighbor!  And they bike in all weather.  This is the bike parking outside of the train station.  We saw huge bike shops around the city, too.  They get a kick out of American "recreational" biking.  : )

Copenhagen Zoo

Okay, I realize that we were in a country with amazing sights, museums, etc.--but really, what's a mom to do?  Head to the kid friendly places!  So, Thursday we hit the Copenhagen zoo.  It was a fun day, although we didn't get off the bus at the right time and ended up going on a ride for about an hour longer than we anticipated!  (It was fun, though, because we saw some Danish countryside!)

 This bird was really checking the boys out and started pecking at the glass!  He had an enormous beak!

Tivoli

We went to Tivoli-an amusement park-on the Wednesday we were in Copenhagen.  There was a fun playground and Benjamin got to go on a few rides, but not a lot.  They were real sticklers about height. : )  Anyway, the boys did GREAT on that outing.  Benjamin's favorite parts were the airplane ride and the cotton candy, Hunter's favorite things were the playground and the cotton candy, and Preston enjoyed the ride on mom's back, taking it all in.

 Hunter making a new Danish friend...