Once upon a time

Es gab einmal eine Familie. Once upon a time there was a family who got the chance to live one year of their lives as if in a fairytale. That family was us and we got to live where the houses looked like the ones you drew when you were a kid, where you could visit fantastic friends by jumping on bikes, where there was a windmill at the end of the street and where there were four seasons. Ah, the weather, one must talk about the weather sometimes. We marked our year with a heatwave, a trek through the forest to the pool and sitting in the castle garden playing backgammon, the magic of the leaves changing colour and falling and the beginning of the crafting the kids did all year, thick snow on the ground for six weeks, a white Christmas day, Christmas market, kindergarten in the snow, wrestling kids into winter clothing, sledding and watching an igloo on our daily journeys then waiting for the warmth to come back, seeing the bunnies return in the garden, trips to the windmill, playing in friends gardens in paddle pools and trips to the ice cream cafes all done with the assistance of our trusty pushbikes to race us around the city and sometimes just a little further. Now that story of the 'Bicycle/Aeroplane Family' has come to an end, luckily our adventures can be relived in our memory, through photos, keepsakes and by keeping in touch with our Germany family. If you know chapter books than you will know that even though it is terribly sad (insert tears here) when a much loved chapter ends good chapter books always have more adventures just waiting to unfold.

Rediscovering, rebuilding this home

Thanks Bear, Monkey, Mouse, family and friends near and far for joining us on our adventures.

You make them lots more fun.

xxoo

A year in a week

On our trails this week we have helped sell strawberries by the front gate, decided we would try our luck selling paper aeroplanes on our street (thanks Frau Mc und Miss M) nursed the new baby upstairs and played with the big brother, helped build a tree house roof and re-organise the cellar using a bucket and simple pulley system (Herr N so patient), been shown how to make paneer cheese, barbequed with the kindergarten group, eaten cake and waffles in the garden (excellent Familie T), barbequed in our garden for the first time, celebrated the Schmetterlings 3rd birthday, became accustomed to having a dog but were very happy it was only short term as we are lazy people at heart and climbed up the old windmill...and needed Lassie (in the form of Herr and Frau N) to rescue us and help us down get down.

We let the braver ones go first. note: the railing was really wobbly...ehhh

Celebrating summiting the windmill with warm bread from the baker.

Having survived the windmill adventure and taken a few deep breaths to recover we started off again. As Herr Fitz and the Monkey went into the board game design business, friends visited from Bremen and we did a science experiment at the breakfast table...as you do when a physicist visits... and went to the fleamarket. The Monkey went on a special trip to the puppet theatre with the big Monkey and the Bear went to a trumpet concert and is still humming the songs. Then we spent a lazy, rainy afternoon eating pizza and scones and generally hanging around. And still there was a little time left over for sleeping...but not quite enough time for regular bathing of the kids. Must make time for this next week.

'Dad are you sure you rolled a 6'

Das Wochenende alle Wochenenden (or one there of)

I am a little notorious for celebrating my birthday and the fact that it falls on a long weekend always helps. One year I did actually try not to tell random people that it was my birthday but that was no fun so this year I pushed through the language barrier, told the check out operator why I was buying so much cheap champagne and chocolate and organised a party. In the southern hemisphere my birthday is always in winter and as a kid I always wanted a pool party like my brother whose birthday was in summer. For the record and the sake of my parents I will admit that he probably only ever had one pool party but that was enough for my memory to stretch it over the years. This year thanks to global warming and a very early summer I decided have a pool party. But first things first....

With the fridge stocked, the lack of a pool problem solved and with one day to spare before the next year of my life began I took the kiddie seat of the back off my bike, headed to the train station to meet up with a the bike tour crew. Feel free here to conjure up images of "The Tour de France" but make sure you insert a one way train ticket to the Netherlands, a distinct lack of lycra (though everyone else - we were 5 in total - did have professional looking gloves which made me a bit nervous at the beginning) hairy cows on the path, a stop at a flea market on the border between Holland and Germany, a leisurely lunch at a castle with loads of cheese and bread, the Bear's kindergarten backpack strapped onto the front of my bike in the absence of panniers (which I got the next day for my birthday), absolutely no hills and a very big beer at the end of the 75ish kilometres. Apart from those exceptions it was just like on the telly.

While I was off on my bike adventure Herr Fitz was in the trenches at home with the kids. I am assuming pyjamas were worn well into the pm then quickly changed for more suitable attire for a ride into town for supplies from the toy shop and birthday surprises. Followed by baking. I may be wrong on the order of events but who really cares when you are wished happy birthday from very well rested children and their new unicorns and ninja figurines before being loaded up with lovely cards and presents not only from them but from folks at home, and then given a giant chocolate cake with my very one playmobil mini figure decorating it. Top marks Herr Fitz and kids.

With crumbs still on everybody"s lips and chocolate finger marks smeared on t shirts it was all hands on deck getting ready for the pool party. Luckily everyone was happy to help even though they were being shipped off to the museum for a couple of hours as it was a ladies afternoon. The weather was all over the place but as we have a nice terrace with a roof I decided not to worry and just enjoy. I think we should all be very happy that Herr Fitz is a historian because 25 seconds after he predicted that the clouds had no rain at all in them, it began to hail and drizzled for most of the afternoon as we sat looking at the paddle pool enjoying a multi lingual chat (note to self: learn Spanish), a few drinks and a whole lot of chocolate. As the rain stopped and the humidity rose the kids and Herr Fitz and very manly crowd came back from their exile, the champagne bottles were removed from the pool and clothes were shed (of those under 7 only thank you!) and there was paddling a plenty in the pool until all the kids simultaneously melted down and had to be carted home.

Thanks everyone for a great birthday and the fact that I thought I was already 37 was just a bonus, it was like I didn't age at all.

A day trip or two

We have been so lucky during our stay here to have been invited three times to the most wonderful garden (and living room) in the northern hemisphere. Just a short train trip away, actually the perfect distance for three kids to enjoy and not get bored is a place that is kind of magical in our eyes as. Apart from the lovely folk who live there, there is always a special treat for us when we visit. Last summer it was berry picking, in the winter (zweite Weihnachten = Boxing Day) it was the Finnish fireplace to help light and sit around chatting and enjoying the warmth inside while the snow lay at least 30cm deep on the ground outside and this spring it was the cooking of pancakes Finnish style which means lighting the fire and cooking them outside. Of course there was a bit of dancing in the garden for the Mouse and an adventure with the Omi to find a book for the Bear and the Monkey thrown in.

Our next adventure takes place closer to home. Everyone loves a public holiday and we took the opportunity to move at glacial speed and spent the morning relaxing. Well most of us relaxed, he who normally loves any excuse to stay in pyjamas past midday on a day off tied up the sneakers and went for a 16km run whilst all others swanned about the house and baked bread rolls. Herr Fitz came home just in time to help eat the warm bread rolls and sit on the terrace for a couple of hours chatting with the neighbours upstairs. In the end the pirate in us all had to get back to the ship and we headed to the park then sailed to the forest to explore.

By the way the bike ride from the Netherlands which I enthusiastically volunteered for is happening tomorrow. I have never done anything before that requires a compass and ideally special pants. Hope I can keep up.

New Chapter Headings

Moving around a lot involves a great deal of collecting and remembering. We are so very lucky to have collected many new friends a long the way and are even luckier to have lots of friends all over the place to remember. The kids pockets are always bulging with things they find and just have to bring home to either keep or give to someone else. I recently found a whole stash of flowers in the Bear's backpack that he had collected for Nanna and Pop. Being the great mum I am I listened carefully to every word he said as I was collecting the bags and keeping track of the Monkey and the Mouse whilst exiting Kindergarten and when we got home a sixth sense told me to look in all the pockets of his bag and luckily found them on the day they were collected. After explaining that Australian Customs officials wouldn't allow flowers from Germany in we decided a photo would have to suffice.

The hard part about having collected lovely friends and situations is saying goodbye when they end or leave, or when we leave (but it isn't that time just yet). We have recently said sad goodbyes to the Mouse's Kinderbetreuung (playgroup) and the daily routine of seeing the lovely Frau G and all the Mouse's friends and to friends who were returning home. Such moments require food in my opinion so we had a great big party one afternoon and a gemeinsam Fruehstueck (group breakfast) a couple of mornings later to celebrate the fantastic support network that Kinderbetreuung gave us and the wonderful friendships the Mouse developed there, not to mention all the German songs and words she learnt, let's forget about the number of bite marks she inflicted whilst there (hopefully we are over that phase now).

On the flip side we have been able to say a very LOUD hello (as it has to travel so far) to a new cousin/niece with a beautiful name who we will see very soon and a not so loud but equally as hearty hallo to our new neighbour upstairs who's name I have to say German as I can't quite get the sounds Hungarian requires.

We are big fans of Enid Blyton's "Family Collection" book in our house and really use this as a bit of a templet for our lives, our imaginary lives at least as there is no way I could be as calm as the mother in the story all the time. So this week we started a new chapter that could be entitled "The Bicycle Family". Just as even I was thinking I could not justify taking anymore bike photos the Mouse decided it was time to get in on the act. Now her favourite words are 'my bike' and just in case we didn't get the idea in English she can also do it in German 'mein Laufrad".

All this happened during the week and by the weekend it was time for another chapter heading. 'The Swedish Chess (or Kubb) Family". Castles were fortified ie the gluing was finished, troops were assembled and given helmets and armes, luckily before they were lost to the vacuum cleaner,

the scouts were sent out,

who fortunately found many a bargain at the flea market including a first aid bag that was used in schools in the 1970's (as well as a council flashing light and a kids shopping trolley which were snapped up with great delight by one member, and the most retro bocce set carrier in the world with all the balls still there by the other member of the squad.)

the East German battle robots were put back into commission

and the 'Battle of the Backyard' began.

Some took it more seriously than others,

and some raided equipment stores and headed for the hills.

Others crept up slowly only to be given away by siblings

and of course some won!

The next day it rained and there was time to rethink strategy, buy a set of our own online and have it shipped straight to our home in Australia, bake some nutty biscuits, read a fairly recent newspaper and relax.

WG living in Bremen

The kids got their first taste of WG living in Bremen this weekend. WG = wohngemeinschaft = sharehousing. Though it was through rose coloured glasses as it was actually a small apartment block that is a share house so individual apartments and they weren't put on the putz plan (cleaning roster) so all fun no responsibility which I suppose is ok when you are 6, 4 and 2 years old.

Tram rides, Fanta, new people to build lego with and walk around the city with, swings inside, heading off for breakfast to another share house and leaving a trail of chalk arrows for the rest of us, Fussball table in the cellar, a cat, waking up and seeing giant green horses, being allowed to play with water in the sandpit, helping with the barbeque, a ferry ride, being a little underwhelmed by the actual size of the Bremen Town Musicians statue and going on an adventure to find an elephant for Herr Fitz will hopefully be the memories the kids will have from our weekend away. If not they can read this post.

First Impression= quiet comfortable the lounge matches my shirt, can't be bad.

Raining to hard to go out so waited (with our gear on) for the worst to pass.

Luckily there was a Fussball table in the cellar.

Yes that is Bismarck in the background.

I am never leaving Germany!

Hope they don't make us swim!

One elephant found.

One to Berlin, others home, train carriages mixed up so no idea where second class was, compact packing but still loaded up, racing up platform with kids soldiering on behind with own backpacks, no seat bookings so had to sit in the walkway for half the trip. What an adventure, nevertheless I think we were all relieved when seats became free and even more so as we pulled into our station. Thanks for having us Bremen.