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.
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