Last Day of German Kindergarten

July 29 was Shaylee's last day of German Kindergarten. It is hard to believe she's been going here for 3 years! She has enjoyed every minute of it and is our fluent little German speaker because of it! She has made many friends here and even her teachers are a bit sad to see her go.

It is tradition for German kids to get a Schultuete (decorated cone filled with school supplies and candy) when they graduate from Kindergarten and head into "real" school. Most kids take it with them on their first day of school. As part of her graduation from the Kindergarten, mommy got to make the Schultuete for her. It was hung up in the hall of the Kindergarten for a few weeks and then Shaylee got to take it home with her on her last day. Shaylee also got a t-shirt stating that she is leaving the Kita and heading into Schule (this is a traffic sign here in Germany, showing when you are leaving a city and where you are heading). Here she is also pictured with two of her teachers, Michaela and Kirsten. We are very proud of you Shaylee!! Congratulations Sweetheart!

Just Can't Get Enough!

One of the joys of being a parent is LOVING your kids! Lately I just can't get enough of Shelby - I think she is absolutely ADORABLE. And since digital cameras allow me to take photo after photo after photo - I just can't take enough of her! Here are just a few that I picked out after a little photo shoot the other day.

Quite the little grin she's got going - and SOOOO Big!

Shelby loves to play with her tongue...she will often stick it out when smiling. And here she is all tuckered out...oh I love to watch her sleep - she is just soo sweet!

This is what I like to see...

The other evening Jer came home to the kids nicely playing a game of "Sequence for Kids" on the living room floor. He said "now this is what I like to see" and went to get the camera for a picture.

So often the kids are running around like crazy wild animals or fighting - we treasure the times when they are nicely getting along and playing with eachother!

Smiles for Daddy

While I was putting Sydney and Shaylee to bed, Jer was having some one on one time with Shelby. When I came downstairs, Shelby was cooing and smiling like crazy for daddy. She was so adorable...I of course ran for the camera.

I like this last one...because she looked right over at me as if to say "Mommy, I sure love my daddy..don't you?"

An afternoon in "Vettelheim"

This weekend we spent an afternoon in "Vettelheim". We were heading to Heppenheim, to meet up with some friends to catch a glimpse of Sebastian Vettel (Formula 1 racecar driver). He is originally from Heppenheim and was going to drive his F1 car down the B3 for all his fans to see. Since moving to Germany we've sort of become F1 fans...the kids enjoy watching qualifying and the races with daddy on TV on the weekends. So we couldn't pass up this opportunity....

About 1 km from where we were suppose to meet our friends, we hit a road block. We basically pulled over on the side of the road and parked (just like everyone else). We then started walking in...on our way we came to the town sign reading "Vettelheim"...so I guess thats where were headed today! There were TONS of people - all lining up along the roadway -waiting to get a glimpse of Vettel in his racecar!

We found an "out of the way" spot where we could be with the strollers - and ended up with a pretty decent view of the roadway where Sebastian was suppose to drive by. There was a little ledge which the kids (or us adults) could stand on and get a better view over the crowd. We were sort of up against a building and there was actually a window ledge that ended up being a great spot for the kids to sit.

The kids actually ended up having the best view and taking most of the photos (go figure).

Hanging around with our friends, Jonathan and Emma and their little guy William -who had a great seat up on his daddy's shoulders, while waiting for Vettel to make his appearance.... What time was he suppose to arrive?? Sometime between noon and 5....we may be here awhile!!! We got all excited when we heard an engine roaring....it wasn't Vettel, but a trick motorcyclist. He was really good and got the crowd excited...but we are really wanting to see what we came for! Several other cars came by...to entertain the crowd as well...but none of them were F1 racecars....I wouldn't say we were getting impatient...not yet.

A bit later the crowd cheers and there he is...on a 4-wheeler?!? He stopped for a brief interview with the local radio station -which just happened to be broadcasting right next to where we were -so we got a good view! Shaylee actually zoomed in with her camera and got the closest photo.

Funny thing - Sebastian actually stops after the interview and takes a picture of the crowd! Then off he goes on the 4-wheeler...waving to the fans! Hopefully he will return shortly in his car!!!!!

Finally we hear a helicopter up above us...there is a guy hanging out the side obviously videoing for a local TV station or something...so we know Vettel must be near....and sure enough you can hear the F1 racecar engine....here he comes!!!! Jer's pretty excited now...I believe this is a Vettel stance!!

It was pretty neat to hear the car (I didn't actually see it until I saw the pictures). Glad the kids and Jer had a good view!

Afterwards we squeezed our way out through the crowd and headed back to our car. We beat the rush, and a good thing too as apparently there was a STAU on the autobahn by Heppenheim. Glad we were taking a different route as we headed back to Jonathan and Emma's house for supper. It was a great ending to a funfilled day. We enjoyed the relaxing evening with them grilling outdoors....we love summer!!!

Lauftrad

We finally went out and bought Silas a lauftrad! We were planning on getting him one for his birthday back in May - however we were a bit busy back then - and it didn't get purchased. When Shannon and Becki were here they asked us what was very "German" that kids played with - and the one thing that came to mind was a lauftrad. They wanted us to show them how it worked etc...but the lauftrad we had for Shaylee is too little for her -but to big for Silas - and also currently has flat tires. So we were really thinking of finally purchasing one while they were here -but again - it didn't happen. They ended up purchasing one for their little girls and taking it back with them to the US. Silas tried theirs out before they packed it away - and then we knew we couldn't wait any longer. So finally Jer took Silas down to the local bike shop and had Silas try one out that was just the right size for him. He's only had it a day -and already almost has it mastered!

Sleepovers and Playdates

Since school is out (for Shane and Syd) they both had sleepovers on Friday, July 2nd. Shane went to his friend Eric's house along with a few other of his buds. He had a great time hanging out with his friends, two of which are moving back to the US this summer (sniff, sniff).


Sydney had her friend Victoria (Eric's sister) overnight. It's great to swap kids!!! The girls had a fun time together. They slept in sleeping-bags in the basement, sort of like a camp out. The next morning they had fun playing in our kiddy pool!


This same night Shaylee had an overnight at her German Kindergarten. All the kids who are graduating from Kindergarten and heading on to school get to attend the sleepover. Shaylee was super excited. She counted down the days til the "ubernachten" all week. Here is a photo of her as I dropped her off! She had a great time - they got to stay up late and walk down to the church and go up in the steeple by the bells after dark. It was kind of scary - but fun! The bells even tolled 11pm when some of the kids were still up there! It was LOUD!! Yikes! Then they got icecream afterwards! How fun!!!


Then this week Syd had another playdate with her friend Teresa. They had a picnic in the backyard with their dolls and pets. It was so cute to see them out there I just had to get a few photos. Teresa will be moving back to Spain this summer (more sniffs) so we have a few more playdates scheduled for the girls before they have to say good-bye.


Shaylee enjoys playing with our neighbor-girl, Emilia. Last night they were sitting on the steps together. Shaylee was explaining one of our English books to Emilia all in German. It was so adorable - I really wish I could have captured it on video - but this photo will have to do. Shaylee was so animated as she was retelling the story in German...actually she was sort of making up the story as she went...but hearing her do it in German was just priceless!

Shelby - 2 months

Shelby is two months old and continues to grow and change daily! She had her first round of shots yesterday - poor baby - she didn't like them one bit. She also is weighing in at 4570 grams, which is just shy of 10 lbs. We think she is getting chubby, but oh so cute with her rolls! Compare this picture of her at 2 months, taken in the same dress she had on a week ago (see older post), you can see how she's changing.

She has started to sleep through the night for the most part, usually sleeping from 9pm to 5am. Occasionally she'll wake up around 3:30 or so, but if I nurse her quick she goes right back to sleep...so I don't mind at all. Isn't she a sleeping beauty!

She is smiling more and more. We occasionally get a coo out of her too. I had my camera set to the "smile" feature, which will take pictures automatically when it senses the person smile...I got a couple really "happy" smiles!

Taking Pictures

The kids love taking pictures with my camera. If I leave it setting around (which I often do) they will pick it up and take a few pictures. Usually their pictures are of them just being silly - or of the floor, ceiling, etc..but sometimes they will get a few really good photos mixed in. Shaylee had the camera the other afternoon and she took like 20 photos of Shelby in her swing. She actually even caught a slight smile on camera....for some reason I like this second picture of Shelby too...maybe it is because this is a sideways glance from her that I see quite often.

Shaylee also got a few really cute photos of Silas...got to love that cheesy smile!

And of course - when the kids are taking pictures - there is always a picture of the one behind the lens!!!!

Cooling Off

It is HOT, HOT, HOT here in Germany this week. And since the kids
(Shane and Syd) are finally out of school, it definately seems as if summer has arrived! I pulled out our kiddy pool and the kids enjoyed cooling off in the water...notice there isn't much room left in the little pool!

Shelby isn't quite ready to enjoy the cool water - she chilled out in her bouncy seat instead.