Patrick's Day

We celebrated our last Patrick's Day in German by visiting the same place we've visited since PJ was born. This time we had two dancers. 

While we were there, I reflected how the Irish pub had changed since I arrived in Germany in 2003. Then, the place was full of mostly American soldiers with trim bodies and short hair. Groups mixed frequently because they knew each other. Now, with the exit of the vast majority of American soldiers, the place was full of semester abroad students (who seemed impossibly young) with a wide variety of accents and long hairs and full beards hair. 

We ate fish and chips; drank Guinness; and had a few moments of bitter-sweet. Not bad for the Steinbach clan. 

XO

Christmas Joy

Christmas has come and gone and the memories remain fresh.

We started our Christmas eve with some silly selfies while getting all dolled up. Its hilarious to me how much kids love seeing their picture being taken.

Before we went to Oma and Opa's house, I asked the kids to pose for a picture in their specially chosen Christmas outfits. PJ chose both his outfit and his sister's dress. Bean heavily and proudly accessorized.

Both kids wanted their baby doll in the picture, so we got a special chair for him and then posed. Hilariously, when I posed this adorable picture online, more than a handful of people thought it was a pregnancy announcement.

That would be one big fat nope.

Later in the evening, Bean got another accessory.

Thanks to the wonders of a selfie-stick, we managed to get a picture of the entire Steinbach clan on Christmas eve. Good looking family.
 

The next day, we celebrated American Christmas.


Bean got a doll she can dress, feed, and cuddle. She was thrilled and still sleeps with "mein Baby!" almost every night. She and PJ take turns caring for Baby and take their responsibilities seriously.
 

 

Little man got a horrifically un-photogenic Transformer as well as an extremely complex Lego set he put together patiently over a couple of hours with some help from me. I am fascinated how removing him from a negative, stressful situation has freed him up to concentrate on more complex, challenging tasks. Another sign that we made the right decision for him.

 

 

Then we took a walk in the surprisingly warm Christmas Day.

Like my sweater? Bean chose it for me at H&M. Someone please invite me to an Ugly Sweater Party.
 

 

We wrapped up our day with a fun puzzle from Granny and Granpa.

What a wonderful Christmas celebration.
 

XO

Alle Hopp! Fun

A new playground opened up close to our home. This place is extraordinary: made primarily from natural materials and to inspire (rather than direct) creative play. We waited a few weeks to check it out and when we finally did, it was well-worth the wait.

She that little one at the very top. That's my 20 month old. She loved it. PJ ripped up and down the climbing areas so quickly, none of the pictures worked out.

There is even a sand pit. Bean quickly proclaimed herself Queen.

No, seriously, ask Bean, " are you a princess?" Then answer will always be "nope." Ask if she is a queen, and the answer will always be "yup."

The singular picture of PJ that turned out. Just had to trap him with ice cream.

XO

Summer Camp & Day Date

PJ attended his first summer day camp this year.

God, that sentence makes me feel old.

Anywho.

The camp included football (soccer), baseball, Frisbee, climbing on a ropes course, walks in the woods, tennis, and every other activity that could lead to little boys and girls getting as dirty as they can (and should!).

Patrick flourished. He was excited, energetic, positive, and integrated into his group. After months of the opposite, both the Mr. and I loved watching him blossom. He came home dirty as dirty can be each day.



After months of hearing "I don't know!" to almost every question, we suddenly heard story after story when we asked "How was your day?" and "Who did you play with?" and "What was your favorite part of the day?"

Stories that took minutes to tell, with bright eyes and a big smile, that included names and laughter and all those little details that matter.



By the third day, he even started teaching little Bean how to play new sports. With confidence and pride.

Confidence and pride carry over, of course. Bean took a page out of her big brother's book and this happened:

PJ's positive experience and our shared, increasingly positive family atmosphere, inspired us old people to go climbing on this amazing ropes course for a day date. 

We both climbed around, pushing the limits. After over two hours, with shaking arms and legs as well as heart soaring with pride, I stepped off the course. From the ground, I watched the Mr. take on even bigger challenges, pushing himself even harder.

Together, we ended our day date, tired, sore, and clear-eyed with confidence.

Thank you, summer day camp and awesomely challenging ropes course, for all the confidence and smiles. We needed you. 

XO

LegoLand Adventures

Recently PJ and I took an adventure day to LegoLand with Super S and her mom. I had never heard of LegoLand before having my little guy. Turns out it is awesome. Smaller than Disney. Cheaper than Disney. Closer than Disney. Less crowded than Disney.

The drive down was longer than expected due to traffic. The kids were adorable, just like siblings. They loved on each other and they fought with each other the entire time. And not just during the drive, if you know what I mean.

Right at the entrance, there is an entire area built with real Legos. Here is a replica of the Munich airport. The planes moved. The lights flashed.

There were also models of Hamberg, Rome, Berlin, etc etc. I was too impressed to take many pictures. And since I was rushing after a very excited four year old, most of them are blurred. I did manage to catch him from time to time.

We cleverly decided to ride the train as our first ride. We got a good overview of the park and the kids got even more excited.

Yet, even after the train ride and arming ourselves with maps, we still managed to get a little turned around. The kids responded right along the typical gender stereotypes: PJ studied the map while Super S looked around and asked everyone where to go.

Not going to lie, the two mommies had a good laugh about that one.

Check out that rainbow. That thing is made a Legos! Crazy, right?

At lunch time, Super S and PJ played tag. Super S is super fast, PJ ended up being the one running most of the time.

After a few bouts, he got so tired, he needed a cuddle. Heaven! He still fits into my lap, mostly, and these moments don't happen often enough anymore. I enjoyed it.

When we got our move on, we discovered a super nifty playground with all sorts of creatures - including PJ's favorite animal - made (again) out of Legos and with water built into numerous elements.

For me the absolute best part was how my little man really relaxed and enjoyed a wonderful day. We don't get to see PJ this way too often. When I snapped this first picture and realized I had captured my little man happy, relaxed, confident, I teared up. With happiness.

On the little train.

In the canoe ride.

On the safari trip.

On a mechanical horse.

Our last ride was a water based pirate ship. Each boat was armed with eight water canons. We were soaked just from waiting in line and getting 'shot' by the passing pirate ships. When we got onto the ride, we discovered the canons were a little too high for the kids to reach, so the two mommies got to really shoot the canons with a little "help". 

We all laughed so hard. And got sopping, sopping wet. 

By then, a long day was coming slowly to an end. We wandered back towards the Lego cities to make sure we got in a visit to this guy:

And this ship:

And, of course!!, this guy:

Mommy and PJ shared a geek-out moment.

Thankfully, the kids were exhausted and it started to rain right when it was time to head home. The ride back was uneventful and quiet.

We will definitely get back to LegoLand again soon!



XO

PS. No worries about the Mr. and Bean. They had their own ice cream and fun ride adventure at home.

Dance Party & Security

Even though it's almost 100 degrees outside, we had a dance party! PJ definitely led the dance part. 

PJ has mad skills and he was really rocking the house when suddenly Bean decided it was just getting to wild. 

Good thing we've got our own security in house to keep us all in line while the Mr is away. 

Xo

Bedtime Silliness

"It is of critical importance that the family bedtime ritual is a stable, soothing set of steps to guide the childrens' transition from play to rest." - sleep experts

My kids totally disagree. They usually rile themselves and each other up right before bed. It is as if they held onto a slice of fuel throughout the day 'just in case', and now they have to burn it off as loudly and as quickly as possible.

These days, they usually do this by pretending to put themselves both to sleep in PJ's bed. They bounce and flop all over the bed, yanking on the blankets, and tossing around the pillows, all while loudly calling out "night, night" and booming with laughter.

It gets really loud and really wild. And they love it. 

Sometimes bedtime can be fun. 

XO