This past week was quite long for me, simply because I have both kids at home. Vera was out of kindergarden due to her on-going cough. My days were filled with lots of activities: crafting, drawing, colouring, dough kneading, baking, going out, etc. I have to admit, I was exhausted. I drank 3 cups of coffee to keep me going through the day until PaPa came home from work! On one hand it was very nice to have both kids at home but on the other hand it was quite a challenge as well.
The girls loved any project that involved with their hands, which can keep them busy for a long time. I printed their favourite characters like Princess Lillifee, Red Riding Hood, A Knight and they could spend a long time (20 minutes!) colouring them. Kneading colourful doughs to make into shapes is another must-have. At the moment, Nora is very cheeky and likes to piss her sister off. She would take away Vera’s colouring pencil from the hand and ran away wanting her sister to chase after her for fun while Vera would scream and cry behind her sister asking for the pencil back. That happened quite often, either with pencil, cracker, a piece of paper, sticker, puzzle piece and so on.
On Thursday afternoon I suggested to the girls to go to the nearby park after lunch to do some sledding on the frozen lake. They were so happy. But when we got there we saw a few warning signs warning people not to step onto the lake because of broken ice and also a few accidents happened already. Although there were still people walking or skating on the frozen lake but I wasn’t going to take the risk with my girls. I had to explain to them why we couldn’t sled on the lake and they were very disappointed. When we found this green area which was covered with thin snow, they had fun sledding there.
Tomorrow we will bring Vera to her doctor to see if she is fit enough to back to kindergarden. If yes, I’m sure Nora will miss her sister. Have a good week!
I don’t have many pictures of me and the girls together because I usually am the one behind the lens. PaPa took this one with his phone while we were in Frankfurt last weekend.
We spent a four-day long weekend at the garden and it was like a mini vacation for us. Despite the too-hot-for-my-taste sunny weather which reached up to 32C degrees in the afternoon, we had a great time with our girls and some friends, whom I called them our “garden friends” because they are families with small children like us and have a garden nearby and that was how we met. Spontaneously we had a barbecue on Sunday noon under the cherry tree with our garden friends. Seven adults and eight children equal plenty of fun! Vera has a new good friend called Frieda. 
When I looked back at these pictures I wish we could have stayed at Sillberghaus a few more days. Our mornings were welcomed by a very appetizing-looking and delicious breakfast buffet. Even Nora ate very well that morning. She had a glass of milk, a half boiled egg, bread with ham and cheese and some grapes. Yes, this little girl can really eat. At around mid morning YeYe arranged two different hiking tours for the guests and when we returned everyone had lunch, rested on the lounge chairs at the terrace and enjoyed the beautiful sunny weather with a spectacular mountain view right in front of them. Moreover, there was also live folk music performed by two Bavarian musicians. However the highlight of the day was a performance by three Alphorn players. I have seen this instrument on television but have not seen it live before. The Alphorn players even blew the alphorns facing directly at the mountain which then created echoes back. It was truly an amazing experience to be able to see that.
Our long weekend Easter holiday was filled with a full program. We were invited to a picnic brunch by a friend on a Friday morning and then followed with an afternoon at the garden with other friends whom we invited to have BBQ with. The children played with water and our girls had the most fun of it when it came to being naked. Vera and Nora just loved running around without clothes on. PaPa wanted to have a family day on Saturday and he hid the dyed eggs and Easter presents from us, MiMi, YeYe grandaunt and granduncle all over the lawn. The girls, especially Vera, were more excited to see the chocolate eggs than the real presents. Vera even praised the Easter bunny for doing a good job hiding the presents very well. Good job, PaPa!
Sunday was an exciting day because I finally met my long time pen pal, Anne, whom I have known and written to since 1995. We also met her boyfriend, Franck. Our day was spent walking around our neighbourhood and taking a few breaks in between sitting down and chatting a lot. I was very happy and relieved that the girls were pretty well behaved most of the time. Anne, thank you again for the delicious cake you brought from Poitiers, YUM! On Monday we were invited by Vera’s classmate Rosa to visit her and her parents at their garden in Teltow, which is outside of Berlin and the girls were so excited to see each other that Rosa was hopping on the spot when she saw Vera in the car.
Another week went by so quickly and we spent our Saturday afternoon at the garden again. Today our friend, Jutta visited us together with her son, Rufus. It was a very nice afternoon spending time together with friends. However Rufus was not feeling so well and wanted to be by her mommy only. It was quite nice to see how Vera tried to cheer Rufus up by playing ball with him. A real big sister.
Notice anything different? Our cherry tree has blossomed into full bloom! So beautiful.
We had a beautiful sunny weekend in Berlin and spent plenty of time at our garden. The girls had so much fun doing all kinds of things, playing in the sandbox, helping PaPa, kicking the ball, sitting in the swing, playing with water, etc. The weekend was filled with lots of laughters from the girls, it was really really nice. PaPa trimmed a small apple tree and Vera helped him bringing the branches to the compost box. She was very hardworking carrying the branches from one end of the garden to the other end in many trips. Can you see her hardworking face in one of the pictures?
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And last but not least a half day spent on top of Hornboden alp, 1850m high up and we got to the peak by cable car. It was a beautiful and sunny New Year’s eve day and the view up there was just amazing.
Both grandmothers!
Beautiful view but I won’t dare to ski here.
Nora wanted to join her sister and YeYe for a sled ride. “Hellooooooo… can you both please come and get me?”
Three together!
In the cable car
