First Day of KINDERGARTEN : September 4

Wow... Time has flown. I can't believe it's already been so long since this day! I had to wake William up, as we were really still on summer hours-- sleeping until 7 or so, which is now when he has to be at the bus stop! 

Big boy excited for his new adventure. He's waited for a year to go to "Jonah's school" (a good friend that started Kindergarten last year). 

 Why look at Mom, when I can point out the moon?!

Every morning, he loves to point this out-- especially now as when we go to the bus stop it's still pitch dark out.  

 See that blur-- that's my baby boy driving away on the school bus and growing up way. too. fast. for me. 

 So. After I watched him drive away, I had a little panic attack... I threw the other two boys into the car and we drove up to the school. I couldn't relax until I saw William safely in his school. He was there, happy and completely unphased to see me there. ;) I love his matter-of-fact way about everything in life. 

Hugging Cameron (the birthday boy!). 

Taunus Wunderland : September 3

The day before William started school AND the day before Cameron's 4th birthday we wanted to celebrate! We headed out too meet some friends at a local amusement park. It was fun (and fun enough that we bought and annual pass), but oh my gosh... if it were in the US it would be shut down before inspectors got past the first ride... which made it that much more fun (sometimes in a terrifying way) for us. ;) 

 This is a self-propelled roller coaster. In the top picture of me and Cameron you can see the extent of the safety harnesses... and in the picture right above you can kind of get and idea of how high these things went. Those wooden arches are about 9 feet high. There were no employees regulating the ride, or most of the other rides either! My legs were dying by the end of this one, and my nerves were about shot...

 See?  *shudder*. I won't go on this one again. 

Whoops! Forgot to turn this one. I dragged C and W onto the tidal wave boat ride. They *hated* it (see W's face! haha). I'm such a good mom. 

 Our beloved friend "Nina" came along. We love her and are always so grateful for the extra hands! 

Getting ready for the log ride (hands down the best ride in the park!). William refused to try it... maybe next time.

  

 The mini golf course. Haha! The 'holes" made me laugh. there was an outhouse one too, where the hole was the toilet seat. 

We were so confused when we walked up to this ride as, again, there wasn't an attendant working there. Turned out there is a button that I pressed and got the system going. Yikes! As it was an American holiday there was almost no one in the park-- 7 or 8 American families and a handful of German families with kids pre-school age. 

 This ride looked hilarious. The attendant on this ride let the same group ride several times in a row because there was just no one else there!

 The talking moose at the log ride. :)

 The train ride. It was awesome... and so ghetto... and so awesome. 

 The happy crew.. before Cameron got sick and threw up ON it. I had to give the employee the "STOP" sign to get him to let us off. I think he was just going to let us go around and around!

 See how safe this ride is? :)

 A petting zoo within the park. The goats were very tame!

A king-of-the-mountain toy... remember, from the old days before lawsuits abounded? This thing spins round and round and the only way to not get flung off is to sit dead center. Right after this picture N let go of the boys and the flew. They were not amused. ;)

This was so cool! The keyboard in has a key per frog. It's hilarious to make them "sing". 

Classy, right? This foul fellow had several different spiels that he gave, and N interpreted on off them for me.... I won't do the same for you, though. It's better not knowing what he says.

The theme song booth! :)

September 2 : Growing up

My darling boys have been growing up so fast... and getting more independent all the time! Lately William has started pouring his own cereal, and Cameron was quick to follow suit...

But sometimes... they still need a little help. :) 

Playmobile Park : Aug 21

Aunt Tamar is such a trooper. We had one full day left and I proposed either Cologne or Playmobile Park. She kindly said Playmobile Park. She loved the toy as a child, and while I'm sure as an adult she would have preferred Cologne, I think that she and my kids both enjoyed the park! 

This place was so cool! Life-sized play mobile toys everywhere. The details were impressive! There were no rides at all, just toys to run and play on. It was really perfect for our group. It was another HOT day though! 

William climbing up the pirate ship. 

Tamar: Captain of the same ship she played with as a kid. 

Stage coach drivers!

This area was our favorite... tons and tons of water tables filled with playmobile boats and toys. William especially, would have stayed right here all. day. long. 

There are some great fountains in the park designed to be romped through. It was a heavenly way to cool off. 

William was very concerned about getting wet though. He did NOT want the water to mess up his cool spider tattoo: 

Fun house of mirrors in the castle. 

The Royal family!

This made me laugh. When it was Cameron's turn to put his head through though, somehow one of the metal arm bands swung and smacked William right in the face. It really left a horrible bruise! 

My dinosaur babies. 

Tamar: The Mayan Princess. 

Gosh! This made me nervous! Cameron went over it several times and I feel like I held my breath the entire time and prepped myself to jump into the deep water (6 or so feet) to rescue him. ;)

Our darling friend Elie came with us on the trip. What a trooper to spend the day in the HOT sun at a play park! I really had a good time, and I feel like it was perfect for the boys. I think that next time I might try to make it a 2-day trip just because it is very reasonably priced, a bit too far for a 1-day trip,  and because it was so much fun!

Baden Baden : August 18

Driving home from a trip earlier in the day, we decided to swing through and see what Baden Baden had to offer. 

The town is famous for it's ancient Roman baths and has some modern natural hot spring spas over where the ancient ones were. We were hoping to see the Roman springs, but they're open for about 2 hours a day. Lame! We had to be content with the scattered pillars here and there. 

Nathaniel and sculpture: deep in thought. 

I can't remember... I think he was pretending to be a turtle. ;)

I will miss scenes like this when we leave Europe. Gifted accordion players, cobblestone streets... makes the evenings out feel enchanted. 

It was a very HOT day. Cameron is wearing this ghetto tank-top because we were trying to dress the poor kid in as little as possible due to a terrible heat rash! 

I love old gates. :)