European Adventure Part I - Heidelberg

This blogging thing takes something which is in short supply around our house – time.  I’m seriously falling behind before I've even really made a good start on it.  Anyway, I will make a major effort to recapture our European adventure - and it certainly is an adventure travelling with our three little girls…. 

We spent the first week of our trip in Heidelberg.  We stayed in a fabulously luxe place on the opposite of the Neckar river from the Old Town.  A comfortable place to get us over the jet-lag and a fabulous way to start our vacation (after a not so fabulous experience upon our arrival at the vacation rental we had reserved – but I digress unnecessarily as the place we ended up in was a hundred times better).

A jetlagged P


The view from our Hotel

The old town, churchtowers, the sounds of the churchbells -  all of it so familiar.  The food, the birdsong, chocolates in the stores and even the sound of police sirens.  Those are the odd bits, deeply imprinted childhood memories, which give me a homey, somewhat bittersweet feeling, an ache for a cultural identity lost.  So familiar yet also so foreign.

Heidelberg is a very photogenic city at any time of year.  But in December, when the Christmas markets abound and the mulled wine flows freely, it is in its element.  And  the old town was covered in a sprinkling of snow in an icing-on-the-cake, storybook kind of way.   Even a beginner photographer like me can have some fun in this place...

The first few days were filled with a big family get-together and many walks around the lovely old town.











A walk with grandma, Uncle D and big cousin C






I love this photo - kind of has a "Bourne Identity" feel.. 


We made two trips to the castle above the town.

One day we went beyond the castle to the top of the hill above the town in an original 100 year old funicular










Can you spot F?


Christmas markets for the girls meant sweets and carousels - ad nauseam ....











Someone fell asleep ... but luckily dad's arms are strong.


What a delight to have a weekend visit from my friend M and her two daughters.  It says quite something about our friendship that, after eight years (!) without a visit, we spent most of the day hanging around the hotel room relaxing and gabbing the day away with baby P between us while the “big girls” were playing.  And we never ran out of something to talk about.

And watching our daughters get to know each other, and seeing my girls, who are born and raised in Canada,  communicating so easily with their new friends in German, was fabulous to see.  Note to self:  all of our language efforts worked!
  

Some new friends were made!


And did I mention how well baby P travelled?  Despite a time change, unfamiliar surroundings and a snowball in the face  (resulting from some overzealous little girls playing with their new friends - but we know it was an accident so we won't go into it further...) she stayed her usual amiable and mellow self.

So long Heidelberg - see you again sometime ...

Happy Birthday!

I can't believe that it was six years ago today when you entered this world and changed our lives forever.  There really is no other life event that defines a new chapter in your life as clearly as the birth of your first child.



You are the one who made me a Mama, and you will always be my baby, no matter how grown-up you get (this is a topic of much discussion between us right now, since you can't figure out how you could still be a baby as a grown-up, but you seem to like the general idea).



I know that every mama says this, but I just can't believe how quickly you are growing up, and it seems like you just became this big girl in the blink of an eye.








I loved watching you evolve this year, from a preschooler to a kindergardener.  The transition has been so completely smooth, even though none of your preschool friends were in your new big school.  But you were not intimidated about going into the big school - not at all.  You confidently strode in on that first day and told me that you would be fine.  You immediately made new friends (you play with both boys and girls which delights your teacher) and you take all new challenges in a stride.  We are very proud of you.






Since we were in Germany on your birthday, we celebrated with family only - a special private tour of the Zoo just for the five (!) of us.  I loved the way you were listening so intently to everything our guide said and the way you asked such thoughtful questions.  It was a lovely snowy day and we had the entire zoo almost to ourselves.  In the afternoon, you grandma G. arrived with more gifts, and then your uncle D. and cousin C.  joined us.  We had a lovely day.




We wish you a wonderful new year, with good health and lots of love, fun, play, friendship, travel, exploration and learning.



You are a fabulous and very cool little girl!

An Autumn Walk

Our autumn outings used to be fabulous. Hiking in the local mountains, sitting on a cliff above the clouds, enjoying the fall colours and watching the occasional bear finishing the last of the season's berries before returning to its den. There was the inevitable rush to get off the mountain in daylight and then the stumbling in the twilight and the dark to reach the car. The fabulous tired feeling that comes from a long day exercising in the outdoors and then the cozy meal at a relaxing casual restaurant on the way home.

Right now, our outings are far more down to earth. There's the rush to get ourselves and three little ones out the door, the jumping out of the car three times before we leave to retrieve forgotten items, the five minute drive to our destination, and of course the much slower pace when we get there (but we do often manage to get a nice and much needed take-out Americano on the way).

Today, we simply had an early fall outing to explore a new playground and park which is nearby. We tried out the new playground equipment (really cool) and walked around the neighborhood, exploring a nearby path along the woods and looking for colourful leaves and little critters.





Measured in distance covered and scenery explored, this outing was a mere shadow of our pre-kids expeditions. But this time, there was delight and wonder at seeing snow-berries, big beetles and spiders,





there was the careful gathering of leaves and the assembly of leaf-bouquets,




there was the lengthy and elaborate search for the one stick which would be appropriate as a fairy wand, and the flitting in and out of trees by two little golden haired fairies.



No, it was not comparable to our pre-kids explorations. It was better.

Random Scenes from Home

The crow who visited today and squawked loudly at his compatriots



Shot through the wavy glass of our original 1927 living room window



The aspiring astronaut, the budding architect and the baby



And some more pics



A good day. G'night!

Baby Feet ...

Here is a snapshoot of little P's feet, little, pudgy, velvety soft, always moving and kicking.

There is something delicious about baby feet.




... and looking at them makes me wonder what they will be doing as she grows up - standing, toddling, climbing, skipping, running, hiking, dancing ... What will they be wearing - baby shoes, first walkers, rubber boots, ballerina slippers, hiking boots, cowboy boots, sensible flats, runners, 3 inch Manolos? Where will these little feet set foot in this world? Will they walk on the pavement of big and exciting cities or will they tread through beautiful and faraway wild landscapes? She is too young for us to even imagine what she will do. There are endless possibilities in those little feet.