In the evening we decide to head to Julie's apartment. Julie is Marty's cousin. Actually Julie's mom, Ela, is Marty's cousin and they grew up spending weeks in the summer as children together when Marty would visit Germany. Julie is a vibrant, hip, wonderful 24 year old and we are beyond fortunate to live so close to her again. After Benjamin was born, 7 years ago, and she had recently graduated high school, she came to live with us for a year in Seattle as an unofficial Au Pair. She very quickly became part of the family and we have stayed in good contact with her for the past few years.
We head to her apartment and then to dinner. She lives in a more vibrant part of town (Schoeneberg) than we do but amazingly, equally as quiet. While we wait for dinner, the kids discover a park across the street and play for awhile. Micha, Julie's boyfriend, joins us at the end of our meal and then at the park.
Parks in Germany are quite amazing. They seem to be on every corner are all unique with various cool features. I have yet to find to that are the same. There is more area for independent play and much more space to explore your physical limits. This one was a huge obstacle course.
So, of course, we all had to try it. A family that obstacle courses together... well, I don't know how to finish that statement but we all had fun. And let me tell you after a couple of times through it on Day 1, it is harder than the pictures look.
By the end of Day 1 things were looking pretty darn good. We were tired. But adjusting nicely. The kids were still remarkably happy. And we just had a very nice dinner with our new nearest family members, Julie, Micha and Frida their dog.
Almost all parks have cool, self pumping water features. From a very young age, Benjamin has always LOVED water in all forms. Here is no exception. It was hot and so he decided to find a way to cool himself off.
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