After three days of hibernation... or whatever it is called when you stay inside to avoid the heat. Man, it has been HOT here. I was going stir crazy. I had to get out!! Our friend, Hollis, invited us to join her and her three boys at a splash park in the center of Berlin. We hadn't left our apartment (not much anyway) let alone our little town of Zehlendorf since our return to Berlin. This was going to take some effort. We had to go get new bus/train cards. The kids get a very discounted priced ones and Marty and I typically share a monthly pass as it covers all of us on the weekends which is typically when we use public transportation.
We hop the train and are pleased to not feel nearly as hot as we were anticipating. It was still morning and you could tell things
were still heating up. But I've realized that our top floor apartment really is warmer than the average space as we have huge windows (mostly South and Southwest facing) without proper sunblocking shades and so by the afternoon/evening our place is really cooking, even with the AC.
We arrive at the park and are also pleased to see there is plenty of shade and there is even a slight breeze. The kids play in the only half functioning sprays at the park. They climb on the fish and
seem to be having a good time. Marty notices the time and realizes he has to book it home in time for the show. Josie decides there are just too many boys and is too hot to stay any longer. Plus she knows if she goes with Marty the chances of them going to lunch together are pretty high. And they did, in fact, go out to our new favorite Vietnamese restaurant. I am absolutely loving the fact that both Marty and Josie are beginning to LOVE Vietnamese food nearly as much as I do.
Benjamin stays, reluctantly, - right now Marty is all the rage with kids. I remember when they were younger it was me. Not anymore.
It is Marty all day every day and as much of him as they can get. I can't help but wonder if we moved here at just the right time in their lives to really establish a very strong bond with their father that they wouldn't have otherwise had the chance to do had we stayed in Seattle. In Berlin, Marty has so much more time to spend with them. He is present in ways he never had time nor energy to do or be in Seattle. Because he isn'tconstantly tired from getting up at 4am and the life/work balance here is just more humane he has bonded with each of them in a beautiful way that most working parents don't get.
Anyway, Benjamin and I decide to stay a bit longer and then head to a burger joint that Hollis' boys like. Burgers are one of Benjamin's favorite things and although people keep telling us that burgers have infiltrated Berlin, we have yet to find one. He was excited to have a real, American burger complete with skinny American french fries. Along with a little burger gummy candy which came in its own cute little to-go container.
On Friday we rode our bikes to the nearby Schlachtensee Lake. It is a 15 minute bike ride. Why did we wait nearly a week to ride our bikes there? Laziness is my only answer. It felt so SO good to submerge in the cool lake water. Schlachtensee is the a bit bigger than Green Lake in Seattle (maybe one and a half) So a bit bigger but VERY clean and swimmable. We brought back two blow up inner tubes that we always bring with us on beach/pool vacations and the four of us share the 2 tubes and have a great time. We have to inflate when we get there and deflate when we leave so that we can transport them on our bikes but it is all worth the hassle. No pics though as we were all too busy and happy to cool off in the water.
On the way home we stop by an Italian restaurant for lunch. Beer for us and ice cream cones for the kids and we were back at our hot home with time to spare before Marty has to be on the radio show. Life, even though hot, is pretty good.
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