End of Winter Break Fun

To celebrate (again) the end of our staycation we decided to surprise the kids with a couple of fun outings on the last Saturday of break.  Josie has been wanting to go to the Berlin Jump house for months and it is no where near our house so we kept dragging our feet.  Saturday was the day!  We packed up and heading on the bus to the train to a bus to the Jump House. 

The long journey (about an hour and 15 minutes)was definitely worth.  The kids jumped and jumped and jumped and sweated and jumped.  They had so much fun!!
At the end of the their jumping we told them we had another surprise for them.  Josie then said "Well, I don't know what it is but it could NEVER be better than this!!"  It is always nice for things like this to be appreciated. 

We jumped on the bus again and after a quick lunch headed toward Potsdamer P

latz.  We had yet to go to the movie theater here to see a movie.  We've been meaning to go we just haven't.  When I heard that the movie Wonder was playing here in English I knew this should be our first English movie in Berlin.  I had read the book a couple of years ago to the kids over a few week period before they went to bed each night.  We all loved the book and they were actually BOTH (it is always hard to please both at the same time) thrilled to get to see the movie. 

What thrilled them more was that there was some family pass that for just 2 or 3 Euro more you got snacks.  Like 3 huge bags of popcorn, large drinks for all and some other candy.  At this point I think the kids would have been fine to just eat the snacks.  They informed me that this was only the second time they actually had theater snacks at a movie. The other time was with Liz and Ed.  Normally I sneak in a bag or two of popcorn and a bottle water. 

Oh, they are so deprived😆
We all LOVED the movie.  Of course the book is always better as was true with this but the movie was so sweet and so good.  I think Marty I cried from the opening scene to the final scene. 
After the movie we headed back to our neck of the woods and tried out a new (to us) Greek

restaurant.  Ever since have such delicious food in Athens we have been wanting to eat Greek again.  This place was just OK.  We will likely go back but we are still in search of real, authentic Greek.  I have a friend who lives more in the center and they say they have a great Greek restaurant near them.  Hopefully we can join up with them there soon.

All in all, a really super fun day with the kids.  And to top it off they were overly appreciative of everything.
OK, I would still have loved to travel somewhere else but I have to admit this break week ranks in the tops of school vacations.

Winter Break Success

Well, Winter Break came and went and we (I) didn't go stir crazy.  I can't remember a winter break where we didn't GO somewhere.  When I was teaching it was my favorite break.  I have a bit of trouble with months of cold, dark, winter days and having somewhere warm and sunny to go to for a week in February helps me get through the winter.  It helps get me to the February trip (by having something to look forward to) and helps me get through the rest of March and into April before the days become longer and the weather starts to turn.

I was honestly (I know, first world problems!!) worried about not having a warm trip on the calendar for February.  How would I deal?  It turned out to be a really relaxing and fun week here in Berlin.  I was in German classes daily so the kids and Marty hung out.  They went to the grocery store and lunch daily and were all in good moods when I arrived back home in early afternoon.  It did make me wonder if we made a mistake with Marty working and me staying home with the kids all these years.  They all seemed much happier with this twist of parental care. 

Benjamin finished a 500+ page book (!?!) and Josie did a bunch of art, read two books (one in German and one in English ?!?) We recently bought a German version of Monopoly.

There were a lot of Monopoly games played during the week.   We had several movie nights with yummy movie snacks. The kids took bubble baths together (these joint baths are on their last leg, I'm sure of it!!) 

On Friday we celebrated a successful Staycation and the kids finishing 1st Semester and their good grades by going to our favorite ice cream parlor.
Yay for Staycations. 

Taco Tuesday

Over the years I have tried to time or taco eating nights to Tuesdays with terrible results.  The kids normally make fun of me and we call it "Taco Wednesday or Taco Thursday" because I rarely ever remember to have tacos on Tuesdays.  Well yesterday we not only had Taco Tuesday but we had a "Gauc off" with our awesome downstairs neighbors.  They are from New Mexico and both are metal artists (sculptors, welders, artists - yeah, cool!!) And to top it off they have a 7 year old son, English speaking son who is a kick to have around.
So we were talking one day and lamenting the lack of Mexican food here and I said I make a pretty mean guacamole and an even better salsa.  She says that being from New Mexico she also makes a mean guacamole so we set a day for Taco Tuesday (which actually landed on a Tuesday) for dinner and a guacamole competition.

Josie took the competition very seriously and made rating cards and had everything lined up and ready to go when they arrived.  It was a VERY close vote 48-52 and in the end we realized that we made nearly the exact same guacamole.  You don't mess with perfection.  No seasonings other than salt.  And just the basics, avocado (very carefully chosen!) onions, tomatoes, cilantro and lime juice.  YUM.  She also made the most delicious red chili sauce!  And peanut butter cookies. HEAVEN!!
I sense more Taco Tuesdays in our future.

Start of Winter Break

Going grocery shopping with Dad

This week the kids have winter break. If it had been up to me I would have booked us on some cheap (er than from the US) flight to somewhere exciting and different from Berlin.  Sadly, it was not up to me and the kids and Marty said they were tired of traveling (can you imagine?) and did not want to go anywhere for this break (gasp!!)  I was pretty disappointed but the fact that I had German class all week and we did just go to Spain and Greece in the previous two months I relented.

Photos for Marty and the kids I got during my class

The first day of our staycation was actually, dare I say it, fabulous. We all slept in a bit, had a leisurely breakfast and then I was off to class.   Josie had made a "schedule" for the week and poor Benjamin follows along to her drum beat whether he likes it or not.

They did some reading and some screen time and some art and then the three of them went to the grocery store with my list and then out to lunch.  After lunch they picked up Josie's friend Lioba and the three kids played swimmingly together for the rest of the afternoon.  When I got back from class I did laundry and then had to sew on Benjamin's Fasching costume that Josie actually created I just had to do the sewing.  The sunshine was BEAMING in through the windows.  I gave a deep sigh at the end of the day.  It was actually a great way to spend winter break.  I'm just hoping the rest of the week doesn't disappoint.  I know in the past I always think that staying home is a great idea on day one but day 4 or 7 is a completely different story.  But YAY for two thumbs up for the first day of break.

Benjamin in his "solar system" Josie designed and made (all but the sewing) Fasching costume

European Divisionals

Josie competed in the Rhineland Divisional championships on Sunday.  She was SO nervous.  She was almost making herself sick she was so nervous.  It would be the first time she would compete in a 50 meter pool which she was excited about because she wouldn't have to do a flip turn... just one time down and she was done.  However it was also her first time being a part of a medley relay.  She was so scared of being disqualified and then disqualifying her entire team.

She, as always, did GREAT.  She came in 2nd in two of her 5 events and in the end swam not only one but TWO team relays and was not disqualified in either of them.
It was interesting because her best friend on the swim team, Suzy, wasn't there because her and her family were out of town for break so she really clung on to us like she hasn't in years and although a bit heartbreaking it was in a strange way really nice for her to need us/me this way. 

She wanted me to go with her as her event was prepped and then wait with her until her race started.  It was a really nice bonding time for us and even though it made me sad she was so nervous I was happy we had these moments together.  I know all too well that she is a preteen and these moments of her wanting me around are fleeting.

Marty was the announcer/DJ and Benjamin and Marty hung out with the speaker the entire day.  Marty had fun picking fun, upbeat music and Benjamin read over 100 pages in his Percy Jackson book.  This is the first Percy Jackson book he has read entirely on his own, by the way.

Even though it was a LLLOOONNNGG day (we left the house at 7:30 AM and didn't get back home until around 7:30 PM it was a really fun family day.  We all had jobs, we cheered on the JFK swim team.  Marty did a fantastic job mixing up the music - so many of the students and the parents even came over and complimented his choice of music, haha!!

Benjamin was incredibly patient - he typically HATES these all day swim meets but even he barely complained and kept himself entertained.  The big star of the day, though goes to Josie for facing her fear head-on and really swimming her strongest races yet.
We ended the day by going out to Josie's and my favorite restaurant here Bao, a delicious Vietnamese restaurant. 

It is so satisfying to watch both of my kids belly up to a huge bowl of Pho.  And then to top off the evening Benjamin's best buddy in Seattle texted to see if he could play xbox with him.  5 star day for sure!!

Jalapeños and Friends

You know you've made a good friend when you show up to Lacrosse practice and she pulls a plump jalapeño out of her bag!  I was so excited.  We had invited Clayton's family over for dinner Saturday night of the following week and I was going to make Mexican food and wanted to make my homemade pico de gallo salsa but was lamenting the fact that I can't find jalapeños anywhere here in Berlin.

Clayton's mom, Shantal,  found one at a store near her house and brought it to practice for me.  It was the week before they were coming but I put it in the fridge and prayed it would last until the following Saturday.  It was a wee bit shriveled but it tasted delicious in the salsa.  I haven't made this salsa in years because it is a lot of chopping and I can find arguably (nearly) as good of salsa at the store.  But here in Berlin, their salsa and Mexican food in general selection is quite lame.  And this time when I made it I realized it really isn't that much chopping and the result is SO worth it.
Clayton and his family came over and we enjoyed an evening of conversation, laughter and the kids played a mean game of hide and seek and tag.  Can't wait to have them over again!!
Thanks again for the jalapeño, Shantal.  You have now become my dealer and I may hit you up for another one...or 4.
No photos of the dinner or guests but some lovely ones of the true guest of honor.

Christmas 3.0

When Liz and Stephanie were here a couple weeks ago they came bearing a gift certificate for the kids from Liz and Ed and Oma and Opa which entitled each child to a shopping spree in Berlin.  Wow!!  The best part of this was that Liz was going to take them shopping.  She is SOO much more patient and open minded when shopping with my kids.  Josie can be so indecisive and Benjamin often chooses some junky type things and I can't bite my tongue.  Liz lets them choose whatever they want and take as long as they want.  They ended up spending over an hour in one store and actually came away with some quality stuff.

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Today the kids had early release (at 10:30 - why bother really, but whatever)  It was the last day of 1st semester.  How can this really be?  How can half the year be over already?  Anyway, we decided to spend the early release day and first day of winter vacation going to lunch and shopping and we all had a ball. Grandma and Papa had also sent money over for the kids for Christmas and Kim and Fred had given the kids money for their birthdays (yes, the have saved it!!)
We hopped on a bus that took us directly to the coolest toy store in Berlin.  Josie immediately found a ton of Japanese erasers that she wanted and Benjamin found a huge, black mirror or glass marker.  I really tried hard to channel my inner Liz (who is always so cool when she shops with the kids and lets them really direct what they buy)  Then we had to get some lunch because Marty had to head home to do his radio show.
We ate at Marty's favorite falafel place, Jasmin.  It is really just a whole in the wall but seriously the best falafel either of us has ever tasted.  The kids wanted to wait so that after shopping they could hit the food court at the mall... lame, but whatever.  The kids ended up eating half of our falafel platter either because they were starving or they are coming around.

Marty headed home and we headed back to the cool toy store because I wanted to pick up the Berlin version of Monopoly.  While they waited for me to buy it they both found huge lego sets that they wanted to spend their Christmas money on.  They agreed that they would each pay half of the two sets so technically they each owned both of the sets.   Neither of them have been really into Legos the way most kids are.  Our neighbor, very generously, gave us an enormous box of lego pieces when her son outgrew them but neither child has had one of these huge sets before. 

So now that they have two they were in heaven.  And I assume that enormous box of Legos back at home will get played with a ton more now that they each have a large structure to add on to.
So after the cool toy store we headed to the mall for their "mall food"  Benjamin's favorite is Butter Chicken at the Indian restaurant and Josie's is fresh spring rolls at the Vietnamese.  They never waiver from these choices.

After a quick lunch we head upstairs because I needed to renew our bus passes.  Normally Marty does this but since he had to go back to work it was on me.  I have to say with my 3 weeks of German I'm doing quite well in these situations and even if the person kindly starts speaking English back I was able to get the conversation started and mostly carried it in German.
The kids kept looking while I was at the BVG getting our bus passes because they both had some money left.  Benjamin found a used video game that he has been dying to have and Josie found a stuffed animal.... again, bit my tongue on both of these purchases.... channeling my inner Liz.

To top off our little outing, the kids had an ice cream cone and then we headed to the bus loaded down with their new purchases.
Once we arrived home they torn into their new Lego sets and didn't stop playing with them for about 4 hours that night and another 6 the next day as they finished putting them together.  I have to say I'm a big fan of Christmas 2.0 and Christmas 3.0

Merry Christmas to us in February!!
Thanks Grandma and Papa and Kim and Fred and Oma and Opa and Liz and Ed!!!