Two More Holidays

I told you... there are SO many May holidays here.  Monday the 21st and Tuesday the 22nd were both holidays and days off of school for the kids. Monday was Pentecost and Tuesday.. well, I don't know why they had that off.  Just another "Bridge holiday"  Not sure what it bridged other than making it another 4 day weekend and 3 days school week. 
Nevertheless, we all enjoyed a slower pace to our days.  We went swimming at a public pool with friends... have I mentioned it has been HOT here.  Really, summer like weather since the beginning of August.   We also met up with friends at a park on Monday evening.  It is called "Wine Park" and it is a beautiful plaza style park that reminded me a lot of the typical Zócalo you see in Mexico where people come out

around dinner time and stroll around the plaza.  There is a wine bar and most just bring picnics and enjoy hanging out with others outside on a beautiful summer/spring evening. It was nice.
On the way home Josie jumped off the train a couple stops into our journey to meet a friend for a sleep over.  I am often reminded but probably do not appreciate it enough how cool this experience living here is for all of us.  As I watched Josie, an 11 year old, confidently give me a kiss and hop off a metro train in Berlin and navigate her way through the train stop to her friends house who lives within a few blocks of the stop all by herself with self assurance and grace I feel a sense of immense pride and joy.  I'm so thankful we are all learning big life skills here.

Thai Park.. Again

When you have something this good, and this convenient, and this economical and it is nearly right in your back yard, well... you make a return trip as quickly as humanely possible.
Josie was the instigator for this trip.  She asked to go and she was all about walking through each and every row and finding new and fun things to try.
I didn't think I'd have children that would would love to eat this kind of food as much as I do but she does!!  Makes me so happy that she is getting more and more adventurous with food.

This time we ate:
Papaya Salad (x2)
Pad Thai
Chicken Satay (x3)
Dumplings/potstickers
Humbao
Fried Banana
Fried Banana/coconut doughnut thing
Mango Sticky Rice
2 Cups of sliced, ripe mango
and a Mango Lassi all for under 30 Euro!! YUM YUM YUM!!

Some card playing in the park

Josie and Marty chilling in the park post food while our stomachs work on digesting all that food.

Buddies & Rock Paper Scissors

Benjamin has two "break days" as he likes to call them.  His actual school day ends at 1PM (I know, crazy, right??) However on Mondays after school he has an hour of German language instruction provided for free through the school and then he goes to the after school care called "Late Birds" to play with his friends for an hour and he and Josie then finish at the same time (3PM)  On Tuesdays he goes to Late Birds from 1-2 and then has Chess club from 2-3, again making him and Josie on the same finishing time.  Wednesdays he goes to Late Birds from 1-2 and then attends an awesome Lego Robotics class from 2-3:30. 

Thursdays he has nothing after school (Break Day #1) and Fridays (Break Day #2)
he also has nothing from 1-3 but then we head back to school for lacrosse practice from 3-4. 
Because 2 of his friends also play Lacrosse we have gotten into the habit of having one or two of his friends over after school for a couple of hours and then we all head back for practice.
This week he invited Adrian and Clayton.  Adrian's mom is the one who organized the Lego Robotics birthday gift and so Adrian was really excited to see it built. 

They eat lunch all together and then play.  The only complaint is that the time really does go by so quickly and before we know it it is time to head back for practice. 
And since we have moved here Rock, Paper, Scissors has become an obsession.  We have family tournaments and individual matches on nearly every bus or train ride. So the boys got into a match while heading back to school for practice.

The Royal Wedding

So, I'm am not much of a Royal fan.  It's not that I'm against them in any way I just have never been interested in them enough to really care.  I did know that Prince Harry was getting married to an American actress but really that was about all I knew.  Oh and I knew that Harry's older brother William recently had his third child, a boy, who happened to be born on Benjamin's birthday.  Several friends mentioned that otherwise I wouldn't have had a clue.

Well, my new friend Juli (from Marty's positive parenting class) is REALLY into the royals. She decided to throw a Royal Wedding viewing party.  My friend, Fionnuala, was going too. How could I say no.  I kind of wanted to as it really isn't my

thing but I figured it was just an excuse to hang out with friends. 
We all brought some food and it was a lovely spread of yummy food and the BEST cupcakes I have ever eaten.  Some bubbly and then we all watched as the wedding. 

Juli, the hostess, nearly in tears
with her fascinator firmly in place. 

It was hysterical as I very infrequently would ask an apparently really obvious question about one of the Royals.  I really hadn't a clue who most of them were and certainly not their ages, children's names, ages, etc, etc.  Juli was a walking Royals encyclopedia. 

She even had a "fascinator" Learned something new other than just Royal trivia.  The little head things that people where in Britain are called "fascinators" and are meant to fascinate... thus the name.  Who knew?!?
 I'm sure it is much like attending a Super Bowl Party when you know nothing about the game or the teams that are playing.  Sadly, or happily, I know MUCH more about football and most of the teams in the NFL than I know about the Royals 😄

All in all a nice, sunny afternoon with friends, even if it really wasn't "my thing"

Citizen Police and Public Scolding

We have said for a long time that not a day goes by where we are not scolded for something.  Almost always we are scolded for something we had no idea we were doing wrong.  Typically it is just a disappointed head shake and a disapproving look or tsk of the tongue. 

It has to be that Germany is a country that likes to follow rules and if everyone isn't following them then it slows down the whole system.  They don't want any weak links and if you aren't following the rules (whether you know what they are or not) YOU are the weak link and they will let you know directly or indirectly.

After nearly a year here it still bothers me to be scolded.  Yesterday I stopped by the store on the way to meet a group of friends.  Right before I left I realized it was on of their birthdays.  So as I biked past a grocery store on my way to the cafe I hopped off and decided to buy her some flowers.  The price was 1.99 Euro.  I didn't have any small change so I gave the checker a 20 Euro bill.  He looked at me exasperatedly like I just asked him to run a marathon before he was to give me change. I mean really, he was SO put out by my HUGE 20 Euro bill! In my broken German I told him all I had was one Euro and nothing smaller than the 20.  He huffed and puffed (literally) shaking his head at me the entire time because, what?? Isn't this his JOB??  Apparently I was being scolded for not having proper change.  He, of course, gave me the 18 Euro back in all small coins.  What a jerk!  He just slide the change down into my hand like I was some unsavory person who didn't bother to have the perfect change to buy a 2 Euro pot of flowers.  At times like this I SO wish I had a better grasp of the language.  Not sure what I would have said but seriously!!
Then on my way home from the cafe I was riding my bike on the sidewalk because the street in this particular area (for about 2 blocks NO MORE) has super bumpy cobblestones making it nearly impossible to ride your bike over it without losing half your teeth.  I know full well that bikes belong in the street and I do try my best to follow the rules but there are some exceptions.  I was riding very slowly, knowing I should be in the street, and I passed an older couple walking. I didn't want to ding my bike bell because I knew they had the right of way walking on the sidewalk so I gave a wide berth and passed them. The woman gasped and the man said something toward me in a scolding tone.  I just kept going.  Then not more than 100 feet further up I slowly passed another man walking, again giving a very wide berth.  He looked me in the eye, shook his finger and at and said "You should be riding in the street!"  I fortunately or unfortunately now understand German enough now to actually fully understand the scolding. It is not fun.  I replied in my broken German "weil die Straße so holprig ist"  "Because the street is so bumpy" while making a bumpy motion with my hand.  I'm sure I didn't say it properly. He kept wagging his finger.  When I was safely out of hearing distance I said "f*ck you!!"  under my breath. Some days it just really still gets to me!  Thankfully we have met so many lovely people who offset the grumpy citizen police you come in contact with on the daily.  I do believe it is mostly the older generation who act this way and in our area of Berlin there are a ton of older people. So we get the quiet, peaceful out of the center living but also the grumpy older generation.  

Mother's Day

Mother's Day is always a good reminder for me to be thankful for the 2 wonderful kids who made me a mom!  And the man who completes our crazy family of 4. 
Marty and I don't really ever do too much for Mother's or Father's day but it typically turns out to be a nice and relaxing day for all.  In Seattle I always wanted to go for an hour or two swim.  Since I'm not really swimming here in Berlin (still shocks me that I haven't swam for months when this used to be my nearly DAILY activity) I didn't have any expectations.  Plus we had just spent the entire day previous out at a park, castle and river.  But we did have plans for brunch with the owners of our first house here in Berlin and their son.  So we hopped on our bikes and rode several miles to a cute little breakfast spot.  There was a park across the street so the kids mostly played there while we had a

leisurely several hours brunch, drinking and conversation.  That is one thing here that I feel is pretty different to Seattle.  When people go out to eat it is typically a many hours event.  People just sit and talk before and after meals in restaurants, much like how I've always felt in Italy or Spain but didn't realize it must be all over Europe.  Just a very leisurely feel to it all. 

After lunch and goodbyes we rode our bikes back home.  I didn't get a photo but I remember vividly looking up ahead at the kids

and Marty riding past a church as the bells were bonging loudly, the wind was blowing slightly and the white and pink blossoms from a tree were sprinkling softly down, there was a very sweet smell in the air from all the blooming

flowers and I remember thinking "savor this moment" savor the goodness that is living in Berlin, remember your kids at this age and your husband with his hand on Benjamin's back helping him along on his bike as they ride together and Josie standing up on her bike pedals to help her go faster, as she confidently rides down Berlin bike paths.  What a sweet SWEET moment.  So thankful for those three!!! 

This was on our way home after ice cream not
while the church bells were dinging and I
knew I would fail and fully capturing how cute
this scene is  but you can see three tiny bike lights
at the end of the blossomcovered street... those are my
LOVES

Later in the day we went to our favorite Indian restaurant and then our favorite local ice cream shop.

The kids made and gave me very sweet, sincere cards.  Happy Mother's Day to me and to my wonderful mother who I truly did not appreciate until having my own kids.

Potsdam

We had planned a nice picnic outing with our good friends Fionnuala, Wolfgang and their twin boys Danny and Theo.  They suggested a nice little area in Potsdam near a castle.  Marty and I had been to Potsdam before but the kids hadn't.

We hopped a train and then a bus and then walked up a hill (an actual hill - not Seattle hill but definitely more than we are used to) to meet up with them at the front of a beautiful castle.
We marveled at the outside of the beautiful building, took the requisite photos and then laid out our picnic spread in front of the castle (Schloss Babelsberg) and on the shore of the Havel River.  We sat in the cool shade of enormous, old trees on soft lush grass.  We all ate to our fill and then the kids ran around and explored and climbed trees and had a great time.

The adults just sprawled out on the picnic blankets and we truly relaxed.  Hours went by and we barely even noticed. It was one of the first times we have just truly relaxed.  It was SO so nice.
After hours of just sitting around we started walking around and climbed to the top of another castle and were treated to beautiful views of the river and of Potsdam.
It was quite warm so the kids decided to jump in the river and play for a bit before we headed home.

What an incredible, genuinely European, fully restorative day with lovely friends in our new "home" of Berlin.  Marty mentioned that if this whole move to Germany were a college class then this day was akin to our midterm -which included riding our bikes part way, taking a train and a bus and meeting friends at a castle, jumping in the river all while truly relaxing- and we nailed it!