Hot Dinner

I know I am bordering on being annoying - maybe I've already crossed over - with my talk of the heat and weather but really never in my life have I been in this type of summer weather so long even before summer has officially started.  The heat was actually pretty oppressive and it is not even mid June yet.  Crazy.

Saturday after the soccer tournament we went over to Fionnaula and Wolfgang's for dinner.  The bike ride over was a nice way to cool down a bit with air at least breezing by. 

Benjamin decided that Danny and Theo would like to play water balloons and water guns to try to stay cool so we packed them up.

  The kids spent at least an hour filling up all the water balloons with breaks here and there to shoot each other with water guns.  Of course the water dried within minutes because it was so warm. 
After dinner they had their big water balloon

fight, then some trampoline and sprinkler fun, ice cream and a game of cards.
Another wonderful evening with good friends. 💕

Soccer Tournament

Benjamin has been playing soccer since December.  Sadly for him there have been no actual games but rather just training and scrimmages. 
At the end of the season they have an outdoor tournament held at the school.  A couple of other local schools were invited and they mixed and matched ages.  The Kindergarteners through 2nd graders played together and then 3rd graders through high school played together (!?!)

Since Benjamin has been playing on the 3rd grade team he was in the upper level group.  His fellow teammates (all 3rd graders) took on teams that were in 4th grade, 5th grade and 6th grade.  Some of the better 3rd graders even played a team of 9th graders. 
Benjamin's team killed it! 

He couldn't have bee happier when the first game he played was against the 5th grade girls team.  And the 3rd grade boys crushed them 5-0.  Josie wasn't playing but several of her friends that have been to the house many times were playing.  He knew what it meant to crush an older sibling. 
His team played 3 more games and they one 2 more games and barely lost to the 4th grade boys team 2-1.  All in all, his team was 3 wins and 1 loss. 

Not only did he play with heart but because it was over 90 degrees, he showed even more grit than normal to stick it out.

We have decided to keep him with kids his own age next year.  Although he held his own with kids a year older we all think he would enjoy it more with his classmates and kids more his own age.

Staying Cool

I am definitely NOT complaining, it is just strange to live in a place where it has been consistently sunny and warm for nearly 2 solid months.  It is even stranger to realize that the first official day of summer hasn't even arrived and arguably we could have another 2+ more months of summer-like weather.  I feel sometimes like I live in Hawaii or some other place that has sun and warm temps all year round.  I know I will need to remind myself of these long, sunny, glorious days come winter but right now it truly is blissful and makes you forget all about those short, dark days.

The past week was really hot but this week was also still quite warm.  The kids, in particular Benjamin, really got into water guns and water balloons.  It became the nightly activity. 

Benjamin would spent hours filling and tying a bunch of water balloons when Marty was doing his radio show and the minute he got off, or sometimes they would wait until after dinner, the three

of them got into big water balloon fights on our terrace.  We really have one of the largest terraces I've seen here in Berlin and since we still don't have anything on it other than my clothes drying rack, it is the perfect spot for the water balloon fights.

I also went to another show with my friend, Fiounnaula.  And

nothing says "summer in Europe" than an Aperol Spritz.  Which IS the summer cocktail here - prosecco, aperol liquor, and mineral water.

Going to bed with this heat and these long days have proven to be challenging.  All of our bedrooms face the West.  Our bedroom in particular gets the sun the longest and the hottest.

This pic was taken at 9PM.  It felt more like I was sunbathing rather than trying to go to sleep.

Finale

Our good friends, Fionnaula and Wolfgang, invited us to go with their younger boys to a theatrical performance called Finale.   Something related to the circus and acrobats.  We weren't quite sure but we love them and trust their opinions and when they say a show is good we go whenever we can.
We actually kind of all got dressed up, which is RARE.  We drove their car and took their boys with us because they were returning on a flight from another part of Germany.   It was also rare that we drive anywhere so it was half treat and half reaffirming that we love not having a car. 

There is definitely the trade off of getting somewhere much quicker, but you have to deal with directions and traffic and finding a parking spot, etc.  I'm so happy that both Marty and I firmly agree that not having a car here has been a benefit more than a

negative.  But... we got there in half the time because we were in the car!  And it was still super hot so had we ridden the train we would have all been sweaty.. .
The show itself was truly one of the best shows we have seen in a very long time.  It was a group of very talented street artist.  There was jugglers and acrobats and and stunts and thrills.  Benjamin nearly lost it he was SO into it.  He was sitting in Marty's lap so he could see better and he just kept saying "O.M.G"
"How do they do that??" 

"WOW!!"  Both kids, actually all of us, were rapt from start to finish.  A really really great show.
Afterward because Wolfgang knows the performers, we met them and got a few pictures.  Benjamin was particularly impressed with this guy who climbed the pole and did amazing stunts. He wanted to ask

him after the show "HOW did you do it?"  He just assumed it was some kind of trick.  He wanted to know if the guy had sticky shoes ;-)  So funny.
Afterward we went out to a very cool Vietnamese Restaurant.  YUMMMM.

It's so nice to laugh together.  LOVE the laughter caught in this picture. 

HITZEFREI

We returned to Berlin from Rome on Memorial Day Monday.  We got back in time for a quick lunch at our favorite Indian restaurant on our way home from the airport.  Strangely enough, it was warmer here in Berlin than in Rome.  Who would've thought!!
We went to the lake a lot during the week and then later in the week after several days of temps over 90, as the city, our apartment and especially the kid's school had a whole week to really heat up and store up that heat, we got an email from the school administration saying that for the last two days of the week school

would be release two hours early for "hitzefrei"  heat free. Kind of like the reverse of the late start for a snow day.  In the afternoon Josie's class room (top floor) got above 95 degrees in the classroom (!?!)  SO... we went back to the lake!  I'm so thankful we live so close to Schlachtensee - just a 15 minute bike ride or 2 stops on the Sbahn. 

And we ate a lot of fresh fruit and vegetables for dinner.  Yum!! 

Roma - Day Two

Day two in Rome was filled with just as much adventure, more steps than the previous day and probably more food as well.

After our awesome buffet breakfast we decided that we needed to try to see the inside of the Colosseum even if it would be more difficult than usual.  The huge Italian bike race Giro De Italia was taking place with apparently several laps around the Colosseum.  But while in Rome one must make every effort to see everything you can.  And trust me, there is a LOT to see.

We decided to buy hop on hop off bus tickets.  Party because it was so hot we figured it would be nice to be in the top deck with no roof and the wind blowing.  When we went to inquire about the tickets we realized that the prices were significantly reduced because for part of the day part of the route would be out of service due to the bike race.    About 2 stops in on the bus tour Benjamin gets a terrible stomachache and says he is going to throw up.  We all get off, buy his some sparkling water and wait it out in the shade.  After a bit he says he is fine so we board another bus.  Just a couple more

stops in and he says he feels sick again.. off the bus again and now a couple of hours have passed in our precious last day in Rome.  We sit it out, we find a rare public toilet, afterward he says he feels better and we are back on another bus.  Eventually we end up at the Colosseum and buy tickets to go inside. 

We use the Rick Steves downloadable audio guides to go through.  Afterward Marty decides to continue on to the Forum.  The kids are a bit overdone with walking and touring so we wait for Marty and watch the Italian bike race or components of it anyway.

Afterward we see a few more fountains and go inside a few more churches.  We ended up stopping for another great Italian meal and finish our day with more gelato. 

Blooming Jasmine flowers were everywhere.  It is
really hard to bee the sweet sweet smell of this flower. 

Roma - Day One

We woke up remarkably refreshed after our first night in Rome.  Normally the first night of vacation I don't sleep at all.  I guess all of these short weekend trips have broken me down.  Speaking of short weekend trips, these convenient little weekends away are really pretty remarkable.  We paid under 50 Euro per person round trip for out tickets... which is probably less than what we would have paid for RT Amtrak train tickets to Portland for the weekend.  Plus, the fact that there had been so

many holidays during the previous weekends in May allowed us not only cheaper travel but less crowded.  JFK gets American holidays off as well as German ones and since Marty does as well we have realized this is our best bet to travel.  Cheaper and less crowded is the way to go.
We were all excited that this hotel in Rome included a buffet breakfast.  The spreads at breakfast were always a highlight when we would visit Germany for the summer.  We have missed that

by living here.  So we were excited to try this one out and were taken by the amazing view of the Vatican while we ate our delicious breakfast.  Honestly, I booked the hotel based on the reviews of the breakfast alone. And it did live up to its high marks.  The hotel itself was just OK, totally fine but nothing special.  It was a bit like in the basement but it was fine.  I'm not as picky as Marty is about hotel rooms.  We got a significantly cheaper rate staying at this "Sister hotel" and just going to the main hotel for the breakfast. 

After breakfast we joined up with one of the "Free Walking Tours" which took us around parts of the city, including the Pentagon and ending at the Vatican.  By the end the kids were hot and tired and in need of a bit of a siesta.  So we headed back to the hotel for a bit of down time. 

Afterward we headed out again to see the Colosseum only to arrive just minutes after they shut down the tickets for the day.  We took pics of the outside in the glow of the evening sun and then ventured over to the Trevi Fountain and a bit more exploring before eating a fabulous dinner of caprese salad, gnocchi and pizza.  It was as delicious as Italian food should be in Italy and put our first night's dinner to shame.  We ended the night with Gelato and then headed to bed exhausted after a 20,000+ step day.