Hamburg-origin of Hamburgers?

In January we drove to Hamburg, Germany. It is a port city, Northwest of Berlin.
Apparently, Hamburg is where the idea of Hamburgers originated-THANK YOU Hamburg!
The city reminded us a lot of Copenhagen, similar architecture and weather. When we got to the city it was lunch time and I like to play around with the GPS to see what kind of restaurants come up when I search-"American." Surprisingly, there was a place called "Tex's Bar B Q" -my response, "yeah, right!"
Driving around town, we happened to pass the place and were a bit curious. It looked like a decent kid-friendly place and so, expectations lowered, we walked inside.
WOW! We didn't realize how much we were missing American Food until we skimmed the menu.
Fajitas, Burritos, Chicken Nuggets, Fries, Bar B Q (translation-ribs)...my o my...

The kids of course got Chicken Nuggets and they were probably the best nuggets I've ever had-not sure what they breaded them in, but yummy! Daniel and I ordered burrito type dishes and while they were VERY good, not exactly 'burritos', probably closer to a chimichanga. I thought it was funny that the typically Tex-Mex dishes came with a side salad and baked potato? Again, we enjoyed it all and even thought about returning for lunch the next day.

We then took the kids to Miniaturwunderland. I really can't not even begin to describe this place. We took lots of pictures, but a place you would really have to visit to comprehend the MASSIVENESS and detail. It is the largest model railway in the WORLD? As if we hadn't seen enough model trains, etc in Strasburg, PA! Let me just say, Strasburg has NOTHING on MW! The kids enjoyed it at first, then Abby said, "No more trains, no more trains!" Carter cried when we left-what can I say the boy loves his trains.
Check out the website: http://www.miniatur-wunderland.com/

This was really cool, it had a real Pixar movie playing at the minature drive-in.

Hard to see here, but this was a little fairy village that Abby liked

The control center. They even had cameras mounted on some of the engines and you could see the view on these screens.

Carter smiling at the "America" Section.

There were many places like this in the floor, stairs,etc where you could see the trains recycling.

In the Alps

 



Things That Cracked Me Up Today

It's Friday-Praise God!
Everyday there are many things that make me laugh and I ask myself "where did that come from?" but today it seemed they were happening all too often. I'll share a few, though they might not seem as funny to you.
1-when I came home today from a doctor's appointment with Abby, Carter had lined up canned goods, equidistant from each other all the way down our 30+ ft hallway? No, I didn't take a picture, but I know I should have. Instead I just shook my head and when he said, "Mom look what I did?". I smiled and said, "wow, that's great!" He then asked if I was "ready to bowl?"
2- Abby wrote diligently at her desk and told Carter she was 'tutoring'. She then told him, "you can't tutor Carter, girls tutor and boys go to work!"
3-I asked the kids today if they had any clue what we were going to be doing on vacation, Abby responded very confidently, "I think we are going to KiCo!" Berliners will understand, but for the rest of you, KiCo is just a coffee type shop with an indoor playground. I think I hit this vacation out of the park-the kids are CLUELESS and have some very low expectations it seems for vacation.
4- In our effort to teach the kids to take turns we practice saying, "Carter, Abby, Carter, Abby, Carter, Abby..." The kids know the routine but they are increasingly developing this game of selfish manipulation where when their turn is up they change it to "Carter, Carter, Carter, Abby, Abby, Abby"...Mmmmmm....
5-The kids are at an age, I say this praying it is indeed just their age, that they seem to boss each other around constantly, fighting, arguing,  and competing on the most RIDICULOUS things from the moment their eyes open. Yet, several days over the past few weeks, right before bedtime they are best friends. Tonight, Abby asked, "Carter do you want to sleep with me?" and he jumps up and down and says, "yes Abby, I do." Then they hug, spin each other around, fall down in laughter.....mmmmmmmmmmm-I don't quite get it, but I suppose it could be God's little way of giving me encouragement as a mom.

Christmas in Berlin

Christmas Morning-Speaks for itself! :)

Santa went a little overboard...

Tinkerbell convinced she can fly!

Christmas Eve

Great Christmas Eve Service at church! The kids managed to sit with us in 'big church' without any major catastrophe.
              

Happy 2011

We had crazy ambitions to go to a New Year's Eve Party with the kids. So, when the party got canceled at the last minute due to a stomach bug, I was left to make sure our precious ones were not disappointed....
So, we decorated with balloons and streamers, made party hats and confetti, played games, and at 9:55pm it was New Year's at our house! The countdown began and the confetti flew, and flew, and flew...
Maybe next year, we will try again to let the kids stay up for the famous firecracker show in Berlin? Though we probably will not need to leave our house if our neighbor has another party like he did this year!
He threw his own private party, full of fireworks, karaoke, formal sit-down dinner, etc. It did get a little out of hand, but, thankfully, the kids slept right through it!
I think you can tell from all the smiles, our party was a HIT!





Happy 2011



A little special New Years Donut



Rapunzel, Rapunzel

A few days before Christmas, Daniel and I decided to take the kids to see their 1st Big Screen Movie...
I must admit I did think this was a bit on the crazy side because all my mom ever told me about my
1st movie was that I spent more time in the bathroom than watching the movie? Yep, apparently I decided I needed to visit all 20 stalls in the bathroom at least once and found that more fun that sitting still for a full-length feature?! No comments please! :) Crazy or not, there was a cute movie out (that didn't involve trains, cars, buses, etc), and we were determined to give it a try! So, "Tangled" or "Rapunzel" as the movie is called here is what we went to see. We saw the movie at the Sony Center which airs all movies in their original format, so it was in fact in English! Apparently, many of the modern day fairytales originated in Germany and Rapunzel is one of them. We found this to be fitting for us so off we went!
The kids knew there was a fun 'surprise' coming that included popcorn, but neither imagined a big theatre!
What a surprise it was for them! We did have a little bit of hesitancy when the lights dimmed, but they were fine until the sound came on. Carter said, "it's TOO loud" and covered his ears. For a second, I thought "uh oh this is not good," but I told him he could put my had on over his ears and that would help. Holding my breath, he bought it! You can barely see in this picture, but he wore the hat the whole show. Abby then insisted her ears hurt as well and needed something; hence the scarf!

I went armed with a bag full of snacks and treats to keep them in their seats-it worked! They both sat
through the whole movie, no potty breaks, nobody cried, nobody fell asleep, it was fabulous!

After the movie, we took a stroll through the Sony Center. The kids enjoyed seeing the Santa and snowman made only of Legos! Amazing the patience someone must have to put literally thousands of little legos together to make something lifesize!



Yes, even the sleigh was made solely of Legos!