We did it!

So, there recently was a soccer world cup. Clearly not something that would excite the stateside part of the kiddos' large family tree, but on this side of the ocean - pretty big deal. For four weeks, much of the kids' lives (at day care, with their friends, and yes, even at home) revolved around soccer:

Truth be told, Lautje and Anneke were luckier than most - they would have been happy with a win by Holland, Germany or the USA, whoever happened to make it to the end. They thoroughly enjoyed the Germany matches...

 ... but they were just as happy to don the orange if the Dutch elftal was playing.

 

And they were genuinely saddened when the American team was sent home by Belgium. Mots of all, though, they enjoyed the paraphernalia craze - everything suddenly had a Germany flag. Even the ice cream...  

It is questionable whether the kids quite grasped the epic dimension a soccer world cup title has for the majority of the German population. Nevertheless, Germany's win against Argentina in the final clearly left a lasting impression, as evidenced by Lautje's drawings...  

The translation? Germany => cup => yes. Argentina => cup => no...