Fond Memories

It has obviously been a busy summer if the Mommy and Daddy don't even get around to posting all of the pictures from the Nanny and Poppa's trip to the Old World until five months later... And that despite the fact that this trip yielded some of the loveliest family pictures! The Nanny even braved bitterly cold winds just to stand in front of a particularly beautiful bush with her two grandchildren and look pretty:  

Sometimes even the Mommy got to be in the picture:

High up on the list of favourite things to do: tram and trains. Anything to do with them made two particular family members especially happy (hint: they are both wearing hats... and not the pink kind!).

Also always a favourite: food... easily combinable with the trams-and-trains-theme, thank goodness!

Every now and again, however, all that good food and sitting around in trains just wouldn't do, and the men in the family resorted to that most German pastime of all. Three generations, happily united kicking a ball. How great is that...

School Girl!

Anneke is a very lucky girl, as her loving brother has meticulously prepared for the adventure of starting school:

He has walked her through every step, creating his own teaching materials, providing her with homework assignments, patiently explaining the intricacies of 3+5 and 10-7.

So when the big day finally came, she was ready! Backpack? Check! "Schultüte" (the traditional school cone) filled with sweets and little presents? Check! The only thing missing: sunshine... and since rain and cardboard-based Schultütes don't really get along, the Daddy had to get creative. Praise to whomever invented cling wrap!

Thanks to the Daddy's efforts, the Schultüte survived even the absolute downpour to which it was subjected on the way to the ceremony, and its contents were subsequently eagerly unveiled by the school girl and her devoted brother: 

 

So, all's well that ends well! The Mommy and Daddy are relieved - another offspring successfully enrolled!