Spencer & Hannah now Famous

Spencer and Hannah went on another outing together. A sort of summer day camp and they both made the paper together. They were both excited about the activities when they came home. They got to see Felix, the Spielmobil. A traveling library that goes to various locations in our city. Spencer still says he is not excited about being in the paper. I was excited and I still don't fully believe Spencer about not being excited.

Shantal is having fun at her Theater camp (except for one dog scare on Friday). She will be performing Max & Moritz, a famous children's story about little boys who get in trouble. The moral of the story is don't get in trouble, or the trouble will get you in the end.


The article/caption talks about a tour of the city that included a treasure hunt. This was followed by games and activities. They then visited the roving library and watched a movie together.

Spencer's Famous

As I read the local free newspaper that contains information about our town's local events I ran across a pleasant surprise. Spencer's picture was in the paper.

Spencer wasn't too excited about the affair, but it was fun to see.



The article talks about the activities held that day, including a Boat trip from Kaiserswerth to Düsseldorf. A tour of a boot museum in Düsseldorf, and a trip up to the top of the TV Tower in Düsseldorf. All very fun items.

Little Victories and Joys

In no particular order:

I got the night off tonight. Spencer and Hannah are overnighting at friends' houses. Emma and Ian were excited to be with dad. I was excited to be with them. It was a good time together.

Kept Ian and Emma busy while I cooked dinner. That is the worst time of the day - whenever I'm cooking - Ian and Emma go bonkers. In the kitchen, out of the kitchen, screaming, fighting, yelling, etc. I gave them two bowls and two rubber scrapers and told them to cook something - a miracle occurred. They did. I kept giving Ian pieces of hot dog to keep his stomach occupied as well, but it worked. I could cook unencumbered - a huge difference.

We found a missing house shoe (croc) for Ian and Emma. They also wear the shoes into the backyard. Ian and Emma share two pairs of house shoes (same color, but two different sizes) and we had 3 shoes, so one of the kiddos was always coming up short.

After coming home from Kindergarten on Thursday Emma stopped on the front porch and started taking off her shoes. I asked her what she was doing and why she wasn't going inside. She said - cause you told me to dump out the sand here on the porch before going into the house - remember dad?

Spencer is excited about reading a German book (comic books from the Daffy Duck and Scrooge McDuck gang), but it's German and it's reading, and I know I always learn some German when I read them. The series puts out a new book every month or so that fits with topics of interest (soccer, summer vacation, etc.).

Hannah is trying to learn how to play the piano. She plays a few simple songs (simple with the right hand) and found a chord for the left hand and now the simple songs sound very good. We are going through a book from Grandma that will hopefully help her to play for real.

No one fell into the Rhine on our boot tour today. And the boot ride was quite nice. Ian and Emma liked going up on deck and then down into the cabin. Up on deck and down into the cabin. Up on deck and down into the cabin. You get the idea. And we found ice cream in Düsseldorf for 0,60 € per scoop. This is 0,10 € cheaper than in most placed in town and me and Spencer were excited about the savings.

Emma wanted green ice cream. But when she got it she was not excited (Kiwi when expecting Pistaccio is tough on a little soul). She tried Spencer's and took it over completely. Spencer was happy to buy another cone. Ian actually ate most of the ice cream (I ate the cone for him and helped with drips).

A Day in Irrland

No, not that Irland (or Ireland). Irrland is a small amusement park near the Dutch border in the city of Kevelaer, where Mother Theresea once visited and prayed, and where a live manger scene is played out each year at Christmas time (we went there last year). The park reminds me of Little Americka back in Wisconsin, which was also an amusement park that grew out of former farm land. Irrland is a great little place though. There are lots of attractions for kids, the prices were very reasonable, and for parents, the accommodations were fabulous, for example there are tons of covered picnic tables and benches where you can barbeque or just sit and eat, while the kids run around on the attractions in the vicinity (slides, water, maze, farm animals, more water, foot pedal driven go-cart tracks, to name a few things).

We went with some good friends today and had a great time. Ian was quite clingy, but warmed up to a few things over time. It was a relaxing day all in all. The good thing was we made plans for Hannah to play with their daughter for this week. Ian loved being with Hannah's friend's mom. They went and watched the bunnies three or four times in a row together and played with the donkey together and a little bit near the water. It is nice to spend time with that family, they give the kids a different sounding board (other than mom and dad) and I enjoy hanging out with them as well.

The husband is an American and speaks English to his daughter (wife is German). So, when we get together, we speak English (or try to speak English the majority of the time). When I speak to their daughter in English she generally tends to run in the other direction as fast as possible. She runs up to me really fast and says something (half of it before I know she is talking to me). I ask her, in English, what was that. She looks at me funny, and runs the other way. It's funny for me. Tough for the parent to stay the "English" (or foreign language) parent all the time. Anyway, it's good to get together.