A Lantern Walk

Here in Germany, it is tradition to take an evening walk with lanterns in the fall (especially on St.Martin’s Day; but I will let you look it up yourself if you want more information).  In past years we have done a walk at McKenzie’s house.  This year, however, we were invited to the Brüggeman’s house (from our church).  After a wonderful meal we all bundled up for the walk and afterwards returned for some dessert.  This year Stephen bought lanterns for the boys with little flashlights in them instead of the traditional candles, which always tend to catch the lanterns on fire!

This next picture is a little blurry, but you get more of the effect.

Joel was so excited to be going to a real farm (Kay B. is a farmer).  Though he didn’t really understand when I told him there would be no horses, cows, etc.  Kay does have pigs, and some chickens (but they were already asleep in the hen house).  I think Joel was a little surprised at how large the sows were!  But he enjoyed a close up look at the piglets.

Hannah is getting bigger

Once again, time has gotten away from me and I am behind on the blog posts.  The days have been busier than usual the last few weeks, and last week every spare minute of my time was filled getting our ladies’ Bible study prepared.  Thankfully this week is a little slower and maybe I will get a post or two up.  Here I just wanted to have several pictures of Hannah from October.  The boys are really enjoying her as she begins to interact with them more and more.

Playing with a doll from Auntie Alicia.

Hannah is quite chubby but her clothes do a good job of hiding it!

All dressed warmly for church.

Just enjoying having tummy time.

Playmobil Funpark, part 2

After lunch, we finished up the second half of the park.  First we visited Noah’s Ark, which Joel had been wanting to see since we first arrived.  On the backside of the ark, they have built little water canals that are waist high for children.  The canals are filled with various boats, animals, and other toys.  The boys loved it, and could have easily spent the entire day there.

Next we went to the farm area where children can groom the horses and milk the cows.  It is hard to tell whether Joel likes dirt and trucks or animals more.  He loved these animals and wanted to keep milking and then would take his bucket to the cows to give them a drink (since it was really just water).

Behind the farm was a western themed section.  Amongst other things, the boys could use sieves and pan for gold (tiny rocks painted gold that were buried in the sand).

They had a new sand and water section that was just built this past summer.  The boys loved it and could have spent the whole day there (have I already said that?!).

And if all these previous things weren’t enough to do, they also had a huge indoor play area.  This included tables and chairs for eating, and then various stations for all the Playmobil sets.  There were multiples of everything they sell, and of the smaller figures (people & animals) probably 50-100 of each kind.  They had a lovely room nearby for mothers with small babies, so whenever Hannah needed to eat, Stephen would go play with the boys while I nursed Hannah.  We had such a wonderful time and will definitely go back some day!

Playmobil Funpark, part 1

The last weekend in September, we took a three day family vacation in southern Germany to visit Playmobil Funpark.  We had a wonderful time, and it is hard to condense it down to a few pictures (we took over 700!).  For anyone with older preschool or elementary age children, this is definitely THE place to go!  The price is very reasonable, and you can even bring your own food and drinks in to save money.  Even though we got around to everything the first day, we went back for a second day just because the boys had such a great time.

We stayed in a pension for 3 nights.  This is how we found Joel the first night we were there!

At the entrance to the park.

Our first stop was the construction area.  It was multi-level and filled with lots of trucks and rocks.  A little boy’s dream!

Inside playing with a remote controlled train.

Our next stop was a treehouse/climbing area.

Next was a pirate ship surrounded by water.

Here we have climbed up to the castle area & are overlooking the pirate ship.  In the background you can see the treehouse.

The castle had various fun things to do and places to climb.

These child size Playmobil figures were everywhere and Micah just loved to go up to them, talk to them, and hold their hands.

Pictures of Hannah from September

Here are just a few odd pictures of Hannah from the month of September.  The first two are from home, and the last three are from our trip to Playmobil Land.

Work Weekend at Camp Impact

Well, I am just getting around to posting this almost a month after it actually happened!  September 17-19 we went down to Camp Impact for a work weekend.  We wanted to go one more time as a family this year before it gets too cold (there is no heating in the buildings so nights are cold, especially for little Hannah!).  Once again, the boys enjoyed playing outside with all their little friends, I helped out in the kitchen and doing general cleaning, and Stephen helped with the main building projects.  The Lord blessed us with beautiful sunny weather that couldn’t have been nicer.

A picture of beds donated from a nursing home.

Installing two stoves in the kitchen area.

Removing the insulation in Haus 2.

Several ladies & children worked on removing old wallpaper.

Enjoying the beautiful weather after lunch.

Removing boards & cross beams between the 3rd story & the attic.  This area will be a meeting room with a high open ceiling.

Everyone who came minus the Brueggeman family.

Hannah at 12 weeks

Here are just a few quick pictures of Hannah at about 12 weeks.  Enjoying cuddle time with Mama.

Learning to push up – such a strong girl.

We like to do what Hannah does!

Enjoying the fall weather with a walk.

Hannah at 7 Weeks

As I was sorting through pictures for my next blog post, I ran across these pictures of Hannah that I had missed.  These are from Hannah at 7 weeks old when Stephen was gone at the first Spain camp.  She was just starting to get the hang of smiling.

And this was something funny the boys decided to do while Stephen was at camp.  They call it having “monkey feet.”

Joel’s 3rd Birthday

We celebrated Joel’s birthday two weeks late, since we were at camp during his birthday.  He loves animals right now, so we decided to go with a jungle theme.

Opening presents from Oma & Opa (King) on the webcam.  Isn’t modern technology great!

The cake picture is made from rice paper, so it is edible.  Stephen’s mom ordered this from England for us.

Eating cake is serious business.

The frosting is the best part!

Opening gifts – with Micah’s help, of course.

Spain Camp 2009

This summer we got to go to camp in Spain with Stephen; this year we just went in August instead of July.  The long trip isn’t so much fun, but it is well worth the fun time when we arrive!  The boys love having so much place to just run around and have fun.  I enjoy fellowship with old friends from Spain and a different pace than at home.  Stephen enjoys not having to be away from his family.

The boys listen to TAG books on the bus ride.

Hannah in her stroller when we were outside.

Playing outside like the big kids do.

Uncle Brad helped Micah with the bow & arrows.

Swimming is a special part of going to camp.  This year Micah learned to swim in the big pool with just his little floaties.

Friends from Spain – Jemima and Nuria.

Group photo from August 2009 camp.

Pont du Gard, an aqueduct in France constructed by the Roman Empire, where we stopped on the way back to Germany.