Berlin Pictures

Here is Berlin. : ) We didn't try to see too much stuff and we always made it back to the hotel for nap time so we all stayed happy.

We saw the Reichstag which is a big parliment building... It looks really old and "european" but the top is a modern-ish giant glass dome with a walkway inside going round and round to the top. My favorite part about this was that it was rainy and hailing and windy and cold and people were waiting TWO hours to go inside the dome. We walked up and discovered the special "children" enterance and walked right in... didn't wait at all! YAY. The walkway turned into a long heeley ramp for Michaela and her shoes though so it was a highlight of the day. I still think we should have rented the kids to the people at the back of the line for 100 euros so they could skip the line too!

We went inside the Berliner Dom (Cathedral) too. It was huge and we walked all the way to the top and went around the narrow roof walkway on top... That was a lot of steps!!

It was pretty cold and windy the whole time so one day we hid inside and played at the Legoland Discovery Center. We visited the Sony Center and Potsdamer Platz, saw some Berlin wall... and even bought a piece : ) We also did some shopping at a giant mall and tried to take advantage of the cheaper-than-Denmark prices. We went in the big train station; Scotty loves trains!

...and we ate lots of yummy food and bought too many souveiners so I guess it was a successful vacation. :)

tara

Scotty's ABCs

If this video works I'll make more of Scotty talking... just to prove he does!! I think he gets seven of the letters right.

tara

St. Patrick's Day & Easter

It's St. Patricks Day. But Shhh... I don't think anyone in Denmark knows that. I haven't seen any signs of shamrocks or green anythings. We still ate our green dinner and wore our green today!

Easter is coming soon though. Easter, or "Paske" as Michaela taught me today, is this Sunday - as in the States... but there is no Easter Bunny. This is sad but unfourtunately makes perfect sense. How is a bunny supposed to make his way over oceans? Santa has his sleigh, the Tooth Fairy can fly, but the Easter Bunny cannot hop that far, it would be unsafe. This is why he only visits the United States, Canada, Mexico, and South America... (even Hawaii is out!)

So there are no bunnies or plastic eggs to be found in the country of Denmark... We will hardboil our eggs and dye them with the food coloring we brought from home and then roll them down a hill! : ) Danes also send anonymous letters to people a few weeks before Easter and if you can't guess who gave you the letter then you have to give that person a chocolate egg on Easter. If you do guess who gave it to you then they owe you a chocolate egg on Easter. I already owe two little girls chocolate eggs!

I'll be sure to put some pictures of our Easter fun. Being the wonderful mommy that I am I found wooden eggs which we painted and will hide ourselves! :) We may end up hiding them in a hotel though because we are headed to Berlin for the next week!

tara

IT'S A GIRL!!!!

We are going to have another little girl!! Yay for more piggy tails!!

Mr. I'm-So-Funny

Scotty thinks he's hillarious. It's funny to see how much of a sense of humor this little boy has. When we read books at night I'll ask where the blue car is and he'll point to the red. I'll ask where the red car is and he'll point to the blue one and cover his mouth with his hand and just laugh. :)

He says his shoes go on his ears.
He hides his fork under his plate at dinner and then asks where it is.
He says he's a cat and then barks.
He runs away with the kitchen rug saying it's his "B" (blankey).
He acts like he's going to share his food with you and then eats it at the last minute.

One may think he's just a little on the dumb side, but he just laughs and laughs after all of his little "jokes". I think it's too funny that this little two year old thinks he's the funniest thing ever. I guess his mommy was voted Class Clown in high school... :)

Radio

The Danish radio stations play American music here, or at least music sung in English and it seems like every fifth song is either Britney Spears or the Rocky Theme, Eye of the Tiger!

Most of the songs are from a long time ago. It's kind of fun hearing songs I listened to *back when I was young*. I hear songs I can remember taping off the radio onto cassette tapes when I was 10. One of the first cassette tapes I ever owned was Bon Jovi and I hear Livin' on a Prayer all the time on the radio now. The first CD I ever had was a Genesis CD, just a single, of I Can't Dance. I hear it all the time too. Just like all the TV shows are one season behind, the music is a decade (or two) behind.

AND they don't censor the radio so all bad words come through loud and clear! ALL the bad words, even the really bad ones. : o (No big deal I guess since newspaper headlines feature these same "Really Bad Words" in super big print.) America is definitly not the land of free speech, you can say or print or sing whatever you'd like here..

So there's my little blurb on the radio here because I was fairly amused, and relieved, that I could understand most music on the radio and in the stores. It makes me feel a little better about not understanding anything else.

Valentine's Day Cookies

We made cookies and the Pillsbury Dough Boy didn't help at all!

With the help of a spaghetti holder (instead of a rolling pin) we rolled out the dough, sifted through the play-doh toys for a heart cookie cutter, and we made cookies - AND frosting!

They were yummy and we had lots so we shared with our friends across the street and our neighbors.

It was definitely more time consuming and messy but they tasted way better than the ones in the ever-so-convienent packages. :)