Grandpa was sick a couple weeks ago. To make him feel better Jared and I put together these rice krispie treats. We even decorated them.


Anne and Alicia got to carry them in for him. I think Grandpa was happy about his surprise. The girls thought it was fun too.

Winter is Here

A couple weeks ago it seemed that fall was over and winter was here. We had our first snow of the season. I had to quickly buy a coak for Anne, because her one from last year was too small. Alicia had fun picking it out with me. When we showed it all to Jared after work the girls just had to go out and play.

Katie got to watch from the window and stay inside where it was warm.

Jared took the chance to hastily get the yard winter-ready. And I took pictures and videos.

Zoo

A little while ago Gpa took Anne and Alicia to the zoo. This is one of his favorite things to do with them. I don't have many pictures of them and the animals, but there are a lot of ones at the park that is in the zoo.

And to top the day off, they got to ride the train home. That was favorite.

Pumpkin Carving

Jared bought some pumpkins for the girls the other night. He had told Anne that they would carve pimpkins this year. So the next night when he got home from work we did it.

I found some templates on the internet and each girl got to pick their own design. Jared carved out the inside (I hate that part), drew the design on and...

helped both girls to carve them. He tried to have them involved as much as possible.

And here you have the finished product. They are each next to their own pumpkin. They were fascinated by the whole process and thought it was so much fun. I love being able to do things I remember from my childhood with my own children.

The Park

This is about a month old. I am so behind. After Jared got off work one night we took the girls to a fun park. We were there for about and hour and had tons of fun.
Katie LOVED the swing. When I took her out she screamed and screamed. But was so happy, laughing and smiling when she was in it.

I put her on the grass to let her crawl around. She was ok sitting there watching for a while. Jared and I were sitting on the tire swing. But as you can see she got upset about being all alone and I think she didn't want to crawl to anyone on the grass.

Alicia fell off the back at one point, but it was so funny.

The see-saws are my favorite things at parks. Jared was nice and did it with me. I think he thought it was a bit silly though. He is a good sport.

Now that is my kind of chin-ups. Isn't he cute.

Just Imagining Things?

Is it possble for a 9 month old to be deliberatly mischievious? I am beginning to think so. There have been seveal times when I have had to distinct feeling that she is more aware of right and wrong than seems normal for her age. For example:

She was playing the with my DVDs. I was doing something on the computer. When I got up to see what she was doing. She immediately stopped, gave me a smile filled with mischief, turned and began crawling away as fast a possible. And this has happened more than once.

I can't believe how fast she is growing. Soon she will be walking and then she won't be my baby anymore. She went immediately from crawling to pulling herself up on furniture. Soon she was cruising along the furniture. She has even let go a few time to sit down, instead of just sliding down while still holding on. Now she is clapping and waving. Can't she stay a baby a little longer.

Nürnberg

On another one of our days with David we took him into Nürnberg. We showed him around all the historical places and that evening he went to the soccer game of the city team.

That guy with the red shirt is David. He standing where Hitler would stand when he would have all the rallies for his soldiers. Thousands and thousands of troops would march past him. Hitler made this stadium for these rallies and it is huge.

This is another thing made by Hitler. It is part of the whole complex of buildings he made. I think it is funny that now it is used as a Burger King.

This is Nürnberg's Courthouse. They held the war crimes trials here. Trials are still held in the same courtroom.

A lot of the inner city of Nürnberg was bombed during WWII. But there are a few places like this that survived. I love how picturesque it is.

One thing about all these old house is that they becasue of the way they were taxed they are extemely narrow, but so long, and tall.

You can't have a tour of Nürnberg without having the Nürnberger bratwurst (my bratwurst if choice). It comes on a roll with mustard. David loved his.

After our lunch Ray took David up to see the castle. We just meandered up there with the girls. While we were walking a tour bus tried to make a very sharp turn in the narrow streets. Nearly took out a building. We were standing within feet of it. It was so fascinating and terrifying at the same time. This picture you can see us from the place in the castle that looks over the whole city. Ray took it. He probably even zoomed too.

That gold circle you see the woman touching is part of a fountain in the main market place. The legend is that a blacksmith wanted to marry the daughter of prominant man in the city. The father said that he could marry her if he could make a ring that didn't end; that you wouldn't be able to see where is was welded together. He did. Now that ring is in the fountain. And if you turn it, you will have luck.

After our tour of Nürnberg I took Katie and Alicia home. Anne stayed with Gpa to finish the tour. Alicia was so hurt that she didn't get to stay. She cried and cried on the way home, until she finally fell asleep.

Jared, David and Robby stayed that evening and went to the game of Nürnberg's city team. I think that was a real highlight of the whole visit for him. Jared loved it too. When he heard that that was one of the things that David wanted to do most when he came, I don't think Jared needed any more coaxing than that.