Germany Trip Day 8: Maulberg

In the morning, we got ready to go to Marie’s school for a party focused on movement. It started with the kids from the school marching around, playing their drums. Then, the teachers had arranged various stations for the kids to visit and participate in a variety of competitions. Karen had talked to the teachers ahead of time, and she had arranged for K and AJ to be included in these activities.


The first station we visited pitted mothers against each other as we raced our kids through an obstacle course and back. The kids sat in a cart of sorts, and we pushed them around cones, under blankets draped over chairs, turned 360 degrees, arrived at a bucket full of water, and helped the child fill his or her cup with water before doing it all in reverse.

Here I'm starting out with K

I caught a cone this time around, so I am slightly behind

Making it through the blankets

Here I'm thinking that I can beat her back.


And I passed her


Now it's AJ's turn.


About to start the 360


Getting the water

I sorely lost this one because I knocked the blankets off one side, and I couldn't get through.

From there, we went on to kicking a goal. Timo was the designated parent for this one. AJ made his goal the first time, but didn't kick the ball hard enough the second. K kicked one into the goal and one into the bush. The parents had to try to kick the ball through a hole. Timo represented us, but he missed. In all fairness, they weren't using a real soccer ball.

AJ about to kick his goal

After soccer was the sack race. AJ said he wanted to go with Daddy, so Timo carried him while he hopped against K. AJ had a blast, but I think Timo hurt his back.

K won easily.

The next event was carrying a spoon with a ping-pong ball while walking along a rope.

Timo and K. Hunter started following behind Timo...

... so the lady gave him a spoon and ball.

But he wasn't so interested in carrying anything. She is holding this for him while he walked.

AJ's turn

Next was bowling. There was a long line for this one, so the kids had to sit and wait a while.

Cousins

K's turn. She rolled the ball as she was supposed to do.


AJ threw the ball overhand.

After bowling, we headed inside for a music workshop.

Playing with the drums

Dancing with the scarves

AJ and H

H enjoying the music

All three in motion

After the music workshop ended, we rounded up the kids and ambled over to the picnic area. Every family had brought something for a kind of pot luck picnic. We had also brought our own dishes and utensils. After filling our plates, we found a place where we could all sit together and relish our food. After lunch, some of the parents stayed to help clean up while we walked back to the house.

We spent the afternoon at the pool, where H experienced his first swimming lesson. K and AJ both improved their swimming skills, with K finally daring to put her whole head underwater. This has been a struggle as she hates getting her face wet, and she has complained in the past about water getting in her ears. I was so proud of her for overcoming these obstacles on her own. The older kids also experienced the "big" slide, which they still talk about.

After a while, Timo went to buy the kids ice cream. I fed H an organic baby fruit bar that I found at the grocery store in Germany as well as part of a banana. Then, I nursed him, and he dozed while I just sat in the shade and watched everyone having fun. The ice cream rejuvenated the kids, and they went off to swim a while longer before we left to go back to the house to prepare dinner.

After dinner, we once more spent some time with books and the kids. Then it was bedtime once again.

Germany Trip Day 6: Heidelberg to Maulberg

We experienced an unpleasant surprise in the morning after breakfast when Timothy received a notice from our US bank that some money had been withdrawn from our account – the exact amount that had NOT come out of the ATM the evening before. So, after breakfast, we packed up, I snapped some pictures of the hotel room for posterity, and we tried to figure out how to best handle the situation. We finally decided that Timo should go back into town solo to try to talk to people at the bank.

Our room in Heidelberg

The kitchenette

The kids' room (K enjoyed snuggling on that chair to read)

The foyer area

The other side of the foyer

While Timo paid the bill, I took the kids down the road behind the hotel to some of the local farmer’s stores in their barns. The final destination was a bakery at the end of the road. When we got to the bakery, I purchased a raisin bun and an apple pastry for us to eat in addition to the two apples and one carrot we had bought along the way. Timo met us when we were almost to the bakery and walked some of the way with us, but he then ran back to get the car and try to find out from the bank what happened to our money. He ended up meeting us with the car and driving everyone back to the hotel, where we waited in the shade on the grass while Timo went back into Heidelberg.

We ended up making the bakery treats into a mini-picnic along with a cup of yogurt we had left over from our trip to the grocery store.

The kids with their apples they got from a local farmer

I thought this hayfield by the bakery looked so picturesque.

H walking around while we waited

Sweet girl

Happy Baby

AJ downing his yogurt. We didn't have a spoon, but he made do.

Messy face

Finding his bellybutton

Timo finally returned with no conclusion to the mystery of our missing money. We all hopped in the car and headed to a view the Schwetzingen Castle gardens before journeying south toward my cousin's house in Maulberg.

Walking toward the entrance of the castle

Looking from the castle out toward the gardens

Front of one of the Zirkelbauten, originally intended to be an orangery.

Walking along next to the zirkelbaut.

Rows of trees leading away from the castle

One of many groups of arched hedges.

I think this is the bath house.

One of the fountains, looking away from the castle.

Another archway, leading to a statue at the end

I loved the flowers. They are just gorgeous.

I wish my garden looked like this.

View from the flowers toward the castle.

Looking down a side path

One of the side fountains

The center fountain closest to the castle



These are kids on the backs of geese.



The castle from in front of the fountain

Another side fountain

Another perfectly symmetrical path

The lake toward the back.

This mallard decided to show off his feathers for me.

A swan saying, "Hello."

There were a bunch of little ducklings that the kids loved.

H and the swan checking each other out.

All the kids with the swan. K is holding H back. :)

The statue of Danubius in the lake

Looking toward the castle from the lake

H checking out the flowers on the way back

View of the other zirkelbaut from the gardens

After leaving the gardens, we drove to my cousin's house. All three kids fell asleep, making the drive much less stressful despite the traffic on the autobahn. We arrived at Karen’s house sometime around 5:30pm, and we spent the evening getting settled into our temporary quarters and catching up with family. The kids loved playing with their third cousin, and they also thoroughly enjoyed the toys, books, and puzzles that Karen has bought for her daughter. I think it was a much-needed break from all the traveling.