Lucas turns 6 !!!

After organizing a "Treasure Hunt" for weeks (in fully detail with treasure map and everything a sofisticated treasure hunt would need) this jumping house stole my thunder and no one - not even Lucas - cared about my Treasure Hunt. So we let them play - them, which is half of Lucas' class, they had a wild time, it was fun to watch for all of us and I would call this 6th Birthday Party a full success.




There was painting in the backyard...



.... and other games..... we had a splendid time!!!

A day in Santa Cruz

Finally the weather is getting better and some weather spoiled Californians head to Santa Cruz to get back to some summery beach feeling (which is always kind of easy to get in lovely Santa Cruz) We took Moritz, our new dog along and had a blast (and Moritz slept very well that night after all this exitment!) It was a beautiful, sunny day... but look for yourself:




And of course, Lucas' bike should never be missing on a day trip.....

Happy New Year 2008 in Tahoe

What better place is there to go if not to Tahoe? (Reim di oder i friss di) We had a wonderful time with our friends Marion and Andi (yes, yes, we exist twice here in the Bay Area...) and went skiing for 4 days.
We have been extremely lucky with the weather and the cozy cabin made this getaway the perfect treat for the end of the year. (Thanks to Andi there were some other treats that made it even more perfect :-))

The kids played nicely and everyone got some time away on the hill, either with the sled, skis or snowboard. It was simply a fantastic time!

Lucas first day at Kindergarten

Monday, August 27 was a big day for lots of us - Kindergarden started! Of course we had to create a German "Schultuete" fur Lucas, filled with goodies and some surprises. He was very excited (and little sad later when we had to leave him...) but now, 3 weeks later very much in his routine and loving it!

Family visit from Germany

We are very happy to have Sandra here, our sister in law and also her 2 sons, Julian (3) and Sebastian (6). We are having a wonderful time, they seemed to overcome the jet-lag really well (slept through the night in night #3 which is great!) and also seem to enjoy the "californien way of life". We already went to the pool twice, tomorrow we will visit "The City", beach on Friday and than (what a stressful life) Monterey on Sunday and hopefully we will see some whales on our whale watching tour! Look at the pictures and see it yourself - these kids are after all - no doubt - from one family!







Left: Julian on the first evening (doesn't get any cuter!)

Camping Trip to Big Sur in July 07

We packed our stuff (a little view on what our stuff is on the left) and drove to Pointe Reyes, this beautiful area north of San Francisco where camping is pure pleasure. We decided for a camping - light weekend (dinner next to the fire, breakfast at a restaurant) and we were delighted to find out that our campground was only 15 minutes from the city Pointe Reyes Station (with a very old-fashioned but nice restaurant for tired campers).


Andreas, who has proven his BBQ-ing abilities many times before, again magically made the most of our simple kitchen situation (and next to a fireplace under the stars chicken and corn tastes even better than usually)
Lucas ate so much that night - it was an almost scary sight!






A "happy camper" indeed he was, I think as most kids the pure exitment about sleeping in a tent fulfilled our little boy.
So we had the perfect weather, perfect campground and happy child!

We hope to get back soon when Sandra and her boys are here!

Potluck on Redoaks Drive

On July, 15 we live in this house since 2 years. It seems crazy but it's actually true. So we took advantage of this anniversary and invited all our neighbors to a block-party.
July, 15 was a Sunday, which worked out perfect and all our neighbors came over around 3pm. We had a lot of nice dishes on the table (which are the bavarian beer tables that we have brought from Germany by the way) and as we are very international on our street we had a nice mixture of dishes from all over (American of course, but also Russian, Asian, and our neighbor Nic from Jamaica). We had a wonderful time and Lucas was extremely busy as the teenage kids of our next door neighbors gave him a lot of attention and you could see the happiness on his face all afternoon.