Lolo's Birthday Party!

Lolo is now a teenager!! Mom made a vanilla cake with chocolate chip icecream in the middle and Aunt Missy's marshmallow Fluff icing on top! Yum!!

Make a wish!

She blew out all thirteen candles in one breath...no it's true really, I know its hard to believe!!

Lolo got good presents this year; her friends got her shirts with corrdinating jewelry and lotion and stuff, Mom got her a beading kit with a neat little beading board and a Zoe girls greatest hits CD. There are more presents for her, but we are waiting for her real birthday! Ooh!! It looks like they're having fun! Lolo decided on a sleepover for her birthday of course!
This is Lolo's and her friends secret hand shake: high five, spin around and then thumbs up!
1,2,3 Pose!
After that they made friendship braclets with Lolo's new beading kit, played Dance Dance Revolution until Mom and Peanut got tired and went to bed. Then they settled down to watch Hoot. (That was a really cute movie by the way!!)

Growing up

Peanut asked Mom to take a picture of the horse she drew because she wanted everyone to see her masterpiece on the Doodle Pad! So here it is!! Here is the picture of the mermaid and the girl that Peanut drew for Dad,Peanut has been watching BooBaby draw pictures and now wants to learn to draw as well as she can. She is always saying, "I want to be like you" She saw Lolo making necklaces and watched very carefully until, finally she asked "Can I do it, too?" Now she made this necklace all by herself, with a little help from BooBaby ; )

Yesterday, she set up a little desk by the stairs (I don't know why she chose that spot) so she could type on the computer like Mom. She likes to help with the cooking, but she clearly said that she will not help clean! Peanut always says she will keep practicing until she can do the things her sisters do!

Snow Day

Bubbles really enjoys the snow!! Or rather, enjoys how the snow tastes!
The kids really loved running and playing in the snow, but they each had different interests.

• Bubbles loved to eat the snow and stomp around leaving a trail of footprints
• Peanut enjoyed making snow angels and throwing snow balls
• Lolo liked to team up with Peanut to try to make the biggest snowman ever
• BooBaby would rather stay inside by the heater and read a book or make cookies
• Trixie, of course, likes to try to get someone to kick her soccer ball to her!

Well...we thought it was spring.

Just when we were enjoying the warm weather, a snow storm comes blowing in. Now it is snowing and raining, leaving warmth as just a good memory. It usually snows all night or in the morning then melts by noon, but today it just keeps on snowing. We are hoping for better weather and for spring to officially come...and stay!

Kindergarten

Every morning at about 9 o'clock, Mom takes Gabby to school. It is a pretty long walk, almost across the whole village. Right now, it is time to pick Gabby up. At 11:30 the kids leave morning classes to go home for lunch, sometimes they go back in the afternoon.
Here is the kindergarten way out on the outskirts of town.

It's time to go home. It's been a long morning for Gabby. She paints and does little crafts, she plays some German games, she struggled to understand her teacher (shes understanding German a lot better), she played outside and her least favorite part, read a story. (She doesn't like storytime, she said, because she can't understand what they're saying)

Spring is here!

Everywhere in the village there are signs of spring. The the rain has made the fields so green and little colts are grazing by their mother's side. The trees are budding and we can't wait until the cherry trees bloom. I never expected the temperatures to be in the sixties so early in the year. Bike riding is becoming a daily activity and Trixie is shedding like crazy!

Riding Without Training Wheels

It's a wonderful day and Peanut wants to learn to ride without training wheels.
So Dad took her to the park where there is a basketball court to ride on.There was another little boy learning how to ride on two wheels. He had taken off the pedals as well as the training wheels. This was to help him learn to balancce on his own. Dad followed his example and Peanut is learning to ride her bike German style!



Whew! It's been a long but successful day, "Let's do it again soon, Dad!"

Vianden Chateau

We walked along the main road of the town that wound around the hill. We gradually went up hill. Vianden is a beautiful town, it's exactly what I imagined Europe to look like. There were little spaces with grass and big trees, like mini parks with benches. There are restaurants everywhere! When we came back our landlord was working in the garden (he always does on Saturdays) he said that Luxembourg is a wonderful place to see things, but you don't go there to eat. He was right; the food is really, really expensive. In the little cafe we ate at, the food was really good but way too expensive. Peanut's chicken nuggets tasted like the ones at McDonalds, LoLo and I ordered pene noodles with cheese which was awesome! Dad didn't like the sauce on his schnitzel and Mom's chicken was way overcooked, but her potatoes were good. We got to explore most of the Chateau, it was really beautiful. It's a good thing it was so nice outside!

We saw displays inside that showed the Chateau in different time periods. When it was built in the 9th century, it was only a simple fort. For the many years when it was home to nobility, the palace began to grow, elaborate archetecture filled the many rooms that were added on. But, the Chateau began to fall into ruin as it was sold piece by piece. In 1977, however the ruins were given to the State and were reconstructed to bring back all its former beauty for people to come and admire. For more, go to the link Vianden Castle http://www.castle-vianden.lu/ then, once on the site, click English.

This is the castle Chapel, isn't it beautiful? Its the most colorful part of the castle.
We don't really know what this room is, but the windows are really pretty and the view was fantastic.

The Dining Room it was the first furnished room in the tour, it got Bubbles excited. Her favorite part was running underneath the rope, hiding underneath the table and touching things your not supposed to touch. (She didn't get a nap)
Peanut really liked the bedroom, "This is where the princess lives!" she said.
This is the Great Hall, Bubbles liked it because when she yelled it echoed. Check out the suits of armor, the one on the left looks like it has to pee, I can imagine it saying "How do you get this thing off, I really have to go!"

Luxembourg; Vianden

Saturday, March 10 we visited a little town on the outskirts of Luxembourg called Vianden. It is the home of the famous author, Victor Hugo. He wrote the books Hunchback of Notre Dame and Le Miserable.

Luxembourg is a small country that's only 45 minutes from Orenhofen. There, a mix French and German is spoken. I don't know how they choose with words to say in which language!

In the distance, high on a hill, is a beautiful French castle, the Vianden Chateau.

This is the view of Vianden from the Chateau.

Bubbles Bath Time

Peek-a-boo!!

Watching TV

Peanut and Bubbles watchin' TV at nap time!
(I thought this was so cute that I just had to post it)

Playing House

Nobody knows why but, Peanut found a new way to past time by making a play "house" in the bathroom. She'll take pillows, blankets and stuffed animals from her room and redecorate the tub, shower, sink and the little nook next to the tub. I guess Peanut thinks it's a good place to play because its such a big and open space, perfect for running back and forth nonstop. At least its nonstop until somebody has to go! Bubbles is peeking out from her "bed" while Peanut, her pretend mom, is reading her a good night story. It's fine that she plays in the bathroom but, usually Peanut's decorations stay for days because she won't let us put it away!

Fish Crackers

This is Bubbles trying to open a box of fish crackers. Fish crackers is her favorite snack, she'll do pretty much anything for a fish cracker. When she wants one she'll usually jump up and down and knock her hand on her elbow to do the sign for "Cacka"
Help me, Lolo!!

Hooray, she got one!