HHamburg

At the end of July, I spent a week in Hamburg for work.  Hamburg is Germany's second largest city and Europe's third largest port.  Hamburg's official name (Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg) reflects the city's  history as a member of the medieval Hanseatic League and as a free imperial city of the Holy Roman Empire.  Hamburg is also one of three German city-states (Berlin and Bremen are the others).

The largest German cities generally use only one letter as the city code on their license plates.  For example, B=Berlin, M=Munich (München), K=Cologne (Köln), F=Frankfurt, L=Leipzig, and S=Stuttgart.  Although Hamburg is Germany's second largest city, H is used by Hanover and Hamburg instead uses HH as a reference to its earlier membership in the Hanseatic League (German: Hansestadt Hamburg).

My coworker Jamie also came on this trip and he brought his family.  In the evenings, we visited a fair at the Hamburger Dom and I got a chance to go to the harbor and take some photos.

Raingutter regatta and a water gun fight

In June the cub scouts held the annual Raingutter regatta (a regatta is a series of boat races).  The boys made boats out of plastic water bottles and raced them against each other.

Cub Adventure Weekend

In June the Transatlantic Council sponsored a cub scout adventure weekend at a scouting facility near Ansbach.  It took about two hours to drive there.

Circus Project

Oscar's instructional time at school is finished at either 12:30 PM or 1:15 PM (depending on the day of the week).  When school is over, Oscar goes to the on-site SchülerClub (after-school care) for lunch, homework time, and playing with friends.  Each year, SchülerClub offers students a chance to participate in special projects one day per week. Last year, Oscar signed up to be in the Circus Project -- participates would learn some circus tricks.  At the end of the year in June, parents were invited to see what the children had been learning.

Strawberry picking 2012

I took the boys strawberry picking in June.

Work trip to Naples

At the end of April, I spent two and a half weeks in Naples for work.  The view from the hotel was really fantastic.

Sara at the food court

Sara does not like french fries.  Have you ever met a child that would not eat french fries?  She will, however, eat onion rings.  I took these photos at Calvin's end-of-season soccer party in June.

Oscar becomes a Bear

In May, Oscar graduated from the Wolf den and became a Bear.  At the same ceremony, he received his Bobcat badge.  New Bobcat badges are traditionally pinned on upside down.  The badge becomes eligible to be turned around  once the scout has done a good turn for somebody else.  The blue and gold paint on his cheeks represent the sign of the Bobcat.  The blue paint stands for truth and spirituality, steadfast loyalty, and the sky above.  The gold paint stands for warm sunlight, happiness, and good cheer.  Oscar is still new to scouting but he enjoys the activities and has made new friends.

Spring Soccer 2012

The boys both played soccer in April and May.  Oscar turned eight in February so he played on a team with children who were eight and nine.  His coaches were the same from last fall.

Basketball 2012

The boys both played team basketball this past winter.  Oscar was one of the youngest boys on his team.  Although his 8th birthday was two weeks before the end of the season, the rules required him to play on a team with 8 and 9 year-old boys.

Calvin played with the 3-to-5 year-old children.  His group did not play weekly games; instead, the focus was on skills development.  Calvin was supposed to have one game at the end of the season so I was waiting for that occasion to take pictures.  Then the other parents voted to cancel the game.  So I do not have any photos of Calvin playing basketball this year.  Calvin will be six in October so he will play with boys who are 6 and 7 this coming winter.

These photos are from January and February 2012.