Sunflowers

The boys bought me some dwarf sunflower seeds for Valentine's Day.  We planted them in a pot with some potting soil in May and have been watching them grow ever since.  The first one started to bloom a few days ago.  The others are not far behind.

A new old iPod

In February 2009, when I found out I had been selected for my current job in Germany, I got some German instructional CDs from the public library in Maryland and started listening to them in the car as I was driving to and from work.  Over the next few months, I listened to 100+ hours of German CDs and I felt like I learned a lot.  Since coming to Germany, I have taken several German classes offered at the local Army base but I want to start again with listening to German instruction in the car.  Of course, I can always just turn on the radio.  That has been the biggest reason I haven't really pursued other options.  The problem with the radio is that it hasn't really helped me develop vocabulary.  I can definitely understand some of what is being discussed in these radio conversations but when I miss something, there is no way to go back and read what was said or look things up in a dictionary.  So I have been wanting to try something else.

Calvin starts German Kindergarten

Calvin started German Kindergarten on Monday.  He doesn't speak much German but we hope he will learn quickly.  After one week, he says he really likes going to Kindergarten.

Back to school for Oscar

Oscar's German elementary school started again this past Monday after taking six weeks off for a summer break.  Oscar is in the 2nd grade this year.

Another Birthday

I turned 34 at the end of July.  Tina made a tasty carrot cake and the boys gave me a book I had been wanting.

Jetlagged

I remember how hard it was for our family to adjust to European time when we first arrived in Germany in 2009.  We had come from the Eastern time zone in the United States (six hour difference) and it took almost a full week before all of us felt comfortable with the time change.

London with Oscar

I took Oscar to London last week for four days and three nights.  The trip report is divided into sections.  Most of the photos have captions over at Picasa (see links to Picasa albums at the bottom of the post).  Picasa also has some photos that don't appear below.

Oscar finishes 1st grade

AAFES gives students who get good grades a booklet with some nice coupons in it.  We picked up Oscar's booklet on Friday.  They gave me a hard time about him not being enrolled at the American school but I don't see that requirement mentioned in their press release.  Oscar got a free slice of pizza.  I threw in some Fruity Bussi candies for dessert.  Then we walked over to the bookstore where he picked out a free magazine.  He wanted a race car magazine but most of these have half-naked women on the cover.  We settled on something a bit more appropriate.

Frankfurt Natural History Museum

Oscar and I made the short 20-minute drive into Frankfurt today to visit the Natural History Museum.  We had a great time looking at animals, bones, and fossils.

I gave Oscar an old digital camera and told him to take his own pictures.  He was so busy taking pictures (coming soon) that he didn't complain when I slowed down to take a photo.

Schloss Heidelberg

My brother and his girlfriend flew into Warsaw a few weeks ago and have been touring Europe.  I picked them up at the train station here in Wiesbaden on Friday.  They are staying with us until they fly home on Wednesday.  Yesterday we drove to Heidelberg for a day trip to its famous castle.  The day was overcast but I didn't think it would rain so I suggested that we should leave the umbrellas in the car.  Naturally, it started raining after we had been walking around the castle for about an hour.  We got a bit wet but were not soaked.  Oscar used the rain as an opportunity to spike up his hair.