Photos of Sara

I took some photos of Sara in the back yard.

First day of school 2012

The boys started third grade and Kindergarten this year.  We told Calvin that boys and girls would learn how to read in Kindergarten.  He was excited to learn how to read but when he got home on the first day of school he was disappointed that nobody had taught him how to read; he thought it was all going to happen on the first day of school...

Church activity at the park in Groß-Gerau

We had a ward activity at the park in Groß-Gerau -- good friends, good food, good times...  I brought the camera and took some pictures.

Norschter Kerb

Each year in late August the town where we live hosts a small carnival -- the Norschter Kerb.  We walked to the carnival and let the children play some of the games and ride some of the rides.  They each got a small treat as we started to walk home.

Hofgut Langenau

Oscar's cub scout pack visited a Rhine River island in Trebur.  The island has some nice jogging and biking trails that are popular with visitors.  There is also a restaurant and a small "beach" area.  We had a short ferry ride to the island and then we walked to the restaurant.  Everybody had a great time.

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

The cub scouts held the annual Raingutter regatta (a regatta is a series of boat races) at the end of June.  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.

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.

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.

Stitches for Oscar

In March, Oscar dropped a jar of applesauce and cut his hand on the broken glass.  The wound required five stitches.  I took him to the pediatrician about ten days later to have the stitches taken out.

Father / Son Camping Activity 2012

This year's Father / Son camping activity was at the American Military Cemetery in Luxembourg (same place as last year).  If you remember my post from two years ago, you might recall that I do not particularly enjoy camping.  It rained hard as we were driving there so I was expecting a sloppy mess upon arrival.  I was not disappointed -- there was mud everywhere...

The Netherlands 2012

My father and step-mother came to visit during Oscar's spring break in April.  We scheduled a three-day trip to the Netherlands.  Of course we went to the Keukenhof (3rd year in a row).  The weather forecast called for rain each day we were there but it never rained once.  On the day we went to the Keukenhof, the sunlight helped me get some great photos.  My dad brought his fancy Canon 7D camera so I got to use that for the photos.

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.

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.

A day trip to Strasbourg

In 1977, my father was employed as a Visiting Assistant Professor at the Institut de Chimie, Université Louis-Pasteur in Strasbourg, France.  Strasbourg subsequently became the city of my birth.  When my father came to visit in April, he said he wanted to see the city again.  It was only a two hour drive from Wiesbaden so we drove there and back on the same day.  We visited the Strasbourg Cathedral (from 1647 to 1874 it was the world's tallest building), walked around the Grand Island (in 1988 it was named a UNESCO World Heritage site), had lunch at a French restaurant, and stopped at a pastry shop for desert as we walked back to the parking garage.

Pinewood Derby 2012

Oscar started attending Cub Scouts on the local Army base two weeks ago.  He is excited about earning patches and belt loops and learning new things.  Right now he is a Wolf.  In May he will become a Bear.

The Pinewood Derby is only held one a year but was scheduled for last Saturday (Oscar's second week).  Because he was just getting started with scouts, Oscar did not have a lot of time to work on his car.  The wood shop on the local Army base helped us cut the wood and then Oscar painted it and I helped him hammer the wheels on.

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.

New banner image

I updated the banner image with some photos I took after church today.

Calvin builds a Lego truck

Calvin built a small Lego car a few weeks ago.  I had to help him press a few of the pieces together and he needed help putting the tires together but he did the rest of it by himself.

Sara plays with BuckleyBoo

My mother sent Sara a BuckleyBoo toy for her recent birthday.  Sara really likes it.  I took some photos of her playing with it.

Oscar's baptism

Mormon children are eligible to be baptized when they turn eight (see here for an explanation).  Accordingly, Oscar was baptized on his eighth birthday.  Oscar spent several months preparing for his baptism.  We talked a lot about what it means to be baptized.  We also we discussed answers to questions that were in a "Baptism Book" that the ward Primary Presidency provides to each of the seven year-old children.  We are grateful that Oscar made the choice to be baptized.

Cirque Dreams at Ramstein Air Base

After Oscar's birthday party, I took Oscar and Calvin to Ramstein Air Base to see Cirque Dreams.  The show was free (compliments of Armed Forces Entertainment).  A performance stage had been constructed inside a large airplane hangar.  The seating was just removable benches that had been set up on the floor of the hangar.  It was really crowded and we got there right as the show was about to start so we had to hunt to find poor seats in the back.  Because the floor of the hangar was not sloped, we had a hard time seeing much more than the backs of the people sitting in front of us.  Lots of people were standing in the aisles because it gave a better view.  Initially I thought we should just give up and go home but we had driven over an hour to get there so I decided to just wait and see if things improved with time.  In fact they did improve -- but not until lots of other people sitting near us left early (because they were also unable to see).  Once people started leaving, our view improved significantly.

Oscar turns eight!

Oscar's eighth birthday was last Sunday.  We had a birthday party on Saturday afternoon.

Beyblade overload

When I came downstairs last Saturday morning, Oscar was watching YouTube videos on the laptop.  I wondered how long he had been there so I checked the browser history:

Sara turns two!

Sara's second birthday was on Valentine's Day.  Tina had a small birthday party at home during the day and then we had cupcakes and opened a few presents in the evening.  After she had a bath, Sara talked to some of her grandparents on Skype.

A small car accident

A few weeks ago, I was driving to a morning meeting at church when my car slid off the road, hit a guardrail, and bounced back onto the road.  I was not driving very fast so the damage is not too bad -- the rear light housing on the driver's side is cracked and there are some minor scratches and dents that run along driver's side of the car.  The mechanics at the Army's do-it-yourself auto shop looked at it on Friday night and said they think they can bang out the dents and buff out most of the scratches.  They also had a junk E39 BMW waiting to be crushed so they are going to pull the light housing off and sell it to me for $15.  It could have been a lot worse...

Narula Family 2011 Year In Review

Tina made a 2011 memory book at shutterfly.com.  I made some small changes as I was reviewing the book for clarity and errors but the majority of the book is Tina's work.  We have not yet received the book in the mail.  Here is what it will look like:

New banner image

I updated the banner image with newer photos.

Calvin picks his name

A recent conversation with Calvin:

When seat belts attack

Calvin's neck got stuck in his seat belt today.

Holiday Party with Santa

My work had a holiday party for the children on December 10th.  Santa and friends were the special guests.  Oscar told me he knew it was the real Santa because he had a list, there were elves, and Santa knew his name.

New Year's Day

New Year's Day was a Sunday this year.  We have church in the morning this year (we share the building with a German congregation and each year we take turns meeting in the morning or afternoon) so after we got home from church, we had the rest of the day to spend as a family.  The boys wanted to play Blokus -- a new game we received during the holidays.  Predictably, Sara wanted to play too.  So rather than fighting with her about the pieces, I let the boys take turns playing online.  Like Othello, Blokus is easy to learn but difficult to master.  Oscar went first and then Calvin had a turn.  Both boys finished in third place.