14 October, 2011

Alles Gute zum zehnten Geburtstag!

When we decided to move to Germany back in 2006 a lot of people wished us luck and reminded us of the Germans' cold, standoffish reputation. And the Schwabians? They're apparently the worst of the bunch!

I am happy to report that this hasn't been our experience at all! We have been blessed with great friends and neighbors!
Last night the doorbell rang. It was one of our neighbors. She'd apparently found out that it's B's birthday today and she showed up with a homemade cake decorated with M&M's and sparklers!!!

Happy 10th birthday, big guy! May you have many more happy and healthy decades to explore the world and to make friends in new cultures!

Grampa and his *adoreable* grandkids

My poor dad is always the photographer and rarely ends up in any of the family snapshots. I was just sifting through some old photos and came across this series which made me laugh until tears came to my eyes. He finally has a chance to have his picture taken but no one else was in the mood to cooperate at that moment!

03 October, 2011

Mayberry R.F.D.

It was 9:30 and getting noisy in the restaurant, so we did what any responsible parents would do and sent our kids outside so that we could finish our half-liter beers.

B showed up about 10 minutes later, eyes wild and cheeks glowing. "I just saw a TEENAGER! And he lit a cigarette, but didn't SMOKE it and then threw it in the BUSHES!"

We agreed that this was completely scandalous and sent him back outside.

"There you go, that's life in the big city!" chuckled M. Someone made an Andy Griffith crack and we all giggled.

Suddenly the kids came bursting back in-- they were all shouting at once and gesticulating wildly. All I could hear was: TEENAGERS! BIKE! WINDOW! GLASS EVERYWHERE!

M and our friend went outside to investigate and came back a couple of minutes later. Apparently two boys had thrown their bikes through the window of the bus stop behind the restaurant and then disappeared.

The kids came storming back in-- "canwecallthepolice, canwecallthepolice, CAN WE CALL THE POLICE?!" M handed them his Blackberry and they dialed 110.

We were waiting outside when the police arrived. One of them swept up the piles of safety glass rubble while the other wrote down all the vital information.

"How tall were these teenagers?" S pointed to M. "About as tall as my dad." "OK. How were they built? Were they skinny or muscular or fat?" C pointed to M. "They were built about like S's dad." The police officer looked at M, who just smiled and shrugged his shoulders.

Once everything was written down, the officers thanked us, hopped into their car and pulled out. When they saw the kids waving then they drove off with flashing lights and blared their sirens. The kids were so excited they were about to split out of their skins!  It was a banner day for the Bloodhound Gang in H-town!  :-)