Thursday, February 23, 2017

Our first Pinewood Derby

On Saturday we attended our first big Cub Scout event. The annual Pinewood Derby.

Toby designed his car. He helped cut out his car.  He sanded it.  He painted it. We used pennies as weights and super-glued them on.  And we named it the Penny Express.  Sadly, it came in last in every race.  I convinced Toby that this is a good thing, as he can only do better next year!  Right?  He was disappointed, but was a pretty good sport about it.

After the Pinewood Derby, the Pack held their Blue and Gold Banquet and Pack Meeting.  Toby helped perform the flag ceremony and earned loads of achievements!  Here he is with his Den leaders receiving his Bobcat, Cyber Chip, and 4 Belt Loops.  He only needs 3 more to complete his Wolf badge.  It took some of the sting out of his Pinewood Derby loss for sure.

It was a long morning! We were at the Church from about 8:30 am-1 pm.

Afterwards we decided to make a whole "kid fun day" of it, so we took the kids to the matinee showing of the Lego Batman movie and then out for pizza dinner at the bowling alley.  Amelie and Jake were both pretty exhausted by dinner time, as you can see, but they all had a fun day.


Friday, February 10, 2017

Haydts come to Germany!

At the end of January we enjoyed a fun visit with my sister Pam, her husband Mark, and son Connor.

Amelie especially loved having new people to show off for and entertain. And to read her bedtime stories.
 
These photos are a bit out of order, but we headed down to Garmisch for a few days of snow fun.  

These guys had an awesome day on the slopes.

Jakey Bear especially loved his first ski lesson.  He was hesitant to try it out, but decided he wanted to go for it, and he was so glad he did!  Look how cute his itty bitty skis are! Also, he was completely exhausted afterward, so that was great.

While the rest of our crew skied, Amelie and I explored the Partnach Gorge.

It was gorgeous, now we have to take everyone back there next year.

It is no picnic hiking with a 3 year old though.  I carried her, bribed her with chewing gum, played tag with her to keep her moving forward, but whatever, it was worth it.  Pam, Mark, and Connor got up super early the next morning and went on a sunrise trip to the top of the Zugspitze where they did some extreme sledding.  We'll have to try that next year maybe too- but without the super early part.
 
Other activities included: touring Strasbourg and Colmar, France with Francophile guide- Rob,  

Visiting Neuschwanstein Castle,

Dinners out with much Schnitzel,

A visit from Mark's sister Lisa who lives in England,
 
  
A visit to a local Metzgerei to talk with a fellow butcher, who told Mark he was much too slim to be a butcher,
 
A visit to Rothenburg ob der Tauber where Pam taught me how to take panoramic photos with my phone,

  
A walk around downtown Wiesbaden and some shopping,

and of course a birthday cake to celebrate Aunt Pam's 50th birthday!

It was a super busy week! We had a great time and can't wait to see you guys again!


Date 1 of 12

Our first date of 2017 was nothing earth shattering. We watched a movie that we hadn't seen yet at home after the kids went to bed.  I had high hopes for Jason Bourne.  I liked the trilogy, and I like Matt Damon.  But, spoiler alert, this movie was terrible.  If you haven't seen it yet- here is the trailer...


I think they included all 11 lines Matt Damon spoke in this movie in the trailer.  Lame.  Anyway, the point was for Rob and I to spend a kid-free evening together and we did that.  Plus we enjoyed laughing at the ridiculous scenarios, so that was fun.