Meine Kleine Ballerina

I had fun taking pictures of Amelia at her ballet class this afternoon.  Seriously, it was more like a pink and purple circus than actual dance class.  Hilarious!  Adorable!








 

Well, the lull is over.

I had all of these blogging ideas and plans, but I am just BUSY.  I can't say I'm thrilled about it, either.  I am in that adjustment period between a few weeks of relaxing and catching my breath after a whirlwind, and learning to keep a tight pace of juggling multiple workloads.  I started school, and it has been very stimulating but also demanding.  I am so out of practice.  I turned in two papers this weekend, and it took me forever.  It's usually my goal to be done with all of my coursework by Wednesday or Thursday, but then there is all of this other LIFE stuff that gets in the way of my career as a student.  Like ballet classes, after-school picnics, social events, violent reactions to a new fish oil supplement, sick kid, dinner, almost-daily shopping, and oh! The Cleaning.  It's strange-- my life pace is decidedly slow, but my workload is actually quite heavy.  Our apartment is huge, which means there is lots of cleaning to do.  This wasn't really an issue until I started making friends and inviting people over.  If I could have just put that part off...  But no, I just had to be so congenial.  Just kidding!  I have been pleasantly surprised that a number of people have initiated friendships with me!  Amelia has already gone over to another little girl's house to play, and we have been going to gymnastics once a week.  I have a language partner, and we have been getting together for a couple  of hours each week.  It's been really fun getting to know her, we both have one daughter and are hoping they can learn to entertain each other.  Jeff's work has been very stressful.  Politics.  He was going to be gone again all week for some trainings, and I was so relieved when the plans changed at the last minute.  Phew!  I hope to put some fun stuff and pictures soon, but if that doesn't happen right away, you'll know why...

And here we are.

I just wanted to let you know that I am changing things a little here.  I want to have a space to talk about family updates and such, without much public exposure.  I have always had this blog for that purpose (otherwise I never would have given it such a ridiculous address 5+ years ago.)  But I'd also like to write about our adventures living overseas, where I'm comfortable with anyone and everyone reading and looking in on us, and I can use it to network with others a bit.  So I started a new blog for that sort of fun stuff.  Yep, one more blog to keep track of (sorry!)

When you don't make any plans on a gorgeous day...

... you might as well just get everyone dressed and out the door.
We planned to wander around a little and just see what happened.
First, there was music!

Baby squashes and tiny flowering plants.

Then we really got things going when we decided to walk the path around the wall of the city. The weather was incredible, and Autumn is in full blast here.

While I was getting completely caught up in all the foliage and colors, Jeff and Amelia decided this was just the right moment to take care of the "ants in their pants."

Then we started something we just couldn't stop... taking pictures of ourselves and each other!

We took our time just loving all of the views and beautiful architecture around us.

And found the perfect architectural accent for posing little girls on.

And then Jeff got in on the action.

And inevitably, things really started getting silly!

Jeff made sure I got in on the photo fun too.

Then it was back to walking and looking and loving it all.

Amelia was more than willing to do a little more posing...But once we crossed the bridge and went back through the wall, we were more than ready for lunch.

Which, unfortunately, took multiple attempts at different restaurants. Luckily, we still had our camera.

And, three hours after we left our home to "wander around a little," we ended up eating bratwurst and kraut right under the clock tower.

Time very well spent.
Happy Weekend!

To Flohmarkt, To Flohmarkt...

To buy a fat...

Wild boar's head!

There were so many cool and fascinating objects at the flea market today... Here are just a few photos of our trip.





The one thing on our actual shopping list: a moka pot!



Aw, it's a pile of little leather shorts!

Makes me wish I had a boy. Not to worry-- look at this little vintage coat from the Netherlands!!

(Yes, it was very cold and rainy.)

Can you guess where I'm headed?...

Of course! Unfortunately, it was much to0 big to fit in our car.


Lots of fun today! We came home with quite a few items, which I'll show you soon!