A Normal Weekend

It's Sunday night, Alex is in bed, and we had a totally normal weekend. It's beginning to feel like home.

Since Friday was the last day of the first week back for everyone at Alex's school, the two teachers in his classroom decided to organize a New Years Brunch for the group! On a normal day, the kids all bring their own morning snack, then have lunch prepared for them at school by a cook (out of fresh, local, and mostly organically grown ingredients!), and then bring their own afternoon snack. The school also provides drinks (water and herbal tea!). Well, about midweek a signup sheet appeared outside the dragon group classroom asking families to sign up to bring stuff for the New Year's Brunch for the kids on Friday. All sorts of things appeared on the list from soft pretzels to cold cuts to yogurts etc. Alex and I decided that he should bring mandarin oranges. (Some of you may remember that he brought those to New Pathways for his special birthday snack when he turned 3, so it was an easy choice for him.) I just loved the idea of all the kids sitting together around a common table sharing their goodies and starting into the new year together with their teachers. They used real tablecloths and since it was Alex's birthday week, the job fell to us to take home the two tablecloths and wash them for Monday. It all seemed so easy to organize and was so much fun for the kids. Have I mentioned that we love this school? Alex was allowed to stay until 2:30 on Friday, his longest stay yet. I think next week, he'll be there for full days.

After school, we took the tram (much to Alex's delight) to the local library downtown. It was easier than I thought to get a library pass (though various pieces of paperwork: passport, registration certificate etc. were required again, but I'm now a pro at having those in my bag), though I was surprised that we had to pay for the privilege. I guess some things aren't free - even in socialist Europe. It's a few Euros a month to carry a card and then most media are free to rent, but bestsellers, DVDs, etc. cost extra. Hmmm. Once we were legal, we headed into the kids section which was amazingly well stocked and superbly organized by age, type of book, and even subject. Wow. We were thrilled. Alex chose 10 books, including at least one that Julie had read to him in English at New Pathways! Small world, I guess. I picked up a novel as well and we headed home to revel in our new books! (I was sad to find out that none of the German versions of Troy Cummings awesome kids books seem to be available at this library. Boo!)

When we woke up on Saturday, there was a dusting of snow on the ground, it was still coming down, and it was cold. Nevertheless, we headed to the market, because we had a few things to shop for. On the way there we ran into or friend Nanina, who showed us around the market (now much busier than 2 weeks ago) and we found fresh spinach (hurray, the week is saved) and even a butternut squash! These are very unusual in Germany, yet beloved by Alex, so I had to get it. Nanina accompanied us to a cafe where we warmed up with coffee, tea, and hot chocolate. She then left us to study Latin and Math (ah, I remember the 10th grade...) and we headed on to complete our errands. Once the groceries were stowed away at home, Alex talked me into going to his most favorite playground (so far). It's on the university campus near-ish our apartment (about a 15-20 minute walk) next to the children's hospital and has a huge play-ship on it, which Alex has decided is a pirate ship. Somehow, he took on the persona of Captain Cookie and I became Captain Plunger as we romped around the big ship. (Does anyone know the origin of these names?) Here he is with the pirate ship in the background. You can also still see the little bit of snow on the ground.

Today, on Sunday, we had a leisurely morning and then headed out to watch Annika and her team play basketball. She plays on several teams a U13 girls team (she is 11) and U12 Co-ed team. This was the co-ed team and it was really fun to see her play. We also got to meet a few of the other parents and had a lovely time. During half-time Alex and Christian goofed around a little bit and it was funny to see how Alex aways wanted to kick the ball and not catch or dribble it. I guess the one season of soccer last fall has made a bigger impact than I thought. Thanks, Coach Pedar and Coach Rebecca. When asked if he wanted to play basketball, too, he proudly answered: "Nein, ich spiele Fussball." (No, I play soccer.). Here he is with Christian tossing/kicking the ball around.

And here he is still running around on the field as the team behind him is already warming up for the second half. You can see Annika over his right shoulder holding her normal size ball and also the little one Alex was kicking around pretending it was a soccer ball.

Needless to say, we had a blast. On the way home, we stopped at the pirate playground again, but the rest of the day was spent doing laundry, reading library books, skyping with friends and family, coloring and drawing, and playing with his new birthday toys.

We had totally uneventful, normal weekend in our new life. It was wonderful and we're ready to face another week.