Special Guest at Gymboree

Jeff was getting tired of hearing, "Gymboree, this and Gymboree that," from me all the time, so he decided to see it for himself. It sure was fun having him share in on all William's and my activity time.


Family Gymboree pic


Ahhh, the elusive white whiffle ball. What a 10-month-old will do to obtain it . . . .

On the go!

On the go! William stops at nothing. We had to put the camera down once he decided to use Holly as a speed bump. Silly William, there are other ways to get girls to notice you!

On the go!

Have I mentioned . . . on the go?

A rare, seated time at the end of class. Here we are with our buddies Holly and Ved and their moms Rachel and Trina.

The parachute is the coolest!

It was so special to see Jeff take time out of his busy BMW days to hang with his little man. At the end of class he said, "Wow! Will never stopped moving!"
My response was, "I told you so!"

Last Music Class

The last week of August marked our last music class at Gymboree. Shucks! It sure was fun! William was really getting the hang of it by the end.


Caption the occasional blog reader:
The drums are his favorite!

Caption for anyone involved in future birthday or Christmas gift purchases:
William hates the drums. Can't stand them. Refuses to touch them now and will continue to do so in the future. Buying him a drum set will only waste your money.
Phew! Close one.

Bubbles and teacher Otis: two of William's favorite things*
* Not drums. See note above

Apparently we need to make Australia one of our trips. William loved the didgeridoo.

Caption the occasional blog reader:
William loves dogs!

Caption for anyone involved in future birthday or Christmas gift purchases:
William (and his mom) really, really, really love puppies and dogs!

Where Everybody Knows Your Name

Norm was to Cheers what William is to Max-Weber-Platz Park.

We walk in the gate to exclamations of "Wiiiillllll!" Okay, I exaggerate a smidge, but we love this place! You'll find us here with our crew of haus fraus at least once a week.

Great picnicing lawn, fun playground, and Haidhausen's best gelato stand steps away . . . sometimes I'm surprised I don't bring my sleeping bag.

Snacks in the center. Kiddos on the outskirts. What was William doing????

William and his buddy Tim

Shared swing time

Happy Fourth of July!

We celebrated Fourth of July at Waldwirtschaft, Munich's Jazz Beer Garten.

We joined several other American friends to celebrate. By happenstance, the American Consolate was sponsoring a barbecue, so we got to eat hamburgers too!

Our little red, white, and blue cutie.

World Cup

Alas, I just recently came across more photos we took before William got so sick in July. They must have never got posted as I shifted my blog responsibilities to nurse maid. Sorry for the out of order post!

End of June was still World Cup fever in Munich. Below are some picks from Bordeaux Platz near our house where the neighborhood came out to support Munich.


Here we are in the lower left corner. Lauren and Lawrence joined us for the fun.

William was more interested in his toys than in the game. Someday, Will. Someday!

For the semi-finals we rode our bikes a few blocks away to the Paulaner beer garten. The place was packed and really fun to get into the spirit of fussball. However, this was all we could see of the screen standing up, so we left at halftime to go home and enjoy the rest on our couch!

Starnbergsee

We thought it was going to be a beautiful day, so Molly, Rachel, kiddos, and I caravaned to Starnberg to enjoy a lovely day by the lake. We were greeted by whipping wind and foreboding clouds. All of us had neglected to check the weather for Starnberg. Ha! We had a delightful lunch, but once it started to sprinkle, we waved the white flag and hit the road.

Alas, one of the few photos from the day. At least our dud of an excursion didn't damper William's mood.

10 Months old!

August 20th marked our little man's 10-month birthday. Getting him to sit still and focus on the camera is getting to be more and more of a challenge. He loves to move, move, move! His number one trait is curiosity. If anything's to be discovered, William is your man.

New tricks:

- Pointing to strangers, getting their attention, then immediately waving. This makes U-bahn rides heart-warming and finding a table in a beer garden very easy. I think we've got a future politician on our hands. Once he masters the thumbs up, we'll start searching for a campaign manager.

- Whining when Mom or Dad works with him on pulling up or getting up on his knees. William, dear, it's for your own good. You can't commando crawl to kindergarten. Wouldn't that be embarrassing?

- Comprehension. Wow! William points to the mouse and light on cue in his favorite book Goodnight Moon. He also understands when I tell him where his toys went and where I'm going in the house. He doesn't cry as much when I leave the room because I explain where I'm going and sometimes he'll follow me or wait because he knows I'm coming back.

- Flicking his tongue saying, "Ladaladaladalada." I started it by entertaining him on his changing table, not even expecting him to replicate it. Who's laughing now? Well, anyone who witnesses his ladalada. It's pretty hysterical.

- Realizing he's funny. He laughs now realizing he's made us laugh. I don't see how this one is going to have a good ending. My son cracks me up.

- Standing up. He's always been a stander from early on, but his only motivation for going through the torture of being on his knees is to get to standing. William even went for his first cruise along a chair the other day while Skyping with my parents. I just need to get better at letting him fall . . .

Jeff Jr. -- Oh my, how William looks like Jeff's baby pictures.

Steckborn, Switzerland

Two weekends we enjoyed a wonderful stay in Switzerland visiting our friends the Colemans. We all met up in Steckborn where my friend Nicole's parents rent a flat in their childhood hometown. As usual Nicole, her husband Taft, and son Remi, were wonderful hosts and we had fun catching up while exploring the fun towns around the area.

Our first stop on Saturday was Rheinfalls. This is the largest plain waterfall in Europe. It was massive and impressive.

Being a dutiful mom and pointing out the obvious, "Water, William!" I think he got it.

The Colemans and Zabels

This rock looked massive from the front of the falls, but then you climb up behind it and wow! It looked like it was going to get washed away!

Family falls pic

A short drive back toward Steckborn found in a Schaffhausen for lunch. I just love these building fronts and town squares.

Another quick jaunt in the car brought us to quaint and aptly-named Stein am Rhein. It was a little town, full of character, and, you guessed it, on the Rhein.

Sorry, Remi and Will. Apparently the tourist who took our picture like the store fronts more than getting your two cute mugs in the photo.

So full of character

Remi loves living in Switzerland because around every corner is a town drinking fountain, or as Remi likes to call it, "Wasser!"

We took a stroller break so Remi, the local, could show William, the newbie, the ropes when it comes to Swiss water fountains.

Remi discovered a new trick at this spot. "Wait a sec, if I cover the spout completely, the water stops all together."

Funny enough, the trick was on all of us, for when Remi removed his finger, the water came shooting out like a rocket thanks to all the built up pressure. This photographer's wet pants and shirt warranted laughs from everyone, prompting several more rounds of plug the hole.

Last, but definitely not least, we toured around Steckborn itself. Above is Nicole's uncle's furniture store. The house above the store is where her mother and uncle grew up. How cool is that?

Her uncle's workshop behind the store where he makes all the furniture.

The town school house and it's still being used. Love it!

Back at the flat the boys had fun playing around and sharing(?) toys

Thanks for a great weekend, Colemans!