Play-dates and Where is Spring???

Nothing too exciting to report this week.   Peter was out of town so the girls and I enjoyed a quiet, routine week.   Daddy returned this morning and all three of his girls are so happy to have him back.   Here are the pictures from this week, with a few that I forgot to post from a few weeks ago......

Sarah Avery wants to do everything that Susannah does, even dressing up.   

She especailly likes this Elsa dress because it lights up and sings.  

She loved playing with the big girls when Susannah had her friend Tang over for a play-date.  So proud. 

SA has some crazy hair and this day it was especially big.  Peter said she looked like somebody from the 70's.

Oatmeal face.   

Susannah is more and more grown-up every day.    

She really is my helper and buddy when Peter is away.   

We had a little spring teaser on Tuesday so we headed to the playground with some friends.   It was too warm for winter hats, but the girls insisted on wearing them.   Unfortunately the weather did not last.  

Giggly girls.  

Silly girls.

I told you the spring weather didn't last.   This was less than 48 hours after we were at the park.    It was a very pretty snow, but I am over it.   

We had another play-date with Sophia and Mathilda on Friday afternoon.  Susannah takes music class with these girls and since their moms are my two best friends in the neighborhood, they are together quite often.   All three of them have 1 year old siblings, so the little ones are friends too.   Works out perfectly and we will definitely miss these guys when we move.

This morning we headed to our favorite neighborhood coffee shop for brunch and were surprised to see that they had live music.    The band was awesome and the girls loved it.  

The local produce truck that sets up in our neighborhood was out the window.   I told Peter that the whole thing felt much more hip than we actually are.   ;)

Susannah especially loved the music.   She stood right up front and danced for several songs.  Definitely one of those unexpected treats that makes your day.     

These pics are left over from the birthday party  we attended a few weeks ago.   I already shared some pics from the evening, but these were on Peter's phone and I wanted to post them because it was such a fun part of the night.   One of the moms led the girls in a dance party of traditional German kid songs.   They all have motions and the girls had a blast.   

Even SA got in on the action for a little while.   The crazy thing is that all of the songs are the same songs they play at the beer fests.    So the kids learn these songs as children and then 20 years later they sing them while standing on a table in a beer tent with a liter of beer in their hand.    German culture at its finest.   ;)   

SA had so much fun that night.   Peter took these pictures of her. 

Our little giraffe.

She loves this homemade playhouse and plays in it every time we visit these friends.

And that is it for our week.    We hope this post finds all of you healthy and happy.    Love and hugs from Germany!

A Weekend Escape to Mallorca, Spain

In what was probably the most last-minute travel plans we have ever made, we booked a long weekend to the Spanish island of Mallorca last week.  We stayed in the beautiful capital city of Palma in a great apartment that offered an amazing view of the cathedral.   We returned Monday afternoon and were very sad to leave the sea and warm sun.    But we are so thankful for the brief respite from the gray German February.  In an effort at full disclosure and to ensure that we remember this trip accurately, I also have to admit that the trip wasn't all fun in the sun.   Susannah, Peter and Sarah Avery were under the weather for part or all of the weekend.   So while we made lots of fun memories and soaked up the good weather, we also had our fair share of "we are here so we need to push through and make the best of it" moments.  Definitely don't regret going though.   The gray, freezing, drizzly weather here in Stuttgart looks like it isn't going anywhere anytime soon, so 72 hours in the warm air was worth all of the whining.   Here are the pictures.........

First stop after dropping off our bags at the apartment was an early tapas dinner.   Susannah was excited to have her favorite.....fried little fish.  

Then we had some ice cream and walked around the park that is outside Palma's beautiful cathedral.    This was SA's first cone and she enjoyed it as you can probably tell from her sticky face.   

Relaxing with the sea in the background. 

It was windy that first evening, but we didn't care because we were out with no hat, no gloves, and lightweight jackets!

SA loved the wind.   

Strolling with the cathedral in the background.

Daddy gave shoulder rides even though he wasn't feeling very well.

This was a cool addition to the park........if you stood on the date closest to that day, you can determine the time by where your shadow falls.   

The girls loved playing on it.

The park had another fun feature that was a little pond where two swans live.   

The girls had the best time talking to them.  

After an early bedtime, we woke up and enjoyed a leisurely morning with our awesome view.  

And then we headed out into the sunshine to check out the playground we had seen on our way in from the airport.

All three of us were so excited to be wearing sunglasses!

The park was right across the street from the sea and so much fun.

The girls enjoyed the swings, 

and the slide,

while Peter and I soaked up the warm sunshine.

Sweet sisters.

Palma has charming, beautiful streets that are perfect for a stroll.

Susannah is getting into taking photos, so she took some of Mommy and Daddy.   This is the least blurry one.   ;)

Dancing in the streets.

Wahoo!   I don't have on a coat!!

After naptime we headed back out for another early dinner.   This time we found a great courtyard restaurant across from the port.   

Their were lots of other spanish kids playing and the girls had a great time running around while we waited for food.    

After dinner we headed over to the port to check out the fancy yachts.   

There were definitely some fancy ones.   Susannah liked reading the names.

The afternoon sky was so beautiful.

SA wanted to jump into the water so we had to keep a tight hold on her.  

Daddy's girls

Next we walked over to the sea and watched the big waves crashing on these rocks.   

SA loved the sea-spray and giggled with delight each time a big one crashed.

We spotted some sailboats and a big cruise ship leaving port.

Enjoying the view before bath-time.

It was even more beautiful at night when the cathedral was lit.

Palma has the largest aquarium in Europe so we decided to spend our second morning there.   

It didn't disappoint.    Watching the sharks was a highlight.   

As was this awesome kids area.   

Half of the aquarium is outdoors which was perfect because the sun was coming out and we wanted to soak it up.  Can you tell how excited Susannah was to take a picture with the shark?? 

Playing in the sea turtle egg.

Pirates

This was in the cool jungle exhibit.   The waterfall in the background was really neat.   Susannah even got to feed a huge macaw named Gustav.   

We came back to the apartment for nap-time.   This restaurant was right below our apartment and the baby monitor reached so we had a toddler-free lunch!   Wahoo!

Nothing beats lunch in the sun.   

With Sangria of course.

Susannah took this picture.   These dried hams are everywhere though so I think it is a good shot to include.   Once you get over the fact that it still looks like a pig's body part, it is very delicious.    You can buy these and leave them out on your kitchen counter to slice off pieces for weeks.    Peter totally would have bought one if we could have brought it home on the plane.   ;)

After SA woke up from her nap, we headed down to the public beach.    The wind had picked back up and a few clouds had rolled in, but it was still beautiful.   

Big waves.

The Palma public beach will forever in our minds be "cat beach" because there were at least 15 cats living in these rocks.   So weird right?   Never seen anything like it.   I thought it was sort of creepy, but the girls loved it.   

Cat beach from another angle.  ;)

Peter took SA down to feel the water, but Susannah and I stayed up on the walking trail.   You can't tell from this picture, but the bigger waves were crashing well past where they were standing.

And that was our trip to Mallorca.   It rained on Monday morning, so we just had a little brunch across the street from our apartment before heading back to the airport.   Peter and the girls are completely over their ailments, but now it is my turn.   Hoping we are all well by the start of next week.    We hope that all of you had a Happy President's Day/Valentine's Day weekend.   We love you and miss you all!