The semblance of normalcy is getting stronger. MK got her homework done with minimal help from me or Dad today. HR and ME pretty much get theirs out and go to it without much interference. I can't wait for next week when I'm able to pick up HR and have time with just her for an hour or 2 before getting GR from Kindergarten. What a treat that will be for our HR who I think often falls through the cracks of that middle-child position!
Here's GE with a set of paints I picked up. She was sooo happy! I think she misses her easel at home where she can do what we call her "drive-by painting": she'll come along, stop, pick up a brush, paint a bit, then go do something else, coming back every so often throughout the day until the page is full. Quite cool to see it all come together. Here we have to put things away in between, but she still loved having the activity and asks for the paints to please be set out and don't put them away!
Received an email back from the voice teacher. She has time and interest to meet with me, so I returned an email reply staying I'd get back to her with an exact time once GE is settled in Kindergarten and my mornings are free. I wasn't sure if my German meant what I wanted it to say, so I copied and pasted what I'd written into Google Translate. I impressed myself! It made perfect sense and said what I needed it to say, so off it went!
Another fun rehearsal with the church choir tonight. I'm getting terribly out of vocal shape though (anyone notice that aside from choir rehearsals I haven't mentioned singing at all?!). Debating whether to order a cheap keyboard for the apartment or beg around and see if I can find one to borrow... Not sure the iPad piano app will suffice for a year, especially if I have to rehearse something complicated. I checked with the church about using the choir room, but it's such a multipurpose room that they can't approve my using it--it's their fellowship hall, conference room, etc. and is used throughout the day in an unpredictable manor. So, I'll either need to get myself in gear at home or do some more local searching. Maybe the voice teacher will have some ideas...
September 8
Yesterday morning took the bus with RP (neighbor) down to the Bad Godesberg Marktplatz to check out the organic market. Fantastic produce and a huge meat stall where I could get a whole chicken (organic) or order special cuts if I want something specific for a holiday. Then we poked around some of the other shops and stores until it was time to head back and pick HR up from school at 11:30.
In the afternoon the girls all came home bouncy--Friday, no homework! It was a gorgeous afternoon, I'd just picked up my bike with a new, more stable double kick-stand attached (the bike had fallen over several times with GE in it--not cool--so I decided it was an essential upgrade), and so we piled onto the bicycles and rode over the Rheinaue to explore the park some more. Met Joshua at the Rose Garden and he took the older girls through a Labyrinth installation while Grace and I rode along the Rhein river (all the way up to the boat dock where we'd launched for our Rhein cruise the first week we were here). Then we camped out at another playground where the girls played happily for a long time, ate a hefty snack and got an ice cream from the traveling ice cream truck (wonder what these guys sell in the winter time??). Home, into bath, into bed!
Today I headed out early to load up on groceries for the weekend, then we all packed out the door to catch the train to Köln to go to the zoo! Packed my handy shopping wagon full of water and snacks, camera, etc. which turned out to be the best idea ever. I could haul all the water bottles we needed and not have a sore back/shoulders from carrying it all in a back pack! Wish I'd thought of it before... Kids had a great time. MK and ME took off on their own (with MK's cell to stay in touch) while J pulled the two little girls in a rented wagon (also a great idea since it kept their energy up far longer than if they'd walked the whole time). The zoo had a great circuit and an impressive number of good exhibits. We especially enjoyed the red panda, the elephants, and the flight show (birds). There was also another fantastic playground (not surprised by now!). I took a lot of pictures... I'm really enjoying my new camera. I can get really great shots from quite far away. Rarely have I gotten such good ones at a zoo before. :) Enjoy the results!
Thought the raccoon exhibit was funny--at home it's roadkill, here it has it's own special exhibition!
GRIZZLIES!
The red panda was awesome to watch. We sat on the benches opposite his enclosure to eat a snack/lunch and got to watch him make a circuit up a huge pine tree, across the limbs to some sort of deciduous tree, down to a cross branch to another tree, then down that one to the sprinkler where he'd disappear behind the bushes for a bit then return to the pine tree to do it again, always taking a slightly different path from tree to tree. He was actually really hard to catch a good shot of because he rarely stopped moving and was often hidden by the leaves and you could only tell where he was because the branches were moving!
Baby monkeys!
MY baby monkeys!
The flight show was cool--one trainer stood in the center and gave a run down on the types of birds, their habitats, what they eat, etc. While another trainer roamed through the watching crowd. Never knew if you'd have to duck to avoid an incoming bird or not! The one above is a Laughing Jackass (Kookabura?!). You can see GE on J's shoulders right next to it.
An eagle--this thing was HUGE. We were warned to keep our hands down and to put food away or he might go after it!
This one is Milo--not sure what type of eagle he was--and he never came to a rest, so I wasn't able to get a clear picture of him. He flew and swooped the whole time (apparently he's also been known to leave the area for a while then come back and at certain times of year he picks off the unsuspecting pest birds like starlings that move into the zoo area to breed!). The trainer would toss the food into the air rather than hold it in his hand like he had for the other big birds and Milo would catch it in mid-swoop/dive. At the end, the trainer put the food on top of his head (shorn close for good reason, I imagine!) and Milo clipped it neatly off without touching the trainer!
These two parrots were just plain gorgeous. :)
There was a nice aquarium opposite the zoo which we could visit on the same ticket, but we didn't last long here--too tired from the day at the zoo, so we caught a train home and we'll just have to check out the aquarium at length another time.
Recovering from yesterday! Nice church service. There was "Kinderbetreuung" (childcare) during the service this time--kids started with us in the sanctuary and then were dismissed for other activities in the Jugendkeller (literally, "youth cellar"). Enjoyed being able to sit next to J (rather than having kids and entertainment paraphernalia spread out between us) and actually pay attention to the service!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOc7seNZXig&feature=youtu.be
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