March Madness 2014: The month of special guests, Part 2

The Germans are here!  Okay, now is when I really start to feel old.  When I was a sophomore in high school, my aunt and uncle graciously took me under their travel-savvy wings, and gave me an experience I'd never forget, traveling around Germany and Austria.  We were visiting Martina and Manfred, their son Sascha, and his Grandma Margot.   Martina and Manfred had been to the states a year or two prior, as part of an exchange program, and landed in the home of my aunt and uncle as their host family.  In the olden days, before we had email and the internet, it was suggested that their son Sascha and I become Pen-Pals.  So we did.  And I then got invited along on that trip my sophomore year. Fast forward 20 years (see, feeling old!), and a few more trips/visits between Germany and the US, and we are all still friends, (Andrew and I even attended their wedding in Vegas 8 years ago!) and Sascha, his wife Katrin, and their 6 year old son, Lennert, were here visiting us.  Let me just try to explain what a trip that was, figuratively speaking…to see my boys getting along so fabulously, with this boy who doesn't even speak their language (and vice versa!).  But laughter, toys, bikes, balls (is it soccer or football?), cartoons, and yes, even wrestling, are clearly universal in the language of children.    And, incase you're wondering, parenting is also a universal language!  I can only hope that this friendship continues, and that our boys will grow up understanding how amazing this all really is.

We first met up with "the Germans" at GGma's house in Albany.  We went up the street for lunch (which is the best Chinese food I've had anywhere in the bay area! incase you're wondering…)

Lunch at the Chinese Restaurant up the street from GGma Clarice's house

Arjen and Lennert…the adventures begin (mind you, these boys had just met only an hour or so prior!)

After lunch, we made our way further East, landing at Larkey Park in Walnut Creek.  I had grand visions of taking our friends to the Little Farm at Tilden Park, but of course I discovered the night before (phew!) that they're closed for construction.  So Plan B: check out the Lindsay Wildlife Museum at Larkey Park Walnut Creek, but then Plan C happened, because young children need to run, and run, and run, and get the wiggles out, so we ended up just spending the afternoon at the park.  Which was fabulous.  The weather was gorgeous, Lennert got to kick his football around, and everyone was happy.  Particularly us moms.  :)

Bubbles! (oh yeah, add bubbles to the universal children's language)

Arjen and Lennert…football! Soccer! 

And then, we headed back to our house for good ol' American staples: Push-pops and Pizza

At least "cheese" in english translates to get the appropriate response in German.  Not sure what language Arjen was speaking that day (perhaps he was speaking popsicle)

While Lennert and Arjen were busy chasing each other around the yard, Gus was content to sit and enjoy his push-pop at the table

The backyard bike course

"Press Here" - to any mom's of young kids reading this…if you don't have this book yet, get it!  So fun.  

Beer, books, and friends.  What more could you ask for?!

An attempt to calm the kids down with cartoons…worked briefly at least!

So fun just watching and observing the various interactions among these three

The next day, we traveled to Fairfield, where "the Germans" were staying with my Uncle Kevin and Aunt Maggie.  Before dinner, we took the older boys to a nearby park to burn off some energy, playing soccer of course!  It was perfect, because Arjen had specifically worn his soccer outfit, so he could play soccer with Lennert.

Goal!!!

It took a few times repeating, but Arjen finally caught on to the fact that we only use our feet in soccer.

More Bubbles!

Again, neither of my kids care to pose for the camera, but the good news is that the three of them did famously well at the kids table!

As promised, wrestling; universal language

And I was glad to see someone not afraid of giving Arjen a dose of his own medicine.   And Gus was more than happy to get to remain standing.

The "babysitter" was at Kevin and Maggie's house too.  

These kids were troopers for a weekend full of fun, staying up late and missing naps, but it was so worth it to get those couple of days with our German friends!  Thank you Sascha, Katrin, and Lennert for coming to visit us!