Verona with Dom, Ana & Ida

Walking around the Roman Arena in Verona was surreal. A cold day, but not bad compared to the 6" of snow we left in Munich. We tried walking the stairs to keep warm, and ended up with sore quads the next day! It was an amazing view from the top level, with the remains of the 4 arches that were still standing after the earthquake in 1117ad, and the roof tops of the town.
There are still performances given during the summer months, when the marble seats would be a natural air conditioning in the evening, instead of causing your legs to go blue!

Baby update

18 weeks & counting...



I'd post ultrasound photos, but we don't have a scanner so you'll just have to take our word for it. Everything is good. Baby is growing, kicking a lot, and has very long legs. No word on the sex yet, we'll probably find out in Dec. In the meantime, we are still looking at lots of names.

The german doctor experience was quite nice. Very clean & efficient office. All of the staff spoke english, a bonus when talking medical information with nurses, and the Doctor was very thorough. She talked a little bit about the birth experience, and the 4 to 5 days in the hospital afterwards. 4 to 5 days! What am I going to do there? We'll have to go visit some of the hospitals here in Munich & pick one that looks like a spa...

She also thinks that April 20, 2008 is a better due date than April 26th.

We'll see...

Sophia's first Snowball

Who rolls a snowball in baseball straight lines?

Monday morning we woke up to snow. Not a lot, but enough so that in my Seattle brain I thought, "Its a snow day from school". But just for a second. I think it would take a blizzard for a week to halt the lives of people here in Munich. People were still riding bikes all over the city, while it was snowing. (Better than rain I guess).

Anyway, after school Sophia & I went to a big grassy area behind the Town Hall in central Munich to make snow angels. Unfortunately most of the snow had melted, except for the leftovers of snowmen people had made on the grass. Needless to say, Sophia had a blast! We were throwing snowballs for dogs to chase, snowballs at each other, snowballs up in the air just to see them crash to the ground and wonder where they went.

And in her Paris mind, the fact that we were on the grass, running on the grass, playing on the grass, was just as exciting as the snow.

Halloween 2007

The costume party at school.
Sophia "forgot" her Koukala doll the day of the party (a bad day to forget given the ghosts & goblins that were at school that day) so she had to use another dolly for the remainder of the party.

She could have dressed as Snow White,
But she has declared her Snow White costume to be just for dancing.

With the pumpkins at Swansons in Seattle. Our only pumpkins for the year, although the pumpkin soup is fantastic in Munich!

Science at the Deutsches Museum

Hoarding the boats...
Building Dams...
Stepping in the water...

Sophia & Troy took a morning last weekend & went to play at the Deutsches Museum in the kids club section. Needless to say they both had a blast.

I had heard that there was a water section to play with & given our family history of kids getting wet while on outings with Daddy, I encouraged Troy to bring extra clothes with her. Unfortunately Sophia stepped in the river of water, getting her shoes & socks wet ~ the only things Troy had not brought a second pair of! Oh well, it was a fun, exhausting day for both of them...

The latest from Sophia

Another week has started in Munich, bringing with it some beautiful weather! We have been trying to spend lots of time outside while we can, because the snow is suppossed to start at the end of the week again.

Sophia has been very funny lately. We don't really have TV stations right now (BBC News & CNN World aren't really child friendly) so we've been watching a few selected videos on nights when we are having a little down time. She likes to first watch in English, then French, Spanish, Greek and then German. (We usually don't make it thru the English versions...)

We went for a long bike ride on Saturday, and ended up stopping at the Munich Zoo. The animals were all in hiberbation, but the rides were working & we all had a very funny time going on the train, the old Zoo cars, and (Sophia's favorite) a Lightening McQueen!

Hanging Out in Garmish - Home of the 1936 Winter Olympics

We made the mistake of picking a holiday to visit one of Munich's favorite day-trip cities, which meant everything was closed - with the exception of the local beer garden. This was lucky for us as it was just sunny enough to sit outside. The historic town of Garmish was beautiful, and we stopped by one of mad King Ludwig's castles on the way back - one of his smallest, yet most visited by the King. We're convinced that it is because it was so remote, and it was one of the few places his enemies could not reach him. Something to be said for a peaceful night sleep, when you are King - I suppose.

Ljubljana, Slovenia

Troy's new favorite little European city. Ljubljana is in the heart of the alps, just east of the Italian city of Venice. The small country is covered with 70% forest, and its capital is alive and exciting, yet safe and picturesque. During a business trip, we covered most of the country in one day - driving 90 min to the coast, and then 60 min to the south - near the Croatian border.

More Ljubljana, Slovenia

Central Ljubljana has a pedestrian zone leading through the historic town, and trails that lead up to the castle overlooking the city. The small town is surprisingly cosmopolitan with a very young and informal edge.

Getting Settled in Munich II ???

Jon & Annie at the famous Augustine Brau, one of many German dinners we had over the weekend
Catch a wave in Munich, with near freezing water. An outlet of the Isar river entering the English Gardens makes for a perfect wave and a wintertime outing.
Sophia getting ready for her big Halloween bash at school. Actually - she can't wait to wear her Cinderella outfit with her sparkly glass slippers.