More Park Time...

Troy & Sophia have been riding a bike to lots of different parks in the greater Munich area over the last few weekends. Troy is taking photos & checking out different areas for the Munich Daily Photo blog, Sophia is just along for the ride & the parks. I get a bit of a rest at home. Its amazing how tired you are the last couple weeks of a pregnancy, coupled with the worst cold that I have had in years. (The cold started at the end of Easter weekend, and is still affecting my breathing!)

Sophia has loved the one on one time with her Daddy, and is becoming quite bold on various park structures - I think we may have a monkey on our hands!

The World According to Sophia

Who is this funny girl? Any hint of Sophia being shy, or even camera shy is thrown out the door with these photos. When she’s with mommy or daddy, she laughs on cue, hams it up for the camera, and just gets downright silly. These are photos from downtown Munich, brunch at our favorite spot the Park Café, and playing on the grounds of the Schleissheim Palace.

Z Baby Update

I'm still pregnant.

One week to go, but we are ready for this little one to join us in the world. She's still putting on the weight, estimations right around 3,000 grams at this point (7 lbs), but she's dropped in the past week & the doctor yesterday said it could be this weekend, it could be 2 weeks from now.

Waiting... waiting... waiting...

We told Sophia that the other car seat will be in the back seat with her after the baby is born, and she said "then I'll be able to tell her that I am her big sister." She's getting a little anxious for the baby to be born as well, she knows that Nana & Papa arrive when the baby comes, and she wants me to be able to play with her on the floor again. (I can get down but can't really move once I am there and am having problems getting back up).

Munich in the News

One of the things we loved about being in Paris was the constant international news about the city. We often choose our weekend activities from articles in the NYTimes or one of the inflight magazines that Troy was constantly bringing home. It was amazing to see just how much was going on at any one time - probably pretty important when you are trying to entertain 15 million residents and 78 million foreign tourists per year!
Munich in the news is a little bit quieter. Obviously a smaller city, only 1.3 million residents, and just about 9 million overnight visitors (but over 80 million day trippers last year), so the news tends to focus on the big events - Oktoberfest, the World Cup 2006, the Euro Cup 2008, Christmas Markets, Spring Festival, MTV Video Music Awards, etc... We were thrilled last summer when Munich was chosen as the "Most liveable City in the World" by Monocle, and then this morning the Germany Bureau Chief for the NYTimes based in Berlin had the guts to say that Munich is becoming cooler than Berlin (There is a huge rivalry between the two cities). I'm hoping we start seeing more & more of the smaller festivals in the international news as well!

In the meantime, you can always check out our other blog, Munich Daily Photo, for views of Munich & a little interesting commentary from Troy.

The Carousel

Round & Round. Troy & Sophia spent the weekends riding to parks. Sophia tried the teeter-totter for the first time, and ran endlessly through the garden labyrinth. Finally, she took a couple spins on the carousel. Amazing what fun you can have going in circles.

Munich Botanical Gardens

Troy & Sophia spent early Saturday at the Botanical Gardens, taking photos for the other blog we work on, and even though it is still freezing out (we had snow earlier this week again), the cherry trees are in bloom & they had a great time. Sophia's personality is also blooming all over the place... I just have to laugh whenever I see these smiles, and you have to imagine the belly laugh behind them!

Circles of German

Circles of German
Video sent by moyamz

Sophia going a little crazy between the circles & German.

Sophia on the Carousel

Sophia on the Carousel
Video sent by moyamz

Sophia on the fun horse of the carousel in Paris on Easter weekend

Easter in Paris

As our travel as a family of 3 comes to an end we decided to go to Paris for the Easter weekend(Bavaria was very accomodating giving us both Good Friday & Easter Monday as public holidays). It was wonderful to be back, although a bit sad too - Sophia was very confused why we weren't going to our home as she had been telling people all week in Munich that we were going to Paris for the weekend & not coming back. The hotel was a bit of a shock for her, but the 6 carousel rides on Saturday seemed to make up for some of her disappointment.

We had a wonderful weekend with friends, I fit in some shopping on Saturday (French baby clothes!), services at the Cathedral, and we even found time to go to the Louvre for an evening!

The Easter Bunny made it to our hotel room, and rather than a basket for Sophia, she was given her own rolling suitcase filled with Easter treats. Very appropriate for the traveling family!

Sophia reading in the baby's room

Sophia reading in the baby's room
Video sent by moyamz

Sophia has been enjoying exploring the books that are now in the baby's room. Yesterday I found her very comfortable on the couch, making up her own stories to the books that she used to know by heart. She asks almost every day if the baby is going to come, but I'm not sure if that is because she wants to have a new sister, or if she is just looking forward to Nana & Papa coming back!