My lil superhero turns 4!

This is a little out of order since I haven't written about Gabe's birthday yet, but it's fresh on my mind!  We just celebrated our sweet little Isaac's 4th birthday.  I can't even believe he is 4 already, and such a boy.  Everything is about superheroes these days.  I can't tell you how many costume changes we go through each day, but it's really quite entertaining! I had such a ball planning for his superhero themed party.  I spent hours on Pinterest and crafted the entire week before the party.  We had capes for each of the kids, and they got to decorate their own mask and cuffs.  Then they all played superhero games, like shoot Spider-man with webs, and smash the bubbles like Hulk.  I may have gone a little overboard with the superhero theme, but hey it's fun to have special food and decorations!

Isaac in his Captain America cape and mask

The capes waiting to be claimed

Captain America's shield fruit tray

Thor's hammer cheese snacks

Gabe and sweet Evelyn in their capes

Pretty Isla in her dress and cape

Hulk stomp

Web-slinging

The best part was the cake.  Zack and I had so much fun making the cake, even though it took an insane amount of time (totally worth it)!

God Bless America!  Ha, I'm sure that's what all our British friends thought when we cut into the cake :) Hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

With love, 

Janelle

The Baltic Sea

This summer we were able to make a little road trip up to the Baltic Sea with some German friends of ours.  We first stopped in Hamburg, which is a huge harbor city, and then stayed in a quaint little town called Lubec.  It was nice to escape from the big city and explore the town of Lubec, which happens to be famous for their marzipan, delicious! We were able to go to the Baltic Sea one day, but it was quite cold and rainy, nothing like the East Coast beaches!  The boys still played on the beach and even got in for a quick dip, just to say they've swam in the Baltic. There were tons of dead giant jellyfish washed up on shore and Isaac kept trying to catch them with his shovel!

The first few pictures are from Hamburg:

These are from Lubec:

And these are from the Baltic Sea:

With love,

Janelle

Summertime in the city

Why hello there friends! It's been a while (a long time), but we are back up and running.  I wish I had a good excuse for not writing the past several months, I don't.  We had quite a few visitors over the summer and the boys keep me really busy, but other than that I've just been lazy! My next few posts will hopefully catch you up on what my little family has been up to.

 We had such an amazing summer here in Berlin.  I have to say, summertime in Berlin is great.  We have 2 lakes practically in our backyard and it's so great to be able to walk there and take a swim with the kids.  We walk and bike everywhere, and there are ice cream shops at every corner!

Grandma Cindy, Aunt Kate, and cousins Nathan and Erin were able to come out for a visit this summer.  The kids all had a blast together and we were able to do some good sightseeing of the city.  We can't wait to see them again at Christmas!

My cousin Kelly was able to come out for a nice visit this summer as well.  It was so nice to spend some quality time with her and enjoy the pleasures of everyday life together.  She was able to really get to know the boys, who loved her company!

Our good friends Jon and Vanessa were also able to visit on their way to Dubai.  Somehow I don't have any pictures from their visit, I think Vanessa did all the picture taking with her spiffy new camera!

Towards the end of summer, little toads were everywhere and Leonardo had a blast catching them!

 I ran a half marathon around Berlin!

 And here is a little preview for Halloween of Hulk-man and Hulkerine!

With love,
Janelle

As of Lately

Summer is finally here and the visitors have already starting arriving!  Berlin is such a gorgeous place when it's warm and we are so excited for all the family and friends coming out this summer.  My friends from Physical Therapy school just came out and we had a great time.  The weather was perfect and we were able to see all the major sites and make some great memories!

Isaac rode his bike around all the castles of Potsdam

My big boy loves exploring on his own

We even got to go out one night with just the adults, had a blast!

Last weekend we ventured over to the Lake Wannsee that we had heard so much about.  It was only a 15 minute bike ride and we were pleasantly surprised at the nice beach and swimming area.  The boys absolutely loved the sand and water, and they didn't mind that it was a little cold.  I have to admit I did a very German thing on our bike ride, I wore a skirt (a longer one) and I loved it!  When we moved here I saw all these women biking in dresses and skirts and I thought they were crazy, little did I know it's much better than pants :) We can't wait to take all our visitors here!

Ready to go to the beach

We celebrated Father's Day yesterday with a superhero theme.  Isaac and I made Daddy a superhero box with all the essentials a superhero would need and the boys dressed up in their Superman shirts.  We also made cupcakes, well I should say I made cupcakes and Isaac licked the bowls.  At what age is it appropriate to let your kids eat batter?! I'm not one to judge because when I make cookies it's one spoon on the baking sheet and one in my mouth (learned that from my Mom :)! Anyways, we had a wonderful day celebrating the amazing father that Zack is.  The boys are sure lucky to have such a fun loving Dad!

Trying out the zip-line

Our Superhero box

Ready to wake up Daddy

And this is how Isaac helps me bake!

We can't wait for Nana, Aunt Kate, Nathan, and Erin to arrive on Thursday for a week filled with fun!

With love,
Janelle

Prague

For our 6 year anniversary we decided to spend some time in Prague.  It's actually only a 4 hour drive from Berlin, but with some slight detours through the country of The Czech Republic it ended up taking 5 hours.  It was a beautiful city and we had an amazing time exploring with the boys.  We explored the zoo one day, which is rated the 7th best in the world by Forbes Magazine (we did our research).  The best part of traveling with young children who wake up early, you get to the best spots before everyone else! The boy's did great with this trip, so we are looking forward to planning more trips around Europe (Munich, Hamburg, Luebeck, Baltic Sea, and Salzburg).  More to come!

City Toilete

View over Prague from Castle

Gabe is a good sharer

Pest in America = Zoo exhibit in Europe

Riding the train at the zoo

Looking at the Prague Castle

The Charles Bridge

Isaac with his shades on

Gabe insists on holding Isaac's hand wherever they go

Lost in the Czech countryside....at least it's beautiful

Happy 6 years!

With love,
Janelle