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Teddy plays an integral role in our family.
He taught Thom to read, passed on his love of baseball to the twins, and always eats whatever I make with no complaints. We love him so, and today he is twelve. Happy birthday, T. The littles and I were at the Stadtgarten for over three hours this afternoon. The only way I got them out of there was the promise of fries from the chicken man. These kids sure like to play. And hot fried food.
Now they’re huddled around the screen like good American children. They’re desperately searching the crowd for Thom and Errol at the Real Madrid game. No sightings thus far. Vinnie's sense of independence is hit or miss.
This afternoon she felt completely capable of going to the Gelateria, buying an ice cream cone, and walking home all on her own. However, this morning, she was not comfortable going to school alone. Errol and Thom are in Madrid for a few days so the sleepy-eyed twins in pajamas rode the tram with us today. It’s pretty adorable when they share a seat. When we were in Milan in February, Vinnie spotted a billboard of Frida Kahlo and shouted, “Look! It’s Frida Kahlo!” She began talking about Frida breaking her back in a bus accident and painting her pain with nails all over her body. Vinnie is not the reader Thom is so this outburst was a surprise. She explained that Frau Hoffmann recently taught her class about Frida. “Would you like to see her paintings while we’re here?” “Yes!” We got Vinnie to the Mudec in Milan, but the gift shop was as far as she got. There was a huge line for the exhibition, and our crew wasn’t up for the wait. I promised her we'd try again. Ten weeks later, we’re in Baden-Baden the at Kunstmuseum Gehrke-Remund. It was a lovely ladies’ afternoon out. Lee and Ned are rarely separated. They seem to prefer having the other close. But, situations arise when I have just one twin. Yesterday was one of those days.
Lee had a dentist appointment, and I picked him up early from kindergarten without Neddy noticing. The appointment went smoothly, and, hilariously, the dentist told Lee he did such a good job that he should have strawberry ice cream this afternoon. Afterward, he looked at me guiltily and said, “I really love ice cream.” I had already noticed he was wearing socks with popsicles and ice cream cones all over them. Later in the day when all four kids were together again, we stopped for Eis. Thom asks his siblings what flavors they want and orders for everyone. Sweet Lee got strawberry. I woke up to happy news from Norwegian this morning. The kids and I are booked on a direct flight to Newark. Praise be!
Yesterday I took the littles to play in the Dreisam. It was a reminder of how much joy humans can take from water and rocks. Errol has been away since Thursday morning. Thom was supposed to report to his soccer field at 8 a.m. this morning. Usually Errol and Thom ride their bikes the few miles to soccer together. When the littles and I go, we take trams and buses. The latter takes much longer.
I told Errol I would strongly prefer not to have to get all our kids out the door that early on Sunday morning. He thought Thom could ride his bike on his own. And he did. Freiburg’s See Park is beautiful, and we don’t go as much as we should. I noticed it was particularly lovely when I rode my bike through it last week. The trees were blooming, and I really wanted to stop and savor spring. Alas, I needed to meet Thom and Vinnie at their school. I made a mental note to return, and we did today.
Parks in Germany are fun. The lack of restrictions lighten the mood. This afternoon I saw a couple pushing strollers with one hand and holding mugs of beer with the other. When we arrived at the lake, we saw people were in the water. Vinnie was annoyed we hadn’t brought swim gear. Then, she noticed a little boy was in the lake naked. My kids didn’t want to skinnydip but were thrilled to be able to enjoy the water without suits. We met up with our Virginian friends, and I remarked to Laura how in Princeton we aren’t even allowed to stick our feet in the fountain anymore. Here, they let people swim with the swans. |
Anne Thomsen lordWritings on our year abroad. Archives
September 2018
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