Tidbits from May/June

We realized that we are posting much less now than we used to and want to up our game again. It's not like life suddenly became boring, it is just that we are getting lazy.

So here are some things from the summer of 2018 that are worth sharing.

Jay's 48th Birthday.  

"Sternfahrt" (Star Trip) when they close the Autobahn to cars so the bicycles can take over. 20km for the kids that day!

More biking: Easy to take the train out to the countryside and pedal around the small towns and churches. This is becoming a treasured weekend family activity.

Taking the train back from a visit to Copenhagen to see Cassandra's cousin. The train then went on the ferry boat, which was super cool.

Dieffenbachstrasse, one of my favorite blocks on my bike commute to work. It had never occurred to me that you could fall in love with specific city streets but this one with its bakeries, cafes and old buildings behind shady oak trees really took me.

Poppy and Nanny visited for the month of May. Lots of adventures in store.

At the Leipzig Zoo. Leipzig is a very cool town an hour south of Berlin on the high speed train. 

Old factory area, Leipzig outskirts. Teaching the kids the excitement of urban exploring!

Leipzig tower lookout.

When you don't have a car and need to get the garden project materials back home from the store..

Gatow Airfield. One of the Berlin Airlift airports, now a flight museum. Air museums here are just like in the US except here you get to see all the Soviet stuff. This is a Russian Hind-D attack chopper.

Camping with school friends on a lake in Brandenburg and the famous "Stick Bread." 

Jay does another urban exploration, this time to a former Soviet flight school at Jüterbog south of town. Super eerie.

World Cup starts!! The kids decorate daddy. 

Watching Germany at the Cafe am Neuen See biergarten, one of the classic spots in the old West Berlin.

Dinner at a Peruvian restaurant with school bud Rohan before a Friday night sleepover. Kids are glued to TV World Cup game Iceland v Nigeria. Jasper looks possessed, which is a little troubling.

Jay and his Finnish riding partner Jani complete a "Brevet," which in French means "Excruciatingly Long Bike Ride Just Because." We did a 210km (130miles) loop through the Brandenburg countryside. Picture taken at the famous Spy Bridge in Potsdam where they exchanged Gary Powers after the U2 incident.

Kid's Concert at the snazzy German Konzert Haus with The Berlin Symphony Orchestra. This, unbelievably, is a typical Sunday afternoon activity around here.