Anniversary on the Rhine

One thing I have learned about life, is that you can never predict where you will find yourself from year to year. When Randy picked me up friday night after finishing his work a few hours away, we headed an hour from Erica's home to the Rhine River valley. We smiled at the irony of finding ourselves in such a beautiful and interesting place in the world the week of our 26th anniversary. Without much effort or planning, we had a great weekend together, exploring ancient towns and castles, hiking, eating, shopping and talking. It was a weekend I will never forget.

Flying down the autobahn on our way home.

Awake and in Awe of the World

Lucy and Elise are six weeks old and have basically slept that entire time away. This week however, they awoke. One night they both came out of their newborn slumber and stayed awake for quite some time, looking around as if to say--"Where are we??, and how did we get here?" It was so much fun to be able to get to say hello and to answer some of their questions.

Erica has three in diapers now and I believe that this family alone could fill a land-fill. Annika is not quite two years old, but she is pretty bright for her age and so we decided to give potty-training a try while I am still here. She donned her princess underwear and did really good yesterday. Today was a different story. I think the new experience was no longer fun and was becoming a little monotonous. So I told her we could go outside and play if she would sit on the potty. She liked that idea! She had been running around all morning with just a cinderella shirt on and so she chose some clothes (hand-me-downs from a friend) to wear. I thought she looked so cute in her funky clothes and I took pictures of her as she watched ants, peeked through garden gates, ran along the walking path, and explored her little area of the world.

A Blessing

The fact that Lucy and Elise were born healthy, strong and beautiful was an incredible blessing for Erica, Brad and all of the family. Sunday, Brad pronounced an inspired blessing on each of the girls at church. It was so nice that Brad's brother Jeff, and both grandfathers could also join him. They were dressed in little white dresses handed down from our friend Augustina Wilcken--thanks Augustina! The girls have been sick, and didn't feel good, so we didn't take a lot of pictures, but their family picture turned out great.

A Birthday Party for Anni!

It wasn't arranged, but somehow both sets of grandparents were in Germany on the same weekend. So, although Annika's birthday is April 1st, we didn't let that stop us from having a party on the 20th of March. I don't think it's possible for a little girl to be any more excited for an event--she could hardly contain her emotions! After her nap, she dressed in her new party dress, donned her birthday cake hat, and put on her cinderella shoes (which she wore for over an hour!) When all the family arrived, we made party hats, ate a delicious dinner, and then opened presents. She loved everything she was given, but was thrilled with her new princess set--a tiara, gown, shoes, purse, earrings and ring, which she wore the rest of the night. When we sang happy birthday she beamed and asked us to sing over and over again. She was happy as could be all evening, and it was so much fun celebrating with her.

One of the things Erica and I were most excited about, was being together to photograph the twins. Turns out that finding time to have an afternoon photo shoot is harder to schedule than one would think. Between feeding, bathing, changing, fixing lunch, doing laundry, cleaning up, entertaining Annika and then starting over there's not a lot of time. But we did try for an hour or so and are happy to show the results. It is quite the process to undress them, keep them wrapped up and warm, get them to fall so soundly asleep that they are bendable and moldable and then to keep them that way. Sadly, Lucy got a little upset and so we didn't get an individual shot of her but it's on our to-do list.

Erica claims that she doesn't know how it happened. It may have been when she let Anni watch the preview for Princess and the Frog. It may have been when Annika was at a friend's home and she tried on "Princess shoes" for the first time. But the truth is, that Anni is obsessed with being a princess. Opa was in Orlando and went by a Disney princess store and thought of her. He sent Cinderella Slippers and Princess t-shirts. Oma got her a Cinderella and a Snow White dress along with a crown. We had no idea what a monster we were creating! She tries on her Cinderella slippers over and over again, even though she tells us that "Princess shoes hurt." (She has no idea how true that statement is!) When she is not wearing the shoes, she is sleeping with them. She wants to wear princess t-shirts everyday--so Erica convinced her that they are exercise clothes to only be worn at home. Turns out that Snow White and Cinderella do a lot of sweeping, so she is really into using the broom these days--now there's a plus! Even Cowgirl Annika wears a tulle' skirt when she goes off on a ride. I think it's probably for the best--for in reality she is a princess.

Today was the first day that it has been warm enough to open the windows and let some fresh air in. It was so nice to hear birds and the town hall clock chiming. I even went out for a short run this afternoon. But even when we stay inside all day, Erica's house has lots of windows, light, and European charm. The view out her windows is always interesting and Annika and I enjoy watching the "peoples" on the street below.

Lake Walk

On Thursday we finally got out of the house despite the frigid temperatures, and walked to the lake by Erica's home. Annie loves getting outside and one of her favorite places to go is to the lake to feed the ducks. We forgot the bread, so she was a bit disappointed, but the fresh air felt good and the late afternoon light was beautiful. (It's always about the light--right??) Passersby never would have suspected the small double bundle we had stowed away in the bed of the stroller. Although our hands and faces were frozen, Lucy and Elise slept comfortably and were warm and cozy during our outing.