Legoland Slideshow.

We took our first amusement park trip this week. It was to Legoland which is, admittedly, a starter amusement park. We had a good time riding roller coasters and we learned that Maddie is quite the adrenalin junkie. She rode The Dragon 8 times. We had to pry her white knuckled fingers from the rail at the end of the day to take her home.

Click here for photos.

Andy's Trip to Vienna So Far

Micah, don't swing that. Micah, don't poke your sister with that. Micah, stop saying that. Micah, don't stand there. Micah, don't jump in that puddle again. Micah, don't put that in your mouth, you don't know where it's been. Micah, put that down, it's not yours.

Note for posterity. Other things happened during Piper's trip to Vienna. Her trip existed in a parallel reality where we skipped joyously from scenic mountaintop to scenic mountaintop.

Seriously... All is well. Photos to follow on our return.

Let our loyalties be clear

Question of the Day

Should I be concerned that my wife can order a Cappuccino in 5 languages?

Happy Birthday Maddie

Maddie is 7 today.

I knew the relationship wouldn't last

Maddie has started seeing another vegetable.

Her new love is Pumpkin. She bought a small Pumpkin at the Sindelfingen market yesterday and drew a smiley face on it. It hasn't left her side all weekend.

With luck, we'll convince her to leave it at home when we go to Legoland tomorrow.

No word on how Pineapple is coping since the breakup.

Runner Up Quote of the Day

"Daddy, here's a Phillip!"

--Spoken by Micah as he handled me a Phillips head screwdriver

Quote of the Day

"I dropped it down that hole."

--Micah

(In response to the question: "Micah, where did you put my drill bit")

This just in...

Maddie has a new love. Her pineapple. She went shopping with Piper at the store today and Piper allowed her to pick out a fruit.

She loves her pineapple. She has found a little bag to carry it in. She wants to bring it out to dinner tonight where we're meeting friends.

She calls it by the German name (Ananas). She remembers that it also has an English name (that would be "Pineapple") but she keeps forgetting it. Possibly we've been here longer than we thought.

Thought that some of you would like to know (you know who you are).

PS. We planted Kartoffel.

Why I'm on Facebook

So I joined facebook a few months back. The jury is still out on that experiment. I am continually barraged with random bits of internet detritus from folks who have way more time online that I do.

I may quit at any time. So what keeps me from doing that? Well, for starters, people send me fascinating stuff that I'd never see anywhere else. Stuff like this video.

Lawrence, are you free this weekend? Do you know where we can find 2 anvils?

I figure that Micah is 5 now. It's high time he learned to play with explosives.

Can a child be too content

Maddie is home sick today with the stomach flu.

To ensure our child's happiness, Piper set her up with 6 ounces of her favorite drink (Fresca...) and a DVD of her favorite movie. She then perched Maddie on our bed to watch the movie.

Maddie was sooooo happy to be surrounded by such goodness that she didn't tell Piper that she'd thrown up again until the movie was over.

Piper is now off to the laundromat to ensure that we have clean sheets tonight.

Tchibo Aktuell

An update in the Tchibo series. A sampling of this week's offerings:
-- Coffee
--Mens' fleece jackets (orange)
--Gel heel pads for running shoes
--Apple-shaped kitchen timers
-- Jewelry

Rubber Duckie, You're the One

We went to the Teubingen Rubber Duck races today. This is an annual event that's been quite played up by some of our German friends. Attendance was crowded, especially considering that it was pouring buckets.

Piper likened it to the Tour de France. There was a peleton, a breakaway group and... eventually, a clear front runner. Andy differs. The minimal river current provided a glacial level of excitement on par with watching the America's cup. The 500m course took the better part of an hour to complete.

This boredom was not a factor for 5fordhams, however, since we had not one but three ducks in this race. We clutched our tickets and waited for our numbers to be called.

They weren't. I suspect doping.

Nobel Prize

Lots of discussion today on the Nobel Prize. My opinions are unclear. I'm still waiting to see how they spin this one.

I will say that this guy is, by far, my favorite winner of the Nobel Peace Prize ever (with apologies to Mother Theresa).

Not sure if he's my favorite Nobel winner ever. For the sheer "cool factor," it's hard to top the 1964 physics prize (for inventing the laser/maser).

How can curing world hunger top inventing the ray gun, anyway?

Back to our regularly scheduled programming (tomorrow we're off to the Teubingen rubber duck races).

Arrived!

It is 6:45 a.m. and my children are awake, excited and making their beds. Why this wonderful, odd behavior?

The Matcy has landed. She flew from Singapore yesterday, arrived at Frankfurt at 5:30 local time and will be at the Hbf in an hour. Yipee!!!!

Brag Alert!

Two of my nephews play in the University High Marching Band in Tucson, AZ. This year the band won one of only two Superior Awards and won the whole shooting match at the state-wide UofA Band Day Marching Band Competition.

Aunti P is enormously proud!

And even more pumpkins...

You asked for it, sports fans, and we at David's Dresser Drawer aim to please. More photos from Ludwigsburg plus some photos from my camera of volksmarching in Heidelburg.

Just to show how serious Ludwigsburg is about their pumpkin fest, we listened to a band play traditional German folk music on kazoo/gourd instruments. Video on my FB (it's too much of a memory hog to put it here.

Click on the photo for the slide show

Pop Quiz

We just returned from another mommy organized adventure. We went to Ludwigsburg palace for a local festival.

Can you guess the theme?

Click on the photo of the palace below for photos that may provide a hint.

More Pictures for Grandparents

We went to Heidelberg 2 weeks ago. Like all 5fordhams excursions, this one came complete with photos. Click on this link to see them.

Micah and I are alone for the afternoon. The girls have gone to see a German children's play about a little boy in the war.

Micah and I will probably watch Monsters vs. Aliens. Culture here at 5fordhams is not evenly distributed between the sexes.

Question of the Day

Today I'm wondering just how old my kids need to be before I let them watch Star Wars.

Maddie looks at me with a funny expression every time I say "let the Wookie win." (Usually in reference to letting Micah have something he wants).