Summer Fun

It's officially summer time but with the weather being in the 90s and hardly any rain, it felt like summer since the children got out of school. These past 4 weeks have been filled with lots of fun:  outdoor activities, birthday parties, popsicles on the patio, camp adventures, outdoor concerts, swimming, play dates and late bedtimes. We are also working on our fine motor skills and creativity and thus, the weekends are devoted to building Legos, puzzling, and painting. 

Last weekend, Amelia and I (mostly I) completed two 500 piece puzzles and we are not done yet. Another 750 piece puzzle awaits us but in the meantime, the children are mastering the 100 pieces on their own, which took Amelia 15 minutes on her first try. As a teenager I puzzled a lot and now I know why. It feels so rewarding putting these tiny pieces together to create a big picture. Amelia loves it too but we have to work on her endurance and technique for the smaller pieces.  

The boys are in on the puzzles as well:

With the children staying at camp later in the afternoon, I actually have some time to go to the gym after work or come home and paint some. Currently, I'm working on a paint by numbers canvas for adults. Can't wait to show you the completed painting. 

I also tried, for the first time ever, making homemade strawberry jam. The process is fairly simple and the result was delicious. Strawberry jam for the win!

Elliot loves to ride his bike on the street. He is getting so fast and dangerous, it is time to take the training wheels off. 

Amelia enjoyed a play date with her classmate Maya last week. These girls love to play dress up and to show off their creations:

To cool off, we enjoyed hanging out with Kellan, his sister and their mom at the pool a couple of weeks ago. 

Last week, Amelia enjoyed a fantastic week at a local Art camp. A friend of mine and I carpooled and after I picked up the girls on Wednesday afternoon,  Amelia and Payton were happy to jump in  to the refreshing water at the Y pool. 

After dropping Amelia off at camp, Elliot and I went on a breakfast date to CFA this week. My little boy loved spending a few minutes with his mommy and devoured the chicken minis.

Some nights call for homemade pizzas while other nights dinner consists of leftovers or a picnic outside. Summer meals are much simpler and less structured and we love it. 

Pizza makers in training

And then we stay up past bedtime to go outside and catch fireflies. 

Our garden continues to grow and currently we are harvesting strawberries, Snow peas, tomatoes, bell peppers and broccoli. 

On the weekends we work around the house, relax and watch the soccer games. Of course, sporting our German colors is a must:

Most of our time is spent together as a family and we try to find family friendly events we all can enjoy. Like last night, we grabbed our chairs and blanket, packed a picnic and headed to The Historic Rock Castle for Songwriter's Night. The atmosphere was pleasant, the weather fairly mild and next to good music there were all kinds of activities (face painting, bounce houses and games) for the children. 

A little taste of the music and the surroundings:

After dawn, the fireflies came out and all the children were running around catching them. The adults enjoyed watching the sun set and the glow of the string lights encasing the stage.

Oh, summer time. We are loving every minute of it and making the best memories. Luckily, it's only the beginning of summer as we have so much more planned.

Our Daddy

Today, we say Thank You to the man who always makes his family his priority. He is for sure the best Dad we could have asked for and loves his children unconditionally since day 1. These two are the luckiest to have you to love them, protect them and teach them most important lessons in life. 

Then:

D. and his baby girl                             D. and his boy

Now:

He is always there for his children and misses them like crazy when he is out of town. He is the fun part of the duo, always making them laugh and ready to play. He is our rock, our protector, provider, and vacation planner. Derrick, you are the best and our hero.

Happy Father's Day!

Amelia and Elliot were excited to wake up their Daddy with their special cards they made for him at camp.

After a leisurely breakfast, we all got ready to watch the World Cup. Despite it being Derrick's special day, he went along with our charade of dressing in Deutschland shirts and putting hats and face paint on to cheer on my home country soccer team from afar.

Even though Germany lost the game against Mexico, we are not defeated. This is only the beginning of the Cup and it will be a good one. After nap time, Derrick got the idea of exploring a nearby beach at the lake. He just read about it online and figured, today is as good as any day to try it out. It was hot and the kids were easily convinced to go swimming.

After driving for 35 minutes, we arrived at the "beach". It felt like, we had arrived at the ocean, especially, since the kids kept asking if there were sharks in the water. The sand was a pretty color and very soft to the touch and the water was clean and warm. The spot we chose was not overly crowded either. Thus, the perfect way to spent a sunny Sunday afternoon.

My water babies were delighted and constantly in the water.

But not only the children enjoyed this spontaneous adventure, the adults were having a great time too.

What a blessing it is to have such a devoted father and husband and one who always comes up with the impromtu family activities. 

All About Music

This week/ weekend is the busiest time for music enthusiasts in Nashville. There is not one but two music festivals going on at the same time: CMA Fest and the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival. For the Country Music Festival there are stages and performances all over downtown Nashville and approximately 100,000 people attend this annual event in Music City. The Bonnaroo Music Festival attracts the same amount of people but is held at Great Stage Park, an hour South of Nashville, where multiple stages feature artists from a diverse array of musical styles including Rock, Hip Hop, Jazz, Bluegrass, Country, Gospel, Pop, Reggae and alternative music. 

While we never attended one of the festivals due to the crowds and the heat at that time of year, we enjoyed our own musical weekend close to our home. The local library hosted a Musical Petting Zoo, where the children could try out different music instruments the Nashville Symphony uses on stage. I took Amelia there while the boys napped at home. Her favorite was by far the violin but she was also intrigued by the flute and the harp. We are considering signing her up for her lessons. 

After the petting zoo, the library hosted Music Together, where the kids sang and danced for half an hour. 

A quick rest at home while building some Legos and watching Annie. On Friday afternoon, Elliot and I pulled out our Lego bin and started to assemble all the vehicles, boats and helicopters. The kids and I spent at least 8 hours this weekend on this task and just finished it before dinner time on Sunday. While there are still quite a few pieces left as we inherited a box full of Legos and no instructions, both Amelia and Elliot enjoy playing with their Lego creations. I have a feeling though that within the next couple of days, they will have re-imagined and re-engineered every single piece. It was a great way to spent some quality time with them though. 

Then it was time to get dressed, pack a picnic dinner, pull out our lawn chairs and head over to Hendersonville for a concert in the park. Every year, the Nashville Orchestra performs their Symphony by the Lake in June and we enjoyed it last year so much, we made sure not to miss it.  It was a very hot day but luckily as the sun set, a breeze came along and we all enjoyed a lovely evening at the park. 

We sat with our friends and the adults as well as the children enjoyed each others company. 

The Musical Petting Zoo was there once again and this time, Elliot was able to try his hand on each instrument. 

Our view towards the stage:

 Bird's eye view:

Once the symphony started, Amelia and I moved closer to the stage (first row in the grass) to listen and watch each musician. She loves all kinds of music and impressed me with her knowledge of music instruments. 

Looking back:

The sun was setting and the lights came on:

While the children were equipped with nets and jars to catch some fireflies nearby, the adults enjoyed the concert.

It truly was a musical day and the concert was the perfect  family summer outing. We can't wait to go next year again. On Sunday, in between building Legos, Elliot and I painted a wall in his room. He choose the color himself as he wanted a shark theme. I was not so sure about the half painted wall but it turned out pretty good. That's what happens when you don't want the room looking too dark and only buy a pint of paint instead of a gallon. 

I hope you all had a fabulous weekend as well!