Cookies Baking - Reloaded

Again, rainy cold weather.... This time, we asked Ada and her mom Brit for helping us baking cookies! Again, much fun and delicious cookies!

St. Martin

On November 11th, we took part in the St. Martin lantern procession, a wonderful tradition especially for the children!

Anna with her friend Ada (poor Ada was frighted by the St. Martin rider on a tall horse):
And Anna and Ada with Arne (AAA):

Bad Weather Afternoon Program

Unpleasant autumn weather with rain and chilly winds is keeping us mostly at home during the last days. Thus, an interesting afternoon program for the kids was badly needed. Petra and I decided to see if Anna and Arne would like baking some Christmas cookies. (I know it's a bit early - but we desperately needed something funny to do for the kids!)
And YES, they even loved it!!!
They eagerly cut out the cookies and placed their sometimes a bit mutilated stars, hearts, sheep and mushrooms on the baking tray.
Decorating was much fun, too - though lots of decoration material (especially the raisins and the sugar beads) disappeared beforehand in their mouths....
And voilá! The result was not only respectable but also quite tasty!
Back to playing:

"AM I LIVING IN A BOX, AM I LIVING IN A CARDBOARD BOX?"

Baby Bellies

Being pregnant with Anna in Taiwan was very exciting but also a bit lonely - I had no close friends in a similar situation in Taipei, with whom I could have discussed all my pregnancy-thoughts. But this time, I can share my pregnancy with three(!) close friends, who are expecting, too! To remember this special time, we decided to have a home-made photo shooting - and we had to hurry, as Maria's due-date is this week (yellow flower)! (Petra - orange flower - is scheduled for November and Annette - red flower - and I for December.)
Our kids were watching with big eyes what we did, but luckily Annette had baked enough waffles to keep them at bay and busy! Afterwards, they were allowed to an own photo shooting - what a pity that Maria's Darius was missing...
We might do a similar photo shooting in January - then hopefully with four healthy little babies in our arms instead of the flowers!

Canada

An invitation to the wedding of Kamil's cousin led us to Toronto in October and brought the opportunity to spend our holidays in Canada during the famous Indian Summer time.
Kamil's uncle and his younger son AD (not the one who got married, though!) were showing us some nice corners of Toronto.
AD was a fabulous playmate for Anna!
Kamil's whole family gathered in Toronto (especially in his uncle's house...) and we spent a lively week with them. Many thanks to aunt Jola for her kind and great hospitality! We might post some official photos from the wedding soon.
Of course, we visited also the nearby Niagara Falls - water was coming from all sides, though...
Despite the sometimes cold and rainy weather, we went for some walks to a nearby park:
After this buzzing week in Toronto with the greater family, we escaped for four days to Algonquin Provincial Park to enjoy our togetherness, the calmness of nature and the brilliant colors of the Indian Summer.
We rented a small cottage just outside of Algonquin Park (The Pines Cottage Resort) on the shore of Oxtongue Lake. This was our starting point for various magnificent hikes in the Park and paddling tours on the lake.
And after these strenuous paddling and hiking excursions, Kamil prepared a nice bonfire on the beach in the evening to roast marshmallows!
Some of the wild animals we encountered during our trip - although the adjective "wild" might not be appropriate for the chipmunks, which lived around our cabin...

Walks and Mushrooms in our Park

It is true - autumn has arrived in Potsdam. The weather is much cooler and windier, but often also quite sunny with sharp blue sky and beautiful clouds. Chestnuts, beechnuts and acorns are falling from the trees and wait to be picked up - a new season has started in our beloved Babelsberg Park!
And last week-end, we were visited by Janos, my former office mate from Bern! It was so nice to see him again! And he is absolutely fabulous with kids - Anna loved him! Thanks, Janos, for playing with Anna and the "Enteneis"! ;-)
And walking with Janos through the Babelsberg Park, we found two wonderful and tasty examples of parasol mushrooms (Macrolepiota procera) and two boletus.

August in Innsbruck

It's time to post some pictures of our activities in August - we spent the whole month in Innsbruck! Kamil was busy preparing and giving a mapping course in the Villnöss Valley in South Tyrol for students from the FU Berlin and he participated at a geologic excursion around the Tauern Window. Thus, we did not see him a lot during these weeks... But for me, the time in Innsbruck was real holidays - living like in a full-service hotel and grandparents looking after Anna! (Thanks so much, Mama and Gogo!)
The weather this month was not too great - lots of rain, snow in the mountains, but we still managed to get Anna out into woody and rocky nature quite a few times. So there was lots and lots to discover: mushrooms, berries, snow, and loud cows!
Here are some photo-collages: