I found a couple belly-shots that I thought deserved posting.  I think it is amazing how he can pull his head up already.  He is a strong little dude.

On the way home from Kassel, weekend before last, Conrad fell asleep exercising his fingers.  He really likes to stretch them out.

Conrad loves his new mobile.  We thought we would get him used to being in Frankfurt, where we always have planes taking off and landing overhead.

So, on Sunday we decided to make hamburgers from scratch.  Actually, I wanted hamburgers but we didn't have any buns.  As the stores are closed here on Sundays, we decided to make our own buns.  Carola made the yeast dough and we were off and running.  It turned out really good and the burgers were amazing!

Getting some fresh air.

Conrad's First Bath!

Mother and Son resting after a restless night

Awake and happy on the couch

First Day at Work

Today is my first day back at work and we will have to get into a new rhythm of life again.  We were doing pretty good with the old rhythm before - but I guess that will be the story of this first year - if we are not traveling and changing things then Conrad will change his schedule just to keep us on our toes.  All in all it was a great weekend though.  We managed to make strawberry jam and cookies and still feed everyone in the house.

Multitasking

Week 2 is here and we are figuring out how to get some sleep and get some other things done.  Conrad got his first passport today and we are enjoying watching him grow.

We were making cupcakes last Saturday when one of them fell off the cooling rack. TRAGEDY.

Conrad Harry - Week 1

On May 14 we had a life-changing event - Conrad Harry joined our family. To celebrate the occasion, Carola and I have been giving the little guy lots of attention - both day and night. After doing some very important things like applying for a birth certificate, washing diapers and taking a nap, photos have finally made it up the priority list.

If you would like to follow more photos of Conrad, please check back here as I think this will be the place where I will upload them. Many thanks to everyone for their good wishes and kind thoughts over the past few weeks! We are very happy that mother, child and father are all doing well.

Happy Easter Everyone! We had Carola's parents and brother Walter visit us for Easter. It was a wonderful and enjoyable time.

I hope to have more news soon!

We spent the weekend in Berlin because of Valerie's engagement party. We saw lots of friends and had a really good time marching through wintry Berlin. This was taken at the Tiergarten in the former West Berlin.

Our last Zucchini

Today I harvested (and ate) what will most likely be our last Zucchini for the season. It was good!

The view from our bedroom window this morning. Fall is my favorite season.

The Great Biodegradable Bag Test



My dad sent me the new Sun Chips biodegradable chip bag. As we have a composting operation going on, I thought we'd see if this thing actually degrades. I buried it under some earth and now we will see what our worms do with it. I hear they like French Onion the best.

Magnus Finds His Way to Frankfurt

This weekend Magnus visited us in Frankfurt, the first time since my bachelors party in early 2009. He got to see our new place, and we took him on a long bike ride through the forest. He normally works night shifts, so we tried our best to get him in the sunlight and get him some exercise. It was really nice of him to come, and I think he enjoyed using his first class ticket to get here.

Potato Harvest



We finally got around to harvesting our potatoes the other day. Carola purchased a variety that is particularly purple. The seed potatoes were purple and the new potatoes are also purple. I guess the potato doesn't sit in the earth very far from the roots.


Naturally, we cooked them up, and they tasted like normal potatoes, only way tastier! They are even purple on the inside.

The Cousins Invade


Last week my Cousins (Jenna & Christian) came to visit us. We had a very Colorado-style holiday with lots of hiking, biking & scootering. We also visited some wineries, which is not particularly Colorado-style, but nevertheless fun. Having a rental car, we were able to get out and discover some areas around Frankfurt that we had not known before. It turns out that there are a few very well-regarding wineries only half an hour from our apartment. Who knew?



We worked our way south, as the Cousins needed to get their gold bars to the safety of a neutral country - Swizerland (sterotypes aside, the real goal was to get Christian his watch repaired). Along the way we stopped in Heidelberg. Allthough it was a cold and rainy day, we managed to see the sites and find a warm authentic pizza place to serve us some good food.

That night we ended our journey in Colmar, France. It is a pretty little town that Carola and I have visited before. Once we found a hotel and a place to eat, it was quite the nice visit. We played pitch in the restaurant until after it was closed. The owner was nice enough to allow us to leave via the adjacent hotel. Really nice people in France, but they take really ridiculously long lunch-breaks.

I was going through my memory card and I came across this picture from when my parents were visiting us last spring. I thought it turned out quite well, so I decided to post it. It is from our daytrip to Wiesbaden.

A visit in Tallinn - in June!

Although this is already a REALLY long time ago I would like to share some pictures of the time Dorothée visited me (Carola is posting here) in Tallinn, Estonia. There are actually not too many pictures of us in town but quite a few from the little excursion we did to go hike Lahemaa nation park about two hours east of Tallinn. It was not too warm out (keep in mind it was the beginning of June) and a relatively cloudy day. Nonetheless, we were determined to hike in the beautiful nature. And the beginning was truly nice!

Unfortunately, after not too long mosquitoes started following us so we put on our gear to keep us from getting bitten too much. I forgot the anti-bite stuff!!

But we still had fun:

On the tip of the peninsula we found this old lookout tower from the soviet era. According to the date on the tower it was built in 1985. Around the time that we made it to that point it even started to rain. It was kind of creepy to be there!

By the time we got back to the tiny village we had to wait an additional two hours for the bus leaving for Tallinn. We were completely soaked and cold and desperately trying to find a café to warm up again. The first place we found was a tiny place owned and operated by a family. They were all sitting around the counter waiting for us to finish our cup of tea! So obviously we could not stay there for the entire time.

Thankfully we found another place, a museum that had a spare room where we stayed until the time came for us to go to the bus stop. Thankfully we both did not get sick afterwards but it was for sure an adventure that will be remembered!

Here are some pictures of Dorothée in front of the house where our grandfather lived in Tallinn.

And one of me shortly after 11pm!!