JR's new train set

A big thank you to Aunt Judy and Grandma Graham, who sent JR this train set. He was pretty excited to get it and he's been playing with it a lot. It fits perfectly with the Thomas trains and the track he had from his Aunt Andrea. Thank you!

I bought a couple more pieces also.. It's our toy..

Oh, and it's Mustache March!!

Back to School

We had a little party last night to celebrate my continued enrollment at Jagiellonian University. We had a good time with several of my classmates and friends from the consulate joining us. My classmates brought this good looking cake. And it was delicious!

On the road

Here's a smattering of pictures from our travels these past two weeks. We drove from Berlin to Maastricht, stopping in Münster for a night. Spent a couple days near Maastricht with our friends the Drosts, then on to Spangdahlem. Stayed there a few days with the Youngs while JR wooed their daughter. Then back home via a one-night stay in Dresden, Jill's new favorite city in Germany. It wasn't as hectic as that makes it sound. Staying with friends definitely helped.

The Rathaus in Münster -- the Treaty of Westphalia was signed here, for all you history buffs

Chasing JR. Standard.

Aachen Cathedral, where Charlemagne's bones sit in a box

Big sword in the Zwinger palace in Dresden. Taken moments before the docent told me picture taking ist verboten.

Traveling is hard work

Trainspotting

So, this kid likes trains. He enjoyed looking at the Lego version of Berlin with the trains running through it. And he REALLY liked watching the trains from the dome on the Reichstag. Oh, and we stopped and spent about a half hour in a model train store that we passed a few days later. Jackpot.

Berliner Dom(s)

So here's a neat comparison. The Legoland Berliner Dom and the real deal.

Berlin trip

Dinos at the Berlin Natural History Museum

Street vendors still sell "pieces of the Berlin wall". We opted for a picture.

Roar

Nice place to park a limo, huh?

We spent the first few days of our recent road trip sightseeing in Berlin. It was cold so we tried to find indoor activities that would hold JR's attention. Dinosaurs at the natural history museum, Legoland, an aquarium, and the hands on DDR museum all worked pretty well. It's a whole new ball game being a tourist with a toddler.

Trabi

JR in a commie car at a museum on East Germany we visited in Berlin yesterday. Happy little comrade. JR liked the museum. It was very hands on.