Tree Decorating Time

We thought we'd share with you not just how much joy the decorating a tree can bring, but also how much focus and hard work goes into it...

...until the desired effect is achieved.

Christmas Extravaganza

There was the annual Christmas party at Karl's and Henri's Kindergarten. Quite a bash. There was punch for both kids and adults, loads of cookies and gingerbread. Highpoint of the extravaganza afternoon was of course the Christmas revue show including songs and rhythms and poems and all around cuteness. See for yourself:

Walk in the Park

Family outing! The boys literally had to warm up to the idea of a walk in the park.

They did appreciate the view from the Monopteros though....

...from that small temple high above the English Gardens.

We retraced our steps form the other weekend, so the goal was the Christmas market.

There was of course a carousel ride.

A heart lunch of soups (and waffles and crepes and candied almonds not shown in picture).

Henri went back to the storytelling hut with mom, while Karl and I headed for the Christmas workshop, where kids age six and up get to build wooden toys under the stern supervision of a very Santa Clausy dude.,

Karl was very proud of his truck.

He actually went at it again right away and built a fire truck for his brother. Late afternoon was spent back home at the Karl studios, where he drafted Henri, his buddy Tom and be for his second feature film. First two scenes are in the can (the arriving space ship scene actually took a bit. Well it was our first special effects shot). More to follow.

Gang of Three

I'm off for the week. Hanging out with Florian quite a bit, who's actually buddy with both Karl and Henri. So - how do you tame a gang of three who invades a playground major bully style "collecting" all wooden sticks from all the other kids (yep, had to go around and return them all to those crybaby snotnoses under the disapproving frowns from the moms)?

You promise them imaginary trophies for a super race that takes five laps along the park. Ready, set, GO! (They insisted on helmets, because first they were so dangerous and then they were so fast). Exhaustion did turn them into docile little angels.

Today Henri actually hung out at Florian's all by himself. Karl and I went back home to finally watch "Lego Star Wars- The Empire Strikes Out", which has a six and older ratings. Karl as usual - in heaven.

St Nicholas' Day Weekend

In Germany St Nicholas Day is to Christmas what the Golden Globes are to the Oscars - a faint notion of what might happen. Kids get to put out their boots and St Nicholas fills them with nuts, fruit, candy and hopefully a little present (this year he brought a CD and a little book for each of them and Karl was very adamant that he had heard St Nicholas trample through the house at midnight, so I guess he does still believe in Santa, even if it's just for the sake of a good story).

The afternoon we ventured out to the English Gardens. The original plan was to visit the playhouse the good folks of Playmobil put up every year at the Christmas fair under the Chinese Tower (to give the kid a taste of what they should put on their wish lists).

First we discovered a new river surfing wave though (the sign warns of entering the waters because of mortal dangers lurking).

At the Christmas Fair the boys ran into Santa. Henri was a bit apprehensive, but when he saw that the scary old dude gives out chocolate he mustered all his courage and had a little chat.

Next stop - pancakes (Karl, who swiftly came to the conclusion that mom's are much better, which didn't keep him from wolving down his) and waffles (Henri).

Somehow there was no shameless plug playhouse this year, so we ended up at the storytelling shack (no plugs, but cozy sleds with sheepskin rugs to lounge on, a sweet grandma volunteer reading fairy tales and a free apple afterwards). Blissful exhaustion on the way back home.

Thanksgiving Weekend in Berlin

Big adventure! We got invited to have Thanksgiving dinner at one of our oldest and dearest friends/fellow former US expat Gaby's house in Berlin. Finally a reason to take the ICE bullet train.

Which is actually quite enjoyable, since you get to lounge around at top speeds of 300 km/h, which definitely beats braving the Autobahn in dismal weather conditions.

Of course the cosmopolitan experience had to start right away, so we took a bus to get first impressions of the real big city.

Gaby is a film producer (she produced the Paganini movie and just finished shooting a phantastic looking romantic comedy that will make Berlin look way way cool), so after dinner Karl got to screen his first movie (see post below). Gaby was quite impressed.

We got to stay in her very fabulous very Hollywood pad in Mitte. The boys did a great job doing their perfect cute houseguest morning routine.

First highlight was a day of museum hopping. Jajaja, we did see the Nofretete. But ancient civilizations have not much of a chance to impress, when there is a Lego Discovery Center in town.

Those guys built pyramids? So?? Did they have pod races there?!(quite impressive diorama, go see, if you can spot Henri in the corner)

Or 3D movies with animated Lego action stories?!!

Back at Gaby's we met up with the other dinner guests, Corinna and her three kids Emma, Arthur and Charlotte, who were bonding with the boys right away.

And, yeah! We gave thanks!

After dinner there was a movie. Not quite as horrifying as it might look like here (they watched "Despicable Me", which is actually quite funny for all ages).

Karl unfortunately had an extended visit from the barf fairy, which gave a whole new meaning to the term all-niter and put a damper on the next day. So Gaby and me took Henri to meet up with Markus and Andreas, Markus being an equally old and dear friend (Fred and I actually met at his 40th birthday bash in Vienna a few years ago). Markus was the founder of Tempo Magazine and my mentor back in the days. Now he is a man of many trades, one of them being gallery owner. Henri got a quite impressive tour of the premises.

Followed by a lunch at the exclusive China Club, where we had the best Chinese lunch this side of Canal Street.

The last day we went to an absolutely marvelous museum, the Wunderkammer Olbricht, which is fashioned in the style of the old Wunderkammer of the Renaissance.

They also have a coffee and crafts room for families. Karl and Henri did assemble fabulous Christmas tree ornaments.

All four of us left Berlin with a heavy heart. Despite the love for our house and our neighborhood, this long weekend reminded/showed us, how exciting it is to live in a real city. So - thank you Gaby for a wonderful time! And yes, we will take you up on that offer and will be back.

Movie Magic

It's no secret that Karl is a movie buff way beyond the usual addictive effect flickering screens have on kids? He's really into the whole thing from story to filmmaking process (have I bragged about the day yet, when I explained Aristotelian drama structure to him and he used it to correctly break down "Finding Nemo" into three acts for me the next day?). So every time we go to a movie house he is seriously in seventh heaven. Last week we watched "Das kleine Gespenst" And since he turned six he got to watch his first fantasy movie for olde kids (Luc Besson's "Arthur and the Invisibles"), which had the desired effect:

The greatest discovery of all was the Lego stop-motion app though that turns any iPhone into a mini-filmstudio. So the first half of today was spent in production of "The Arrival of Darth Vader", a 90 second sic-fi thriller. Karl was director, screenwriter, production designer and casting director. Henri was assistant director and myself was DP, editor and sound designer. Just to fill you in on the plot: Darth Vader arrives at the Jedi temple, has a laser sword fight with Yoda and Obi Wan. When he defeats them both Luke Skywalker arrives. While Skywalker subdues Vader a bunch of shady characters assembles in the Jedi library and despite being followed by a Jedi they manage to chase away Yoda, Obi Wan and the Jedi gang with a barrage from their laser guns. Thus Vader goes free and the movie ends with a cliffhanger:

Nothing beats the magic of movies. Well, maybe the assembling of a new Lego kit courtesy of a late birthday package from godmom Maria from Frankfurt.

Or spending an afternoon with your brother at a museum which has one of those new kiddie guides, that send you on a scavenger hunt filled with activities like quizzes, drawing assignments and stories. Good one at the new exhibition about Pompeii. Took a lot of explaining to convince Henri that we are not in danger of being buried by molten lava from a volcano.