Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Karlsruhe Zoo
Shortly before the end of the school year, Benjamin’s class went on a field trip to the Karlsruhe Zoo, and I was fortunate enough to be able to go along and chaperone. We travelled by train since Karlsruhe is at least two hours’ drive away. It took us nearly that long on the train too (with a connection each way), but the kids enjoyed the experience of riding on the train. Benjamin brought a few books with him, but read for less than half an hour. He spent the rest of the time talking with his friends and eating snacks. Simon was paired up with Benjamin and me for the trip.
When we got to the zoo, Benjamin and Simon easily decided to pal around with Nicholas and his mom. These three boys really got along well, stayed together and enjoyed looking for the different animals.
We started the visit with a boat ride to the opposite end of the zoo. While we were on the boat, Benjamin called out, “Look Mommy, PEOPLE!” How funny that he was excited about seeing people walking along a path while we were on a boat. Never mind the ducks, pelicans and flamingos -- the people were much more notable! Ha!
Several boys from the class met up at this large chessboard and worked together to get it set up correctly. Fortunately, after moving a few pieces they all were easily coaxed into looking for animals.
The elephants...
Benjamin was hesitant to pet many of the animals in the petting zoo area, but did wave at this ram.
The boys really had fun watching the polar bears. So much so, that we sat on a bench next to their enclosure while we ate our sack lunches. The boys ran up and down along the plexiglas so they could keep up with the one bear that was swimming. They probably burned just as many calories as what was in what they ate!
Posing next to the giraffe exhibit.
After going inside the giraffe house, Simon and Benjamin pulled out the map to help them decide where to go next.
Nicholas’ mom and I were saddened by the condition of the camels, with their hair falling out in clumps and a sagging hump.
One of the gorillas was named Benny. Benjamin thought that was great!
Just before it was time for us to leave the zoo, we got a little snack -- chocolate covered waffles. Yummmmmm! It was too chilly for ice cream, so this was the perfect treat!
This is Benjamin’s entire class posing at the zoo entrance before heading back across the street to the train station. Notice all the winter coats and jackets? It was mid-May! Regardless of the temps, it was a great day (and no rain!).Labels: Benjamin, Germany, Travel
Monday, June 21, 2010
His Ever-Changing Smile
Benjamin is definitely growing up, and gives me little reminders that he’s not a little boy any more. The most noticeable of these signs is his ever-changing smile. He’s lost three teeth in a span of 32 days, and his top two front teeth are slowly emerging and filling in his oh-so-cute gap-tooth smile. First, he lost his second tooth on his top left (gotta love his red mustache from his Cherry-pomegranate Crystal Lite!).
Then, while we were at Disney Paris, he lost his second tooth on the bottom right. This really gave him an odd look with caddy-corner gaps in his smile. Fortunately, he’d planned ahead and brought our Tooth Fairy hippo with us to Paris so the Tooth Fairy could find him there.
Just the other day, he finally lost his second bottom left tooth. It had been loose for a while, but he was adamant that I couldn’t pull it. He’d let me wiggle it most nights when I brushed his teeth, but that was the extent of what I was allowed to do. Then, the evening of the last day of school, he pulled it himself. Yeah! I think his smile will stay put for a while (with the exception of his emerging front teeth) since his second top right tooth isn’t even the slightest bit loose. He fell a few days ago and scraped up his the palm of his hand, hence the bandage..jpg)
Here’s a close-up of his current smile (messy mouth and all). Tooth total: 7 lost, 4 new. His top two front teeth are really coming in and filling in his wonderfully adorable gap-tooth grin. Guess that means he’s entering the world of the big kids now. {sigh} It also looks like there’s some crowding going on there that we’ll have to address in a few years.Labels: Benjamin
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Rapeseed fields
Every year, in late spring, German fields come alive with vibrant yellow rapeseed fields. This plant is a bright yellow flowering member of the mustard or cabbage family along with 3,000 other species. “Canola” is a trademark for a hybrid variety of rape initially bred in Canada. Close relatives of this crop have been cultivated for food since the earliest recordings of man.
Rapeseed has been important to Europe since the 13th century as a source of food and oil for fuel. Germany is the fourth top producer of rapeseed in the world with 5.3 million metric tons produced in 2007. In Europe, rapeseed is primarily cultivated for animal feed and is a leading option for Europeans to avoid importation of genetically modified organism products.
That said, I simply enjoy the bright yellow fields dotting the landscape. The crops have already been harvested for the year, so I only have these photos to remind me of their beauty.
Labels: Germany, Pam's thoughts
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Toby Keith Concert
We are a country music family. We love country music -- from Alan Jackson, George Strait, Trace Adkins and Tim McGraw to Faith Hill, Taylor Swift and Toby Keith. In fact, MacKenzie recently told me she’s going to name her children Toby, Trace and Taylor. We’ll see if she changes her mind in the next dozen (or more!) years, but at least she has sound reasoning for choosing those names.
We were all excited when we found out Toby Keith’s annual USO tour would bring him through Ramstein this year. We’d tried to see him in concert at Weisbaden in 2007, but got stuck in a hailstorm and three staus only to arrive just in time to witness fans leaving the venue. We were all very disappointed then. This year, there was no excuse. However, Zachary was camping with Boy Scouts, so he missed out. He’s not as big of a fan as MacKenzie and Benjamin, so he was only slightly disappointed that he missed the concert.
The concert was held in one of the hangars on base, and MacKenzie and Benjamin were decked out in the Toby Keith Warrior Training Camp shirts they received last Christmas. It took us nearly an hour to get through the line to get inside (even though it was free, we had to go through a security check), and we were nearly two-thirds of the way back from the stage, but it was a great experience.
Benjamin sat on my shoulders for the first half hour or so, then sat (and laid) at my feet afterward since it was starting to get late. MacKenzie and I sang and danced for most of the songs...and had a blast doing so! We went home at the end of the evening with huge grins on our faces and memories of hearing wonderful live music from one of our favorite artists.
Sunday, June 06, 2010
Third Quarter Honors
It’s almost the end of the school year, but I still need to brag on Zachary and MacKenzie for their stellar academic performance during the third quarter. They both made Gold Honor Roll with GPA’s above 3.5. MacKenzie brought home a 3.86 quarterly GPA, and Zachary earned a 3.71. MacKenzie really worked hard, and earned FOUR A+’s, an A, and A- and a B+. Wow!!!
Zachary had two A+’s, two A’s, an A-, a B+ and a B...not too shabby considering he’s taking two classes for high school credit (German I and Algebra I). They’re both also working very diligently to end the year with strong finishes. Only five days of school to go!
