Saturday
We're finally at the point where we have traveled to Germany to visit Tom, Martina, and the boys. Bob got home on Wednesday evening, and we spent Thursday packing for the trip and getting ready for the painters to come while we are away.
We got to the airport at 2:30 and had time for a glass of wine before our plane departed. Because of stormy weather east of us, our departure was delayed about an hour. The flight itself was uneventful - the bad part was that neither of us slept. I watched 21 Jump street and The Artist. We arrived at Frankfurt about 1/2 hour late but still had 2+ hours until the flight to Hannover.
We arrived on time; Tom and Yannik met us at the airport. We then went to their home and met Niklas for the first time - what a cutie! He has blonde, curly hair and a big smile complete with dimple. It was a beautiful day, so we played outside on their massive swing set. Tom grilled our dinner, and we had a lovely day. We checked into our hotel and were asleep by 9PM.
Sunday
The day was cloudy and gray. We walked to their house and had a lovely breakfast. Martina was concerned because Yannik had a fever. He slept for a while and then seemed to be better. We played with both boys all day when we weren't eating good food. Niklas refused to go to bed for the evening while we were there. Because it was raining so hard, Tom drove us back to the hotel.
Monday
Another cloudy day. Yannik seemed better. Jill and Ingo came to visit, arriving at noon. We caught up with them, had another grilled meal for lunch, and had Mexican pizza for dinner. Jill and Ingo left after dinner; we stayed a little longer but took a 20-minute walk when it was time to put the boys to bed. When we returned, they were asleep. I guess they didn't want to miss anything when we were in the house!
Tuesday
They were quite lovely, but Yannik's attention span was very short, so we did a quick tour. By the time we got back, Yannik was really coughing. We sat at dinner for a while and then just walked around the block until Niklas was in bed. Yannik didn't fall asleep right away, so we said goodby for real the second time. Tom walked back with us in order to pay the hotel bill. the hotel owner gave us some homemade schnapps to try, and he gave Tom a bottle to take home. Bed before 10.
Wednesday
Today we leave for London. Bob and Tom have taken the boys to the doctor's so that Martina can sleep because she was up most of the night with Yannik. The diagnosis was not so bad - they just have colds and post-nasal drip. We had milk rice for lunch - rice mixed with milk and some kind of fruit in a sugar syrup - we had cherries and pineapples. Tom took us to the airport at 3PM so that we could make sure we got our boarding passes for our flight to London.We arrived at Heathrow at 5PM. We had an issue, however - we're used to having flight attendants give us customs documents on the plane before we land. This did not happen on the flight from Germany to England, so Bob got out of line to get the documents, and I filled them out while we were in line. We both forgot that Bob was pulling his bag, and so we left it in line and left the customs area before we realized the second bag was missing. Bob went back in and was able to get the bag, but the customs person told him that in some countries, he would have been fined and sent home. Terrorists. Hate them. We finally arrived at the Axel's home after 6:30. Axel was not home from work yet - we met little Ann-Sophie, an adorable 8-month-old charmer. She and Niklas rival each other in the size of their smiles!!
We caught up with Steffi and played with the children until Axel got home. The kids must have been prepped because they were not shy at all - in both households, they took to us almost immediately.
We had a late dinner (the rule rather than the exception in this home b/c of Axel's work schedule) and watched the Portugal-Spain soccer game (not the World Cup but still watched by all Europeans!!) and went to bed around 11.
Thursday
For some reason, Bob and I both slept until 9AM!! When we got up, Mark and Annie had already had breakfast, so we ate with Steffi while they played. After we played for a while, we took a walk into Richmond for a late lunch at a German restaurant right on the river Thames. The day was supposed to be gray, but the sun was brightly shining, and it was WARM! The walk was lovely, and we decided to sit outside in the shade at the restaurant. The meal was good, the beer was great, and we had another leisurely walk back to the house, stopping at their favorite coffee shop for some caffeinated beverages.
The children fell asleep on the way home, and Mark continued to sleep in the stroller. Annie continued her nap in the bed. After they awoke, we played with them until Axel came home, again after 8. We had another late meal of bread and "lunchmeat" and went to bed after 11PM. We had given Mark The Little Engine That Could, and they had been reading it to him the week before we arrived, so I read it that evening. He loved it! Afterward, Axel had to read it to him again because he loved it so much!!
Friday
Again we woke up after nine o'clock. I apologized to Steffi, but she said we obviously needed the sleep (and she's an MD, so she knows). We got ourselves ready and took the tube into London to meet Axel for lunch at the "best fish and chips place in London." Steffi carried Annie in a front carrier, and Mark "walked" (often carried by Bob) so that we didn't have to worry about double prams and space on public transportation. Because we were late in leaving, we got to the restaurant late; Axel could only stay for about 40 minutes. We did have a great lunch, and Mark ate almost all of his "kiddie" meal, which was pretty substantial. 
We then decided to take the train back since the restaurant wasn't too far from Waterloo station.
The ride back was uneventful, and we arrived back at the house around 4PM.
More playing took place, and Axel came home a little early so that we could eat before the Germany-Italy game. Unfortunately, the game was a bust - Italy pretty much dominated the scoring. It was fun watching with them, though. Bed after midnight.
Saturday
We actually awoke a little earlier than normal, but the others were either sleeping or quietly playing (the kids!!). After a leisurely breakfast and more playtime, Steffi and I walked into town to pick up some clothes she had ordered. Everything fit perfectly, and I bought a really nice cotton blouse at another shop. We had a great time talking. Then we got ready for our lunch at the The Plough in East Sheen. Axel had been telling us about this place for a while, but when we arrived, he discovered that the awesome microbrew selection was GONE! Apparently, a major brewery owns the place and decided that they would only serve their beers. We had a great meal except that Steffi walked all the way back to the house because she didn't have her purse with her and couldn't remember whether she'd taken it with her. Of course, she'd left it at home - I so commiserated with her!! 
After lunch, we walked by some gorgeous mansions and through the forest near their house. What do we call a place with lots of trees? Not a forest; we have so many places like that...hmmm. Anyway, we got back to the house after 5PM.
Playtime again and then dinner - we helped with the children's baths. I love doing that!! I helped with Annie, and Bob helped with Mark. Afterwards, Axel read Mark's new favorite book -- he was quite good. Mark is ENTRANCED by this book: there's one part where, at the bottom of the page, there's something about the toys and dolls being happy the the train will try, and at the top of the next page, they say, "Hurray, hurray!" Axel read the bottom of the previous page, and before he turned to the next page, Mark whispered, "Hurray." It was the cutest thing EVER.
We chatted and had some wine after the children went to bed; I had pretty much packed everything except our toiletries and clothing to wear the next day.
Sunday
We awoke at 7:30 and got ready to leave. We had our last continental breakfast with the London family, and then the taxi took us to the airport. Even with 2 1/2 hours to kill, I didn't have enough time to shop the duty free shop because the airport is so big, and our gate was at the opposite end from the shops. The flight went off without a hitch, and we arrived in Philadelphia ahead of time. We were home by 5PM.
