Hannah's big move.

Hannah is ready to break out with her new Karaoke career and the new party game, ring toss with apple schnapps.

Camouflage?

Who is this wild beast hiding in the woods?

New Aquarium

Neighbor Jimmy took a photo of our new aquarium setup that captures it and my scruffy hair pretty well. Also, a nice photo of the Lego room disaster zone.

Where is everybody??

Hello All! It is almost the end of November and I nobody has posted anything. Well i am going to play a little catch up here.

The first picture is my work Halloween costume. We were big dorks and did a theme costume. Do you know who we are? Do you need a CLUE??? Anyhoo. I was Mrs. Peacock. I am wearing one of mom's dresses, although I really wanted the one that had the peacock feather print. (Sorry for outing you mom for owning one!) But she had smartly given that away, not anticipating a need to keep it for my Halloween costume needs. Just proves the theory, as soon as you throw something out you or someone else will need it! By the way, the freaks to the left in the photo are my bosses. They are....MACARONI & CHEESE. Hey, what can I say? We work in an elementary school! :-)

Next...Mom had asked me to post some Lenka B-day party pics! HAPPY BIRTHDAY LENKA! Lenka is now 2 years old and have a very successful party, with a very creative cake. Those of you who weren't there can you guess who the cake is crafted after? Lenka's beloved LoveyBear. Hans & Marit, you guys take the cake in creativity. HA! HA! (Excuse the bad jokes, I have been up since 5AM)

Lastly, is Hannah about to turn into a Gremlin in this picture? No she is trying to eat on her own with a bowl and spoon. Needless to say, she needs some practice!! Well, I have to go wake up Eliza and go to work! Smooches! Love Elli.

My (lame) Halloween Costume (^_^)

OK. So there was a Halloween potluck at work, and I dressed as a librarian. See the pencil behind my ear? These are some of my new co-workers. In the front, as a witch, Gretchen, the high-powered lawyer. From left to right: Tara, assistant to the chairman of the board with a third eye; Elizabeth, a sales - I mean Library Relations - person as an Angel; James, the director, as devil; and Missy, his assistant, as a blonde wearing a black wig. No one in this picture is as cute as the Moreno or Bauman crews!

Here are the Moreno girls in their Halloween finery

Dorothy and Toto take part in their school activities: Eliza playing her trumpet at the Courthouse Plaza with the Key School Band (da-dae-da-da), and Hannah sucking on her binky in the 6-baby Chicadee waggon. The three ladies in the back are the Chicadee teachers: Vera and her team.

Halloween at Hans and Marit's

A Wizard, Puss in Boots, and a very reluctant Chinese Girl. Note the We-are-the-world pumpkin!

Happy Halloween

2412 S. Culpeper. Note the resemblance between Fred and his pumpkin!

MY FACE !!!!!

My face (mouth) is feeling great

it was fun putting them on

one picture is very funny I'm getting pictures

taken buy the nurse + mom

From,froggi bottom

Back in Arlngton on a Beautiful Autumn Day

It was perfect weather for watching grandchildren play soccer. Penn looks very handsome in his uniform. The bright blue matches his bright blue eyes, and on the back of Penn's shirt it says "PENN 66." A fine number, I think, for a fine player. We watched Penn play goalie and play field: another budding young athlete in our Enkel-Collection! Go Penn!

Open House New York: Brooklyn!

This weekend a number of buildings and monuments that are usually closed were opened to the public. John and I visited two sites:

Soldiers and Sailors Arch at Grand Army Plaza
This arch was built to honor the Union Armies after the Civil War. It was built between 1889 and 1892. It's just up the street from where we live. We were able to climb up the top and see the views from it.





Here are some pictures of what it looked like inside the arch.


The views were really lovely as well. On the left a view toward the entrance of Prospect Park. On the right a view toward Manhattan. You can see the line of people waiting to get in.


We were able to get a close up view of the Quadriga on the top of the arch. It looks a lot like the one on the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin.


Montauk Club
This social club was built in 1889 and was a place for influential people (men, really) in Park Slope to meet and discuss business. It was modeled after the Ca' d'Oro, a famous building in Venice. It's also in walking distance from our apartment.





The architectural detail on the building includes many references to the Montauk Indians, a tribe that lived in New York. John would look good in a feather headpiece like the snarling guy in this capital, I think!

Oktober Fest!

Dad, Omar, Eliza, Hannah, and I all were in Shirlington at Oktober Fest showing our German pride with the rest of the folks who were German for a day! Bad music, good beer, silly dancing, and a lot of drunks. $25 for one glass and all you can drink beer if you can stand standing in line for it! Eliza & Hannah were troopers. We each had a brat, sauerkraut, and potato salad. Mom & Dad's neighbors were there and Eliza got to dance with Ingry to....what do you think? Well, watch the video clip! Dad made friends with some drunk fellow peace corps volunteer! Of course Mutti did not go. Boring. Wish you guys were there! Eins, Zwei, Suffa

The video clip below is sideways b/c I could not figure out how to right side it up! Press the play button to view. :-) Elli

Sushi in Bochum

Letzter Abend in Bochum: lecker Sushi bei Sticks und nachher noch ein letztes Fiege.....und noch ein letztes Fiege.......und noch ein letztes Fiege......

Visit in Soest

Friday we visited our cousin Anne Jansen in Soest. We toured her cool house on the Möhnesee, the "Rolleisenlager" and the Showrooms for "Sanitäre Anlagen" and took a quick drive through Old Soest.
The consensus was, we need to go back and spend more time there to sightsee and also to dig through her old letters and papers.

The pictures above were taken at the "Rolleisenlager." Check out the magnets hanging from the yellow beams to load the iron bars!

At the end of the day, I left my purse with all my IDs, passport, etc at Anne's. (Elli and I make quite a team!) Fortunately, Anne just replaced her (3-year)old Porsche Cayenne SUV and needed to try it out on the Autobahn, so we did not need to drive back there. She came here yesterday and brought it by. Anne (not unlike Omar) to the rescue!

Just checking in!

Hi everybody. No photos this time. Just me checking in. It has been a long week!! I just got back from Hannah's back to school night. We got to see the new building where they are going to be beginning October 9th. I do not like it as much as the Children's School, but I guess it will have to do. I do love her teachers though. They are great! Of course I managed to lock my keys in my car so I was a little stuck in the end, but Omar came to rescue me. Eliza & Jossy are watching Sky High, a movie about a high school full of Super heroes and side kicks. Hannah is sleeping and Omar is getting ready to go to NC tomorrow. He is going to get another tatoo. Maybe that will be my next photo posting. ;-) Well, I am going to have a beer and go to bed. Tata for now! Elli.

It's working!

The word from Charlotte is that she likes where she is, that she had to move into an easier Math class and that she's spending a fortune on school-required sports outfits. No wonder if they've got them wearing designer swim wear.

Suday we spent at Jele and Klemi's and ate Quiche, Apfel- and Pflaumenkuchen prepared in their homemade clay oven. l-r: Mirja, Clemi, Katinka, Sabine, Fred and Jele. Front row: Julius, Florian and Joro.

Trying Again

This is what Sabine's living room looks like at the moment. Check out those nifty red "Kassett"file boxes, and guess where we went shopping.

Greetings from Bo-Town

Hey, What's with our blog? It is refusing to accept pictures, because of bX-fw81tf.

Blogmistress, can you help?

Two can play the show-off-your-cute-kid game

The worn out star!
The dining room showing good progress.