Here we go...

Photos of the two kids.


Synchronicity:




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I feel like the act of collecting photos of your multiple children is a kind of parenting Rubicon. But I guess we actually crossed the bridge itself a long time ago and this is just the inevitable result.

Oh well.

Here are a few bonus pics to round it out.




And the ice-cream store in town has reopened, which of course means: Chocolate-Face!

Scotland

Sorry that the videos were down for a bit. It was a "Blogger"-wide problem for which I finally found a solution. I've fixed a few. If there are older ones that are broken that you'd like to see again, let me know. We are still waiting to be online in the new apartment, so we're a bit online-challenged at the moment.

Anyway, we had a lovely time in Glasgow, Scotland. We gave a successful dual-lecture at the University of Glasgow followed by a day off, which we happily made the best of. By my calculation, this was our first "get-away weekend" since 2005. Sam, meanwhile enjoyed his time at Oma & Opa's with the rest of the family.

Here are a few photos, beginning with the downtown street where our little B&B was camped.





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This is a nice facade in an "Italian" Courtyard...

...and then this is me taking a look at said facade, just moments before I step into the water.







And finally here is the little place we decided to buy a timeshare in (front and rear views):

Emma-speak

Emma lying around making some noise. That's it folks.

Neue Wohnung!

So we got the keys to our lovely new apartment today. P moved the first few loads over from Barbara & Volkfried's house (aka Oma & Opa's) in about 60 seconds per trip. You can see the paths we take along the pedestrian alleys between our new place and the houses of Oma/Opa and Tante(Aunt) Sabine and Tante Regina.



This gives you a broader view of the land around us and some other landmarks.



(You can, as always, click on the pictures here for a slightly bigger image).

The Snowy Day

Slow-paced. Think Scandinavian Art Film. From a few days ago...but the snow is still here.

ABCs

A recent Sam alphabet: ABCDEFG HIJBLOP QRS(ssss) TUV(eeee) Double-X Y and Z Now I ABCs next time won't you single me.

Arrived!

We have arrived safely in Eberstadt with 4 very full suitcases, 4 enormous boxes, 2 carry-on suitcases, 2 stuffed backpacks, 2 diaper bags, a stroller and two children, all together weighing about 500 pounds. I believe the joke goes, "I just flew from Boston to Frankfurt and boy are my arms tired." Plus we managed to empty the apartment into a VERY full storage unit and even more stuff into a few other locations, including an overfull dumpster and a recycling bin that didn't know what to do with us.

Thank-you-thank you-thank-you's

to: Bert & Geng & Edgar & Lou (for helping to get us packed, trucked, and stored)

to: Tami & P (for getting us attic'ed)

to: Gundela & Richard (for getting us airported and untrucked)

to: Sabine & Hartmut (for getting us unairported and home)

and to: Grandma Betsy (for getting us through this crazy time by repeatedly saving our butts).

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We'll work on some fresh visual content when we wake up in about six days. Thanks for your patience!

In the meantime here is a link to Uncle Tom's video gallery of a November trip he and Sarah made to Boston just before Emma was born. We went with Sam to the Boston Public Gardens. We miss you, Boston.