We survived our first camping trip as a family of four. The weather and the campground was beautiful. Fun was had by all.
Sean and I tried not to think about the fact that we brought more equipment for this one night in the out-of-doors than we take with us for a typical transatlantic journey. 
It was a pretty good Fahrt. I hope we can enjoy more like it in the near future.
Margaret has taken to pushing her own stroller. Where is my tiny little baby, and who is this toddler?
William was very excited to play with his new kite. Here he is, flying it inside the tent.
There must have been some sort of technical problem with the string, because it kept winding itself around William's legs.
Once untangled, the kite flew gracefully above the shore of the Bodensee.
We went camping over the weekend. It was a first for Margaret and for our new, family-sized tent. The tent would have been easy to set up...
... if we hadn't had so much help from the peanut gallery.
Once we set the tent up, it was really fun to play inside it!
Thank you for the Disney Pixar Cars video game, grandpa. William is already just as good as his mother at the game!
My two babies are mesmerised. Lightening McQueen drives smack into walls and bushes. Is miraculously healed. Does it again.
My husband is mesmerised, too. I am mesmerised by watching them stare at the screen. I break myself away and go clean the kitchen.
In addition to monkeys, they also had storks and a few other animals.
Hey! There's a monkey! Over there, by the tree!
Margaret liked the "kitty-cats".
Here, William demonstrates the safe way to feed a monkey. 
The Barbary Macaque is not the only hungry primate in the park.
It was a fun morning outing for all.
Today William somehow crashed into the corner of a low wooden cabinet at Kindergarten. When asked what happened, he explained :"I was trying to go slow, then BOOM!" His teacher put a really big bandage on him and his mama came and took him to the hospital to get stitches. Dada came home from work and watched Margaret while she napped and then he gave William a big hug when he got back from the hospital. William got TWO stitches. They are blue. He was very brave.
He is fine!
Part of growing up is learning what you like. Even if you like highly processed pink star-shaped raspberry ice cream on a glittery stick, "Girlie" brand. Don't listen to what other people say. Even if your own mother can't help laughing at you. Just enjoy your ice cream. Be who you are! 
Margaret got a wrapper.
YUM. ( It was pretty bad. )
Here are William and Margaret in their usual state. They like to roll around on the floor and giggle wildly until somebody gets hurt. In this picture, William looks pretty calm. But don't be fooled. Everyone was taking a "time-out" by the time I put the camera down.
( Just a little tinsy weensy building. The Cathedral in Pisa, Italia. So pretty! So calm! )
Peek-a-boo! (Check out my new teeth! )
William decides which shoes to wear to swim class. (I let him wear Sean's shoes, but I carried him on stairs and across streets. The shoes slowed our progress quite a bit, but were mildly amusing for all. )
Sometimes we go to the university to have lunch with Sean in the cafeteria. Above is a picture of the University of Konstanz. It is a very ugly building, a 1966 sprawling nightmare of cement and metal, so I tried to take a flattering picture of it hiding behind some trees and high grasses.
Sean reads William a "Ladybug" magazine while they wait for me to come back with the food. Later, William insisted that Sean keep the magazine in his office with his other journals - to help with his research. 
After the feeding frenzy, everyone is calm again. William kept his helmet on for the entire event. He is cuddling with Dada while Margaret plays with a match-box car.
Then we went back home. William rode his bike the whole way! He is very, very fast.
Like I said, the "funny-face" phase has begun. I know, I know...I deserve this!
Margaret's "Beebah" confessed that she skips all my pictures of old buildings and goes straight for pictures of the grandkids. Here are some good pictures of Margaret. I'll try to get some good pictures of William, but he now makes funny faces whenever the camera is pointed at him. Unfortunately, this is a phase that, in our family, lasts from age 3 years well into adulthood.
Denim. Margaret making "that face" that I apparently also make all the time.
I love Margaret. She loves my plastic water bottle.
The driving laws seemed to be a bit lax in Italy, but soon after we got to Switzerland we made William sit in the back seat again.
In order to get home to Germany from Italy, you have to go through the Alps!
This 18 kilometer tunnel helped us to literally go "through" an Alp...the mountain pass was still closed due to snow.
It's a long trip with two squirmy children in the back seat who demanded cookies or potty breaks at frequent intervals...but there was a light at the end of the tunnel!
We stopped by a beach just south of the Cinque Terre for a couple of hours on our drive home. It was just enough time to get sand stuck to our "sun scream" ( William's appropriate version of the word) and in the eyes. Sean and I enjoyed a cappuccino with scenery while William and Margaret played.
Okay, the leaning tower of Pisa does not really lean this much. That was just an extremely fancy camera trick.
It really leans about this much. It is 186.02 feet on the high side, 183.27 feet on the low side. 
It is the free-standing bell tower associated with this cathedral. Built in 1173. No more factoids!! I can't help it, I just read the Wikipedia article!
Detail above church door. 
Narrow street.
Main plaza.
Weird little people in awning above church door.
