Day 21 to the very very END

Obviously I will never be a blogger who earns a living from blogging.  I cannot seem to keep up with the daily - or weekly - requirements of blogging.  What to blame    1) Werner 2) the laundry 3)  laziness 4) whatever 5) all of the above.  Well. You get what you pay for.

So, here's the summary of The End of the Summer 2011 Visit.  We last saw each other grilling and watching Women's FIFA......

The next day, not much.  I had a last lesson with the Monday English group so we cleaned and organized and kinda had a day off.

Tuesday it was off to Affinghausen and another Family Visit and another Grill Out.  We have been grilled out as far as I am concerned!!  The boys kicked a lot of football, Werner and I took Hannah on a bike tour, we all watched Fußball again and, well, ate well and played well.

Wednesday!  Clean up!  Get ready for Mom!  OH NO!  Wrong day.  She's coming on Thursday! That's a bummer.

But she arrives in great shape and the kids are ecstatic and  all's right with world (except they had to wait to get home and be with Dad and Riley to make it ALL right!)  In the meantime, there's places to go and people to see.

The Best Laid Plans got all rearranged because of weather and my miscalculation on arrival.  Friday, it was off to Hamburg, check out the Michael, the harbor and the Minature Wonderland.

But first we ran across a stone shop/museum that was definitely worth the time to check out.  Geodes TONS heavy, beautiful polished slabs of petrified wood, amazing stones in breathtaking colors and shapes.

At the Michael, after looking at the sumptuous interior and hearing just a hint of what the organ can do, we climbed the tower for a view of Hamburg.  Though the sun was out, it was windy and right chilly on the top!

Then to the harbor, a bite to eat (fish patties, Bratwurst, BIER) we got on the tour boat to go around the harbor.  The huge container ships were huge and the myriad canals so pretty with more bridges than Venice, according to the captain.

And finally the Minature Wonderland, the dream of two brothers to make a really really really big minature train set up.  They did.  Switzerland greeted us with Alps and villages and waterfalls and of course trains going through it all. We had barely got through the gate when Hunter said Mom!  You gotta see this! There was way too much to see, but lots of fun looking.  There were always little surprises, like the hundreds of naked skiers and the burglars tunneling into the bank vault and the dinosaurs chasing the hunter. The detail was amazing and after a while just a bit numbing.....

We closed the book on Hamburg at 630 and headed back to Bremen for a dinner at the local Greek restaurant.  Great day!

Saturday was of course Market Day which was its usual fun.  But the weather was not and we sorta hung around and then took the bikes out for a run and ended up at the local antique/old stuff shop.  The kids totally forgot that they were hungry and we poked around and looked and gaped and took pictures of each other for a couple of hours. Food and cooking and the day was quickly done!

Sunday was supposed to be Go Walk the Watt Day.  NOT!  Cold wind and lots of gray cloudy skies, but we opted for the ride anyway and were shocked! shocked! when we got to Wremen and there was no Watt - just lots of water!  We'd never seen so much water there!  We bravely walked a bit, stood in shelter of the little lighthouse, had some fish patties (!) and Bratwurst (!) and BIER (!) and decided we'd done our duty to the Watt.  A side trip to Bremerhaven harbor rounded out the day. The wool cap Hannah bought came in handy - it has not been very summery.

Monday - Rowing Day!  No choice here.  This date had been set about 4 months ago with the Monday night English group.  Rain or shine, off we go. And rain actually fell as we were leaving the house, but never really took hold.  Michelle was a bit impressed by the boat, the procedure, the music.  Without our dear Margot who died earlier this year, it was not the same for our English group, but it was still a fun afternoon.

Tuesday, last day.  A trip to town for last  minute shopping, a quick look for Michelle at some familiar sites from the last visit 5 years ago, and a short visit to see Ulli, minus Ilsemarie who had a conference.

And it was over.  That fast.  The picture tells the story but there are always stories behind the stories and I hope there are lots of good memories to keep and relive.