This blog is about our little family of 4. The stars of the show are our 2 children, Lilli and Caden.
Lilli and I went up to Doris' for lunch today with her and Al and then we went walking around Hoglworther see with Barbera. We had a lovely walk and then lay on a blanket for a while. We were going to go for about an hour long walk before heading home but little Lilli was tired and needing to go for a nap so we walked back home instead.
I got the test results back and they were negative as predicted so we are still leaving on Monday.
Lilli and I having been spending as much time with Oma Doris as possible before we go so we have been meeting up at Tante Christa's every morning for a late breakfast. Christa has been on holiday from Monday to Thursday so we've all been hanging out. It's been great. The only unfortunate thing is that my cold did eventuate and I spent a couple of days feeling a bit crap. I was lucky enough to have Christa take Lilli for me on Monday afternoon for a couple of hours and then on Tuesday she had her all afternoon and just bought her back to me for feeds. This allowed me to get some extra sleep and rest up to try and get better before the flight on Monday.
Another gorgeous outfit bought by Oma & Opa
Christa is a nurse and I was talking to her on Wednesday morning about my concerns that I might get stopped in Hong Kong and quarantined because I have flu symptoms so she suggested that I get tested for swine flu. That way I can take the test results with me proving that I don't have it and therefore avoiding being quarantined somewhere. I just don't want anything like that happening when I'm travelling with Lilli so I agreed and we made an appointment with the doctor. He speaks english and he asked me if I had fever, and what my symptoms were. I said no fever and I don't think I have swine flu, I explained my situation and he agreed that it would be a good idea to have the test results just in case I still have a cold so he took the swabs and we got them to the lab.
After that Doris, Christ, Lilli, and I went to Frillensee and did the walk from the restaurant up to the lake and then back down again. We had Lilli in the stroller but she spent most of the time being carried because she wanted to be able to see everything and everyone as usual. Hahaha. I should've taken the front pack but forgot which was a bugger but we did okay taking it in turns to carry her. She finally went to sleep just as we were arriving back at the restaurant. Of course she woke up as soon as we put her in the stroller! :) We had a yummy lunch of schnitzel and then made our way back home. It was a great day and I cooked dinner for all of us that night.
Frillensee
Lilli & Mummy
Tante Christa, Oma Doris, & Lilli
Walking back down to the Gasthaus/restaurant.
The girls in front of a log stack (between trees).
Lilli out to it in her carseat.
And then she woke up.
Yesterday we had planned to have breakfast with Doris again and then go walking in Berchtesgarden but things didn't quite go according to plan. Doris came for breakfast and asked if we could go to visit Suzy and her Mum after breakfast and Christa and I said that would be fine, we would go to Berchtesgarden after that so we walked to Suzy's after breakfast. Lilli was being a darling and meeting everyone when Suzy came and said that Dr Schnetzer was on the phone and wanted to speak to Christa regarding my test results!! Uh oh! He's on his day off and he's ringing around to find us for my test results? Not a good sign!
Lilli in a little deck chair just the right size for her at Suzy's.
Playing kicks. :)
I'm not sure about this grass Oma, don't let me go!
So my test result came back POSITIVE! Hahaha. Talk about freak me out! Dr Schnetzer was freaked out too because I didn't actually have the symptoms so it's a bit strange. Anyway he said that it could be a false positive and has told them to retest that sample but in the meantime I had to ring Max at work and tell him to come home so that he, Lilli, and I could all go to the lab so that they could retest me and do a test on them.
We should get the results tomorrow and Christa will be back at work so she can give them to us. I will go back to Dr Schnetzer so that he can give me something in writing to take with me on the plane. We are sure that it was a false negative. Meantime tonight we had dinner down at Max's Nanas. After dinner Christa got a phone call to tell us that the second test on my first sample had come back positive but in such a small amount that it could really be classed as negative. That's a good thing. Now we just wait and see. Would be freaky to have swine flu because there is none in this region yet so where on earth would it have come from. Hahaha. :)
On Tuesday it was Tante Barbera's birthday so Lilli, Christa, and I went up for lunch. Doris came up too and we had a yummy lunch cooked by Barbera. She really should open a restaurant!!! Yum yum. :)
Lilli's not keen on tummy time but when she is on her tummy she likes to do starfishes.
On Wednesday Barbera, Leo, Lilli, and I went to Chiemsee for the afternoon. We left home at 11.30am and had a lovely picnic lunch at the lake. The bloody wasps are out and about now though and wouldn't you know I got stung on the neck! At least Lilli didn't get stung - that's the main thing. I felt like I'm getting a cold (sore throat) so I didn't go in the water though.
Then on Thursday the four of us went to our local lake again for the afternoon. It's so nice at the lake when it's really really hot, sitting in the shade with Lilli enjoying having her nappy off the whole time! Must be so refreshing for her. She loves it. :) I took her into the kiddies swim area for a little dip but she wasn't keen so it was a very quick one. Plus I got some gorgeous photos of Lilli sleeping on our towel and then with Lilli and Tante Barbera both asleep but somehow I have lost them! Darn!!! I am gutted.
And, oh my gosh! On Saturday our wee girl turned 6 months old!!!! Wow. This is what I see every morning when I go to get her out of bed. :)
And now she can sit on her own!!! Not indefinitely of course but she can do more than a minute now.
As previously mentioned, we decided to get Lilli christened here in Anger, Germany, and then do a naming ceremony in NZ when Max gets there. The christening was on Saturday, 15 August 2009, at 11.15am, at Anger Church, Anger, Bavaria.
Lilli woke up at 9am and I fed her and then put her back down for a little nap. We had showers and got ready while she was sleeping and then got her up in time to dress and go to the church. We had to be there at 11am. We had the family come to the church and only a couple of friends that were not going to be able to make the party later on at our house who were also considered family anyway.
We waited at the door to the church and listened to the bells tolling - Lilli's bells - for her Taufe/Christening. So cool! The Dekan (priest) met us at the doors with 2 alter girls and we followed them in a slow procession into the church.
Waiting at the church entrance to go in.
Following the Dekan and alter girls in.
The alter, Dekan, and alter girls.
Family & a few close friends were at the church with us.
Onkel Leo and Opa Al in their lederhosen.
We took our seats and the Dekan spoke to us about the the ceremony and what we were celebrating. Lilli was hilarious, she was sitting on Max's knee and giggling and making heaps of noise. I looked at the Dekan thinking he might be wanting us to quiet her down but he just smiled so I let her go for gold. Then she grizzled a bit so Max was bouncing her up and down and she starting laughing really loud, making the rest of us laugh as well, even the Dekan.
Lilli laughing and having fun during the Dekan's speech!!
We sang a hynme and then followed them over to the water. Lilli's Onkel Bert is her Paten (Godfather) and so he held her while she was christened with the water. She was great and only cried afterwards because she was getting tired and hungry.
About to be baptised.
Lilli's new Godfather/Pate holding her for the baptism.
After the baptism a few words from the Dekan and compliments on how well Lilli behaved. :)
The christening gown. Boy is she heavy!! Plus it was boiling hot in the church. :)
We did a slow procession around the church back up to the alter where we each got blessed by the Dekan and he said a few more words. Lilli was really starting to get sick of it and everyone was making funny faces at her to try and keep her happy, I was singing quietly in her ear.
Getting blessed by the Dekan after the baptism.
Then it was finished and the Dekan gave us a lovely gift from the church which is a picture of the alter to hang on her wall. Very nice.
The end of the ceremony.
We left the church and went to a local restaurant for a celebratory lunch. I fed Lilli and then Oma nursed her for a while until she slept and popped her in her stroller where she stayed while we ate lunch. Poor tired wee girl that she was, and the day was only half over!
Everyone at the restaurant for lunch after the church.
Lilli was shattered after and slept through our noisey lunch!!! Ohhh.
After lunch some of the group came back to our place for coffee and cake (or beer or wine) and once again Lilli was just a darling. She laughed and giggled and enjoyed all the attention of being the star for the day - again. We got given heaps of gifts for her which are listed at the bottom. :D
Mummy, Onkel Bert, & Lilli
Daddy, Lilli, & Lilli's gorgeous christening cake.
Lilli's christening cake - isn't it awesome?!
Opa Al put ribs on the grill and Oma Doris prepared salads and stuff with help from the Tantes. All in all it was a wonderful meal and we would like to thank them very much for all their hard work and help in making Lilli's whole day such a memorable one. Max's friends all came to the party and had food and drinks with us to celebrate and we got even more gifts for our spoilt little angel. One gift that we got was from a whole group of Max's close friends and inside the gift was a money box full of euros!!! 300 of them!!! Wow. Such a lovely group of mates!!! That's Max's mates that we hung out with all the time last year and not quite as much this year but we have managed to get to a couple of parties with them! :) It was a great night and once Lilli was in bed we kept it going for quite a while. I went to bed at 2am and Max came in at 3.30am. Onkel Bert was the last to go - at 5am. Well done Bert!!! :)
Gifts:
Ruby cross pendant
Schutze engel (guardian angel) & ring necklace
L neckless
Engraved identity bracelet
Gold identity bracelet
Gold coins x 2
Soft toy - frog
Soft toy - polar bear
2 x outfits
Potty, Lilli ball, dummies, moneybox
Plaque from the church
Total euros given: 540
After dinner we got to know Pavla a bit and had a few laughs. Daryl and I regaled Max and Pavla with some of the sillier things we have gotten up to together. Then we checked out the photos from Tony's 40th party! Hmmm. We were in fits of laughter. Every time anyone looks at those photos it with tears running down their faces!! Hehe.
In the morning Max had to go to work and the rest of us enjoyed a little sleep in and then we skyped Helen & Brian, Keren & Nige, Kelly, at Keren's house. It was great to see them all and they got to meet Pavla. Daryl told them that he's coming home for a few months in February, and I told them that Pavla is coming too! Helen was stoked and now has something to look forward to. Then we skyped with Mum and did the same thing over pretty much. You may be wondering where Lilli was all this time?! She was skyping too. She's an old pro at it now! After that we had breakfast and all got organised to go to the Eagle's nest.
The Eagle's nest was Hitler's summer retreat and a place where he made alot of those fateful decisions of his. He met up with his big chiefs up there and did his important entertaining. It is also where he ran to hide after the war ended apparently. It is located on a peak overlooking Berchtesgarden and Konigsee (which is the deepest lake in Germany and also where he supposedly threw all the treasures he took from the jews), and the peak is 1883m high. Unfortunately it was a bit cloudy on Friday so we didn't get the amazing views that you get on a clear day. We parked our car at the bottom of the peak in the carpark and took the bus up. You can't take your own vehicle up there, you have to bus. We had to go into a really long tunnel which took us to the underground elevator. The elevator took us up 100m to the Eagle's nest. When we got there I put Lilli in her frontpack and both Daryl and Pavla wanted to try it out so I didn't even have to carry my own baby the whole time we were there. Oh, except when Lilli got sick of the frontpack then I took her. :) Also Lilli has now had her nappy changed at 1883m in the sun. It was just a quick change though because when the sun went away it got a bit chilly.
On the bus going up to the Eagle's nest.
Daryl, Lilli, and I at the entrance to the tunnel which took us underground to the lift.
Daryl, Pavla, & Lilli in the tunnel.
Waiting for the elevator.
The view looking down.
The view looking out at the mountains.
Daryl, Pavla, & Lilli, with the Eagle's nest behind.
The Eagle's nest from above.
The cross above on the highest peak.
Other paths. (I bet he had hundreds of ways to get away across the mountain and have heard that somewhere up here is a bunker).
More paths...
When we came down to the bus stop again we had lunch in the restaurant and all picked a different Bavarian dish so we could try each others. It was a yummy lunch. Lilli was funny as, she spent ages jumping up and down with Daryl holding her. I had tried but my arms felt like they would fall off after 2 minutes so I gave her to Daryl who lasted for a good half hour! Hahaha. It was so funny - Daryl and I were in fits - Lilli looked so cute and was being so loud. She was having a ball. Ohhh little cutie.
Lilli & Daryl at the restaurant.
Little Lilli was zonked on the trip home but refused to sleep until we were practically back in Anger (about a 40 minute drive). Finally she went out to it and I left her in her carseat while we loaded up the car so that Daryl and Pavla could head off. They left at about 5.15pm instead of 4pm as they had intended.
Max got home at about 5.30pm and we sat on the balcony while Lilli slept, then Max went down to pick up the tables for the party on Saturday and we worked out the plan of attack for the day.
