Monkstown :)

We spent a wonderful day at Marianne and Robert's house yesterday :)

Kieran had just returned from Spain, so the kids were overjoyed to see him as well.

They live in an incredibly charming house in Monkstown - about 15 minutes outside of Dublin. Marianne cooked a wonderful vegetarian meal :) and made a delicious cake that she and Ava decorated together. Marianne is a cake expert now - she and Patrick made the wedding cake together...can't wait to see it! We went for a walk into Don Loughre and along the coast.

The kids found sea glass - of course! We then went back to their house to warm up with a cup of tea and the delicious cake! We stayed so long that everyone got hungry again, so Ava suggested making soup. Marianne and Avaset to work making "Ava's Monkstown Soup" - again a fantastic meal! Being at their house and enjoying the day together was such a great treat as we know it will soon be crazy with all of the other family members arriving and the preparations for the wedding. Today, the zoo - Ava's choice :)!

Dublin!!

We arrived at the Dublin Airport at midnight and made our way to our apartment in Dublin - a little scary so late at night in an unfamiliar city. Transporting the luggage and a sound asleep 5 year old was not easy. The apartment is situated perfectly - right in the middle of everything. Unfortunately, the apartment looks nothing like the fabulous photos on the website! It is sufficient, but not great...oh well - you can’t win them all! Marianne came to see us today and showed us around the city a bit - what a fantastic place! We walked along Graften and O’Connell Streets and wandered through Temple Bar and numerous charming and bustling shopping districts. The streets are packed with people! We are hoping to spend a lot of time with family on this leg of the trip and it was really wonderful to have Marianne to ourselves for the afternoon. We will take the train to her house on Wednesday. Kieran returns from Spain tomorrow and the kids can hardly wait to see him! We are all excited to see Robert, Patrick, Brendan, Marguerita and Joanne. The wedding is a week from Saturday, so we know they are all busy with the planning. We will take every opportunity to see them - so much fun to finally be on their turf!! Tomorrow we will do more sightseeing in Dublin and Cullen has an Irish fiddling violin lesson - then he wants to play in the shopping district....visions of euros in his eyes :). Ava was very crabby today - as she fell asleep she told me “I didn’t behave today because it has just been too long without my Daddy” - I agree! Only a little longer to wait :)...

Last Day in Germany...

Our last day in Germany was bittersweet. It was so hard to watch Oma walk through security at the airport on her own - we wanted to go with her. We waited until the transport picked her up to take her to her gate and then we left. I was very tearful and the kids all walked close to me and held my hands...so sweet. Before she left, we surprised her with a pair of amber earrings - a gift that will always remind her of our trip together. Amber is centuries old tree sap that washes up in the Baltic Sea - Oma collected it as a child and she loves it. She cried and hugged all of us...wishing we all could stay in Germany longer.

Our plane to Dublin didn’t leave until 8pm the next evening, so we set off to enjoy Munich on our own.

It immediately felt different without Oma - a complete change of dynamic. We talked about her all the time; hoping and praying she was getting along ok on her own.

We stayed in the Marienplatz District, which turned out to be the perfect spot. In the morning, we walked to the Deutche Museum and couldn’t believe what we happened upon. Clearly the Smithso-

nian of Germany - multiple floors of unbelievable collections of ships, planes, electrical technology, space and on and on. You could easily spend several days and still not see everything. Really fantastic!! There is a complete German U-1 boat that is truly phenomenal to see. We must have said a hundred times how much Marc would love the museum and how he could have enlightened us on many topics with his historical knowledge. Definitely a place we hope to visit again someday - with Marc! After we wore little Ava out (“no more” she cried after 4 hours!), we walked (Ava on my back) to the Haufbrauhaus - no explanation needed! Because we had several hours left in Munich, I enjoyed a beer under the beautiful trees in the Biergarten and the boys had...brats!! We took this great photo with some very authentic looking Bavarian guys and marveled at the tables full of people drinking out of huge mugs and steins - a great last experience in Germany!

Saying Goodbye :(

We have enjoyed our last two days in Fussen. Yesterday afternoon, the kids and I rode the gondola up to the top again and hiked down. I should know better than to start a hike in the mountains in the afternoon.... It was a 2 1/2 hour hike and sure enough, a thunderstorm rolled in! The scenery coming down the mountain was beautiful and dramatic and a little challenging for Ava. We kept calling her "Ava the Brave" and that helped to keep her going. The kids each had a bag of gummy bears, and that helped a lot! We were totally unprepared as we decided to do the hike at the last minute, so we only had one water bottle to share and no food (shame on me!). The woman at the Gondola assured me (I thought) that the trail was well marked. Well, we ran into several intersections with no markers and a few that had signs with no words! Luckily, a nice guy came by us and directed us which path to take. We were about 45 minutes from the bottom when the rain started. We all got a bit scared when we saw lightening flashing right near us. But, we made it to the car! We started driving and all of a sudden something hit our car that made a huge noise, then we were pelted several times - of course...hail! Not your typical hail, but "lacrosse ball size" as Cullen and Aidan called them....and they really were that big. It felt like we were in a movie scene, escaping the earth's destruction - I screamed "oh sh_ _!" when the first hail hit our car and the kids all screamed. The kids chided me for swearing, but it was really a reaction I couldn't control. Luckily, we were able to drive out of the hail storm quickly and we made it safely back to our apartment...back to Oma who was pacing with worry. Very exciting story now that it is over!

It rained all day today. We have been lucky to have such great weather the past month. We explored Fussen with umbrellas today, visiting the Abbey, the graveyard and the Monastery. We went to a fantastic exhibit that follows the history and relationship of Bavaria and Italy- the coolest artifact was a metal horse head that dates back to the Roman Empire - it washed up in a river in Bavaria. We also learned that the very first image of a man playing a violin came from Fussen. The history of violins here is fascinating as the instrument originated and developed in Italy and Bavaria. The exhibit had a violin from the 1400s - Cullen loved it. Speaking of violins, Cullen played on the cobblestone streets again yesterday and made 24 euro! Its becoming a lucrative activity and he was bummed about the rain today...all those missed coins! He has never been so excited to play his violin!

Tomorrow we say goodbye to Oma...we are all very sad. Time is playing its trick on all of us, making us feel like we have been here a long time and also like we just got here. Oma doesn't think she will ever return to Germany, so that is an added layer of sadness for her. She will cherish the memories of this trip for a long time.

The kids and I stay in Munich for one night and then off to Dublin on Sunday. We are all excited that Marc joins us soon - we can't wait!! More adventures to come...

Beautiful Fussen!

We have been in Fussen for 4 days now and we are loving it! The first day we hiked around Hopfensee - a beautiful high mountain lake that has panoramic views of all the beautiful mountains around us. It is very slow going with Oma (she now wants us to call her that :), but the kids (and me) are trying to be patient. The second day we rode the gondola and hiked an incredible trail. Oma stayed at the cafe and had coffee while the kids and I hiked. We sat on the edge of a mountain and ate our lunch admiring the landscape. The day was foggy and misty, so the mountains came and went as the clouds parted and the sun came out - a constantly changing view. The meadows of wildflowers set against the impressive mountains was a wonderful sight. We tried to hike to a cross that is perched on the top of a mountain, but turned back when the trail got dicey and it became necessary to use cables. After hiking, we watched the hangliders and paragliders taking off - really fun to watch. We are hiking again tomorrow - I could stay here for a month and just hike...its really amazing.

Next came the alpine slides - seemed crazy at first, but after the first couple of rides, I found myself wanting to go faster and faster! We will definitely do the slides

again before we leave Fussen. The next day we hung out on Forgensee - another beautiful lake. We swam and played for hours - so much fun.

Today we visited Neuschwanstein Castle - the famous castle of King Ludwig II - an amazing tour! Getting to the castle is difficult and would have been impossible for Oma to walk the trail. There are normally busses available, but because of the rain, there were no busses today. That left us the only option of taking the horse and carriage - not something we normally would have done, but a little serendipity that it was the only choice. We all enjoyed the ride through the forest and Oma was well rested for the 300 steps she climbed inside the castle. The Castle's history is very interesting and mysterious. King Ludwig built it in the 1800's in the style of 11th and 12th century castles. After living in the castle fo

r only 172 days, Ludwig was declared insane and taken to an institution. The next day he was found drowned in a local lake, together with the psychiatrist who declared him insane. The circumstances of his death remain a mystery to this day. There is speculation that his pacifist politics and his affection for music and art (considered eccentric at the time) played a part in his death. The kids had fun concocting scenarios of his murder! Aidan is convinced that he was not insane and that he was killed by his uncle. After the tour, the kids and I walked to Mary's Bridge - a very high bridge that spans across a river...we quickly got off the bridge when it became loaded with people...a bit scary because it is just a wooden plank bridge with metal guardrails.

We are really enjoying the town of Fussen - very quaint and lively. Cullen has been eyeing the street musicians and wanting to give it a try with his violin. So...this afternoon the 2 of us strolled into town with his violin in tow. We chose a spot and I sat at a cafe nearby, pretending that I didn't know him. He opened his red case and played for 20 minutes. He was overjoyed that people gave him money - 8 euros! He enticed a lot of listeners and sounded great. He is only lacking a longer playlist. He learned a lot about people in those short 20 minutes - how some walk right by and others stop to listen and then give him a coin. He was offended by the man who listened the longest, but didn't drop in anything. After watching Cullen, I don't think I will ever pass by an open music case without dropping in some change! His self-confidence is really amazing - he is dying to do it again!

2 more days here and then off to Munich to say goodbye to Oma. She has had a wonderful trip and we have so enjoyed sharing Germany with her. Next adventure is Ireland, where everyone is gearing up for Patrick and Joanne's wedding...very exciting. Marc joins us in exactly 2 weeks - Ava thinks its never going to get here! Kids can't wait to see their cousins :)

Raining in the Alps :)

Today we drove 4 hours south to the small town of Fussen - right on the Austrian/Switzerland border...I have always wanted to see the Alps and now that I have, I might never leave. OMG!, as Cullen likes to say. The terrain here is so incredible and lush and amazing and... I could go on and on - wow! The mountains are my favorite place in the world - it is really incredible here. Nana sat next to me in the car with a huge smile as we drove through towns with streets that were lined with wooden, Bavarian style houses - complete with window boxes and charming gables. She lived a few miles from Fussen after WWII and she is so incredibly happy to be here - as we all are. But I need to back up and remember our day...

We left Unsleben this morning, sad to be leaving our quiet cottage and sweet neighbors who came over for our last night of tea. The kids next door, Sylvia and Richard, were enamored with the kids and stayed until dark - Sylvia holding Ava on her lap. The kids want me to write to Sylvia's family and ask her to come be our au pair next summer - something we don't need anymore, but still an appealing thought...hmm.. then I could work to pay for this trip!! Richard is an impressive "free runner" - something I thought the boys made up, but it turns out is really a sport. He "ran" up the cottage wall, flipped around in the air and landed on his feet - very cool. Needless to say, the boys couldn't get enough of him! Cullen is really wishing Aidan Pitt was here...to go off the high dive, see the free run - he is missing his friends.

We drove south to Rothenberg and stopped for lunch. Rothenberg was built in the 1400's and still has most of the wall around the city - there is a narrow set of stairs leading to a path that runs along the top of the wall - we walked on the wall until Nana got tired. Aidan quickly snapped into his role as historian and explained with great gusto where all of the canons, swords and shields would have been stored for battle. We walked in the dungeons and dark, narrow alleys underneath the wall...unbelievable to me that such places still exist. We bought souvenirs and ate Chinese food for lunch...ok, I'll admit it....German food is not our favorite! The boys have had enough brats to last a long time and Ava has been subsisting on bread, cheese, tomatoes, french fries and of course, chocolatte eis. Not that she ate anything better at the Chinese food restaurant, but we were all very happy for the change. We are all craving burritos and salsa - neither of which is available anywhere....maybe Spain? Paella is calling our name! The city was very confusing with its narrow alleys and numerous doorways, but thanks to Aidan, we found our car - not sure what I would do without him on this trip.

After Rothenberg, we drove south on the "Romantic Road," until my laptop battery died and the Avatar episode ended and Ava started moaning "are we there yet?" After 20 minutes of pointing out beautiful fields and cows, I gave in and changed over to the Autobahn - 90 mph feels normal now, but still not fast enough for those last 45 minutes of a road trip in a crowded car (and not fast enough for Cullen who wants me to hit 100 in our Ford wagon!). Aidan got into a very chatty mood as we found ourselves discussing whether it would be cool to be in prison in space...strange topic. Aidan couldn't let it go and kept talking...we all started wishing Baker could jump in the car to "talk" with Aidan...they could have gone on for hours :). We finally made it and checked into our fantastic apartment that is situated at the base of the Alps. The kids and I walked to the market to get food for dinner in a torrential downpour - it still hasn't stopped. We are all happy for the change after a really hot week.

So much to do here...hiking, alpine slide, gondola ride, swimming in high mountain lakes, looking for Nana's old house, famous castles...hope we can fit it all in! Aidan is insisting that we travel into Switzerland to get a true "Swiss" Army Knife - how can I say no?

Hoping to see the Richardsons as they travel through this area next week. We are all really missing Marc and the pets, but time is flying now...he will be with us soon :) :) :)

Aidan watching the lightening show...

kids posing with a knight :)

Unsleben...day 5

We are having a wonderful time in this very quiet town and have settled into a little routine that everyone loves. After eating dinner outside, we go for a walk through the beautiful fields and forests and then come home for tea in the courtyard. It's really wonderful. The kids love the nightly tea and time to relax and talk about the day. We haven't done very much sight seeing - mostly because it has been in the 90's all week - very hot. We ventured out to find a place to swim and came upon a great water park (kids can't figure out why we can't go to Waterworld at home, but we can go to the water slides here...hmm..). We have now been there twice to cool off and enjoy the chaos. They have some incredibly high diving boards/platforms and Cullen has been working up his courage to go higher and higher - today he made it to the one that is about 25-30 feet above the pool. I couldn't watch the first time, but he kept going so I had to look. The German kids are pretty crazy - little ones jumping off the highest platform (which is crazy high). Lots of older kids walking around with beer and then passing it to a friend so they can jump... maybe Waterworld won't be so bad. Ava and Aidan love the long water slide and .70 cent chocolatte eis...we have had more than a few!! Nana even went today - lots of fun :).

Yesterday was very difficult. The boys and I drove 90 minutes to Buchenwald Concentration Camp and took the tour. We walked around as if we had 50 pound packs on our backs - the sadness is palpable. You can still see the multiple-layered barbed wire fences and many of the buildings. Most of the barracks were torn down, but we could walk through one of the old cell blocks - Aidan said he could physically feel the sadness of the people and their fear. We toured the entire facility and left with heavy hearts. We brought our camera, but it didn't feel right to take any photos. We all agreed that it was good to go and remember what happened, but not something we ever want to do again. We were all so happy Nana skipped it - would have been too hard for her.

On the way home our GPS died...my panic set in quickly, but the boys' keen sense of direction brought us home! At one point, Aidan declared "we are definitely, without a doubt, going the wrong way on the autobahn!" - and he was right! Cullen sat up front and navigated with my phone and we made it back. Did some research last night and was able to bring "Stewie" back to life....phew!

Tomorrow we are going hunting for local castles and the old East/West Germany border check point that still has a guard tower standing. The weather changed and a giant storm with lightening, thunder and lots of rain blew in - a great change. We leave for Fussen on Saturday morning....can't wait to finally see the Alps (I have wanted to go there since I was little)!

The kids are counting the days until Marc gets here...22. Ava kept saying today "My Daddy would do a back flip off the big diving board!' -- lucky for Marc that he won't have to fulfill that expectation! We wish he were here with his bike - tons of amazing bike trails all around...marked with their own road signs. Trying to upload some photos - takes a really long time...probably will show up tomorrow.

Old post - didn't show up for some reason ??

We arrived in Kuhlungsborn yesterday - after a night of very little sleep in a hotel in Hamburg. Sort of an ordeal to get the luggage (too much of it!) and Nana and the kids back to the airport to get the rental car. We had hopes of an Audi - which was the “type of car” I rented. My attempt to explain that a Ford wagon and an Audi are not the same “type of car” fell on uncaring German ears. The woman basically said take it or leave it...so we took the Ford. Anyway, thanks to our GPS, we navigated through Hamburg and out to the countryside very easily. Kuhlungsborn is a beautiful small village on the Baltic Sea. The town is in full summer swing, with crowded beaches and open air restaurants and markets all over. We have not heard anyone speaking english here and frequently find ourselves looking to Nana to translate. Cullen and I like to go out for short strolls to the market and then we are on our own! Cullen is picking up German phrases quickly and is constantly asking Nana how to say things. Tonight, as we were leaving the market together, he bagged the groceries and threw a casual “schuss” to the checker...”schuss” is the Italian version of “ciao” - it just rolled off his tongue and he thought nothing of it. Cullen is fascinated by the lack of excess and waste with the food here. The packaging is so minimal and the quantity per product is so much smaller. He keeps lamenting over the amount of waste in our system. One thing he really loves is this machine that accepts empty plastic bottles and gives you back euros. Tonight, he wanted to show it to me, but had only one bottle. We waited in line behind 2 girls his age who had a whole bag full and got back a few euro. Cullen put in his one bottle and happily received his 25 cents - only to look up and find the girls watching him and giggling...he got that sly smile and shrugged his shoulders in his very Cullen way of saying he couldn’t care less what they thought.

We are just taking it easy while the jet lag wears off - a little too easy..the kids slept until 2pm today. Little Ava is falling asleep all the time. Tomorrow we are going to try to be fully on German time...hopefully it works.

Aidan the sea glass finder extraordinaire already has an impressive stash of sea glass that he found....Ray would love it here. Lots of big pieces and some really cool blues. That luggage I couldn’t fit in the car will no doubt be heavier at the end of 2 weeks. He discovered a little shack near the beach that sells smoked fish, “just like in Cayucos” - we’ll give it a try tomorrow.

German soccer fever is everywhere. The flag is being flown from windows, buildings, bicycles and cars. Our plane broke into applause when the Germans scored their first goal against England and the Munich airport erupted when they won...really fun to be here amidst such excitement.

Nana is really enjoying herself and seems lost in her memories when she sits on the beach. She cried when the plane touched down in Germany. Kuhlungsborn holds many happy memories of playing at the beach with her cousins, but it also holds the terrible memories of the Russian occupation and the devastation that period inflicted on her family. Tomorrow we are going to look at the hotels her adopted mother’s family owned and she lived in.

The kids and I really miss Marc and we all keep saying how much he would love it here. They are not use to being at the beach without him and I’m not nearly as much fun. Ava taught me “Daddy’s sand castle tricks” today - she wanted to do it just the way Marc does it with her...wish you were here.

I feel like I won the lottery....after moving all over our cottage with my computer, I finally found a location that picks up the wifi!

We are now in Unsleben (Upper Bavaria), staying in the Gardener's Cottage of a 12th century castle. Not at all what we expected it to be - we imagined a castle in the German countryside, isolated and surrounded by forests. When our GPS sent us to the center of a small town, we drove around in circles for 15 minutes shaking our heads and wondering if we had been duped. We finally figured out that the castle was tucked behind a wall and several other buildings - once we found the entrance to the courtyard, we could see the towers and buildings comprising the castle...really amazing and tucked away in the middle of the town. The castle is surrounded by a moat that now meanders behind other buildings and houses. You would never know this castle exists from the street - almost a trick of the eye. As Aidan says, "it feels very 12th century." Our cottage is very old and very charming. Doorways that just clear the top of my head and slanting, uneven floors and beams...surely would not pass the county inspection in Orinda! There are modern appliances and some updated features, but it is very authentic and wonderful. There is a little garden outside our door and a pond full of fantastic frogs and other things that the kids spend hours looking for. A friendly hedgehog appeared tonight and meandered through our courtyard.

It is really amazing how simple our days are right now. We are painting with Nana, playing lots of gin and war (Ava is becoming quite the gin player!) and waiting for frogs to surface on the pond. Our pace is the opposite of our life at home...partly because it is very hot here and partly because Unsleben is the so quiet we feel as if we are the only ones here. The beautiful church bells chime periodically to remind us that we are in a town. There are many houses and cars, but it seems that no one makes any noise. It is very relaxing and different. The kids did meet our neighbor who was tending her incredible garden. She loved the kids and gave them fresh arugula, basil and tomatoes and then invited them to dip into her swimming hole to cool off. Cullen played his violin for them and they gave us more vegetables!

We are planning to do some hiking and exploring of the area this week. On Tuesday, the boys and I will go to the Buchenwald Museum - will be difficult. Nana doesn't want to go and Ava won't understand, so they will stay home and watch for frogs. We are having lots of discussions about WWII and Nana's childhood of hailing Hitler - she is trying to explain to the boys that the German people loved him at one point, revered him. How she would raise her arm with her hand stretched out and her thumb tucked in the way they were taught in school and say "Hail Hiltler" to passing friends and strangers. They look at her with amazement because they know the horrible atrocities that occurred and they can't understand how it all happened. Going to the concentration camp will be a sobering, educational experience for us.

Lubeck - standing in front of the defensive gates built in the 15th century to protect the city.

We are having a great time, but trying to get both boys over strep throat...ugg. After seeing a russian speaking doctor and a phychotherapist (pediatricians not in high demand in Kuhlungsborn), we got prescriptions for some form of penicillin for both of them....hopefully they will be all better soon! We enjoyed our last few days in Kuhlungsborn, despite the illnesses and spent a great day in Lubeck - a beautiful city that somehow escaped major bombings during WWII. The church suffered a blow from a British bomb, but remained intact. Kids really enjoyed the "defensive gates" of the city that were built in the 1400's to protect its inhabitants. They also enjoyed the "torture" room of the local museum...sadistic children imagining all of the horrible things that were used for punishment! Really gruesome.

After 2 hours of searching, we located my Oma's headstone in the local cemetary and laid flowers on her grave. Very hard for Nana to say goodbye. She is so grateful to

be in Kuhlunsborn one more time.

We left this morning and drove along the Fairy Tale Road...a stretch of 500 miles that follows along the locations of many of the classic Grimm Brothers' tales. We stopped in Bremen and found the statue of the Bremen Town Musicians and watched an amazing magician - still can't figure out how he made euros appear from behind Ava's ear and under Nana's hat! Then we stopped in Hamelin - famous for the Pied Piper that led the rats...and the children...out of town. We heard you could buy rat shaped cookies, but after looking all over, we settled for a stuffed rat for Ava. Tonight we are sleeping in the turret of a 14th century castle in the German countryside. They say that this is where Sleeping Beauty slept for 100 years....the spinning wheel is right outside our door. I would gladly touch it for a solid 8 hours!! It is incredibly beautiful and very cool to sleep in a a real castle. Tomorrow we look for Rapunzel's tower and Red Riding Hood's forest..should be fun.

Kuhlungsborn!!

We are in Kuhlungsborn - the tiny town on the Baltic Sea where Nana grew up. Its really beautiful and although I have been here once before in the spring, the summertime is very different than I expected. I packed my uggs and sweater, thinking the weather on the Baltic must get cold, but I was very wrong. The sand on the beach is so hot that you can't walk without shoes and the water is much warmer than expected (even I am swimming). We had a rough start getting over Ava's stiches and as it turns out, her bruised jaw (she couldn't eat for 4 days), then she came down with a fever and I couldn't keep the kids awake during the day...but now we are better!

Kuhlungsborn was a happening destination for German and Northern European tourists before WWII, then it was ruined during the Russian occupation. Our family history here is rich, as Nana's family owned 2 large hotels and several other properties. Everything they owned was taken by the Russians and their lives were completely devastated. It is hard for Nana to remember the horrible things that happened, but the longer we are here, the more she is remembering her childhood on the beach and the happier times. Tomorrow we are going to the local cemetary to lay flowers on my Oma's grave.

I could write pages about our family history, but I am using a computer at an internet cafe and the keyboard is driving me crazy. When we get to a spot that has wifi, I will elaborate. Here is a photo of the great 'strandkorb' that are all over the beach - you rent them. This is the one we rented for the week...wouldn't these be a hit in California? Here are some some photos of the kids doing a bungee-trampoline thing...they couldn't believe I said yes. (sorry, this computer is too slow - I could only upload Ava) Aidan has the most euros of all of us (how did that happen?) He has gone a little souvenir crazy - a pocketwatch and a pirate's periscope (such useful stuff Aidan!) and stuff for Baker...hmm... how long will those euros last?? By the way, Aidan misses Baker and gg, Cullen misses Aoife (hope I spelled it right!) and Ava misses Daddy...me too. Seems wrong to be at the beach without Marc...this is way too long to be gone without him by the way.....There are lots of hunds here...so we miss you too Olive.

Oh, almost forgot the juiciest part! The Germans here have a refreshing lack of ego... the kids are finally getting use to all of the naked kids and topless women. I am not quite use to the men who change their suits without any concern for privacy...the kids immediately commented that their Uncle DJ would fit right in - ha ha...he would love it here!! The naked boogie boarding kids are the funniest - Ava just cracks up (no pun intended). Actually, its rather cool that people reallz don't seem to care what they look like and they don't care what anyone else looks like either.

Lost track of how many brats Aidan has eaten - we keep imitating Orlando's voice for some reason 'ah.. another brat' - guess he just has that German accent we are now use to. We miss everzone!! sorrz about the z's - sick of fixing them...