Elise blessing the food

So you know your baby is not so little anymore when she wants to say the prayer on the food. About a month ago Elise started saying that she wanted to pray sometimes. We would help her say the prayer a sentence at a time and I was surprised at how many words of each sentence she said and how clearly she said them. It didn't take here very many times before she would start saying parts of the next phrase before you. It is very sweet to hear. Although the other day it was very funny too. She was blessing the food and then Spencer told her to say, "please bless that we can have a good day" and Elise said, "please bless, good day, outside." She is way to smart and knows exactly what she wants. Whoever says kids don't learn way to fast and pick up on everything around them doesn't know what they are talking about.

New ways to travel

Before I came to Europe I had been in a car mostly, and a little on a bus and also a train for a very short ride specific to a tourist attraction and I think that is it. Although since coming here I have also road on an airplane, a long distance train, a subway, a tram and plan to ride on a cog train, a gondola and a ferry. We are having quite an adventure over here. I am becoming quite the city girl, okay not really but I have learned a lot about different types of transportation and using them.

Creative foods

So without even trying we have started a fun combination of foods we ate while visiting somewhere. Like eating pizza at Pisa and Wienerschnitzel in Wien (Vienna). We never did but when were were in Stuttgart we could have at Subways in the Subway (because there was a Subway in the Subway). Or if we were to travel to the middle of Germany we could eat food in Essen (Essen means food and to eat in German). We will have to see what other fun ones we can come up with.

The Everyday Adventures of the Atkins up to 7/13/2011

Our lives are never dull but that isn't bad. There is always something fun or cute happening around our house.

 Elise playing with Max and the shark while Spencer and I went on our date to Isny.

 They like to wrestle the sharks.

 Max and Elise "helping" Oma pick berries. Well at least make less for her when she gets ready to pick them. The whole time the berries were on and Elise was up by the bushes she would ask for "more" and point to the berries.

 Such cute little birdies.

 Max took this picture of Elise when we were having a barbeque outside.

 Spencer's main school building.

 Another building he has class in.

 Even in her sleep she is a good mommy. Actually I was trying to get her to wake up and tried to use the baby and she just grabbed it, wrapped her arms around it and went back to sleep.

 Elise "helping" Spencer. She thinks when he is working on the computer she should be able to use him for a jungle gym.

 Elise exercising with us or trying to fly, I'm not sure which, it depended on the moment you looked at her.

 What would they do without each other to play with :)

 We went to a flohmarkt (fleamarket) and Elise found a very cute wood, pull along alligator. She tries to take it every where.

 Elise loves the clothes pins and putting them on her and us.

 Elise's fort. Apparently it makes a good place to eat crackers as well as play. Of course maybe her stuffed animals were hungry too.

 Who needs a bed when you have the floor? Why do you even buy beds for children? They climb out and end up asleep on the floor anyway.

 Elise has learned a new trick. She no longer has to ask us to open the fridge for her. She just gets a chair and does it herself. Luckily it is up high enough she can't quite reach whatever she wants, yet. Although now she has mastered opening the fridge without the chair.

 Elise pushing Pascal in the swing.

 We went to a store in Ravensburg and Elise found a pond with goldfish in it that she enjoyed watching.

 The second normal semi that Spencer says he has seen in Europe. The "normal" here is a cab over semi. And it is a Haribo candy truck as well.

 Looking out towards Reute.

 When we got home from Stuttgart Spencer and Martin were both going through withdrawals and "needed" a game of pin pong. Elise was hungry but so wanted to watch them and eat her yogurt outside. So here she is with her dinner and a show. 

 You never thought to hide in the laundry when you didn't want to get caught eating cookies, did you?

 We bought some games here to bring home with us and Elise loved helping us explore them and show them off.

Watch out for Sheriff Elise.

Our visit to Stuttgart 7/9-10/2011

So the oldest Rebmann son lives in Stuttgart. His family invited us to come up some time and visit Stuttgart and stay with them. We finally made it up this weekend.

Our travel on the train. At least on the way up. On the way back I think we hit rush hour because there was standing room only for most of the 2 1/2 hour ride home. It was a good thing that Elise was asleep for most of it.

Elise woke up when we were putting her in the car to go to the train station at 5:30 and stayed awake until we were just outside of Stuttgart at about 8:00. She couldn't miss anything.

A very big boat carrying scrap metal up the river.

On Saturday we went to the zoo for most of the day. Andreas and Phillip came to the zoo with us. Elise on the kangaroo jumping play ground.

Saying hi to the birds.

Spencer and Elise's favorite animal. Well at least the animal they like to make the sound of the most.

The polar bear was taking a rest right by the bottom window. It made for a cool picture. Elise was not so sure right at first. She was sure that the bear could get her.

Then when she touched the glass and knew the bear couldn't get her she thought it was pretty fun.

Who says kids need a playground. They turn anything and everything into a playground.

Elise copying Phillip. She loves to do what any other kid is doing.

Elise enjoying the entrance into the Alligator house.

I didn't realize that alligators barely move as their mode of catching food. At first I honestly thought they had fake statues in the pen too for decoration because they didn't move. One had it's mouth open completely but never moved the whole time we were there.

Again Elise played to hard and crashed on the way out of the zoo.

Stuttgart city center. There was about 5 or 6 different festivals going on all over Stuttgart today. (We found this out after we got there.)

We walked through where they were having the kinderfest (children's festival).

Spencer really liked this truck because it expanded in all directions.

I don't know if you can tell or not but this fountain spun and when it fell it looked like a heart so this was our best attempt at catching the heart.

It was supposed to rain today but it held out. We were still able to go up the fernsehturm (TV tower) to get a good look out over Stuttgart.

A smaller fernsehturm. We think these towers might also be used for other antenna signals but we aren't sure.

Stuttgart.

The playground by the Fernsehturm. Spencer helping to even the wait between Elise and David.

On Sunday after church we drove to the Schloss Solitude (palace) and Elise climbed up all the steps.

It had a really pretty park area around it that looked out over Stuttgart.

The kids being very cooperative for a picture.

And with a little help Elise climbed back down all of the stairs.

We ate a snack of cut apples and nectarines and then we were going to walk around a nearby lake but alas the rain that was supposed to come finally came and so we had to leave. But we had a really nice time in Stuttgart and were very blessed that the rain held off until soon before we had to catch our train home anyway. Andreas's wife Sunny also made us a couple of Korean dishes while we were there that were very tasty and not quite to hot.