Love is ...

... when you tuck her in so gently and softly, kiss her sweet good-night and tell her "Oh Anna, my Anna, I just love you!".

This is one VERY LOVED Anna.

She was handed down from my sister, who used to tuck her in just like Lulu does now for years.
It was "Love At First Sight" for Lulu and this 20 something year old doll.
She has never left Lulu's side since ... ever!
Anna goes where Lucy goes, thats just it.

This Anna, she has seen and heard so much in her life and if she could only talk, boy what stories she would have to tell.

She is in dear need of a cleaning but I am so afraid she'll fall apart that I haven't brought myself to throw her in the wash.

She needs a stuffing-replacement, but the thought of cutting her open just makes me quiver in fear of ruining her.

Where is Oma when we need her???
... far-far-away ;(

Sleep well dear Anna and know how lucky you are to be loved by such a special, little person with a heart bigger than the whole world itself.

How to ...

... get your kids to eat:

- 2 apples
- 2 pears
- 2 peaches
- 3 carrots
- 1 chunk of ginger

within 15 minutes ...

SIMPLE 

... juice it!!!

They suck it down in seconds and scream for more.

It's awesome!!!

All the fresh goodness of the fruit without the begging and nagging"please eat one bite".

I don't know why it took me 7 years to figure that out???

The left-over mush

Now I also tried it with:

- 2 hand full of kale
- 1 cucumber
- 1 apple
- 4 celery stalks
- 1/2 of a lemon
- ginger

... that didn't work so well for them BUT I made the hubby chuck it down and he (after some questionable face expressions) said he could grow to like it :)

He better does it fast.
Next week, after we come back from Tahoe-Dream-Land, we will start our Juice Cleanse.
5 days of nothing but juiced fruits and veggies.
24/5!!!!

OH BOY ...

I will track it all on the blog to keep a diary of our starving days. We hope that this way we may feel a bit more committed to it and, if nothing else, have a chuckle afterwards looking at our tired and hungry faces online :)

We watched "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead" and were so inspired by this documentary that we

A) bought a juicer and
B) are going to try this "cleansing thing"

... in hopes of weight loss for some and better sleeps and less migraines for others.

After day 4 you are supposed to feel like a champion and people actually kept going after day 5 because they felt so great.

This is only for the big CZs, na-course,  the little ones will keep eating their "normal" food but we'll add the fruit juices to their daily intake as well.
It's easy to sneak in a few carrots or maybe even some spinach (if I get super creative) but thats about it.

We shall see ...

As for now we are off to Tahoe to watch the Kokanee Salmon swim to their spawning place, in front of our eyes and feet, enjoy some much needed hiking time and some even more needed family time.

I am hoping to find my "blogging mojo" somewhere along the trail again so I can come back and start posting again, like I used to ...

Adieu for now, the "Big Blue" is calling us.

Lulu's comment of the day

While driving home from pre-school I ask Lulu:

M: What did you learn today?
Lulu: Like always, about Jesus and stuff.
M: Oh and what else.
Lulu: And about God and him sweethearts.
M: His sweethearts? Who are they?
Lulu: You know, the angels. The ones who make sure Willie doesn't fall through him bed in the clouds.
M: AHHHH ... na-course :)

....  AND another preacher-girl is born!
LOVE it!!!

Lulu on Ice - Take 2

All smiles before AND after!
We have another skater-girl in the house :)

P.S. L is the one with the black "Olds Grizzlies" jersey in the back ... rolling on the ice

... next Thursday we'll have our first lessons. We'll see how many smiles we have then ;)

Move'on over Hockey Moms!

Nr. 1 

Got fitted for a new helmed and shoulder pads AND ...

... will officially start next week with her first pre-hockey lessons.

Next spring she'll join her first league and I'll be joining the ranks of the "Hockey Moms".

Nr. 2

Got her FIRST pair of skates but INSISTED to get dancing skates and wants to wear a dress when skating AND ...

... will officially start next week her first ice skating lessons.

She decided she was more into the fancy "ballet on ice" thing ;)

Both will have lessons at the SAME location, SAME day and the SAME time.
Yeahhhh ... a mothers dream come true :)

Let the FUN begin!
It was way over-due.
I guess we should have watched Jay play hockey way sooner.
I am not sure who was in awe more, L or Papa ;)

Big Trees and German Food

My mom complained today that THE BLOG has been DEAD lately.

S-O-R-R-Y my dear necklace-Lee, it's been crazy here and hot and tired and lots of stuff to do, home work every day after school, and - and - and .... AND I have my "au-pair" (aka sister) still here.

This weekend we decided to drag Julia out on the trail and show her the beautiful Muir Woods, north of San Francisco.

She was "VERY" excited about it (I think Pier 39 was more her cup of tea) but we tortured her anyways and bribed her with a good meal at my favorite German Restaurant in San Fran.

So off we went to escape the heat and recharge the batteries out in the woods.

H-E-L-L-O BIG trees!!!

Breathtaking! 

Lulu found a heart in the woods :)

My hiking-crazy kiddos

The Pumpkin Face

Still smiling ;)

Junior Blogger in action

This is her pic :)

The Wild Hog Tree

The CRAZY CZs

Anakin Skywalker Pose 1

The Knot-Tree

The Grumpy-Old Troll

Red cheeks but still smiling ...
... for the camera ... in real life she was cursing in German something about darn trail and no AC :)

Anakin Skywalker Pose 2

LOVE it!!!

Tired Lulu

A new friend

Check out the trail we just walked ... cool!

Back on the shuttle to the car.

A little foot massage anybody ;)

The Golden Gate in its best light ...

Beautiful view coming back into the CITY

YUMMMM .... "Walzwerk" hands down the BEST EAST German Restaurant in the Bay Area.

The owners come from Thueringen, where I come from, part of East Germany.
The food is AMAZING and the restaurant is full with good old memorabilia.

I LOVE coming here ... a bit of home far-far-away.

Die Genossen!

Marx, Engels und Lenin.

OH SOOO GOOD!!! 

AND BETTER!!!

The German coming out of my L.

One happy hiker girl :)

Fuer Oma

Fewa, Atta und so viel mehr.

SO SUPER COOL!!!!

Nana ... ha-ha-ha

Maxhuette

Kalter Hund

"Seid bereit. Immer bereit!"

The last bite was too much for them ;)

And so we introduced Julia to the "wilderness" and had ourselves an awesome meal!