Cocktails at the Green Tree

A final girly evening at the Green Tree Cocktail Bar.
 What a fantastic place, and right around the corner from our place! 
I wish I had known it was just around the corner 5 years ago..
.I would have been there every week!

There was a variety of drinks on the table...all delicious.

This one is the alcoholic's cocktail.....like a beer bottle in a paper bag....

Libby and Nicole

Ingrid and Olga

Karen, Libby, Josefina, Sue

Nicole, Julia, Ingrid, Olga and Kathrin

Out of 9 of us, 6 of us will be out of Berlin in the next couple of months.

We have enjoyed many many coffee mornings at the Steh Cafe. 

Lots of laughs, tears and fantastic friendship that will last a lifetime!

We are all internet junkies, so it will be easy for us all to keep in touch!

Cameron's Birthday Party

Cameron's birthday is in the Summer holidays, and normally we are in Australia.  This year we will be in Europe, but lots of Cameron's friends are leaving Berlin for good, or going on holidays.  So we planned to have Cameron's birthday before the end of the school year.

We have had a heat wave in Berlin, and the weather has been over 35 everyday for 2 weeks.  Today the temperature was 38.

Cameron wanted to go Go-Karting with his friends for his birthday, we were worried about the heat in the "tin shed"

Here are the kids listening to the safety instructions while drinking lots of fluids! 

Surprisingly it was cooler in the shed than outside.

Thank goodness, as the kids had to wear balaclavas under their helmets.

Cameron, with a sprained wrist from playing Fussball on Thursday, said it wouldn't effect his driving.

Alexander ready to go.

Hlomla ready to burn some rubber!

Max was a professional, he had his own balaclava!

First time for Felix!

Philipp was fast!!

After the first 15 minute round, there were smiles all round!

Getting ready for the next round, the most important one for the medal ceremony later

Love this photo of Cameron, look how he has that shiny tooth look!

The winners on the podium!

Max, Hlomla, Rishab, Philipp, Cameron, Rithik, Alexander and Felix

Go Karting is great fun, and everyone had a fantastic time!!!

Cameron's creepy crawlies.

Cameron has a love for all things creepy and crawly, and is forever finding bugs and insects to pick up.
Once they are in his hands they tend to sit there peacefully while we are able to take photos of whatever he has caught.

Then they fly away!

5.3km Lichtenauer Wasserlauf

After doing so well in the  5 x 5 km race Alexander has got the running bug.  Alexander has been running with some of the students and teachers in the forest at lunchbreak to train for this next race.  Alexander and Phil both entered the race along with some of the teachers, parents and his friend Emily.

The day was hot, around 30 degrees, not a great day to be running. 

They were all excited to be standing at the starting line.

Alexander with his teachers Miss B and Mr G.

Emily and Alexander very excited at the starting line.

The starting gun is ready to be fired.

Mr G was the first of our lot across the line.  He came in 42nd place, 4th in his age group.

Alaisdair was next in 61st place, 5th in his age group

Alexander came running to the finish line with a huge grin on his face.

He came in 87th place, 4th in his age group.

He was really pleased with his time.

Next was Phil, being cheered on by some cheerleaders.

Phil came in 140th place, 12th in his age group, he was thrilled as he hadn't done any training for months.

His time was great too.

Nicola came next, in 162nd place, 5th in her age group. 

(but we missed her coming through the finish line, she must have been running so fast!).

Emily came sprinting through the finish line next in 302nd place, 5th in her age group.

She did a great job.

Miss B came through with a huge grin on her face despite the heat!

In 306th place, 33rd in her age group.

Mr B entered the 10km run!  A brave man!!

He finished in 42nd place, 7th in his age group.

Cameron's teacher, Mr S, also ran in the 10 km, and he came in 180th place.

He ran for Mr J, who had entered, but broke his arm a few weeks ago.

Here is the link for Alexander running across the finish line

Here is the link for Phil running across the finish line

I am not sure how long the videos will be up on the web?

Everyone did such a great job, and we will be looking for fun runs to do when we get back to Australia, hopefully Cameron will start as well.

Canadian Visitiors.

My Canadian penpal came for a visit.  We have known each other for over 17 years??  Leanna visited us in Sydney when she was travelling.  On her first stay in Sydney, we met. Then she travelled around Australia for 12 months, and we caught up again in Sydney before she flew back.  The second visit, I was pregnant with Alexander.

Her husband Shane had a conference in Amsterdam, so they extended their time in Europe and came to visit us.  It was fantastic to meet again after all these years, and for all the families to meet each other.

Unfortunately the weather was unbearably hot for the 2 weeks they were in Berlin.  Our apartment was awfully hot and uncomfortable.  But with plenty of ice-cubes, and cold showers we managed....just.

We had pavlova for dessert one night!

Jack was great at helping with my internet shopping parcels.

A visit to the Charlottenburg Schloss...still need to work out why you are not allowed to take your pram through the castle, but a wheelchair is perfectly fine....grrrr!!

Alexander and Jack

We went to Peacock Island, and saw a few peacocks.

Jack loved being in the pram with Alexander and Cameron running fast.

Awesome Canadian Hockey Shirts from the Winter Olympic Games 2010, the kids love them..now if only the weather would cool down to be able to wear them comfortably!

It was so great for both families to meet and we hope to arrange a holiday altogether in 7 years time!!!