Easter Trip to Ireland

We flew to Ireland for 6 days for the Easter break!

We love Ireland, but we only got to explore the South West Coast from Cork to Galway, and then straight over to Dublin for a few days.

We will be back to explore more of Ireland. It is absolutely gorgeous, and the people we met/talked to were so friendly and helpful.

We flew into Cork, and drove around Cork looking for a certain shop (no comment from Nicole but it had to do with craft)...but didn't find it! A lot of these towns you should park in one of the parking lots, and then walk around town, the roads are narrow, and congested. We only did this once!.

We drove through to Kenmare, and then spent the night in Killarney, as a nice B&B run by Betty. On the way we found the Ladies View, and the kids had a great time rock climbing in the national park, it was windy (can you tell by their hair?), and cold, but the kids didn't care. There were some wandering sheep, which the boys manage to frighten, and they ran up onto the road...thankfully the cars stopped until they moved on!

Erratic Weather

During this week we have had some great hail showers. Today it snowed on and off all afternoon! Then it suddenly stopped and melted in 10 minutes. Now you wouldn't even know it had snowed.

Bertie Beetles and new Moccies

Phil went to Melbourne for 2 weeks. He brought back some Bertie Beetles, and new Moccasins. 

My purple moccies were ready for the bin about 3 months ago, but I couldn't bear to throw them out until I had a new pair. I only wear them in the house,and to the letter box. 

Phil said they were very hard to find at this time of the year, and I guess in 36˚C - 42˚C weather, no one really wants to buy Moccies. He found some eventually! 

The old faithful purple moccies are now retired!

Legoland Discovery Centre

Today we took the kids and Martin to Legoland Discovery Centre. A bit of fun, and a way to kill 3 hours,and let the kids run around and burn off some engery. It is like a big indoor playcentre at 3 times the price, with Lego blocks. It's not something you would take the kids to on a regular basis, even the Lego obsessed Alexander had enough after 2 hours.

Our new Star Wars fans loved this Lego R2D2!

Alexander got the original 3 Star Wars films on DVD for his birthday. Over the past few weeks we have been watching them on Friday nights. You should have seen the look on their faces when Darth Vader tells Luke Skywalker he is his father. The look of absolute shock was a classic. You forget how dramatic this is when it is the first time you find out!

Martin is a huge Star Wars fan, and it was hilarious to hear Alexander, Cameron and Martin talk Star Wars the entire 30 minutes on the train!

Easter blooms

Here are the branches I got from the market last week.

They have bloomed beautifully!

Cooking Club

Sonia and I have been doing a cooking club after school every Monday afternoon this term. Yesterday was our last class. It is only a 40 minute class with 10 kids. It really doesn't give you that much time to make anything complex, and the facilities in the small kitchen are extremely basic. We made things like chocolate balls, pizzas, scones, honey joys and pancakes.

This week,I made lots of cupcakes in the afternoon, and gingerbread Easter Bunny cookies. We made the icing and then had lots of fun things to decorate the tops.

I think the kids really enjoyed the cooking classes.

Here are some of the creations from the cupcake decorating.

Easter Tree

An Easter tradition here is to buy a bundle of blossum branches and hang decorations for Easter. Once Easter arrives the flowers have all opened. I love collecting Christmas decorations and now I can collect Easter decorations as well!

I bought some coloured plastic eggs to hang on the tree in our garden. Along with the coloured ones, Alexander and Cameron put the plastic marbled eggs they decorated a few years ago on the tree.

I bought these cute Egg Candles and the Ceramic Egg Holder for the table. Unfortunately with the heat of 9 flames, they melt really quickly! Maybe I should just light the green ones one night, and the yellow ones the next night!

Hot Cross Buns

I met Kim on Friday, and she mentioned that she had made Hot Cross Buns last week.

You can't get them over here. So, I did an internet search for Hot Cross Bun recipes. 

I chose to make a Choc Chip Hot Cross Bun mix, because the kids would just pick out all the bits in it anyway, and so would I. (but on second thoughts, I may have had trouble getting the ingredients for the traditional ones)

They look pretty good, the boys will be home in 30 minutes. We will see what the critics think. I had left over chocolate in tubes for the gingerbread men at Xmas, so I used that for the crosses.

Bob the Snowman

My apologies to any young readers, who might be scared of this snowman. We were limited to the little snow left, and underneath the snow was dirt and leaves.

This is Bob made this morning while we waited for the school bus. We need to readjust his eyes a bit I think!

We have a habit of naming things/people "BOB" when we need a name. It's a Blackadder thing.

In Starbucks, when the staff take my order asks for my name, I say "Bob". The kids think it is hilarious. I get some really strange looks when I am there by myself, but that makes it more fun (see how I am losing the plot.)

Funny story for the day. Yesterday, after getting to Wilmersdorf via taxi (see previous post). I did my shopping, and went to the local Starbucks for a coffee (I had my knitting in my bag). I ordered my coffee, and without prompting the girl behind the cash register says, in German.

"Your name is Bob, right?"

I reply "Thank you! That's right, you remembered!"

She looked very proud of herself. I was thrilled!

A very brief Winter

This morning we woke to a light smattering of snow.  We have not had any snow in January or February!!

 

I got the kids on the bus for school. About half an hour later we had a "snow storm" that lasted for about 45 minutes. It really came down hard and fast, and at a 45 degree angle. It was like being inside a snow globe, and I couldn't see the bright blue painted house across the street from us.

It stopped as quick as it started, and made the surroundings look so pretty and clean.

As I left to get to the shops, I took out my camera, my neighbour had the same idea, she was out there snapping away as well!

Chaos today in Berlin! A public transport strike, all trains and buses out. As I don't watch local TV, listen to local radio, or read the papers, I had no idea this was happening.

I walked to the train station, gates closed. I walked to the bus stop. There was nothing on the electronic sign, and no one waiting. I asked 2 ladies close by and they told me about the strike. The traffic was a nightmare, extra cars on the road, taxis everywhere (there is a huge travel show on in Berlin this week), and to top it all off the snow! Just chaotic!

The older woman who I was talking to, knocked on a car window at the traffic lights, the woman in the car opened her window, they had a chat, she asked for a lift up the street, and she got in! I swear this woman at the bus stop would have been early 70's - HITCHHIKING!! It never fails to shock me the things I see here!

I hailed a taxi and made my way to the shops instead!

No Bike riding today...a bit dangerous with the snow and ice.

Our street.

Phil's car, With any luck the snow will melt and wash off the dirt at the same time

Funny how the snow stuck to one side of the tree

Taxi's, taxi's and more taxis...at least it was easy to hail one! Sadly, by 2pm, most of the snow had melted, again spoiling our chance of covering our garden with snowmen!!!

Happy 9th Birthday Alexander

"Alexander, don't come into our room until 7am", were the instructions, it is Sunday after all!

7:00 and 10 seconds, both boys were in our room, lights on and ready for present opening.

Once Phil and I were able to open our eyes in the bright light, Alexander started to open his presents.

The Boy in Berlin book, for the boy in Berlin. More Qantas planes for Alexander's fleet.

The weather in Berlin has been stormy, very strong winds and lots of rain. So no ice skating this morning. Instead a lazy morning in pyjamas, speaking to grandparents on the telephone in Australia, and playing with presents.

After lunch, we met the usual suspects at our local ice cream cafe. We ordered this 10 scoop ice cream plate for the kids, complete with a fire work in the middle.

This was the closest Alexander would get to it while it was spewing out sparks! It was stuck in the middle of a scoop of ice cream, and that ice cream melted pretty quickly!

Dinner was home made pizza, and this Nigella Lawson Chocolate Cake, which is the richest cake I have ever tasted, but light and fluffy!

After making 3 cakes, lasagne, pizza, and 25 Honey Joys for Alexander to take to school, it's time for a rest. The neighbours have enjoyed slices of cake 2 evenings in a row, and there will be cake for school snacks for the rest of the week.

Alexander's 9th birthday party

Phil has crazy work travel commitments in the next 4 weeks, so a birthday party for Alexander really needed to take place on Saturday, which is Phil's birthday.

Alexander's first choice was Legoland at Potsdamer Platz. I did some investigating, it was quite expensive for a party and there wasn't many food options. The price included entry, 45 minutes in a party room. The kids would get one soft serve ice cream (bleh) and one drink. Then free time to play in LegoLand.

Me: "Could I order some plates of chips as well"

LegoLady: "No, we don't serve chips"

***WHAT??????? ***

 

ME: "Could I order some other food from the bistro to have ready for when we are in the room?"

LL: "No, if you want other food you will have to line up at the bistro for it when you get the room. It may not be ready in time, if it is a busy day"

***Note: You get 45 minutes in the party room, leave 10 kids in the party room while I wait in line for food. No I don't think so. ***

Me: "Can you provide a birthday cake?"

LegoLady: "No"

Me: "Can I order one?"

LL: "No"

Me: :Can I bring my own?"

LL: "No, due to health regulations, you can only have the food we have, you can buy donuts or muffins at the bistro"

Me: "Can I order the donuts or muffins to be ready to bring into the room?"

LL: "No, you have to wait in line at the Bistro"

My decision, NO! What sort of a party package gets 1 soft serve ice cream and 1 drink?? PASS!!!

So, we looked at other options.

In the local newspaper was an ad for a local cooking school, Cookeria. They advertised group bookings for birthday parties, corporate functions and learn to cook functions.

Me: "Do you do birthday parties for children?"

Anke: "Yes, no problem"

Me: What do the children do?"

Anke: "They cook 4 courses, and then eat them. We can also play a game while the food is cooking"

Me: "Can I bring a birthday cake as well?"

Anke: "Yes"

Me: "Great, can we book the 1st March please?"

Anke; "Yes"

Simple!!

Alexander was given a list of dishes to choose to make the week before.

10 children, divided up into groups to all work on different courses for their lunch.

Anke and Lioba were terrific, and really worked well with the kids. The lessons were in German, when we got a bit stuck with words, 3 of kids proficient in German translated for the rest of us.

Making the Pizza Dough..(the kids were not keen on the smell of the fresh yeast!)

Cutting the ham for one of the Pizza Swirl fillings. These 2 monkeys made the dessert all by themselves!

Stirring the chocolate pudding.....as the supervisor watches. Pizza dough is rolled out, ready for the fillings. While the pizza swirls were cooking, they played a game. The kids were blind folded and given different fruits and vegetables to feel. Then they had to go to the table and write down their answers! Alexander won the competition and got 5/5. The avocado got them all stumped! We will be back to Cookeria in the future! They do some interesting courses for adults, and sometimes family evenings. It was a lot of fun! Here is what the kids made, and it was "LECKER". Delicious. First there was Tomato Soup with Basil. Pizza Swirls and a Garden Salad Chocolate pudding and Vanilla Sauce. The meal was great and of course we had cake afterwards. The most important thing, Alexander had a fabulous day!!

Phil's 39th birthday

Well, this weekend of the year is our double birthday weekend! Phil had his lunch cooked by 10 children see following post, and had a "nanna nap" on the couch later in the day. 

For dinner, I cooked him one of his favourite meals, lasagna and salad. For dessert, we had this yummy cake, complete with Allen's Freckles from Melbourne. His main present was a guitar. The boys and Phil are going to form a new band. Someone suggested the P Gees, I thought about the O Gees, but Phil says that sounds too much like something else, and not appropriate. They will have to work on that one!