Remember when I wrote about the city festival in my hometown? There I mentioned that the first two days had superb weather but then everything was drowned by a rainstorm. Well, on that first day of bad weather we went to the Plöner See (Lake Plön) which is about 40 minutes away by car from our place.
Cooling down those little feet
Originally we went there because we were invited to try out sailing however once we arrived there was no wind at all. The air was heavy due to an upcoming thunderstorm. Though there was no sunshine it surely was hot with around 30 degrees celsius due to the heavy air. So while waiting for some wind we decided to enjoy the time at the lake as besides us was also another family with their baby there. As we had enough snacks with us we hoped that time would pass quickly till some wind would show up. The children surely loved to play in the water and also to discover the playground even though they were still too young for it. I guess the highlights for Nathan was to run naked around the beach and of course the cable pulley (is it even the right name for it?).
The rope pulley
In the end there was plenty of wind however it was combined with heavy rain and before mentioned thunderstorm so we just went home without any sailing. Perhaps next time we will be more lucky and can finally try out some sailing as it at least look pretty interesting.
Jiaozi tastes good
Some little corner of the lake
Have you gone sailing on a lake before? How is it?
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I never really did any family research before nor did I try to stay really in touch with my cousins. This changed in the past couple of years as we were planning ourselves for a little family and now have our son. I figured since we were about to move to Germany last year it would be nice to get in touch with some of my relatives again. Not only to meet them again but also nice for Nathan to get to know his extended family. Here in Germany I have several cousins with their own little families. Okay, little is the wrong word as one of my cousins has herself now four children, one girl and three boys. Her second oldest child had her 11th birthday and we were invited to spend the day there.
Brothers playing togetherMIL stealing the swing from the kids
We had been visiting her before so I was already prepared that four children mean also a lot of action going on non-stop. Once we arrived the little girl got her present, and the only guest she had over was yet another cousin (daughter of another cousin I haven’t seen in over ten years). Well, it wasn’t so much a children’s birthday party but more like an adult birthday as the children were either outside playing or in their rooms. We adults were drinking coffee and had some delicious cake in the beginning and later on BBQ. You could really see that my cousin was happy that her daughter was old enough that the parents didn’t have to come up with games and entertain the daughter and her friends as she was basically discovering her main birthday gift: her first mobile phone! Well, even though this meant there was less work on the birthday itself those other children of her surely still had too much energy and were basically everywhere.
Are you sure? – You don’t say! – OMG
Her youngest child is four and tried is best to copy his older brothers when it comes to terms of climbing trees resulting that he fell down. This fall actually created a huge bump on his head that made him appear like a unicorn. After five minutes of crying the world was fine for him again and he continued climbing the very same tree. I can only say that in case I fall down like that and hit my head I would be in hospital for a few weeks! Kids are just crazy when it comes to recover from such things. Nathan enjoyed his time as well by hunting with his 2nd cousins some bunnies, playing with their toys and being thrown around by the oldest boy who just loves little kids.
Even though we were there only for around 4 hours it was still a very exhausting day. Not only because of all the over eating but also due to all the action going on by the kids the entire time. We made also a deal with the little girl that she will be taking care of our bunnies during our holidays in China. Sure, we need to drive those bunnies extra to my cousin’s house but it will give us another opportunity to meet. Perhaps next time there will be other cousins of me as well, who knows. We also talked a bit about a family gathering as the last one was over ten years ago but in the end it will need some person who takes up the “leadership” and plans the whole event. It would be great to meet as a family again but it will probably depends when someone is able to start planning.
There is a bunny!
Nooo, you let it escape!
#Nathancuty having fun with the oldest of the brothers
Here, wanna have a drink?
Hell no, it aint after 6pm yet!
Nathan’s new ride
How does this work?
How often do you visit your relatives?
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In the end of August we have our upcoming holidays in China. This means that we will fly from Hamburg to Helsinki and then from there straight to Xi’an. The first stretch within Europe only takes about 1 1/2 to 2 hours but the final flight will be roughly 9 hours. Yes, 9 hours with a little baby with us. Our little Nathan is surely no novice anymore when it comes to flying as one year ago we had a one week holidays on Rhodes which included a 4 hours flight which he managed like a champ. No real crying the entire time, instead mostly staring at the other passenger, eating or sleeping. But no, it will be a bit different as he is one year older by now and much more work. He won’t sleep the entire time, oh no, he will be restless and won’t stay in our lap for several hours in a row.
Flying is fun
I guess everyone has experienced on a flight already the kid who is seemingly crying the entire trip. What can be done against it? Not so much, except praying and having enough stuff with to distract the child. We have on our mind to have enough snacks with us, some of his favorite toys (such as an empty yoghurt box, he just loves to play with trash…) and a tablet with some Crayon Shin-chan or Moomin episodes. He can be distracted very easy for multiple hours but sometimes he got his grumpy days where all hell breaks loose. Furthermore we are afraid about the jet lag. One of our ideas was to change his sleeping pattern for a couple of days before the trip to make the adjustment to the new timezone easier but we have no clue if that works.
Do you have any tips for flying with a baby? What are your stories with crying kids on a plane?
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Crazy Chinese Family 