The summer just keeps getting better...

In lieu of celebrating Independence Day the "traditional" way, we decided instead to get irie at the Summerjam Reggae fesitval in Cologne, Germany. We camped with nearly 25,000 other folks who gathered together to listen to some great music and pass the uh, ehm, good vibes to one another. It was a great weekend, the weather held, folks were in great spirits, and as I said we saw tons of great music. If you are looking for some good Reggae to listen to (and haven't done so already) you need to check a band called Jah Cure on the Roots side of the house and The Black Seeds (from New Zealand) who are rootsy/ska blend, both will not dissapoint. There are some of The Black Seeds in the picture above. This picture on the right (with the Swiss flag) was taken by a a group of Swiss guys who provided us a few really hardy laughs. We appreciated the fine aftermarket needlepoint done to this flag so much we just had to have a family portrait taken. Take note of Madeleine's ear protection, she happily wore this cool safety feature whenever the music was too loud.




The picture on the left was taken in the tent right before bedtime and on the right is Madeleine on a mission to eat the camera or destroy Mom's sunglasses, whichever comes first.






















We set up the beach shade in the grass at the back of the seating area and took in the tunes. The heat was on so it was time to take a few layers off.

Later a westling match took place in the tent. Madeleine turned the tables on Mommy with the dreaded "raspberries to the stomach" routine!

Who doesn't love the having the upper hand?

One love,

peace ,

and happiness!

Jah lives..

Here are some pics of my recent trip to the UK. Took in the British Museum, the Rosetta Stone, Buckingham Palace, Tower Bridge, and the Trinity School at Cambridge, it was graduation day. Very nice to drink a beer with hops in it!.

Happy Father's Day!!

Wow, what a great first Father's Day this was!! Sadie and Madeleine took me to Brugge, Belgium where we celebrated in style.

Brugge is an amazing place and a "must visit" if you are ever in Belgium. The city is roughly 1 square mile of pure European history dating back to around 1120.

(Brugge's famous 13th-century Belfry, housing a municipal Carillon comprising 47 bells. The city still employs a full-time bell ringer, Aimé Lombaért, who puts on regular free concerts.)

Canals, cobble stone streets, horse drawn carriages, homes older than the discovery of North America, fries and Mayo (not a big hit with us), Mussels and fries (a big hit with us) and the beer, wow the beer! Monks used by God as a vessel unto which to brew these fine concoctions, what more can I say, the result will make a believer out of you.

A few "typical" sites

We spent our days in walking around in awe of how beautiful a city Brugge is (the city itself is a UNESCO World Heritage site). The city is a museum, amazing!

(OK, one small break)

Madeleine was on her best behavior, hamming it up for whoever would look at her (which is usually most folks). She is crawling now, pulling herself up to standing and saying Dada (an extra father's day bonus for me :))

I am a lucky man! Thanks Sadie and Madeleine I had an unbelievable first Father's day. Love ya!!

No, not Brugge, but a great time nonetheless. Me and the big sis on Miami beach last week. Good times spent saucer-eyed at all sorts of uber-expensive Italian cars and huge bar tabs.

The Moonlight sonata

Ah, the home of Beethoven, Bonn, Germany. The gang ventured up to Bonn via the great trains of Germany, and we had a great time soaking up both culture and beer (we found a great Irish pub, see below). Here are Madeleine and Sadie in front of the home of the great master along with a picture of Maddy and I in front of the very room Beethoven was born! As you can see Madeleine and Sadie were their usual jovial selves as we took in the sights.....but all this culture and beer (or milk in this case) makes a baby girl tired, so now it is nap time. Fun times had by all!!

Sun is shining, the weather is sweet..

It's about time!!! The sun has been shining here in Germany and we have been enjoying it to the fullest. Last weekend, we took a nice long walk on the Main river and later enjoyed some time in

the playground, it was great. When the sun finally appeared it felt like it had been a year since the last time we saw it. Wait, it had been a year!!

Anyway, it's a welcome change. Madeleine has been making ventures into "real" food and currently she is working on crawling. It's funny, she has been moving her arms and legs in a crawl-like motion for a long time (as if she was trying to crawl) but she just couldn't put it all together, this is quckly changing....looks like she might crawl any day now.

Train trip to Trier

Yesterday we took a train ride to Trier, by the Luxembourg border. Trier was founded by Romans in 24 BC and is the oldest city in Germany. There are still quite a few Roman ruins there, such as the Porta Nigra:

Overall, a very cool city. We walked around and took part of a guided tour, had some lunch and did a bit of shopping. Here we are on the train on the way out:

The train took us about 1 hour into the Rheingau, with views on the river, castles, and vineyards, before a transfer took us down the Mosel River for another piece. It was a beautiful ride, even though most of the trees are still bare.

And here is a rare picture of Madeleine in a tearful mood (most likely because it is bedtime and she wants to stay up and play with us!):

Reminiscing...

I know Christmas is long over, but I just came across this pic of Mad with Santa and couldn't resist taking a second to put it up.

Sorry for the Hiatus

Okay, so obviously these are pictures from Jason's sister's recent visit to Germany. Heather and her girlfriend, Allison, stayed with us for an all-too-brief five day vacation. We toured the Rhine wine region, Frankenstein and Heidelberg castles, ate schnitzels the size of small baseball fields, and ripped it up on Rock Band into the wee hours. Easterz Grizzle!!