Einar, Kermit, and I are back from Germany and seem to be over our jet-lag as well. We had a really good trip visiting with Karin's family in Ludwigshafen (outside of Heidelburg) and then travelling with Paula up the Rhine to Cologne and then spending our last two nights in Wiesbaden. I now know why tickets to Europe are cheaper in the winter months--we enjoyed lots of snow and had to peek up at statues in gardens that were hiding under wooden huts to protect them from the weather. Castles seem to have winter hours as well.
The pictures are from our travels around and I will have more once Paula and I consolidate our photos. There is also one of Einar with Aunt Jess and Uncle Tor when they were here in San Clemente visiting right before we left for Germany. Jess knit the sweater that Einar is wearing. The one with Jared was taken around midnight at LAX when he picked us up from our flight. Einar is enjoying one of the cookies that Jared brought for him while I'm still enjoying the flowers that he brought for me--Jared really missed us while we were away and was pretty excited to see us both.
Einar took his first steps while in Germany at the baptism party. He strung together about five steps that day but then waited until he saw his dad to take any more. Now he can do pivot turns and walk about 5 feet, but still prefers the speed of his crawling to get places. Walking is only fun as a novelty, not as a way to get somewhere.
One of his favorite activities in Germany was hearing his voice echo in the churches that we went to visit. The first one that he noticed the accoustics in was the Rothenburg church. As we walked through it he just kept saying "DA" and grinning. Everytime we walked into one of these old churches he would try it out again. The Dom in Cologne was a disappointment for him since it was so large that there wasn't an echo.
In Cologne we also visited a Lego store where he got to finally get out of the stroller and play with Legos for a little while. That was great fun until he turned into stinky pants. Paula asked a clerk at the Lego store where we could go to change a diaper and he pointed us to the drug store across the street. They actually had a baby changing station next to all of the baby supplies on one of the aisles!
In Heidelburg we stopped at a park along the river and played on this long wooden snake teeter-totter that was great fun. It wouldn't be allowed in the states because someone would sue for sure. It really threw you and Karin, Paula, and I had to hold on tight in order to stay on as we were whipped around.
