Trip to Potsdam!

All of our visitors have left, so now I've got time to let the rest of you know what you're missing! We unfortunately took very few photos while Yehuda and Olivia were visiting, so I'm starting what will be a series of posts with our group trip to Potsdam.

We had about two days in which Yehuda and Olivia were here at the same time as Susy, Nancy, and Jacob, as well as Susy's sister Linda and her family! On one of those days we all took various trains and S-bahns to Potsdam and met up at Sanssouci Park.


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Here are some photos from the tram in Potsdam, first Clara and Tanja, and then (left to right) Nancy, Jacob, and Susy.



I think Jacob had fun riding the Berlin transit. When I rode with them back to the airport this morning he kept saying "decker bus!" because he wanted to ride on one of the Berlin double decker busses again!

Clara LOVED Sanssouci! She really likes to be able to wander and explore on her own. Clara is the tiny speck on the next two photos, you might have to click to see the full screen to see her! (Bitte klicken Sie die nächsten zwei Photos an, um Clara zu finden!)



Eventually Clara "discovered" Yehuda and Olivia, and for a minute or two stood still watching them come towards her while she held her hands behind her back. I'm not sure why she stood that way, but it was very cute!


Here's a video that lasts just over a minute with Clara exploring more and checking out some trees.



Clara had a lot of fun with Jacob, Alex, and Eric (Alex and Eric are Linda and Per-Arne's kids, there will be lots of photos in a future post), and I think it helped her learn a few more words! While Clara was wandering around Sanssouci at some point I saw her pointing and heard her saying "Bee! Bee!" as she followed a bee buzzing around some flowers. Clara also taught Jacob, Eric, and Alex to say "Affe," the German word for "monkey." Olivia and Yehuda gave Clara a stuffed monkey for a present, and she loves it! She goes to sleep with it every night now. Other notable new words in the last while are "Auge zu," "Ei," "Apfel," "kaka," "juice," "pita," and "slide."

We finished the day with a very memorable dinner at a beer garden in Berlin. It wasn't a disaster at all, but for a few minutes (tired kids, supposed 45 minute wait for even a salad, only available table was "reserved" and next to what looked like (but wasn't actually) an outhouse) it sure looked like it was going to be!

Tomorrow Clara and I are going to go up to visit Clara's Oma and Opa at the Baltic sea, and on Saturday Tanja jets off for a whirlwind trip to a conference in California. So more photos and stories will probably have to wait until at least Tuesday or Wednesday next week.