We ♡ summer!

Going to the store for Saturday shopping.

Summers are so busy. We've traded the long winter evenings for never-ending days in Berlin. In summer, we try to spend lots of time outside, and since the kids go to sleep late anyway, we often get home just before their bed time. I hope that the weather stays nice and we get to spend a lot more weekends like this. It's hard to believe that in only a week, the days will start getting shorter again... 

At Ottopark-playground in Berlin - a pedal-operated water well.

Last weekend we went on a short trip to Gut Dalwitz in Mecklenburg (2 hours north of Berlin). Gut Dalwitz is a farm and vacation destination whose owner (the count Graf von Bassewitz) is also involved with developing the area and getting it recognized as a possible star gazing park (it is quite remote). Chris gave a presentation at their annual event and the count kindly invited us to stay in one of his vacation apartments there (actually it was part of his own villa) for two nights.

The weekend was really special - the kids got to ride a horse (Clara has been wanting to do this for a while, and was (as you can see below) very excited!), they also fed bunnies, pet the horses, played catch-a-stick with a super-friendly little dog, climbed a tree, and jumped on a huge trampoline.

One afternoon, we went on a little hike together - the first one that Oscar actually walked a serious distance in. Our walk was about 2 km in a beautiful river valley and then up a little hill with a viewing platform. We all climbed it (some of us had to overcome our fear of heights but we all did it!) and had a beautiful view in nice weather. I was very proud of Oscar walking basically the entire way, and finally the kids had a place where they could be "Mr NOISY" as much as they wanted.

The weekend was completed with watching soccer on TV in the evening, then a stop at a beach at Germany's second-biggest lake (Müritz) for swimming and ice cream on our way back to Berlin. Perfect.

Feeding the bunnies