Made our own kites!

At the Berkeley Kite Festival.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "Zach Franklin" <zach@tuchus.net>
Date: Jul 29, 2012 1:28 PM
Subject: Made our own kites!
To: "sofi" <szander@gmail.com>

Xoxoz

Here's pictures from our evening on the banks of the Niesse, including trying the Polish beer, and the many views of the big church in Görlitz.

Tierpark Signs

just a few of the pictogram signs from the Tierpark. I particularly liked the sign that seems to say "no wolves".

Tierpark Görlitz

Pictures from our trip to the Görlitz zoo:

A fence I liked
Molly looking at the storks that are common, but very popular in these parts
Sisters climbing
Clara & a duck
Sisters watching the river otters (we watched them feed the otters dead fish & rats - yum!)
Molly on rope swing
Sisters with the good luck umbrellas (the hotel had these lovely yellow umbrellas to loan and every time we borrowed them it didn't rain!)
Molly on the adventure bridge
The famous stork (http://www.tierpark-goerlitz.de/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=275&Itemid=532&lang=de)
The stork restaurant (see, I said they were stork-crazy around here!)
Christel makes a friend
Molly makes a friend
Even Clara starts to conquer her fear 
Clara at the chick station
Molly & a llama
Sisters on the Cow-Go-Round
Clara on a wooden tractor

Another beautiful day

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Time flies when you're having fun! I can't believe we're in the home stretch of this trip - we'll be back in California at the end of the week! In the mean time, we're having a lovely time with my aunts. Although there was a small mix-up in meeting up with Christel this morning, we figured it all out and went on to the Tierpark - a small zoo on the edge of town. Christel remembered her mother taking her there often as a child. The kids enjoyed seeing the animals and engaging in the interactive exhibits (and play grounds). Clara even braved the petting zoo and pet a goat - a big step considering just two days ago she was bitten by a goat!

And Baerbel & Dieter hosted us in their pool again, much to the kids delight. Afterwards, we headed back to Goerlitz and deposited Christel and the kids at the hotel while Zach and I had an "international date night": we took a walk along the Polish side of the Niesse River, and ate dinner in a Polish restaurant on the river bank. Meanwhile, Christel & the kids went for a walk, found yet another playground, and when Molly saw the bridge over the river she asked if they could go to Poland! So they did, and they even discovered where we were eating and surprised us.

Pictures:
Stadtwerke Gorlitz - manhole cover
an overgrown building
the tiniest snail ever!
swimming in the rain (under the cover)
yummy berries in Dieter's garden
Johanna Altmann & Herbert Zander on their wedding day 

On the Terrace

We ate a picnic dinner on the terrace behind our building, and the children were endlessly entertained by the square pavers, while I was entertained by the buildings, the statues, and the family. :)

New Dresses

Here the girls are sporting their new dresses - we had worn through one of Molly's shirt dresses on this trip so we hit a discount clothing store and bought the girls each a new dress. Plus a pair of shoes for Molly because she also wore a hole in the bottom of her crocs. !

(thanks again to Christel for springing for the extra dresses!)