We have a walker

Lily took her first real steps on Uncle Karl's birthday, May 20. And while crawling is still her favourite mode of getting around she can be talked into trying to walk now too, especially if it is into Mama's arms. All those cute dresses and shoes I overbought for her - here we come!! :-)

More Rostock pictures

A tractor ride on a kiddie farm. Guess who LOVED it!

Lily at Sunday school.

Mothers Day!

View from the lighthouse in Warnemünde, Rostock's beach resort.

Finn and Papa on top of the lighthouse.

Our vacation

Finn cutting the grass with Opa.

Lily doing the same with a little help from Omi Lotti.

The big attraction: the new water fountain on the patio (still under construction, but water coming out already). We had to turn it off to get them away from it.

Opa built this nice sandbox!

Let's go over there, Opa!

Ready to hit the town.

A favourite place: the beach!

Still cool but so much fun!

Finn LOVED LOVED LOVED it.

We had everything you need for a day at the beach, thanks to Oma and Opa.

We had a great time up north: perfect weather, Finn was healthy the whole trip, lots of time at the beach, visiting with family and friends ...

Finn and Lily loved the beach. They could have stayed there for days on end. Lily never tired of eating sand, seashells and pebbles, and Finn ran in and out of the (still pretty cold) water a gazillion times. Occasionally when a wave came he got a little more than just his feet and calves wet. Neil was brave enough to even go for a swim.

The kids also loved Oma's and Opa's garden. Opa had built a sandbox and swing and Oma had borrowed tons of toys from friends, so they were very well equipped for the grandkid invasion. Finn's favourite activity besides mowing the lawn was watering the flowers and whatever else couldn't escape his little watering can. And sweet Lily made Oma and Opa really happy by giving them lots of hugs and kisses. She is one cuddly little girl!

Birthday Girl

Good morning, birthday girl! Ready to go to church.

Party time! Finn was thrilled with Lily's new toys; Lily loved the wrapping paper too!

She was quite taken with her new doll house, especially with the fact that the toilet makes a flushing sound when you lift the lid.

They just don't come any cuter than this... (totally unbiased opinion of the proud parents :-)

In case you didn't know, birthday cupcakes need kisses too.

Finally time to update pictures from the last weeks! Lily turned ONE on May 4! We celebrated her birthday with her Oma, Opa and Omi Lotti (Claudias parents and grandma) in Rostock. It was a Sunday, so we got to go to our "old" church - the Baptist church in Rostock - too. In the afternoon we had a nice little party for and with Princess Lily. Now she is officially a toddler!