Ok, these are pics of my grandmother, mother and sister - my travel gang!

Vacation Time
Not yet, but soon! My grandmother, mother, sister with her two boys and me with my kids are going on vacation. We have been wanting to do that for a long time now, but never had the perfect excuse to go without our husbands. But do we really need an excuse?? My sister is turning 30 this year, my mom 50 and my grandmother 70 next year, so this is the perfect time to do that. We want to make it as easy as possible for all of us, so we are taking "all inclusive" (with a 10, 5, 3 and 2 year old it's a MUST) and going to a country where the flight does not take any longer than 4 hours. We are thinking about Greece, Spain, Turkey, Egypt and Tunisia. I am sure we will have LOTS of fun wherever we go.
The week is planned for February, as my mom and grandmother are going already on a couple of trips the next few months. They (grandfather, grandmother, stepfather and mother) are leaving for Sicily on Satarday for 10 days. Then my stepfather and mother go back to Italy to visit their friends in October (they will help harvest olives and make oil - just for fun) and then my grandfather and grandmother are going with friends to Turkey for 2 weeks in November. AND then Christmas they are spending in Italy too. So, now you know about their busy lives, too ;0
Anyway, me and the kids can't wait....and I am sure Christian either (all that time to himself and not having to clean up after himself for a week).

Our dogs!
We have two dogs, Mara and Maxi.


Mara is a German Shepherd Mix and about 8 years old. We have had her for 5 years now and absolutely love her. I have been taking her to dog school for all these years, so she listens very well to me and knows all the commands. She loves everyone and everything; people, other dogs, cats (she has raised little kittens before), rabbits and even Devin's rat. Just know everyone comes back "showered", as she LOVES to lick!


Well, and then there is Maxi!
She is a different Story. Maxi is about 6 years old and we have had her for about 4,5 of them.
She is a souvenir from Spain. Yes, Christian has still not forgiven me and is very hesitant to go back on a South European vacation with me; the streets are paved with stray animals and I get in my Mother Teresa mood. So, here is how Maxi entered our lives: we went to a pound in Mallorca and I saw this little dog with lots of big dogs around looking very scared. I sent Christian there to check on it and he came back telling me that the dog tried to bite him. I did not believe him, that this innocent little thing would hurt a fly. To make a long story short, we came back to Germany with 2 dogs and 11 cats. Good homes were found quickly for all of them, except Maxi. And that's the day our lifes changed dramatically. She thinks she is the biggest and most dangerous dog around (keep in mind she is only 6 pounds). She barks all the time, runs away whenever she can (she even jumps over our fence) and has nipped at people before. She is a pain...Christian even claims that he can't stand her, but has been known to secretly let her sleep in bed with him whenever I take the kids and Mara to visit my family.
Well, Devin really loves her and she is still a cutie. And besides, every family has to have that one person...

Today was Shilda's first day in school (german kindergarten)!!!!
And she loves it. I'll be staying with her for the next couple of weeks. She is in a different group then Devin but they are right next door to each other. The two groups share a bathroom (where they can meet) and the outside is all together too, so she will still see him a lot. It's very different from other preschools - translated from German it's called a forrest school. The place is in the woods, so their playground are LOTS of trees, treehouses, sand, mud and of course some swings and slides...AND they grow their own veggies and some fruit. They are outside in sunshine, rain and snow (they have to have rainsuits, mudsuits, snowsuits.....) basiclly at almost all times. Anyway, it's a really great place and Devin has just loved it the last 3 years he has been there.
Oh, he has a rat now. He named her "Phoeby". She is still a baby and so cute. Christian and my first pet was a rat too, so we knew he just has to love them.
The little cuties are sleeping finally, so we will go to bed soon too. Both kids have been wanting to sleep with us the last few days and some of you might know what sleep means then for the parents. We are TIRED!