Hey folks, guess where we’re off too on Wednesday? DUBAI! Why? Because it’s 82F (28C) there, and it’s a heck of a lot colder here.

But for now, I’d like to share the latest fruits of my interior decorating efforts. And a few videos where we try to capture Sophie on film saying MOM (she did our best to thwart our every effort…).

And so, some Hamburgh house photos…

I love this kitchen (mostly for the fabulous cupboard space, dual fridges, and gas stove, but the apple green tiles are cute too):

Here is my best effort at a “California spa” bathroom. I’ll have you know it was no easy feat to get a 2-sink vanity (those are rarer than a diet coke with ice in these parts). I had to order the cupboards from a kitchen design store, then have the countertop made. The faucets were purchased at Lowe’s in California, but they say “Made In Germany”. That confused the heck out of the German customs agents…

Here is half of our “master retreat”. The other half is in process and will hopefully involve a fireplace and a wall of bookshelves to accompany my overstuffed reading chair. Soenke is still protesting any and all use of “decorative pillows” on our bed.

Here Sophie is, steadfastly keeping her mouth shut the second the video recorder went on:

When we tricked her into thinking we weren’t recording, we got a couple BRIEF “Moms” out of her…

And I couldn’t resist adding one last video (note her very colorful attire), which is really just for Grandma & Grandpa…

This past weekend we undertook our First Trip in 2008. Yes, has it been so long? IT HAS.

We re-eased into the whole “baby-travel” thing by doing a shorty weekend in Stuttgart. Tim’s fabulous choir, the Kammerchor Schola Cantorum, had one of its annual concerts at the local church in Nuertingen (Nuertingen is a very scenic German town near Stuttgart), so we used the opportunity to pay Tim a visit and take in some beautiful music.

It was funny, I had recently been tossing around the idea of making a short trip to California this year, alone with Sophie, to visit my family and clients while Soenke was working. Going to Stuttgart with my dear Sophie totally obliterated any such ridiculous notion. First of all: SECURITY. I mean, I don’t know how dangerous a stroller can possibly be, but they treat it like a loaded machine gun. Here I am, wondering where Soenke, the stroller, and a team of security guards have disappeared to, while I stand alone at the end of the x-ray machine checkpoint, shoeless, jacketless, scarfless, with several bags of baby stuff, my purse, Soenke’s backpack, all 3 of our jackets, my scarf, and Sophie in my arms. I look around in exasperation and then simply give up. I just stand and wait. I remind myself “Hey me, be on Baby Time.” I do deep yoga breathing. I congratulate myself for wearing socks with no holes. Sophie chews on my hair and attempts to separate it from my head. I escape into that mental place where time has no meaning (I can assure you, that place is Very Hard To Find in an airport!). Soenke eventually returns with the freshly-inspected stroller, and we are on our way. [Of course, let’s not mention that our backpack full of dangerous liquids (pureed baby food and a bottle) flew right through security without a second glance.]

And so second of all, we had an outside parking position for our flight (which was a tiny Canadair plane). That means, squeeze baby/stroller combo onto terminal-to-plane transport bus, breakdown stroller out at the airplane on the tarmac, climb very steep boarding stairs with baby, accidentally dump the contents of the diaper bag all over the aisle in the plane because it’s sooo squishy in that tiny little plane, and remember that you have to do all of this in reverse once you get to the next airport.

So, big note to self: Don’t Travel Alone With Baby.

OK! Back to story. A short hour later we are joyfully reunited with Tim at Stuttgart airport. He whisks us off to our hotel in Nuertingen, then we forge on into the gorgeous Schwabian countryside. We are blessed with a sunny day, and the landscape colors are dazzling! We drive through quaint little “dorfs” that look straight out of a Germany tourist video. He points to an imposing-looking fortress up on a hill, and says “we’re going there!” The drive up is idyllic, and we catch sight of some hanggliders braving the cold. At the top (well, we *think* it’s the top) we strike out on foot with Sophie bundled up in the stroller. A few minutes later we arrive at the near vertical remaining ascent to the castle itself, paved with bumpy cobblestones. I was happy to have not one but two men to push the stroller the remaining 10 minutes straight up.

Our exertion was duly rewarded with a panoramic view of the greater Stuttgart area, and an incredibly satisfying lunch. The castle’s restaurant (who knew, castles have restaurants?!) served up a tempting array of Schwabian food, of which I happily partook. My choice was the traditional “Maultaschen”, which are Schwabian-style raviolis filled with meat and herbs. Tim informed me that they used to be eaten on Fridays (a day when meat was not to be consumed for religious reasons), because the people believed that the meat could be hidden from God inside the ravioli, hence bypassing culinary punishment. Thankfully, since it was Saturday, I didn’t have any such worries so I dove right in.

Later that evening we met up with the rest of the gang and headed over to the Nuertingen church for the big concert. The theme was “Baroque Meets Jazz” and the musical selections were fantastic. Even Sophie listened attentively (until she got hungry, and then we had immediate response issues!) I believe that beautiful music is a must for the human spirit, and this 90 minutes really sent my spirit soaring. Just about everyone walked out of the church that night humming Irving Berlin’s “Got the sun in the morning and the moon at night…”…

Another delicious Schwabian meal followed with rousing conversation from Tim’s entire crew - Sandra, Lars, Felix, Sara, Christoph, Andy, Tim, and us. Sophie eventually melted down (ok, it was after 11pm, I don’t blame her!) and so we shimmered off to bed.

The next day Tim was off to Dubai to fly a cargo plane to Hong Kong, and we headed home to Hamburg. We tackled public transport to get us to the Stuttgart airport, and soon realized that the most important thing in the universe when you take public transport - such as the S-bahn or U-bahn - with a baby is an ELEVATOR (especially when the very-long escalator is out of service!) We learn as we go, and we know to build in enough “elevator finding time” next time around…

And so, to conclude, here are decent roundup of photos of the trip - some courtesy of Tim:

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Loitering about in Hamburg airport:

Sophie chomps on a coffee spoon:

More loitering.. this time at our hotel in Nuertingen (near Stuttgart):

Tim takes us up to the top of a mountain for the hike up to a very old castle:

The view from our lunch table:

Sophie enjoys her sweet potatoes:

We walk off those calories on the castle ramparts:

Sophie is chic and warm:

There’s something about a tunnel that makes me wax philosophical; seeing the boys step out into the light gave me pause for thought (very short pause…):

Later that night, back in Nuertingen, at Tim’s concert:

Sophie’s first train ride! We took the train into Stuttgart, en route to the airport: