Double trouble.

It takes two to get one in trouble. - Mae West.

Two little cousins taking a wee break on a cycling tour.

xxx

200 years.

He was a wise man who invented beer - Plato.

Chess, Kim and Elisabetta arrived late Tuesday night and the first few days were spent lazying about in biergartens, cycling around town and paying a visit to O-fest. The last couple? I won't go into too much detail but I can't remember ever having to wash so many clothes, sheets, towels in my life. Oh no, wait. That's because I didn't. I was too sick. Chess stepped in and saved the day. David might think twice before carrying Elke on his shoulders again. And yes, it is as digusting as you think! Fingers crossed everyone is on the mend and we leave for Italy tomorrow as planned. Oh and to add insult to injury, I walked into the corner of the door and now have a big, bloody bump on my forehead.

Welcome to Germany kids!

xxx

Museum Brandhorst.

An artist is somebody that produces things that people don't need to have. - Andy Warhol.

Today was €1 Sunday. The day where entry to many museums in Munich is, you guessed it, 1 measly euro. The relatively new Museum Brandhorst boasts one of the largest Andy Warhol collections in Europe as well as an impressive assemblage of works by Cy Twombly, whom we first stumbled across at the MUMOK in Vienna last year. After our art fix, we crossed the road for what is arguably the best gelato in Munich. There was quite a queue but the 15 minutes or so we waited was well worth it for some chocolatey gingery goodness.

This weekend also marked the start of Oktoberfest with this year being a bit special for the people of Munich as the 'Wiesn' is celebrating its 200th anniversary. 200 years since it was first held to celebrate the wedding of Crown Prince Ludwig of Bavaria to Princess Therese. The streets are choc-a-block full to the brim with people of all ages walking around in trachten (lederhosen for the boys and dirndls for the girls)...including our boy.

xxx

'Oli'gami.

All children are artists. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up - Pablo Picasso

Just a bit of origami we whipped up on the weekend. And by 'we' I mean 'I'. We always intend to origami together but there's something about the act of folding paper that brings out the perfectionist in me. What begins with the intention of some mother-son bonding, ultimately ends with us parting ways. Ola, bored with my quest for straight lines and sharp corners, wanders off to find something less bossy and compulsive to play with, leaving me to fold alone.
Next on the list: origami dinosaurs.

xxx

I'm still kicking myself for losing my Lisa Mitchell tickets a few months back, so Dave came home yesterday and surprised me with some to John Butler Trio for next month. Today I saw his JBT and raised him tickets to Angus and Julia Stone. Now it's just the small matter of finding a babysitter...

Weekend.

This weekend was spent enjoying what was possibly the last of the summer sun. Both afternoons were spent in the local biergarten with friends, cycling around town and some rather exciting discoveries on the shopping front. But the weekend hasn't been all beer, sunshine and bike-riding. Elke has been cutting her canine teeth for over a week now and the poor lass has been waking 3 or 4 times a night in pain. It suffices to say we're all pretty tired. Zonked. Except for Ola. That boy could sleep through anything. We're hoping she's in much better spirits for when the Martinelli-Kennedy clan come to stay next week. Ola, excited, much? Oktoberfest kicks off this weekend which means 1L, 7.5% alcohol beers aplenty. We hope they bring their A-Game.

Our crappity crap crap card reader died minutes after loading the above images so this post is rather random and unfinished. Headless photos...um why not? And those tomatoes? Some very cool neighbours of ours moved to Berlin last week and these amazing tomatoes were their legacy. They left four huge pots worth of the things. Such a shame winter is on its way and with it comes the 6 month stint of cold weather. Hip hip hooray.

We haven't eaten meat since we watched this last week. Ok, so it has only been a week but we're determined to keep going on this meatless crusade. Won't somebody please think of the chickens?

xxx

New tricks.

Bubble baths, more teeth and fading bruises. For the latter we find Weleda arnica cream works a treat.

Elke's new trick: pulling herself up and holding onto furniture. As long as she doesn't start walking by 10 months like her brother we'll be happy.

Sydney trip is booked for early March next year. We managed to score Elke her own seat. Let's just hope she can actually stay in it for longer than 5 minutes. She will be 15 months by then so I don't like my chances. I will be flying solo with the two kidlets and David will be joining us in Sydney, one week later. So, for that week before he arrives we're currently accepting tenders.   

xxx

Dr Dolittle.

Little Ola has been off kindy sick for the past 2 days. So what does a sick boy do? Lines up all his sick animals and plays vet, of course (those dinosaurs in particular have had a rough trot). And watches Willy Wonka. Not that I was complaining. L-O-V-E that movie. Gene beats Johnny in the Wonka stakes hands down. Plus, it was filmed in Munich. What more could you want?

My fave lines (original source):

- Where is fancy bred? In the heart of in the head? (Shakespeare)

- Stop. Don't. Come back.

- We are the music makers. And we are the dreamers of dreams. (AWE O'Shaughnessy)

- Candy is dandy but liquor is quicker. (Ogden Nash)

- For some moments in life there are no words.

- So shines a good deed in a weary world. (Shakespeare)

- A thing of beauty is a joy forever (John Keats)

- A little nonsense now and then is relished by the wisest men.

- If the good lord had intended us to walk, he wouldn't have invented roller skates.

- Augustus, sweetheart, save some room for later.

xxx

Diane Arbus, eat your heart out.

And not a bearded lady nor transvestite in sight.

Just a few shots taken today with our brand spanking new camera. It's the BEST! We're looking forward to many adventures with this baby. Though, we still have so so much to learn, as shown above in our sloppy, sometimes blurry attempts at photography. It came with 4 instruction manuals: German, Dutch, French and Italian. This could take awhile...

xxx