Beer Garden Culture

A good beer garden will always feature a good oompah band, so if you happen to be in Munich during season and there's not a healthy helping of brass with your beverage, they sure brought you to the wrong place. One of the best beer garden bands is the one playing the Chinese Tower in the English Gardens, because they don't succumb to the lure of easy tips by playing beer tent faves. They have a more classic early 20th century dance hall repertory that's a bit easier on the sober ear. Once in a while they come down from their tower bandstand and play for the drinking crowd below. Which mostly ends up being a great thrill for the kids. Like Karl.

He's Pushing It

Running around the playground with a pretend buggy can be a tough job. Especially when there's no doll or other small person to be found to put in it – which you kinda need. But when Karl's friend Leo finally sat down and waited for his services our little friend was nowhere to be seen anymore...

P.S.: This is also an Awesome Outfits Accessories Edition – Yes, Karl has been wearing his white baby chucks he got from crazy uncle Chris from New York for a while now. Thank you, Chris!

Hello? Goodbye!

When I took this picture at the playground today I thought it was adorable. It's Karl peeking out of one of the playhouses. He was cracking up every time he could see me on the other side. Now, taken out of context it looks slightly weird, right? But rest assured, no children were harmed in the taking of this picture.

After not being too interested into each other all afternoon, Karl took forever to say goodbye to his buddy Theo when everybody was ready to leave. He was possibly just circling his toy car though – nothing that couldn't be taken care of with a large helping of pretzel.

Courtyard Sun Fun

Today was really hot. Like superhot. It was actually so hot that I decided not to go hang out at the river like we've done on Sunday and yesterday, because we would have suffered a heat stroke. So we had a great time in our lovely courtyard. But hey, there's water, too. It just comes from a hose. The begging for refills for the watering can was an excellent opportunity to to teach Karl the right use of the word bitte (please). He actually already uses it, but mostly in weird combinations, like with Hase (rabbit), Bär (bear) or similar. That's pretty cute too though.



When I was over the whole sandbox thing after a while, I had Karl sweep the courtyard. It's so great that those little boys can make themselves useful now...

Sunny Day

Now with the sun out again and temperatures in the low 80s it's a different story. Now it's - choices, choices, choices. And you never go wrong with a joyride. First stop - the recycling station. Always great fun because you can hurl the bottles so hard into the container that the sound of breaking glass can be heard all the way to the hipster playground, getting nervous moms and dads to look around if junior did some damage.

After that off to the other, not quite as hip playground with the much cooler layout. Big adventure - the resident raven stole a piece of pretzel Karl had parked right next to himself for later consumption. He looked quite dismayed and contrary to me really didn't think that the avian strafing run was so funny. Later super-preggo and her evil twins came by and honed in on Karl's bobby-car right away. Strange class warfare impulse - Schadenfreude when really rich people have really ugly kids.

Rainy Day

What to do on a rainy day? Play with every single toy in the house. Read a good book. Which only goes so far, when cabin fever sets in. Which can be cured by simulating a trip to the playground at home. So here we go - let's pretend the sofa is a sandbox and dad's leg is a slide.



Cabin fever is a common occurence amongst Central European children plagued by metereological challenges. Symptoms are flying toys, flying boys, an allergic reaction to socks and extreme pangs of missing mom. Other known household cures are sofa wrestling bouts, elaborate puppet plays, the building of complex Lego structures and ample helpings of noodles, franks or ice-cream. Only the missing mom symptoms are mostly incurable. Especially when mom's only briefly spotted on a screen. Luckily there's also a photo magnet on the file cabinet that can be checked for memory reference (Mama?! Mama?! Mamm-ah!). Missing mom can help with the vocabulary though. Word of the day: Berlin!

...It's Just Me And The Boys.

There wasn't much time for photographs at the beer garden. Ah! The goats and chickens! Oh! The dogs! Uh! The deer antlers on the wall! Yay! Let's see how fast we can run inbetween the tables and chairs! Only ice cream brought some peace to the table. Which was also a great subject for Karl and Anna to do some kiddie bonding. Now that Karl considers himself a kid. At least he made a neighboring table laugh, when he pointed at a little boy probably only a few weeks younger, declaring: "Baby!". Which made that boy's father jokingly ask: "So what do you think you are, young man?"
Later on we took refuge from a violent thunderstorm at Albert's, where Karl went bonkers in Anna's playroom. Everything was pink and/or sparkling! We gonna have a serious gender debate tomorrow. And play with some heavy toy machinery.

If You Hear Any Noise...

With Fred being away for Europe's biggest whoop design conference in Berlin, Karl and I are desperately looking for trouble. So we went to the playground, stole some bucket and shovel sets, traded them in for some time-slots on the swing and chased away competition at the big wooden climbing snail with fierce shrieks that contain some serious threats in frequencies only babies can hear.



Later on we will go to a beer garden, because it's father's day and it's customary in Germany that all fathers go to some sort of outdoorsy drinking venue and get sloshed that day. We'll meet some fellow dad in the company of his daughter though, so we will just get an apple soda sugar buzz that we will counter with some pork product. Which is just fine with me, having never been a friend of the daytime sloshing rituals ever so popular in this town. Anyway - if the weather holds we're very much looking forward.

So far - blue skies over Munich.

The Tricycle Thieves

On playgrounds ownership is a relative term. Today though Karl and his buddy Julian engaged in some outright thievery as these surveillance photos prove. They didn't just innocently grab somebody's toy to get lost in some child's play. This was clearly a deliberate and premeditated action. With Julian as the lookout and Karl as the getaway cyclist this could even be defined as organized crime.
When the coveted tricycle was brought to a distant corner of the playground Karl sure made it look like he'd owned it since his bassinet days. At last they were found out and had to make their way home on the backs of their mothers' bikes in shame. Well, it might be a while before Karl will be a proud owner of a basic colored tricycle. That's the downside of having a winter birthday - it's always sleds and skis and mittens.

Dandelions, Lakes and Icecreams

Temperatures were soaring again, so Fred took her boys out for another treat. Her friend Tina's gonna get married in this restaurant in a lakeside villa this summer. Karl got to run around the terrace overlooking the lake and loudly point out low flying small aircraft (heh!), various sailboats (huh!) and passing canines (bow!) to staff and other guests. Fred and I exercised our rusty sarcasm reflexes by observing a table with a confirmation party that reinforced a lot of stereotypes about white protestants (think "the Bunt cake scene" from "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" multiplied by Germanness and tightly closed ties on a hot summer noon). After watching the paddle wheel steamer float by we went down to a meadow full of dandelions ready to blow. Karl tried very hard and even got a few seeds to take off. Although he soon recruited his parents to do all the dandelion blowing. After that it was ice cream at some local lido. Definitely the last time I'll buy him a kiddie ice cream, because he made me switch and I had to eat a really boring milk stick, while he devoured my fantastic nuts-and-chocolate-cone (which got him really food-stoned and was this weekend's reason for an outdoors wardrobe change).

Sugarbabies

Karl, his two blue eyes and I were the only ones at the playground today. Where were all the other kids? We don't know. I mean the sun wasn't shining and it was well below 20°C (70°F). Maybe they're just made out of sugar.

Cultural Celebration Of The Great Indoors

Over the last couple of weeks Karl put the turbo in the energizer bunny that he had already been, so staying at home in the afternoon – even if it's raining cats and dogs – is not an option anymore. I thought if we can't stay at home, at least we should go somewhere where the great indoors would be appreciated, so we went to see the Democratic Design - IKEA exhibition at the Pinakothek der Moderne. The show was alright but I found out that it's easier to take a toddler to exhibitions where they have pictures hanging on the wall instead of inviting and especially familiar furniture standing around that you're not allowed to touch. Karl was much more excited about a dog he could see through one of the windows who was able to catch a flying ball anyway. All the way home he was still telling me about it ("BOW! BALL!").



When it had stopped raining we walked by the brand new Museum Brandhorst which will open next week. Check out the link, it's a really cool building. Especially if you like stripes.

Mother’s Day

I was treated to the best Mother's Day ever: lots of sleep, morning coffee in bed and ice cream in the afternoon. Perfect! Thanks to my two lovely men for that. They totally deserved that ice cream as well.

Forbidden Pleasures

Two activities not sanctioned in the indoor settings of our apartment are - splashing about and throwing objects. Outdoors in the courtyard gardens of our building rules are different though. Fred impulse-bought Karl an impressively large playset called play waterway while passing a Tchibo's (German readers will appreciate the working class campyness of that chain). The set's like a miniature commercial port with boats and bridges, a crane and watergates, all lovingly crafted in primary colored plastic. Today's Karl's one and a halfest birthday after all, which doesn't really justify presents, cakes and a party, but we're suckers for any excuse to celebrate. So you fill up the basin with water and let the boats move along the waterways. Of course you can also turn the boats into projectiles slamming into flower banks and pots.

Half the fun was setting the whole thing up, because it involved activating Klaus's garden hose, which has been the source of deep soaking fun before. The rubber boots are camouflaging the fact that we had a drenched toddler who had to get changed before dinner, just like in the olden days, when evening attire was mandatory for supper. (P.S.: The massive orange colored octopus in the lower left corner of the areal photo is the cover of Karl's sandbox, which has ruined all of our neighbors view of the serene courtyard gardens with a level of chipperness only appreciated by toddlers and people on drugs. But hey - would you deny a little boy the joys of playing in the sand just to keep your sense of aesthetics intact?).

Kitchen Assistant

Today I was happy to have a very talented helping hand while peeling my two pounds of white asparagus.

Touring Bavaria (food info)

While it can be taxing to come up with a balanced and fun diet for children past the porridge age, a Bavarian beer tent is definitely a good start. Especially if you go for the classic Bavarian late morning snack consisting of white (veal and herb) sausage, sweet mustard and a pretzel. You got all your important kiddie food groups (meats, doughs, sugars and salts) plus the added fun of experimenting with the various ways of eating a "Weisswurst". Technically speaking there are only two ways. You either skin the sausage and cut it in little pieces you soak in the mustard with a fork. If you want to rough it like the locals though, you suck it out of the skin, dipping the increasingly disgusting looking sausage into the mustard with your hands. No hard guess, which version had more appeal for Karl. Which is also the version with numerous ways of experimenting with technique. To be true to tradition you have to wash it all down with a wheat beer, which gives you a nice morning buzz. But although Bavarians tend to start drinking very early in life, giving beer to kids under the age five is generally frowned upon. So it is perfectly fine to share an "Apfelschorle" or a lemon soda (although anything fancy like Coke, Fanta or Mountain Dew is about as OK as having ketchup with your pastrami).

Home Sweet Home (NOT!)

Yesterday I picked up Karl from the daycare center with a little fever so I let him stay at home today even though the fever was gone this morning. At first I thought it would be a treat for him to stay here with his mom. But I thought wrong. He was bored out of his mind and only by standing in front of a large construction site for 30 minutes, spending some time at one of his favorite playgrounds staring at older kids and by eating a bowl of pancake soup at the market his foul mood could be changed for the better.

Touring Bavaria VII

Now after showing you all the images of idyllic summer serenity we should remind ourselves that Karl is indeed what the Bavarian term of endearment "water rat" quite literally describes. No, he ain't no still water. Karl sure likes his liquids in a more maelstromish state. After a brief period of getting acquainted with a body of water as large as the Ammersee, he soon found a way to turn an innocent walk on the beach into a soaking inferno (note to ourselves - next time don't just bring a change of clothes for Junior).

Having gotten a taste of the joys of mischief Karl next turned to a traffic sign marking a small construction site. He was quite surprised that he could topple such a big and colorful thing with his bare baby arms, producing a loud and metallic noise heard by quite a few patrons of the nearby beer garden. Ever since when shown this photo he's voiced his joyful memories of the moment with a hearty "Bumm!"

Touring Bavaria VI

Well, but I forgot – this is my favorite shot:

Touring Bavaria V

Today we continued our quest to tour Bavaria. Since we had trouble leaving the house bright and early we picked a closer place to explore this time, the beautiful Ammersee. First we checked out the Perger Hoffest with tons of food stands where Karl could finally discover his love for weisswurst (which as a Bavarian he is apparently born with). But they were trying to sell a whole lot of other kitschy stuff as well and our son proved once again that babies have a very particlar taste. He totally wanted us to get him one of those pigs. I swear. Or maybe he just didn't know that weisswurt is made out of veal.



Later we went for a walk on the lake where my two favorite men in the world took some time to throw pebbles in the water.

Touring Bavaria IV

Of course you can't escape HIM when you're touring God's country, so Karl had his first encounter with HIS son right across the street from Winkler's Residenz. He couldn't get over the trippy prayer diorama, which was actually flanked by a life-sized crucifix. When Karl couldn't make up his mind, which of the two versions of HIS son is trippier, Fred explained to him, that it was actually a before-and-after-depiction, which immediately cleared up Karl's confusion over all those grand gestures of pain and pathos. Of course there was also the mandatory baroque church in town, where Karl found out that faith has a lot to do with rules and regulations. Some of them even in writing. While enforcing aforementioned rules and regulations, we took advantage of the highly godly situation and hammered home the fourth commandment, explaining to him that any form of rebellious behavior from the terrible twos to puberty is always punished by lightning striking the bad, bad child. Since Karl doesn't really understand us yet, he just smiled coyly, so we might have to postpone the combined fear instilling and guilt tripping the Catholic church's so good at until he's got some understanding of simple verbal communication. Since he was really good though anyways, he got to ride a horse-drawn carriage in the coach box, where he madly fell in love with the girl driver, trying his best blue radar gaze to put her under his spell.

Two Men In Striped Shirts = Trouble

Karl and I had plans to go to the park this afternoon to ride the carrousel and have some ice cream right before we would go to pick up Andrian from work. We didn't get very far though. As today is a national holiday a couple of our neighbors hung out in our lovely backyard and were thrilled to play with Karl in his octopus shaped sandbox for a little while. It turned out that Karl was not too interested in his octopus shaped sandbox though, but much more in the hose-shaped water delivery system. Klaus encouraged him to look into the whole water thing really closely so that after a little while both of them were completely soaked. Yay!



After Karl got a new set of cloth on we rode the train out free his dad from his newspaper holiday duty where miraculously some gummy bears had been waiting. Good thing because there was some editing waiting as well. And that always works faster when you have some sugar in your system.