The new Shea residence. We take possession in the middle of June. The house is a double-house. Number 5 is our half on the right. The odd building you see behind it is also part of the property. It looks like it was used as a stall for pigs or goats and possibly chickens via a ramp up to the second floor.

Andrea and I took a little hike in Ochsenbach with Binky.


Fruit Trees and Fields in Ochsenbach


Waldmeister


Rapeseed Blooming in Lingental

Maypole in the Rain

May Day 2009 consisted of our Tuesday night gaming group, Grupo Martes, and members of our D&D Group. Stefan, the Nos Family, the Childress Family, and the te Uhle Family all took part. We walked out to the fruit groves and had a picnic, before setting up the maypole. We had enough time to wrap up the pole before the thunderstorm swept in and began raining on us. We wondered if the pole would conduct lightning. We returned to our house to lend out towels and dry shirts before going to Kathrin and Peter's house. There we made hamburgers and played the afternoon away.

Michael and Silke

Kathrin and Mark

Michael and Stefan

Binky and Andrea

Mark also took pictures. See his webalbum.

On Easter weekend we visited Martin and Erika (with Justin and Patrick). They live in Stade near where the Elbe flows into the North Sea. We stayed in a vacation home in Hollern-Twielenfleth. It is in a fruit-growing region called Altes Land just outside of Hamburg.

Our first full day there we visited Cuxhaven. The mudflats (Wattenmeer) are quite extensive. You can actually walk to the coastal islands and back during low tide.

Passing container ship

Tide Out

Tide In

We also took the commuter train, well actually a ferry into Hamburg and walked around the downtown a bit.

Easter Vacation: Part 2
We made one field trip to a local animal park. The kids were especially happy to see the wolves. We also enjoyed the raptor show.


Wolves sleeping or looking for a better napping spot.



Katharina riding a wild boar.



A cavorting moose.

Ursula and a falcon.

Kathryn and a falcon.

Easter Vacation: Part 1

For Easter Vacation we went North. Our first stop was with the Martin, Annette, and Katharina in Bad Pyrmont. On our first day there, Thomas and Ute came by for a brunch visit as well. We could only visit them for a short time before Kati and I were drawn into a Dungeons and Dragons game that we had planned ahead of time. While Kati and I did this Andrea and Ursula got to go to Hamlin of Pied Piper fame.

Over the 3 nights we were there we played a lot of games. For a summary of those, take a look at my other blog:

• The Red Dragon Inn
• Training Martin
• Role Playing in Middle Earth
• World of Warcraft the Card Game
• Wings of War
• Robo Rally

Martin also lent me Middle Earth Online. I swore I would avoid MMOs. Oh well.