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Sunday...it's the day before Halloween...

...another relaxing family day. Crescent rolls, and cereal for an early breakfast; lot's of reading, music, and games; long late morning baths for each lady; folowed by lunch at Foster Burger. Since our return from Europe we have not had any burgers so today was the ay :). By my book it's the best burger in town. We ordered the mini burgers for the girls - fabulous!!! One word of caution - none of the buns are safe, but there is a fantastic vietnamese aery right next door. Their baguette is "safe" and also available in a small, sandwich size. So we got the bread before we went to Foster Burger. We explained that the girls have a metabolic dsorder, and they served their burgers on the safe bread! Now that is also fantastic service, right?!
Here is the link www.fosterburger.com.

Now what about Halloween?! Later we gutted - don't the girlies look scary?! - and carved our one pumpkin...we are ready for Halloween. More about that tomorrow :))) Oh, and et me know if you would like to see a picture of the girls fantastic burger...

Alena and the Saturday Taco's :)

Alena is so happy to have a refried black bean, guacamole, and "sour cream" (Tofutti) taco...

Saturday..

...lazy, lazy day - restful and calm. The girls actually started German Saturday School at the http://sophieschollschule.org/ yesterday. Both girls liked it a lot and had fun. - Before we made the drive out to the school we stopped at Kettelman's for bagels.

By the time we got home in the early afternoon all of us was hungy. A perfect day for Taco's. Yum! Homemde Gacamole, refried black beans, beef, Tofutti sour cream, and plenty of shells. A lazy meal, for a blissfully, lazy rest of the day. The girlies, and the mothership got to enjoy the rare TV day, while Ron happily played his guitar...it is nice to be back home!!!

Friday & Friday Dinner...

...fall is here and it started to rain yesterday. Hopefully it will not rain on Monday for Trick or Treating. Talking about Halloween, you know what happened yesterday? We got up let the cats out and then I saw it. Three of our four pumpkins on the front porch were missing! Yup, stolen the two pumpkins the girls picked out on the pumpkin patch last weekend and also mine. Who does something like that?! It is not funny and certainly was not the best start into the day....

The rest of the day turned out fine. Girls in school, both parental units at work, and for dinner we went out -> Friday night fun :) We decided to go to Apizza Scholls on Hawthorne. It is the best pizza in Portland. However to get a table for the first seating you have to get in line by 4:30 for the 5 PM opening. That is what the girlies and I did. Equipped with our umbrellas we waited for 20 minutes in the pouring rain. Does it sound crazy? Well, to me it is so Portland, and crazy at the same time. Oh, and let me assure you we were not the first - nor the last people in line. There were five people -for five tables- ahead of us and the line quickly got longer. For pizza you ask? Yes, pizza - it is the most amazing, delicious, fantastic pizza around and the salad is just as amazing. So worth it for the occasional treat. We ordered 1/2 sausage no cheese, and the other 1/2 sausage, peppers & cheese. Delicious - can you see how excited the girls are? Btw - the right side is without cheese and no, there were no leftovers....

Here is the link to Apizza Scholls http://apizzascholls.com/

Thursday Night Dinner...

...pasta with "creamy" wild mushrooms and the ever present salad. Quite delicious! Shitake, Maitake, Chanatrelles, and Crimini along with some homegrown rosemary made this the perfect Thursday Night dinner.

Besides that our Thursday was - as I like it - uneventful and I am actually up past 7 p.m. whoo-hoo...

Wednedsday Dinner...

...you will not believe it. Well, maybe but this is a very rare occurrence :) We had leftover "Faulenzer Krautwickel" for dinner. I actually think it is better the second day around...I served it with roasted potatoes & apples (the combination is so good), and the ever present mixed salad...

As for the rest of our Wednesday? Blissfully uneventful - school for girls, work for the parental units, and both girlies had piano lesson after school. Yes, they are still readjusting but we are almost there. Well, at least the girls :)

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Tuesday Dinner...

...I am almost back to standard Pacific Time even if I went to bed at 7 pm. So hopefully I will be able to post Wednesday dinner tonight. Haha, let's see!

The girls are almost back to "normal" but still more tired than usual. The are adopting great to the routine again. Quite impressive!

But now to the title of this post. Yes, it is true I made dinner last night. One of my German friends calls this "faulenzer Krautwickel" - lazy version of stuffed cabbage. It is nice on a cool evening. Sautéed onions, carrots add on the caraway seeds. Next some ground beef and a chopped head of white cabbage on top. Let it all cook down. The longer it cooks, the better it gets. At the end I added some Tofutti sour cream. Served with mashed potatoes - earth balance and water from the potatoes - as well as a salad round it all out. Voila - another Galactosemia safe meal in Porland. Oregon :)

Monday Night Dinner...

...Ron's favorite dish I make. Baked herbed chicken thighs with white rice and salad. It is a quick an easy dish to make. Please let me know if you would like me to repost the recipe. Otherwise, if you are interested, I have posted it before :)

Our Monday was uneventful. Both girls are back in school, they are both however still suffering from jet lag which means that they tire at the end of the day. And you know what tht means, right?! Yup, both girlies had a melt down - at least not at the same time...my jet lag is getting better to as I slept until 4:30 this morning. Yay! Oh, and before I forget - I had written this post already last night but for some odd reason it never made it to be posted...

Happy Tuesday!

The girls favorite song this trip to Europe is: Marlon Roudette - New Age (Official Music Video)

Sunday - back in Oregon...

...I really have a bad case of jet lag and have been getting up at 3:30. Good thing it is only me, and not the girlies. They both have been sleeping untiln5 or later which is great! One of the great advantages about being up so early is that we get to go places early in the day! So yesterday - since we just got back - we went to the Pumpkin Patch on Sauvie Island. I have no photos because you know what I neglected to do? Yup, charge the battery!!! We had a ton of fun. The girlies went on a couple of rides on the cow train, played on the hay, and visited the animals. Mia Rosie also enjoyed a corn on the cobb, and Alena had a hot dog. They had all the labels available for hot dog and bun and all were safe - probably not healthy, but safe :).

We also stopped at another pumpkin patch this year, but to us The Pumpkin Patch on Sauvie Island is our favorite spot.

Oh, and yes dinner? I am still not back in the awing of things as we had Pho for dinner. Delicious vietnamese chicken noodle soup. So good! We went to our favorite spot Pho Van on 82nd in SE Portland :)
and
Here is more information www.thepumpkinpatch.com and http://www.phovanrestaurant.com/

Enjoy!

Saturday Night Dinner - daily dinner posts are back...

as we are now back from our trip to Europe and I cooked my first real meal in over four (!) weeks. Yes, it is true I basically have not cooked one meal in for weeks...

So yesterday, I made Goulash. Hearty, smooth, warming, delicious - one of my favorite things to make in the fall and winter. It is delicious, great for guests - which we had last night - and the girlies love it too. I am also always amazed about the fact how six ingredients melt together to such perfection. Yes, only six ingredients. Beef, onions, potatoes, paprika (Hungarian, salt, and water. That's it. I use about equal parts of beef (200 gr/person), onions, and potatoes. Add one generous scoop of paprika a person, and add water so that the beef is just barely covered. It takes about three hours on the stove and it is delicious. Please let me know if you would like an exact recipe...

We serve it with pickles - German style not dill pickles -, crusty white bread, and salad - yes, it is back - on the side.

So hopefully tonight I will not forget to take a dinner photo...

Friday - first day back at school...

...we are still working on our jet lag.  Waking up very early,  and getting sleepy in the late afternoon.  Slowly we are getting back into west coast time,  but it is a slow process.  It seems like it is harder on me, than on the girlies.  -  Anyways,  both girls went back to their regular school in Portland yesterday.  A full day of school, and both of them had a great day!  Yesterday was "Grandparents and Special Friends Day" so I was actually able to stay with both girls in the classroom for a little while.  And - what a big surprise - Mia Rosies' class performed for all visitors.  Mia Rose had to improvise and walked right behind the teacher. They were so cute... - I just wish that I had known because then there would be pictures evidencing the show...

Here is a picture of Alena at the end of the school day.

My Dad is still visiting from Germany, so right after school we headed downtown to Bridgeport for dinner.  Pizza Dog's for the girls - note: regular hot dog buns at Bridgeport are not OK - along with a glass of Kinderbier a.k.a. Rootbeer.  After dinner, the girls and I were ready for bed...

First day back home in PDX and we are...

...jet lagged. The nine hours time difference caught up to me yesterday.  I actually fell asleep at four o'clock in the afternoon, and both girls were - as Ron told me - asleep by six.  This is the part I really do not like.  It is always so much harder for me to adjust to the time back home.  Going to Europe is much, much easier for me.  Oh, well!

The girls got up at 4:30 a.m. yesterday and by the time I had everything unpacked we all were hungry.  Both girls wanted to go to Jam on Hawthorne, dressed in their new Dirndl's. Are they not cute?

And do you know what they ate?  Alena ate her usual.  Vegan Chai Cakes with one slice of bacon...here she is...

Mia Rose chose a traditional breakfast. Scrambled eggs, hash browns, and a couple of slices of bacon with the added benefit of ketchup for the eggs.

Mia Rose and her breakfast

I will hopefully be back in the swing of things by latest tomorrow...Have a great day everybody!

Wednesday - the trip back home...

...we are back in Portland.  Just arrived an hour ago at PDX via Chicago.  I guess we left Germany just in the nick of time,  as today it was snowing in Tuttlingen....It is good to be back at home :)

The trip was fine,  just long. We left Tuttlingen around 8 am this morning.  As an exception both girls ate Wurst for breakfast.  The girlies were hungry by the time we were at the gate, and I decided that the girls deserved a treat.  There were not many options, but there were chips.  So guess, what their special treat was?  Yup,  chips for both girls...here they are

Paprika Chips for all

For the flight I had packed Landjaeger, as well as Zwiebelpeitschen, for the trip http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landjaeger - they are perfect for trips.  I had a total of six and you know what?!  The girls ate all of them.  One small piece each at the airport - and the rest on the plane.  Look at Alena eating her piece at the airport in Zurich...

Alena at the Zurich Airport

For the airplane ride to Chicago I had ordered vegan meals for the girls for the return trip as well.  Rice, peas, and a veggie stew; salad; grapes for desert.  It was good - but neither girl ate a lot as they preferred the Landjaeger :)  The treats on the plane were all "unsafe".  Ice cream, and swiss chocolate - but the girls took it in stride.  Instead they scored additional crackers and Sprite.  A treat they rarely get :) It all worked out great....

In Chicago,  we had a very tight connection and ended up running to the gate.  I am so glad that we made the 5 PM flight, and did not have to wait around for the later flight.  The three of us slept all the way - and now we are happily back at home.

Back home

Monday and Tuesday recap for those interested :)

...our last few days in Tuttlingen have come and gone. Tomorrow we head back to Portland.
So what did we do? On Monday, the girls went to school and I worked. In the afternoon we went for a swim at TuWass for a final time this trip. The girls had fun - afterwards I wanted to stop at the butcher to get some sausages for Vesper. I was in for a surprise as they were closed - so instead of sausages we got some vegetable spread aka Tartex. It is made out of nutritional yeast and so good. Mia Rosie loved it :)

Today - Tuesday - the girls went to school a final time this trip, while I worked and the got us all packed up. Whoo-hoo - the only item left to pack is the carry on. Oh, and the picture shows the girls before Vesper enjoying some KiKa (similar to Sprout). Ok - it's almost time for me to go to bed...

Sunday - a day trip

Three ladies clad in pink playing and having fun

Today the four of us - Alena, Mia Rosie, my sister, and myself - drove an hour north to meet with great friends who earlier this year moved back to Germany from Portland.  It was so wonderful to see them and catch up.  We all really miss them a lot...our girls and the daughter of our friends have been great friends.  It took them about 10 minutes to warm up to each other again, and then they just played.  It was great to hear the girls mixing German, and English; tells me that we have chosen the right path by raising them bilingual....

We met for lunch, and later went for a nice walk along a little creek.  The girls had a ton of fun - see them playing by the creek? - plenty of fresh air - and we also got to catch up.  Later we went for coffee and cake.  That was difficult, as none of treats were save for the girls. I did have some food - but that was challenging.  Just one of the lessons to learn when traveling in Europe.  Always carry plenty of snacks, because there will be times - more often i Europe than in PDX in my opinion - where there are no safe options available...

In any case, afterwards it was time to say good bye. It is always hard to say good bye to good friends, as we never know when the next time we will see each other.  On the way back Mia Rosie kept asking when we will see them again,  if they would visit us in Portland soon, and why we now live so far apart...

Happy Saturday...fun at on the Mainau

it is Sunday morning as I write this.  We are all sitting on the couch in our PJs.  The girls are enjoying some well deserved Sunday morning kids program on TV while I write.  A nice start into another sunny day...

Yesterday we spent a fun day on the Mainau, which is the Blumeninsel "flower island" on the Lake of Constance -> www.mainau.de We left in the late morning and after about an hours drive we arrived.  It was quite chilly, and we first needed to warm up with some tea to be ready to visit the island.

There is the most amazing playground on the Mainau.  It is complete with a huge water feature, rafts, amazing climbing options, and much more.  The playground is really challenging - and there is also a dryer available. You know, just in case somebody falls in the water, or gets wet feet.  It was in use yesterday but luckily not by us :)

Amazing Playground

Alena and Mia Rose on the raft

Labyrinth

We then moved past some ducks and a peacock made out of flowers to the petting zoo.  Both girls enjoyed a pony ride.  Alena got to ride on Raufi.  Raufi is the pony,  Alena had her first pony ride on a couple of years back. It just happened by coincidence :)

Alena in front of the Peacock

For lunch time we stopped at a restaurant.  Guess what the girls ate?  Yes,  I am sure you guessed right.  Pommes Frites (french fries) with mayonnaise, ketchup and a glass of Fanta...Next stop was the Schmetterling Haus (Butterfly house).  It is a hall with lots of tropical plants, water features, and free flying butterflies.  It is magical and we got completely lost in it....

Isn't it magical?

Back in Tuttlingen we had dinner with my girlfriend at her house;  sausages, meat off the grill, potatoes out of the oven, and a delicious salad.  All - of course - safe for the girls :)

Friday - Hello Weekend...

Kindergarten coming back from the hike in the woods

....yay, the weekend is here.  The three of us are really excited to be able to take it easy this Saturday morning -  as I write this it is Saturday.  Let's get back to our Friday.  Last school day of the week, and market day in Tuttlingen.  I went to the market to get some delicious marinated olives, and tomatoes for Vesper while both girls were in school.  Alena had a regular school day,  and Mia Rosie went to the woods again.  By the way,  they go rain, or shine.  I think it is amazing.  The picture above shows the kids on there way back from the woods to school. They range in age from 3 - 5.  Is not amazing?  I am not sure if you can pick-out Mia Rose from the crowd.  However, if you want to she is holding the hand of the teacher wearing a black jacket.  Mia Rose is to the right wearing her blue/red backpack.  This is such a great experience of the kids and I am so happy that Mia Rose get's to come along....We had lunch at my Mom's and it was one of Alena's favorite.  Linsen - Lentils.... so delicicious :)

In the afternoon we went back to the apartment and the girls played the entire afternoon outside...a fun, low key start into the weekend.  Just what we needed........

Thursday -- and our dinner...

...finally a picture of Vesper our almost daily dinner here in Germany. Cold cuts, bread, varies and more often than not there are also veggies involved. The girlies love it :)
How did we spend our day today? Well, let me tell you. Mia Rose was in the woods again, and Alena was in school until 3:45. Today Alena's class cooked lunch together today. The kids along with their teachers made vegetable soup from scratch, and fruit salad for dessert. Each child had to bring a knife, bowls, spoons, and an apron. I spoke with the teacher yesterday to make sure that they would not be using any milk products, or products containing milk sugar. And guess what?! Alena had already spoken with the teacher to make sure that she would be able to eat the food as well. That really makes this Mama proud :)
Ok - it's time for the girlies to go to bed now...

Wednesday - business lunch with girls and another playground

Good morning!  It is Thursday morning here, and we are just about ready for the day :)

We spent yesterday as has become our routine; school started early for Alena so Mia Rose also had to go early.  It was an average school day for Alena,  and Waldtag - the kids hiked into the woods to a cabin - for Mia Rose.  It will be Waldtag the rest of the week for the Kindergarten kids.  It is soooo cute...I worked until noon and then picked up the girls to take them along for my lunch appointment.  This is the first time, they came along and I have to say that it worked out OK.  We had lunch in a pizzeria in a town close to here.  Ahead of time I determined whether they could eat pizza and voila it was possible.  Alena ate pizza with ham - label double checked - and tomato sauce; while Mia Rosie enjoyed Penne alio e aglio.  Both of course without cheese.  First working meeting I had with both girls...

Mia Rose and Alena climbing up to get to the top of the slide

As a reward we went to a different playground after the meeting where we spent an hour, before heading back to the apartment.

I better go now as both girls are ready to be taken to school :)

Tuesday...

...I write this on Wednesday morning.  Both girls are slowly waking up, and I have a cup of coffee next to me.  Sadly it's the last of the Peet's we brought along...oh well.  Breakfast for the girls is waiting for them.  Delicious crusty bread - milk free - with margarine - Becel - and raspberry jam made by my Mom.  Oh,  yes and Mia Rose also has honey on her slice of bread...School starts very early today so...

Yesterday was beautiful.  I worked through the early afternoon while the girls were at school/Kindergarten.  They both had lunch at my Mom's and then we went...no, not swimming but to the playground.  I met one of my longtime friends while the girls played. One of Alena's classmates was also at the playground - advantage to being in a small town :) - so everybody had a great time.  Back at the apartment we had Vesper - cold cuts - for dinner, study time, followed by an somewhat early bed time..

Alena at the bottom of the huge slide

OK - we are about ready to leave.  Mia Rose is going to the woods the rest of the week with her Kindergarten class.  It is called Waldtage.  The kids hike into the woods to a cabin, eat a snack, play games, and hike back to Kindergarten.  So fun for them...Happy day to all!

Sunday and Monday - a recap...

...we spet the last couple of days pretty uneventful.  On Sunday we slept in,went to TuWass, had lunch at my Mom's, and then drove to a Factory Outlet.  It actually is an event to be able to go shopping on a Sunday in Germany - we were successful :)  When we got back to the apartment the girls had still plenty of outside playtime, and dinner was Vesper (cold cuts with bread).  My Mom made a Kuchen so we had Apfelkuchen (apple) for desert.

Yesterday,  I worked the bulk of the day while the girls were in school and ate lunch at my Mom's.  In the late afternoon went swimming at TuWass, back to the apartment, and we had Vesper for dinner.  Lucky me got to go to the Sauna in the evening as my sister came over to watch the girls....She also took this lovely picture of them.  Happy Day!

Roadtrip to Zurich...

...yesterday, we drove Ron to the airport in Zurich for his flight back to PDX. Well, ok to PDX via Chicago :) it is just an 1-1/2 hr trip from Tuttlingen to Zurich. Easy drive, even in the pouring rain. My sister came along too...

Both girls - I really should say all of us - were sad to see him leave before us. So we really needed to do something fun. Well, it did involve pommes & lemonade and then we went swimming at TuWass - Pool in Tuttlingen - http://www.tuwass.de/ click on the first option. I am sure you can see why this is one of our most favorite places.

Ok - I better get breakfast ready....

Back in Tuttlingen...

...the beautiful weather is over and temperatures have dropped from 23C on Thursday to a high of 8C on Friday. Brrrrr...both girls were in school in the morning while Ron and me went to the market. After school we went out for pizza. Pizza in Germany is different as each person orders their own pizza. The girls shared a pizza. Tomato sauce for Alena's half, and onion for Mia Rosie. Of course without cheese :) Both girls - and the adults - loved it. After lunch we took the girls to see the new Lillifee movie. A dream in pink...http://www.prinzessin-lillifee-derfilm.de/index2.html

After the movie we stopped for cake and coffee at the new organic market in town. It was great as they had a safe piece of cherry cake for the girls. Yay! Oh yes, there was also dinner. My step-Mom made delicious Kaesespaetzle made with plenty of browned onions and Emmenthaler. As a side Beate made carrot salad and a mixed green salad. It was delicious! Everyone loveed it...ok I better get ready now as we need to drive Ron to the airport for his flight back home...

Another great family hike...

...we returned last night from our wonderful vacation at the Allgaeuer Berghof http://www.allgaeuer-berghof.de/. Before we drove back to Tuttlingen

we went on one more hike through the Breitach Klamm.  It was fantastic! The entire hike was about two hours round trip and the promise of Pommes Frites as well as Almdudler at the hut got the girls very excited :) We had to pass the first hut, and hike up to another one as the first one did not offer Pommes, nor many other safe food options for the girlies. We hiked up to the second hut and voila both ladies had a huge plate of Pommes :)

Oh, and if you are interested to see were we hiked check out this link http://www.breitachklamm.com/ the link is in German only, check out the pictures under "Sommer" and "Winter"

Family hike...

...yesterday we went on a family hike. Alena is main focus of this picture, but you can also See Mia Rose, Ron, and my Mom.

We started with a steep one hour hike down to the valley through fields, and forests. We then ascended back up to the Alm with a cable car (where there are only 4 in a an "al fresco" car). Back on the Alm we swiftly walked to the first hut. The girls enjoyed a large plate of Pommes Frites (French Fries with ketchup) and a bottle of Almdudler. Water, and Beer for the adults :) Refreshed we hiked to another hut where there were rabitts, chicken, slide, swings, etc. all around kid fun. From there we hiked back to our hotel and the girlies got to go on a Pony ride and then spent the rest of the afternoon playing on the many playgrounds....

A lovely hike...

...hiking in the Alps means that there a plenty of huts that one can hike to and stop for a drink as well food. Yesterday we went on a lovely hike with my Mom while the girlies had fun in the "Happy Club".

We stopped at this hut for drinks. I was amazed to see that there was an ingredients losging for all the foods offered next to the window. Amazing, no second guessing whether the foods ordered are safe for the girls. I truely was amazed that each menu item was broken down by the each ingredient and listed each allergen. Oh, and yes there were also "safe" popsickle's.

So today, we will go Wiking with the girls...

Visit to the Allgäu - German Alps...

...we have spent the last couple days in a fantastic family Hotel in the German Alps. It is complete with Care for the children, pool, many playground's, kids dining area, and more.

My Mom spoke with the chef ahead of our Arrival, and I also spoke with him to make sure that there will be "safe" food for the girls. So far it worked out perfectly. There is Soy milk, Soy Yoghurt, cereal, and bread they can eat. Yesterday the children's lunch and Dinner were not "safe". Therefore the girls got a special meal made just for them. Weisswuerste for dinner, and spinach creamed with Soy creamer. One caveat however, I think that it would be very difficult to communicate the requirements if I did not speak German.

The picture shows the girls with Omi :)