Ready for the wheel

So David and Brian rented a paddle boat at the lake this weekend. It was cheap and the boats date back 40 of 50 years. It was fun to let them go arrange for the boats themselves.
And when the first came by Daphne and I, they looked good - calm and under control.

But then take a look at some of the pictures of David as our budding driver. Look a bit like a teenager to you?

All the behaviors of a responsible driver. Hands always on the steering wheel at "10 and 2".

Paying close attention to the environment around him.

But my favorite of the teenager growing within was this....

Roman Road...

The Romans built roads to connect their empire beginning 500BC. While visiting the south of Germany today, the kids, George and I walked along one of these ancient roads.

It may not look like much, but the path is stone with an exact width that is grooved by the wheels of ancient chariots. The road is long and marks the path from Italy to Augsburg, Germany (North and West of Munich) which was a trading city that used the waterways to facilitate transport.
I cannot say if George or Brian got more out of this experience. Both seemed to be tired by my efforts at education.

Wonderful Sunday in Bavaria

While much of the USA was worried about a big storm hitting NYC, we enjoyed one of the nicest days of the year in Bavaria.
Incredible. We visited friends celebrating the birthday of one of Daphne's best friends. We visited the mountain vacation home of the family of Oskar von Miller about 90 minutes south of Munich who founded the Deutsches Museum. A lovely, simple home on the side of the Alps with a relaxed charm and warm sunshine.
When we go for a short walk, the mountains dominate. While we are in August, there was fresh snow on the mountains yesterday. It was cool and crisp in the morning but sunny and warm for our Sunday lunch.
Julia played with the dogs - our friends have a young female named Pauli - like the beer. She is a classical water dog and can play fetch for hours. Hopefully, Julia noticed the view while playing. George was exhausted by 3pm.
The men relaxed.
One interesting import to the event was the bean-bag toss game of 'corn hole' which our friends brought back from Ohio.

They not only like the game but made their own table with the state flag of Ohio on the board. I am willing to bet that this was the only pennant of the state of Ohio in Klais, Germany today.

The views are breathtaking and the fresh air is wonderful. I believe we are enjoying the final year of our contract in Bavaria.

George Haircut

We returned to Munich to the unfortunate news that George had not been groomed as expected. This means that our large, lazy friend was enjoying the 95 degree weather with a huge black coat.
After he suffered through 3 days and finding out he couldn't get a haircut until mid September, it became desperate.

It was... not fun.

And George looks like he got into a fight with a blind barber. He does feel better however.

1st day of school

Not much to add to the classic first day of school shot. If I was pressed to try, I would tell you that this was after EVERYONE was up with jet lag all night or sympathy jet lag (Me). They look much better than they feel....

Back in Munich

We're back in Munich and that means on a nice Sunday afternoon, you head to the biergarden. Daphne is a professional by now - she brings all the elements and we follow the tradition of buying our drinks from the beirgarden.

The boys got their schnitzel.

And you notice Dave hoisting his beer in front of the masses of the Hirsch garden.
It was beautiful!