Liam's Karneval

Karneval is finally over! Those 6 days can really drag on if you are a no-fun poopy-pants like me. (oh heavens, Jeremy is gone and I really don't interact with many grown-ups at the moment...)

But the fact that Karneval drags on so long is what makes it so surreal-- I love it when I get on the subway with other people going to work, etc, and one or two people will be decked out in clown make-up or have butterfly wings on or somebody is wearing a pink wig and no other costume parts. The whole thing must be some kind of color theapy for gray Cologne.

Anyway, I can't tell any stories about the riotous time Liam had going back and forth through the purple spangly streamers at Jeremy's lab party because I was on the party train. Toot toot! Picutre this-- a refurbished old tram car with bar, bathrooms, tables, and, well, a hundred Ladies of a Certain Age. Dressed as Clowns. Drinking Kölsch and Schnapps. Let me tell you, 45 minutes into that ride two bathrooms were not nearly enough.

On Saturday- after Jeremy left to go to Chicago- Liam and I went to the playground. Now I thought that Saturday was one of those in-between Karneval days because the HUGE parade is on Monday. But as we played, we kept seeing groups of people walk by dressed in extravagant costumes. So I made a quick decision to run home, throw on our costumes and go see what was happening.

Oh no! Liam's deer costume was still wet! I had to think fast--- I duct-taped some of his foam letters to our jackets, put some red circles on our cheeks-- we were the Letter Clowns! Spelling is so Funny!

It turned out that Saturday was the Cologne Schools Parade. Liam and I hung out at the beginning of the route with the other little kids where it wasn't so crowded. Children came up to Liam and handed him candy.

Sunday we avoided the big parade.

Then on Monday, we went to the neighborhood parade. More kids throwing candy! That's when Liam learned "Kölle Alaaf" and "Karmelle"- two very important words to know in Cologne.

Papa is in...

and Liam would be fine living in either place.

(sidenote: Two diaper videos in a row! Those Bumgeniuses are looking pretty good, no?)

Liam the yoga guy

this is a little embarrassing because I am in my pjs... but it is too cute to keep to ourselves.

Karneval Time!

Let's go to the forest, where Diana hunts, a Bayern guy lives in his hut, and the baby deer runs free.

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(I tried to flip this picture 5 times. I don't know what the malfunction is.)

We have 10 pictures oh im going through the streamers. After the party

no comment

Party deer.

After the lab party Mr German Guy and the baby deer met up with me for some street bratwurst.

He almost ate the whole thing! (Stupid iphoto rotation lies!!)

Hey! Do you like pictures of blurry and/or filthy children?

Somehow, it has become almost impossible to take a picture of Liam on the loose. They mostly end up like this:

He doesn't quite understand the concept that in order to SEE the pictures on the camera you have to TAKE them first.

We managed to get one Mr. Cool Hat picture:

And then I decided to make a cake! A cake for which I started to buy the ingredients, well, um, I think 2 years ago. But the important thing is that now Liam can be suitably entertained by making an unholy mess on the table with cornstarch and water while I bake an insane but pretty delicious green tea/ red bean cake roll. Best of all, the filling is totally bowl-licking good.

Liam was also trying to eat with chopsticks---( I would like to tell you that he wasn't eating his peas off a completely filthy table, but, well, the digital camera don't lie. ) I think with a little practice, he can do it! We have to get a pair of the kid-learning chopsticks that Daria had!