Happy Birthday!

On March 24th, Max and Tom turned four years old!  The morning was exciting!  They opened presents as the sky began to grow light at 7 o’clock in the morning.  They had a table full of presents, as you can see in the picture.  They got a tunnel and a shed to add to their BRIO train set, tents to add to their Ritter collection, daggers and shields made from wood, a marble train, and much, much more.  Although the presents are for Max and Tom, they are indirectly my presents as I get to play with them as well!  While Max and Tom wanted to stay home and play all morning, they had to go to Kindergarten where they each got a crown for the day.  Tom wore it proudly for the entire morning!

Being twins, Max and Tom had plenty of friends to celebrate their birthday with.  Therefore, they celebrated twice.  The first party took place on their birthday; all friends from Kindergarten were invited to the jump Jump-Inn, an indoor jungle gym.  It could be compared with the playrooms in McDonald’s but much larger and much cleaner.  It was a bit difficult to keep track of them all with the twists and turns but they all seemed to have a good time.  Lots of running and sweating always makes for a good night of sleep.  In the evening, some family friends and Sabine’s mother and sister joined us at our house for dinner.  Max and Tom were happy to be home and playing with all their new toys.  They stayed up extra late, and were beyond tired by the time they got ready for bed.  But you only get to celebrate your fourth birthday once!

The second party took place a week after their birthday; all family friends were invited to the house in the afternoon.  The weather could not have cooperated better.  It was sunny and beyond warm.  After a quick snack of ice cream and strawberries, all the kids were outside playing soccer on the terrace.  Moritz, the four-year-old professional soccer player, was helping everyone get into positions and kick the ball in the proper direction.  It was adorable.  He even let Max score to boost his confidence.  It was a day full of fun in the sun.  The best present of the day was a building kit with a battery-operated drill.  Tom fixed all sorts of things that I didn’t even know needed to be fixed.  The safety goggles are especially cute.  The second to best present of the day was Band-Aids.  Alison, the previous Au Pair, sent heaps of Band-Aids in the box with her gift for the boys.  All of the kids invented injuries so that they could have Spiderman or Barbie or Cars Band-Aids.  There were plenty of opportunities to take great pictures!