Category Archives: Teo

USA Report

It’s taken a couple of weeks to recover from the adventures and get to posting.  While we did have some challenges, it was so great to spend time with family and friends who we can’t get enough of…

So we had a fairly smooth start (although Chika and I barely slept).  Check-in went smoothly and we made it through the first flight without much issue.  A nice break in Heathrow (a great kids play area in Terminal 5), and then had the perfect setup with bassinet for the flight.  The kids even slept a bit.  But by the time we descended Kai’s cold had stepped up and then Kai’s ears were hurting 🙁

We spent the next 2 days in Boston attending to our patient, but getting a bit of time to catch up with our friends there (even some shopping too).  Luckily we had gotten an upgrade to a junior suite at the Westin so it was like a big indoor playground.

On Saturday we drove down to Mystic to meet the grandparents and had a nice (but windy!) day exploring the aquarium before heading to Foxwoods for our friend Cat’s wedding.  It was a beautiful event at a winery, but still cold.  Mom and dad watched Kai (who in just a few hours wore them out completelly, but we brought Teo to the event.  He was a great trooper and slept though most of the event.

Less than 24 hours later we we off to NYC.  As we checked into the new hotel in midtown, it began to feel a bit cramped after the luxurious space in Boston.  But we got cosy and made do.  Unfortunately now, Teo had gotten Kai’s cold.  Which meant we ending up spending more time than planned in the tiny hotel room. Thanfully the boys didn’t mind as much as we did.


We did get out a little bit.  Kai enjoy parks (especially Central Park) and we did get to see our friends and see the city.

Thursday was the big event however, Kai’s first Halloween.  This year was the year of Spiderman.  And Spiderman got the royal treatment with his Cousin Sydney (aka Princess Kate) and together they conquered the neighborhood.

 The next day we went with Grandma to the Please Touch Museum — the real world just for kids.  A fantastic experience for Kai.  And of course even though Halloween was over, he wasn’t ready to give up being Spiderman.

We spend the last days relaxing and enjoying good food at mom and dad’s house.  By the end, it was hard to say goodbye, but we know we will be coming back again.

Family Vacation — Chapter 1

We love Kai’s kita (the pre-school here in Germany).  Except when it comes to holidays when they always seem to be taking the liberty of staying closed even when the holiday is over just because its Friday.  So since Kai was out of school, we decided to make a long weekend of it.  Our friends suggested a beachside resort on the Baltic a few hours drive away.  A good alternative to getting us all on a plane somewhere, and had been on the agenda for some time so we were in.  It was a good first run experience — overall, the car rides went smoothly — the biggest issue was missing on of the exits on the way up (and getting stuck in massive traffic jam for 40 minutes).  The place was nice and really well prepared for kids.  They had a kids club where we could drop the older kids off after 9am — good fun for them, and a bit more freedom for us.  The sit down meals weren’t perfectly serene, but we managed to enjoy part of it.  And the town was quaint with a nice promenade in front of the beach.  We had some fun, learned a lot, and got to forget about some of the day-to-day issues which don’t add much value.

More from the Sunday Day Dates

We are getting quite comfy with our Sunday morning routine — our friends drop their kids at our place whom we leave with Kai’s teacher, and then we head off with Teo for a relaxing brunch.  This week we decided to venture to the California Breakfast Slam.  It’s not in a neighborhood we traditionally head to, but we are growing more bold/confident in our Sunday excursions.  It is actually housed in a place which is a bar in the evening — the large communal table in the room where we sat was actually the pool table under cover.  But it turned out to be fitting environment — homey, cozy, with good portions of comfort food.  They even provided you with water without having to order it by the bottle — almost unheard of in Berlin.  Not all the eats were perfect — the poached eggs on the eggs benedict were a bit overpoached — but still a good change of pace from the traditional Berlin brunch fare.  Will venture again.

Family Food Adventure

So we decided to experiment going to the Street Food Thursday with the whole family.  We figured there was a play area and enough variety to find something for Kai to eat.  Overall, would give the experience a B — we did eat good food, no casualties from the excursion (I did stain my shirt with taco sauce, but some quick spot work at home did the job), and I think everyone managed to have something special (personally, the cheesecake from Elephant was checked on my wish list and was as good as I anticipated).  With hindsight, I think we can make the next trip even better.

New addition

Going from one child to two children was hard, but we had help along the way.  Yukie and Meg were there from the very first day, and Yukie stayed for the first 3 months and then helped bring Chika and the boys to Japan.  In Japan, there was extended support with aunties and uncles about.  But then reality crept in and we were flying back on our own — without a net.  And then (thanks to Chika) we found Maki, whom we both liked immediately.  And now it is official — Maki has joined the family to enjoy the joys and challenges of Kai and Teo.

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