Mild Home Make-over

Whilst Crosby was away on his annual weeklong school sleep-away camp, I had the crazy idea, "Maybe an 11 year-old should have his own bed."

 It's hard to give-up creepy, snuggle, sleep photo-ops but motherhood demands sacrifice.

As is my nature, I sketched up some elaborate plan that included what I will call the "Narnia door" whereby Crosby would enter through a hole cut-out through the closet. Paul, in his wisdom, suggested a much simpler version. We moved the huge Ikea Pax closet from the wall to the middle of the room to create a second "room" for Crosby.

You might notice that sweet robot shelf with eyes to the left. Paul thought having a shelf next to my desk would help with organization. #neurotypical But, just look how much fun we had bringing it home:

At this point, I figured I should stop bugging Paul and bring in our Berlin Uncle Andrew. It turned out to be excellent timing, because the box bike has its limits and Andrew has a Miles Van Rental Account.

Andrew and I bike/walked the bookshelf. Hauling the bunk required a van. 

My adoring fans are asking, tell me more about that fortress: 

We found a use for flat sheets and entertained the kids for 30 minutes.

The real crowning glory is this before:

and after:

Jokes. Crosby's room needs some TLC. Actually mostly just a bed frame.  I'm done with Ikea junk and kind of lost steam looking on Kleinanzeige (Craigslist equivalent). So, it might be fall when Crosby's room officially comes together. Today I added a little art work to his room to replace the feminine profile in our 'before' set-up.

The idea of writing the kids' baby dedication verse on some of their art work came to me during one of my ADHD med induced insomnia sessions. However, it turns out Hugo doesn't have a verse. #middlechild We'll just start with Crosby. 

 

And last but not least, our latest downstairs upgrade.

Is it a baseball mit or a clam? Whatever it is, it isn't Ikea.

The Center Will Hold

This blog is potentially a taste of things to come - ie less entertaining. Two days ago I started "performance enhancing drugs" aka amphetamines for ADHD. I've heard from some ADHD authors that medication made them less "themselves". I'll risk being 30% less funny if it means I have a better handle on parenting 'complex' kids as my current, light summer read would call them.

I planned an hour-long train adventure to our favorite hot springs yesterday and am happy to report no melt-downs by me. I'd be lying if I said I slept great last night, but generally we'll say Elvanse's got me feeling like.

Before I got some uppers, I found comfort in power "reading" Anne Lamott: 

My favorite part of this book was her description of her trips to India and Scandinavia. 

This book was at the top of my list after reading this NYT article. 

 She killed it again with the coda. Bonus points if you read this book and connect it back to my blog title.

There is a direct correlation between how much "reading" I do and how much overtime Paul puts in. #mommyisnothappy Also, there's Hugo's new face he likes to make for pictures.

We've still got some kinks to work out.

Döner macht schöner

I've subjected my nephew, Oliver, to some charecter building his seventeen years.  

Yes, crimped hair was cool in 2008. Thanks for asking.

However, his recent weekend trip to Berlin wasn't supposed to be one of those occasions. What do you do with little and big kids in Berlin? Eat, move, and take pictures along the way.

The first stop was picking up Hugo from school to take him to a birthday party. Oliver was a bit surprised about the "Lord of the Flies vibe" in Hugo's free time room. His mom, Danielle, waited outside with the bags and was impressed with the city scenery.

Once Hugo found his place, I rounded-up the rest of the crew to head to ice cream. Crosby introduced Oliver to Woodruff "Waldmeister" flavor and Spaghetti Eis. I introduced Danielle to ice cream as an appetizer.

We were blessed with rain upon Oliver's arrival. A blessing because Germans don't go out in the rain, so we could take Oliver and Danielle to the best Döner spot without waiting in line. We also got primo outdoor seating. 

The next day we planned an urban hike. Well, I had a repeat of this hike in mind...

However, a more grown-up Darth just went to the Grünewald a couple days earlier with his class so he was less excited. Thus, we did a more historic urban hike through the Tiergarten. 

We only go to the most scenic spots.

First we walked through the Brandenburg gate:

Then we walked through the forest:

Some shorter-legged participants might have done an illegal double electric scooter ride with a parental guardian. 

While their legs did not work for forest walking, they managed to find the energy to climb the 285 steps to the top of the victory tower. I stayed at the bottom to play paparazzi and have my legs complimented by an "Opa" doing Parkour nearby.

I spy cousins.

It had been at least two hours since our last meal so we head to Cafe am Neuen See for beer garden vibes and canoeing free babysitting. 

Jokes. We put Carmen to work.

Carmen really found her swing. So much so that she proceeded to do this for an hour-and-a-half in Paul's arms.

  

An epic melt-down might have proceeded this nap.

With Carmen well rested, the girls head to Neukölln for a dance performance while the boys had a Sushi bonanza close to home.

#cooluncle

Team Biggs head to church on Sunday while Oliver and Danielle checked out the Berlin Wall Memorial  which is conveniently located just a couple tram stops from our house. Later, we met-up in Mauerpark for Sunday Mauerpark shenanigans.

 After, we introduced Oliver and Danielle to the German tradition of Kaffee und Kuchen. 

Hugo proceeded to drink most of my coffee. Bedtime was real fun that evening. 

Danielle and Oliver trained to Amsterdam the next morning. I'm talking to him tonight on our weekly "character building" call. Was Berlin the highlight of his Euro tour? How could it not be?