Zoo drivers, no survivors

Racing around and crashing into things came a little too naturally for David. It does explain why he has been furiously taking notes and giggling every time Angie drives. Peter, on the other hand, was a pro at driving, but even Miss Daisy would have fired his ass. Gas is the pedal to the right, Turbo.

A few hours before we attacked the Techno-amusement park, Peter was amusing me with his newfound ability to feed himself, monkey style.

I was freakin' loving that the boy can now feed himself. We've already taught him how to flip on the T.V. and navigate to the cartoon channel, so this latest development was the missing link to Mama and Papa 'sleeping in on the weekend' plan. Right on, Pedro!

Speaking of sleeping, Tom did not. It was all Angie's fault, though, and I am sticking to that story, even if she continues bitching that I was the one that forgot the damn stroller. Whatever. At least I was the one that came up with the brilliant alternative to lugging the potato sack around all day.

Yeah, ok, my plan might have had a few minor faults, which Negative Angie was quick to point out. 'Maybe Mariam doesn't actually enjoy carrying the human anchor around all day'. Whatever - she had 'baby fever goo-goo' eyes and we had sore backs, so it was a mutual win-win.

After approximately one minute, the boys (all seven of them) got extremely bored with the technical exhibit portion of the tour. Our saving grace that kept the boys from beating the crap out of each other was the model train exhibit.

Yes, Patrick the train freak will be very jealous and I promise that we all took 30 seconds to feel really bad about this. After, oh I don't know, half a minute, David decided to start preparing for a future in destruction by land and by air.

Speaking of air, David had no troubles at all climbing the massive sky-rocket slide that scared the ever-loving crap out of sensible earth-bound Peter, who stayed below.

David had no fear of sliding down the Mega Slide. In fact, he wanted to go head first, but I was too scared to try that, even if he wasn't.

Tom's new quirk is that he pinches when he gets sleepy. Papa's new quirk is to give Tom to Mama whenever he gets sleepy, grab the camera and giggle incessantly.

The kid is quite the snapper when he pinches just the right amount of skin. I love that I caught Angie in mid-pinch. I also love the concerned look on Mariam's face, but the best is the amused look on Amir's face. I think I like this guy.

As I was getting glares from Angie for 'just standing there laughing and taking pictures' Peter and David were getting their pistols on.

I hope David never tries his new trick with a real gun unless he finds the nickname 'Davey 7-fingers' really groovy. Actually, that does kinda have a cool ring to it.

Speaking of cool, Amir tried giving Tommy lessons on how to drive a train.

Amir may be cool, but he is a crappy instructor. Check it out - Tom has one hand on the wheel, he's not paying attention to where they are going, his hat strings are not tied...and Amir just sits there the whole time smiling, completely oblivious to the two goofy looking kids in race cars about to smash into them. Zoo drivers, no survivors.
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Ladder Talk:
1) What was the best part of your day?
Peter: When we go to the musement park and met Elyas and Meyssam.
David: When Meyssam and Elyas meet us at the big playground.

2) What was the worst part of your day?
Peter: When my voice goes away and I'm so tired.
David: When no more play and we go home.

3) What would you like to do tomorrow?
Peter: After kindergarten to go to Chiara's and Alessio's.
David: Play with Peter Legos.

Attack of the Tomato Killers

Last year, we spent the entire summer growing what turned out to be a whopping two cherry tomatoes that were 'inadvertently' eaten by Barbara the tomato-eating anticipation-thief. This year, the boys obviously remembered this tragic exercise in disappointment and kept trying to pluck these suckers while they were still green. I promised them that I would keep Barbara away from their harvest until they were ripe, which was today. Hey Barb, feel free to stop by again - just bring your own produce.

Seconds after this snapshot, Peter gobbled down his cherry tomato and thoroughly enjoyed it. David apparently thought his tomato might be a fake and, as everyone knows, the only way to test a tomato for its authenticity is to hold it over your head and squeeze. Seconds after this snapshot, Destructo Dave discovered two things. First, the tomato was real. Second, tomato juice in your eye burns. Yes, I cracked my ass up.

After getting yelled at by Angie for trying to get David to check if our lemons were real, I ran to the store to get ready for dinner. I know, I know - big freakin' surprise that I was cooking. What was 'unusual' was that an American in Germany was cooking Mexican food for a family from India. At least the cook wasn't British.

As I sliced and diced the jalapenos, I had a burning urge to ask David to check for 'fake peppers', but Angie was lurking around the corner. Damn her. She wasn't slaving away at the microwave, though, so she was loving life. She also loved that Tom was loving Manpreet.

Manpreet is married to Prabhpreet and their adorable kids are Meher and Seher. Dr. Seuss must be freakin' HUGE in India. In addition to this iambically named family, we also invited Joschi, one of Angie's long lost friends that she rediscovered on a recent Crackbook binge.

Speaking of binges, everyone stuffed themselves way beyond the point of being polite, so I guess the chicken fajitas turned out edible. After dinner, we unleashed the animals on the new kid.

It only looks like David is sleeping; this is actually a full-on face plant after diving off of Joschi's head. I have to say, the new kid handled the old kids like a pro. Hey Joschi, feel free to stop by again - just bring your own tomatoes.
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Ladder Talk:
1) What was the best part of your day?
Peter: When I played Meher came and we play hide-and-seek.
David: Peter played Lego with me and Seher and Meher.

2) What was the worst part of your day?
Peter: When I put my stickers on David's ladder and he no like that.
David: When I cry 'cause the ball that Frederik had for me he took like that and I cried.

3) What would you like to do tomorrow?
Peter: To play with Tom and Joschi when he still there animals.
David: When I play Lego and Lego and Lego, oh yeah.

The Good, the Bad, and the Filthy

Even if I hadn't arranged the pictures in order, I think that you can guess who was the Bad. There are actually a few cute picures of David, but there are only so many 'sleeping Davey' pics that I can show. As for the Filthy, it does not matter if Tom is awake or asleep; the kid is just plain filthy. He must take after me.

So, yeah - it's visually and hygienically obvious why we took a bath today. Perhapy the why is not so clear. Tom's chin gravy would be one reason, but look closer. Pig-Pen actually has gravel stuck to his forehead. Amazing. Before we get to the ground up pavement stuck to his head, though, let us first figure out what the disgusting Agent Orange crap is that's covering his mouth, cheeks, nose and eyelashes. Yes, eyelashes.

Oh, I see. Mama fed Tom. And she used a robotic arm. Isn't that cute? I mean, come on - it's not as if he makes a big enough mess on his own; let's throw in a mechanical device that will only fling the slop around even more. Maybe next time you can hop on one leg and jump rope while you cover his hair in goo?

After smearing orange gunk all over the baby, Lady Robota let The Face loose. The funny thing is, she completely forgot to clean the kid. Mmm...yeah....funny. I don't know what the hell was in that orange mush, but his new facial somehow converted him into Mogli from The Jungle Book.

I don't know what is more amazing - that when I came home from work, Tom still had orange surprise in his eyes or that he had gravel stuck to his freakin' forehead!! Where the hell is Angie while Tom is out fleeing the jungle and banging his head on asphalt, by the way?

Oooooohhh. Now it all starts to come together. Crackbook strikes again! As Angie was busy admiring how many friends she has, Peter was busy getting sick.

Yes, again. At least a wet rag and a fluffy rhino were enough to save the day. Luckily, he did not call for Mama, because it would have been mighty hard to pry those fingers away from the keyboard. Somehow, I think he knew that this would have been a futile endeavor. He must take after me.
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Ladder Talk:
1) What was the best part of your day?
Peter: When I snuggle with mommy and did a story by Mama and Papa's bed.
David: When Peter played with me Legos.

2) What was the worst part of your day?
Peter: When my forehead hurts.
David: When Constantin throw a shovel on my eye.

3) What would you like to do tomorrow?
Peter: When we just need to sleep 5 times and then Claudio gets a birthday.
David: When Peter play with me again.