Mika had fun dancing after dinner so I decided to film her routine. There’s a little bit of her hip-hop dance class and some other craziness. The highlight is definitely Tobin entering into the scene. [Music: Country Lane by Telekinesis]

Mika and Tobin got a lot of biking in today: Mika rode with me all the way to Prospect Park to her new, temporary swim class location. It’s a steep uphill ride for half of the way (2.4 miles/4 km), but she did super. After her swim class, we met up with Sung and Tobin, who had already finished one full lap around Prospect Park, and Gaang’s family. Now that Tobin and Sahn are in the same preschool class, all four kids are great friends and (ex-)school mates. Mika and Gaang had a blast riding their mountainbikes up and down a grassy hill, and Tobin and Sahn copied them, naturally. 3 bikes, 1 scooter, and 4 monkeys…

Flashback to 2009, when Mika and Gaang had just learned to ride their bikes (at about Tobin’s age)

Happy Birthday 할아버지. We all wish you happiness today.

I took the kids to the new, wildly popular frozen yogurt spot after pickup. Mika and Tobin had already checked it out with Sung last week, but were more than giddy to go again with Mica. I can back up their rave reviews: 16 flavors of self-serve (!) ice cream and sorbet, and a toppings bar the size of our kitchen (with lots of fresh fruit) … that’s kiddie heaven. Of course, we all got brain freeze and i gave my cardigan to the girls to warm up.

A couple months before the end of Tobin’s final year of preschool, i finally got around to something i had on my mind since Mika went to the same school: take the class on an imaginary trip to Germany! I am not sure if the kids still carry “passports” like they used to, but Sabine and i teamed up to represent our homeland … big time. We took the class via slideshow across the country, from north to south. The trip started at the waterfront near Bremerhaven. We took a famous sailboat to Hamburg, and the ICE to Berlin. We went on a short, age appropriate discourse about the Berlin Wall, before we continued our travels via Autobahn through the countryside. The kids got to see many cities, typical landscapes, local foods and traditional clothing. The last part of our trip was dedicated to famous castles, segueing to Grimm’s fairy tales (a well known topic in our audience). All 26 kids stayed focused until the end, and we rewarded them with a silly dance to Germany’s 2011 kid music video sensation “Schnappi“.

Below is a movie version of the slide show. It’s lower in resolution than the Powerpoint file and the colors are a little washed out … but this one has a soundtrack. During our live presentation, we took turns narrating each section and answered numerous questions.

PS: if the airplane in the video looks familiar, it’s because i used a photo of Omi Hiltraud’s birthday travel coupon as a base for the school’s colorful plane.

Last April, we renewed Mika’s U.S. passport. Twelve months later, we are finally getting around to applying for her new German passport as well. German rules and regulations for picture ID’s are different (grey background!), so we shot new portraits today. We would have never been able to use last year’s pictures anyway … look how much she has grown.

Of course, it was near impossible to have her pose with a “neutral facial expression” with Tobin in the same room. I got about two minutes of Mika’s undivided attention, but dozens of blurry outtakes with both kids goofing around.

Sung and Tobin went to the same Touch-A-Truck event i took the kids to last year – and they had a much improved experience. Perhaps it was the cooler weather? Or all parents who got frustrated last year decided not to attend? The crowds were less crazy, the lines considerably shorter and Tobin actually got to touch some trucks. He got to wear the police officer’s hat, make a speaker announcement, try on the heavy firefighter’s hat, ‘operate’ and drive the garbage truck, take a break on the cement mixer, and have an all around great time.

Mika’s 2nd grade class is among the lucky few to participate in a special dance collaboration with the STREB kids program. They have been working on a dance routine as part of their P.E., and got to go on an additional field trip to the STREB studio in Williamsburg. They met the founder of the program, Elizabeth Streb, and explored the equipment in small groups: throwing their bodies up against soft mats, jumping on the trampoline, being hoisted waaaaay up on a moving beam, and jumping off high stacks of soft mats in various falling techniques.

Then, they were treated to a full rehearsal of the STREB performers. The first clip is from the warmup exercises, when the kids see a person jump from the third level of the scaffolding for the first time … and scream their heads off. The second clip is part of a run-through of the entire piece. The performers have been working on it for a year and a half…

Another exciting field trip for Tobin and his friends: multi-talented teacher Mr. John took the class into his Williamsburg recording studio to work on their annual graduation CD. Can you imagine 25 preschoolers invading a sound stage … ? They did a great job, but the sound technician is going to apply his magic as well. Can’t wait to hear the results!

Tobin and his buddy Eli had a great time this Friday after school, taking advantage of the last warm day we had for a while. They found a bug who was “a little bit dead” (?), and made sure it wouldn’t come back to life by poking at it with sticks, trapping it under a fortress of little wood pieces, and drowning it with the contents of both their water bottles. I am sure bug karma will bite them in form of pesky mosquitoes throughout summer…

Tobin started having seasonal allergies two days ago – for the first time ever. Just itchy eyes, but he was rubbing them so much at school, that his teachers almost had to send him home today. A children’s dose of anti-histamine and a pair of new sunglasses put him out of his misery (and kept his hands out of his eyes). He picked the glasses all by himself, and has gotten three unsolicited compliments already on the way home.

Uncle Joe returned safely to LA, but here is one more picture from this past week. He and the kids were inseparable – usually seen without iphone, but this was a perfect opportunity to get all 3 faces really close into one frame. Thanks again for spending Spring Break with us … and see you soon!