Off to Delmenhorst

Today was another beautiful day.  We started at the Münster All Weather Zoo.  It is called that because it has plenty of covered walkways and indoor areas for visitors when the weather is bad.  The best thing about German zoos is that they have playgrounds for the kids.  Also, we were there early in the morning so it wasn’t very crowded.  In fact, at first, we were by ourselves.  It was cool and quiet so we got to see the animals up close.  Sabine really loved every animal we saw.  She wanted to stay at every exhibit we stopped at.  We also saw lots of storks with nests and babies throughout the zoo.  Sabine loved to see baby birds in their nests.  Anna, on the other hand, was more interested in finding the next playground.  We found the main playground and it had a huge slide, trampoline like bouncing spaces, swings and lots of other cool stuff.  On the way out we stopped at the petting zoo.  They had goats and chickens.  They also had a machine for goat food right by the entrance.  The goats had figured out that the food was in the machine and were trying to get it out.  Patrick tried to buy food and the goat ate it from the dispenser before he could give it to the girls.  In fact, one of the goats knocked into Sabine trying to get to the food.  After that, both girls were done with the petting zoo.  By the time we left the zoo, it was packed.  There was a huge line to get in and parking was crazy.  We were glad to be leaving. 

We left the zoo and made our way to downtown Münster for some sightseeing and lunch.  It was also crowded as we got closer to the city.  Most people take the day after Father’s Day off so everyone was out and about to enjoy the nice weather.  We walked around downtown and looked at all the buildings and especially the churches.  They had three churches (all different denominations) in the downtown zone and all three are very old.  By now, the girls know the drill with the churches and even look for their favorite things.  I had Sabine in the front pack.  She fell asleep after all the excitement at the zoo.  I was glad to have the carrier and to not have to juggle a sleeping baby.  We also enjoyed walking through the main square.  There were lots of high end shops including Escada and Tommy Hilfiger.  At last, we found a place for lunch.  We ate outside to enjoy the nice weather so we had a little bit of trouble finding a seat.  Lunch was good.  Anna had her favorite, schnitzel and pommes.  Sabine has discovered German pommes are much better than American fries.

After lunch, it was back on to the autobahn and up to visit Meike.  As usual, Anna slept.  Sabine stayed awake.  She had fun playing with her phone and watching out the window.  When we finally got off of the autobahn, we ended up in the wrong place.  Patrick had put an old address into the GPS so we had to drive across town.  So Anna was very anxious when we finally found the right place.

Both girls were very glad to get to Meike’s.  Martje and Lina were glad to see us too.  They had drawn arrows on the sidewalk so we could find our way.  After coffee and cake, the girls (minus Sabine) made their way to the local playground by themselves.  Anna loved the freedom of going without parents.  Sabine stayed and played with some Playmobil animals.  Sabine loves Meike.  She played with her, let he pick her up and even talks to her.  In fact, when I went to change her diaper, she told me she didn’t want to leave.  She likes being here.  I think she thought we were moving on to another hotel.  Both Anna & Martje were worried about not being able to communicate but they have made it work.  Anna understands some German since she used to play with Lara so much, Martje knows some English from school and the grown-ups help translate.