December 27th, 2019 - Tarte Flambe

I was very tempted to call this entry "the reluctant chef" but that wouldn't have been fair the the person panfrying bacon for this team effort. We figured that we have never tried our professional pizza oven for Tarte Flambe and thus gave it a shot. The results were excellent and to be repeated soon.

December 25th, 2019 - Christmas

Arno woke all of us up this morning and was extremely excited about the events that were to unfold soon. We had a quick bite to eat and then proceeded to open presents. The majority of the day was, as always, spent in the kitchen. We made a fabulous potato roast for lunch and had sous vide steak frites for dinner.

December 24th, 2019 - Weihnachten

Austin came over for our traditional German Christmas today, which is celebrated on Christmas Eve. We opened the gifts from my Mom and exchanged others with Austin. It was nice to see him again after some time, but he's moving back to Dallas so that we'll hopefully get to visit with him more often.

December 7th, 2019 - Flying Tiger

We all went to watch Arno's Taekwondo practice today, which is always great fun. He is very good and has earned lots of belts by now. It the art of high kicks, but what's much more important is that the boys learn to respect everyone, beginning with those who are older or unable to fend for themselves. Of course that is a very important cornerstone of Korean culture and a beautiful way to approach life.

November 28th, 2019 - Thanksgiving

We took a non-traditional approach to Thanksgiving this year. Instead of cooking all day, munching on Turkey and all the rest, we simply went to a brunch. It was fun and left us with plenty of opportunities to play and spend time together. What was missing, of course, was the company of good friends and that's maybe the most important part of celebrating after all.

October 10th, 2019 - Arno's Birthday

Now, the big day. Arno was excited as ever and could not wait to open his presents in the morning. As an added benefit, his very good German friend Hucky was here to visit with Charlotte. We had a great day, made a fine steak for dinner and then the girls had wine while the boys scattered all over the house and played video games.

October 9th, 2019 - Funny Faces

Tomorrow is the big day and Arno decided that he wanted to go to Nordstroms bistro for dinner. Unfortunate, but not unexpectedly, I did not manage to get any straight faces on camera.

September 8th, 2019 - Meredith's Birthday

Meredith's birthday is always a big deal and requires a bit of preparation. Arno and Margo had made a song and poem for her respectively, which was really nice. On Saturday, Chris and Mario came over with their daughter for schnitzel and wine. It's been a very long time since we had laughed this much in one night. Meredith really enjoyed the evening and we all toasted to her before calling it a night.

August 24th, 2019 - Museums

It's probably been close to two years since we had visited the museums in Fort Worth so we decided to make a go of it. Unfortunately, the lines for the Monet exhibition were once around the building, but the rest of it was just as interesting.

August 18th, 2019 - The Weekend

There is nothing better than a relaxing weekend and swim in the pool. Arno had a friend over for the night as well and we all watched a movie. 

August 15th, 2019 - Miscellaneous

I haven't really had a chance to take any photos over the past few months due to work. So there is an assortment of images that I managed to pick up every once in a while.

July 20th, 2019 - Pizza Night

Barbara and Hans-Walter came over for an evening of making pizzas. Everyone contributed one pizza, but under the condition that it's one that you cannot buy in a restaurant. So, each pizza had to be completely new. Margo has a huge chocolate chip cookie and Arno a marshmallow and chocolate pizza,  both of which were delicious. However, the grand prize of the evening clearly went to Barbara for her truly incredible rainbow pizza.

June 23rd, 2019 - Quick Swim

It's been weird outside. On one hand it's extremely hot and on the other we're getting one thunderstorm after another. Today was the third in two weeks that cause damages and power outages. We went for a quick swim in-between though, which was great fun.  Oh, yes, and I totally locked the kids out just to get a few nice photos.

June 18th, 2019 - Basketball

Arno really enjoys playing basketball and it seems that the sport likes him back. He's learned a lot over the last coupe of weeks during the summer league. Of course, when ever he does things like steal the ball, run across the court and score, we unfortunately are pointing the camera elsewhere so that any evidence of heroic deeds is still scant.

June 15th, 2019 - Horseback

I took Arno to his riding lesson in the morning and had lots of fun watching him as he fearlessly cantered around the ring.

May 30th, 2019 - Visiting Charlotte and Malte

We were lucky that Lotte and Malte were still in Bonn while we were there so that the visit was easy and the drive very quick. It was really nice to visit with them, as it always is, and we all had a great time. 

May 29th, 2019 - Makeovers and a Skateboard

Margo and Meredith had their salon day in Duesseldorf today, which freed Arno and me up to explore toy stores. After much deliberation, he settled on a new gun and a skateboard. Of course, the girls had hours of fun being pampered and treated with all kinds of stuff that entirely escapes my imagination. We visited Christine and Marcus in their restaurant for a truly exquisite lunch that left everyone thoroughly satisfied.

May 28th, 2019 - Tourists

It's strange when you feel like a tourist in your own country, but of course that's what we are. I think everyone has a strong connection to Germany, but we're also removed from the life here.

May 26th, 2019 - Family Photos

Olga and Vlady were very kind to bring a camera when they came over for coffee and cake. Olga took a lot of really nice photos, which was particularly beneficial for me since I am usually never in any of the images on this site. 

May 26th, 2019 - Fair Grounds

We all had a good nights' sleep and were ready to tackle the day. Olga and Vlady came over for coffee and offered to take a family photo of us, which was really nice since we usually don't ever have everyone on the same side of the camera. Later, we went to a fair with lots of rides and even more sweets.

May 25th, 2019 - Travel Day

On a flight to Germany today with everyone being very excited to see Oma and a few friends. The travel day is always long and we actually made it through to evening, which mean everyone slept like a rock for the night. In the evening, we played roulette and naturally, made a recording of who won how much so that it can be known to all who's winning and who isn't.

May 17, 2019 - Margo's Play

We watched Margo play in 'Alice' today, which was very well done. 

May 2, 2019 - Margo's Birthday

Big day. Margo turned 13 and we celebrated it over the weekend with a really nice dinner as well as at breakfast and dinner again. She had asked for a new room with a more adult bed and more adult pictures for the walls and so on. We had lots of fun together and all of us enjoyed spending the day with our little angel.

April 14, 2019 - Downtown

The day was just too good to pass up for a couple of shots in the park, at the DMA and in Deep Ellum.

April 7, 2019 -A Couple of Shots

Just a few casual observations with the camera ...

March 24, 2019 - The Dallas Zoo

Barbara and Hans-Walter invited us to the zoo today, which was a really nice diversion from being home and allowed us to spend the better part fo the day outside.

March 23, 2019 - Arno

The girls are in Louisiana for a volleyball tournament and so Arno and I were left to our own devices for the weekend. We had a nice dinner at the Mermaid Bar and went to my University lecture together in the morning. Afterwards, it was lots of food and a movie. We probably also had more ice cream than any one man can take, but we're going to work it off tomorrow with a visit to the zoo.

March 16, 2019 - Skate Park

Arno and I went to the skate park in East Dallas today, which was awesome. There were a lot of really good guys and they all seemed to flow through at different times. Everybody was extremely friendly and most of the guys walked up to Arno to give him helpful tips such as 'stand on your toes like a ballerina' and 'snap the board like you're kicking someone really hard'. It was great to watch most of the other guys, who did impossible jumps and  incredible ollies.

March 10, 2019 - Arno and Wine

We had a nice bottle of red and a steak dinner tonight, so Arno wanted to try the wine. He took the shot glass in which is was served a little too literal though and drowned all of it in one swoop.

March 7, 2019 - Swiss Ave

Torsten visited today and we got to spend the afternoon together, which was a really welcome reprieve from work.  I had not done anything else for the last eight months and getting out almost felt like a prison break. We visited downtown as well as Swiss Avenue for the architecture and then cooked a nice dinner.

March 3, 2019 - Couple of Shots

Some images that I was able to take throughout February and the beginning of March

January 27, 2019 - Mostly Arno

Arno accompanied me to a lecture at UNT last week and was largely unimpressed. In fact, he let it be known later that he did not learn anything although he did answer one of my questions to the class. And on Friday we went to the Mermaid Bar for dinner where we ran into  Gina and had, well, what we always have when we go. Arno is a creature of habit when it comes to butter noodles without anything else.  

January 17, 2019 - A Couple of Shots

We had a nice dinner tonight and lots of fun with Arno's photography, which he updates on his own site now. My own shooting is still very much on the back-burner.