Halloween 2003
This year is superhero year and Nicki finally got his Batman
costume. Cool dude!
Lauren will go as a Cinderella the most beatiful princess.
Pickup Truck
Due to the fact that Philip got a new job with Thermo Electron
we needed to get a new car/truck.
We ended up buying a used Toyota Tacoma SR6
Extended Cab in black. In only a few weeks it has
already served us so well that
it's hard to believe we managed to survive without one for so long.
Oktoberfest 2003
For the first time did the weather not turn out as well as expected. However
the grass looked
much better the next day and the newly installed sail cover, sunbrella, tarp in combination with
the gazebo tent made the deck a fairly
comfortable place. The Red Sox won their game against
the Yankees and the living
room provided enough dancefloor for all.
Sail protection
In addition to the protection against the cold we installed one
of our main sails as sun/rain
protection. The main comes with an unusual zipping
mechanism that allows the sail to be easily
stowed away and zipped against the
house. It also made for a nice comfortable atmosphere
during our Mexican Night.
Deck Heating
As it does get fairly cool here in New England once in a while
we decided to order a patio heater.
That way we'd be able to spent even more
time outside and during Oktoberfest's we'd be able to
accommodate more people.
In addition, we bought a chimenea, an outside fireplace in a bottle kinda
shape.
It is a great toy and we can now burn about anything we want. Currently we are
using the
wood of the replaced gutters. You could say we are burning (parts of)
our house down.
Halloween 2002
Another event poorly documented this year. As always did we make
our rounds around Nahant
and even Lauren did great when knocking at the door
yelling "Trick or treat".
Oktoberfest 2002
Yes, there was an Oktoberfest in 2002. Somehow we forgot to
write about here. Overall,
though, it was as much fun as the previous ones. The
ordered outdoor heater did not get
delivered in time but luckily enough was the
weather quite nice.
Halloween 2001
This year Nick decided to go as an Elephant (what else?). Lolo went as a
Teddybear. It was
the first time that Nick actually went to the doors all by himself or
with friends (Lilli & Maggie,
Frankie & Olivia). He practiced to say"Trick Or
Treat" and actually sounded better than some
of his American friends.
At the end of the evening he had quite a good selection of treats.
Oktoberfest 2001
It was Octoberfest season again. And, surprisingly enough after all that rain and heavy
wind,
the wheather turned out perfect again. The kids as always ruined the garden (even
broke a
basement window) while the adults had all kinds of different Octoberfestbeers and
a few
shots as well. The next days everybody had the Octoberfestflew :-).
Patio
After a lot of work last year it was about time to complete the project.
Another hole was dug
out and the same kind of wall was built, including a few steps to get
to the ground level. New
threshold and doors were installed as well as an additional pump,
hidden underneath a trapdoor.
New windows
Getting the windows replaced was much easier and faster than expected.
After a couple of
weeks research and waiting for the windows to be custom built, it took
those guys just a few
hours to replace the windows in living room, half bath, and four
bedrooms. Philip then spent
another day fixing and painting the frames.
Patio
It took us a couple of weekends but we eventually managed to get the new
patio underneath the
deck built. It was a lot of work and we would not have been able to
get it done without Peter's
pick-up truck and Ulf's, Steve's and Chuck's support. Thanks a
lot guys!
Nic's first birthday party
On Monday 4/3 Nicholas had his first birthday party. It was great! All his
friends came and
had a great day with nice weather, lots of cake and even more toys. Click
here for pictures.
We finally got the porch replaced
This time finding someone to do our porch was not that difficult because
we had talked to
Mario last year already. He got started on a Monday morning right after
the winter season
seemd to be over and actually finished his job by Friday. The only thing
that's missing are
the stairs. We still have the old ones in place but they need
adjustment due to the slighty
higher floor level of the new porch. Underneath the porch
we're planning to build a three
season room to store things like surfboards, bycicles and
strollers. Should be done by May.
New paint for our house
These days it seems to be almost impossible to find someone to paint a
house in the US.
After talking to a lot of painters we eventually managed to find Riteway
Painters who not only
talked about the painting but also had the time and right price to
paint our house. They did a
very good job! All rodden parts, such as gutters, basement
windows or parts of the garage
were replaced for a small extra charge and the old paint
was properly removed. The new
color is very similar to the old one but slightly warmer.
Now the house looks like new again.
The next improvement will be the porch which will
hopefully be replaced spring 2000.
Oktoberfest
Although we are from Northern-Germany where the Oktoberfest does not have
as strong a
meaning as in Munich, we decided to have an Oktoberfest party in Nahant. It
turned out to be
a very good idea. 40 adults and 20 kids were running around all over the
place. We had a lot of
German sausages, sauerkraut and pretzels. Everybody brought his
favorite sixpack of German
beer or special American Oktoberfest beer. After a few shoots
everybody was in the right
mood for partying (that's why we can't show any pictures!).
Party for Nicholas in May
Despite millions of new babies in Nahant, we managed to create another
topic to talk about:
Nic's party on the new deck. It was great! Almost everybody showed
up, the weather was
perfect and we did not run out of drinks. Looks like we have to
practice more often to get
more drinks down next year. This year's best drink. Aalborger
from Denmark.
Pregnancies
Since we had eight !!! pregnant women on the island in January, the main topic
obviously is
pregnancy. In addition to these eight woman Emily in Boston and a lot of
friends in Germany
are pregnant right now too.
The first who had their baby this year were Maxi and Klaus in Kiel, Germany. Morris was
born January 31st.
The first who delivered a baby in Nahant was Sheila. John and Sheila had John V (Jack)
on February 3rd . He is doing fine and already joined us for a dinner at Papa Johns in Swampscott.
Great news: Melli and Alexander had their healthy baby-boy Konstantin (56cm, 3800g) on
March 24th in Peine, Germany. Melli is still in the hospital but feels fine. She hopes to
get
home on Sunday.
Nicholas Aaron (51cm, 3450g) arrived. We are both extremely happy and excited and can't
wait for Nic to get his first snowboard and lighter.
Rumor has it that Dodo Kannengiesser and Janett are also pregnant and therefore might
be
expecting a baby this year.
It was a busy week again. On Monday, 5/10, Linda had Liliana, a healthy girl. Only two
days
later Erin had Margaret Jean another healthy girl. On the next day Susanne gave birth
to Carla.
Two babies on the same day: Heike had 'Baby Helen' on Monday in Germany as well as Jen
gave birth to Michael the same day in Nahant.
Emily eventually managed to give birth to Charlotte Flora on Memorial Day.
Caro had her baby, Luise, in Peine, Germany. Probably at the same time as the beginning
of
the fireworks in Boston which were again extremely good.
Dorothee delivered Johann Henri in Eckernfoerde, Germany. Although we did not manage
to
talk to her yet, we assume everything is fine.
Dodo had her second daughter, Carla Antonia, after some stressful moments in Peine.
It's
Corinna's second niece.
The same day Patsi delivered Justus Maximilian in Kiel
Maxi (Germany) - 1/99 had Morris 1/31
Sheila (Nahant) - 2/99, had Jack 2/03
Tiffany (Nahant) - 3/99, had Ryan? 3/24
Melli (Germany) - 3/99, had Konstantin Alexander 3/24
Corinna (Nahant) - 4/99, had Nicholas Aaron 4/3
Linda (Nahant) - 5/99, had Liliana 5/10
Erin (Nahant) - 5/99, had Margaret Jean 5/12
Susanne (Germany) - 5/99, had Carla 5/13
Jen (Nahant) - 5/99, had Michael 5/24
Heike (Germany) - 6/99, had Helen Luisa 5/24
Emily (Boston) - 5/99, delivered Charlotte Flora 5/31
Caro (Germany) - 7/99, had Luise 7/5
Shane (Nahant) - 8/99, had ??
Dodo K (Germany) - 9/99 delivered Johann Henri 9/24
Dodo V.(Germany) - 10/99 delivered Carla Antonia 10/01
Patsy (Germany) - 10/99 had Justus Maximilian 10/01
For pictures of these little heroes check the 1999ers page.
Construction
We eventually managed to get Mario back to our house in order to finalize the plan for
the deck. It will be built during March and definitely be finished by March 30th. The
deck
extends the porch to the garden. The main area will be 12'x24' (4mx8m) and has
stairs down
to the garage. Mahagony will be used for all visible parts. We will also get
a sliding
door built in our dining-room that connects dinning-room and deck. Rails will be
victorian
style.
O.k., the sliding door is mounted in the wall now and the deck-framing is almost
finished.
It looks like we will be able to walk on our new deck by Saturday afternoon.
Only the rails
and some minor work need to be completed in the following week. It's time
to get the
barbecue ready!
Mario actually managed to finish the construction of the deck in time. It looks
perfect,
like a big piece of furniture in the backyard. Today, 4/6, all the mahogany parts
were
sealed with a linseed oil-based finish, so that we will officially open the
deck-season tomorrow.
Update:
The deck season was officially opened in April and now that the sun shines a lot more
often we actually spend more time on the deck than inside. We also managed to get some
nice deck chairs that fold into a chaise. The only thing that's missing is someone to
bring
us the drinks now.
Walker finally gets his own garden fence so that he can play outside without being on
the
leash. Therefore we can sleep longer because we don't have to bring him outside all
the
time - he'll get his own door instead. The fence will surround our complete backyard.
We eventually managed to get started with the fence. Due to Corinna's sudden
hyperactivity
one side of our backyard is fenced now.
Update
Due to Nic's birth the construction of the fence was slightly delayed. But now that
Corinna's
parents as well as Jens have been here the fence is finished. Smitty is still
able to back into
his backyard and Walker can go crazy whenever he likes.
Just minutes before the gate is finished.
New England is nice:
