Nathalie, Somewhere, The World

olgamaus Posted Apr 23, 2009, 3:59 pm	Hello, I am Nathalie, a curious duckling. I will start my journey soon. Today I went to the municipal park with my mentor. I love to sit between pretty and fragrant flowers. I met ducks at the pond in the park. I will go to Florida with Theodore soon. My itinerary: Carlissa - Florida, USA arasmi - California, USA smaug - Canada JaymeC - Japan Nathalie
olgamaus Posted May 6, 2009, 12:38 pm	When my Mummy came home in her lunch break she told me that I would leave today, with Theodore. It's a good idea to leave today because the weather has gone really bad. Theodore packed his things and then we were ready to take off. We hopped into the envelope. We are already on our way to sunny Florida. Carlissa, see you soon. Nathalie
carlissa Posted May 22, 2009, 2:08 am	Hi Mommy! Theodore and I made it to Miami.  My host was out of town, so we had to hang out at the post office until today, when we were picked up and brought home.  I will update some more later as it is getting late now. Love,   Nathalie
carlissa Posted May 23, 2009, 9:00 pm	Hi Mommy! Whoever said Florida is the Sunshine State has never been to Florida during a tropical thunderstorm!  It has been raining for a week now!  I'm glad I'm a duckling and like getting wet!  My host did manage to get a few pictures of me at her house. Here I am watching it rain in the front of the house: Here I am on the back balcony overlooking the lake: The mango tree is happy that it's raining! Love,   Nathalie
carlissa Posted May 26, 2009, 8:14 pm	Hello Mommy! It stopped raining for a little while, so I went to Emerald Acres Stables in Horse Country!  I met a very nice miniature donkey:
carlissa Posted May 26, 2009, 8:19 pm	Hello Mommy! I went to play down by the lake today, and I met some lovely little ducklings, just like me! Love,   Nathalie
carlissa Posted May 30, 2009, 5:37 pm	I went to the library today! Before I went into the library, I stopped to smell this beautiful crinum lily, and it smells absolutely divine! Love,   Nathalie
carlissa Posted Jun 4, 2009, 11:13 pm	I went to Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden today!  I saw lots of flowers and lots of statues by Fernando Botero and other sculptors.  I took lots and lots of pictures! I had lots of fun today! Love,   Nathalie
carlissa Posted Jun 11, 2009, 1:58 am	Hi Mommy! Today I went for a walk in Matheson Hammock Park!  It's a very big park with a lake, picnic pavilion, lots of pretty oak trees, and a barbecue pit that looks like a hobbit house.  Sometime there are alligators in the lake, but I didn't see any today.  I did see two iguanas, though! Here are some pictures I took while at the park: Love,   Nathalie
carlissa Posted Jun 16, 2009, 1:32 am	Hi Mommy, My host is taking me on a road trip!  We left Miami today and drove all the way to Savannah, Georgia!  We walked along the riverfront in Savannah and had dinner at One Eyed Lizzies.  We also went for a nice walk in the historic downtown section of Savannah.  Here's a steam boat on the river: I met this guy at One Eyed Lizze's: I played on the cannon: Savannah has lots of pretty houses like this one: Here's a pretty church bell:
carlissa Posted Jun 16, 2009, 1:41 am	Hi Mommy, Today we drove to Newland, North Carolina.  We will be staying here for awhile.  Newland is in the Smoky Mountains and it's very pretty here.
carlissa Posted Jun 18, 2009, 7:28 pm	This morning I went to see Elk River and Elk Falls. I had to hike along the river until I came to the falls. Here I am at Elk River: The falls are very pretty: Winston went with me to the falls: Love,   Nathalie
carlissa Posted Jun 20, 2009, 1:15 am	Hi Mommy, I went to Grandfather Mountain today.  Grandfather Mountain has a mile-high swinging bridge, wildlife habitat, and my favorite, a fudge shop!  I saw bears, otters, deer, cougars, and a bald eagle in the wildlife habitat.  I tried the fudge and it was delicious!
carlissa Posted Jun 22, 2009, 1:56 pm	Hi Mommy! I went to Blowing Rock this morning.  Blowing Rock is a beautiful resort town in the Smoky Mountains in North Carolina. The view of the mountains is beautiful from up here: There are lots of waterfalls around here like this one: After admiring the view from the blowing rock, I went to see Moses Cone Memorial Park.  Moses Cone and his wife Bertha owned an apple orchard here in the early 1900's.  Here is their house: After touring the house, I walked along a horse trail that goes down the mountain to Bass Lake.  I didn't go all the way to the lake because it was too far for a little duckling like me to go (it's 2.3 miles to the lake!). Love,   Nathalie
carlissa Posted Jul 4, 2009, 8:49 pm	Today we went window shopping at Banner Elk and I saw lots of pretty flowers! On the way back to Newland, we stopped at this ice cream shop!  Yummy, I love ice cream! Love,   Nathalie
carlissa Posted Jul 4, 2009, 9:07 pm	Today I went to see a beautiful park in Newland, North Carolina and I went hiking in the woods! Here's a cute little bridge that crosses the creek: and the waterfalls: There is a hiking path that goes up the falls and into the woods where I saw several rhododendron flowers: The hiking path follows this pretty little creek: Love,   Nathalie
carlissa Posted Jul 4, 2009, 9:23 pm	I'm back in Miami, Florida!  I left Newland, North Carolina yesterday and stopped in Gainesville, Florida for the night.  I was very tired after the long drive (it took 9 hours!), so I didn't get any pictures. Love,   Nathalie
carlissa Posted Jul 17, 2009, 6:29 pm	Hi Mommy! The weather has been very hot and humid here in Miami, so I've just been hanging out with my friends in the house where it's cool.  We all had stories to tell of the places we've been and the things we've done.  But now it's time for me to move onward to California!  I will miss all my new friends that I've met here in Miami, but maybe I will see them again one day. My friends have gathered around to say goodbye: Goodbye, Theodore and Fairchild and Westgate and Chris, and Minerva and Prince Charming and Frankenstein!
arasmi irun4fun2005@yahoo.com Posted Jul 23, 2009, 10:05 am	Hi mommy! I made it safely to California this past monday.  Here I am! I got to meet the other voyagers Sara is hosting...Snuttig and Moony They gave me a warm welcome to Sara's home... I also got to meet all the Eeyores in Sara's Eeyore collection...they told me one of thier own was made into a voyager and they want to know what its like to roam around the world. I then got to meet Sara's dog Kika...it was a nice day and Sara hasn't had time to walk Kika in a while so we decided to take a nice long walk today.  Sara's brother said they fixed up the riverbed where she used to run races and it looks really nice with a pond and everything so we are going to go check it out. Here I am meeting Kika and away we go! Sara thought this was a nice picture of her neighborhood we came across this funny pair on the way to a near by park...sphinx! in California? Here we are at the park the park is across the street from an elementary school...also in the background in this picture are the tracks for the Metro train that runs by and behind that is a driving range for golfers...can you see? its a bit hard to in this picture Here is the school... it has an old school bell that they used to ring way back in the day Now we start on our way to the riverbed...we have to walk along side the train tracks...but there are trees and bushes and a wall that separates the street from the tracks...Sara found this little path she never noticed before... We then reach the entrance to the riverbed...hmm...dogs have to be on a leash...but what about ducklings? we reach the river bed and Sara was astonished at how pretty it is...she remembers it being all dry and ugly when she used to run down here around 8 yrs ago Look! ducklings like me! along the path were some signs telling about the LA river/wetland project Sara remembers it looking like this...the other side of the river seems to have been dammed up and that's why its dry while the other side is a wetland We much enjoy the way it looks now it was a hot day so we decided to rest in the shade for a bit before we headed back home hmm...people go left...but horses go right...where do TVs go? We had to get going back home because Sara had work...I think I will be joining her at work tomorrow.  Today was a big first day for me.  I tell you about my later adventures.  Bye for now!
arasmi irun4fun2005@yahoo.com Posted Jul 25, 2009, 10:18 am	Hi Mom! So today Sara took us to Signal Hill to see the great view of Long Beach. Enjoy! At Hilltop park... You can see everything from up here!! And so many other wonderful things up here! like statues... Flowers... a post truck... a plane fly by... Sara thought it was interesting to see an FCC tower in a neighborhood... We even saw some monks walking around! We played around a little bit on the exercise equipment... This neighborhood is called Panorama Promenade... there was once a fire up here... you can see the Long Beach airport from here (its the brown field in the background) another park Here I am with the American flag, the California flag...and an unknown third flag... another neighborhood it was another hot day so we headed on back home to cool off. I will keep you updated on my travels. Bye for now!
arasmi irun4fun2005@yahoo.com Posted Aug 9, 2009, 4:40 am	Hi Mom! Sorry I haven't written in a while...Sara has been quite busy with work lately and she was sick for a little while.  She hasn't had too much time to take us anywhere special but in about a week we'll be going to Catalina Island! Can't wait!! I'll just run through whats happened in the past few days. We said goodbye to Snuttig...he went on to Canada. Then later on in the week Sara went to the mall to go shopping for a new dress for her Birthday... Saw a funny window there... and I found some ducklings like me! Then we met her new voyager...Marty. It's been a bit quiet here...but I'll let you know when I've had some more adventures. Bye for now!!
arasmi irun4fun2005@yahoo.com Posted Aug 17, 2009, 9:20 pm	Hi Mom! So on saturday Sara's dad got tickets for a concert at the Hollywood Bowl to celebrate Sara's birthday that passed last week.  Sara decided to take us along and show us the famous outdoor concert hall!!  (towards the end you may notice the quality of pictures is reduced...Sara's camera died yet again so she had to use her phone...she will get that fixed soon!) So here we are in the back of the truck all ready for the picnic before we go watch the concert. on the way there we could see the LA skyline... haha...some local "street art" look! we're here! can you see the exit sign? parking was a hassel...more of that when we're trying to leave after having a nice tasty picnic with all these goodies... we decided to explore the surrounding area. someone wrote a cute message on this tree...well if you think about it a certain way its cute OH! look what we found! a museum! and it looks like its a historic landmark. turns out that this building was the first major motion picture studio in Hollywood and was used by Cecil B Demille for the first feature length movie "The Squaw Man".  Pretty cool huh? so we finished dinner and packed up and are now heading to the bowl...oh but whats this...can u see the lovely fountain in the back? it is of "the Muse of Music" and look...a souvenir shop haha and finally! ME in front of the Bowl!!! [IMG] it was a nice night...but time to go! but wow! sooooooo many people had the same idea as us...it was packed! we had to take an tunnel underground to get across the street...wow so many people we moved so slowly! and then...here's us stuck in the parking lot haha...but finally on our way home. bye bye Hollywood Bowl!
arasmi irun4fun2005@yahoo.com Posted Aug 20, 2009, 10:12 am	Hi mom! So on tuesday Sara took a day vacation to near by Catalina Island.  She hadn't been there in 5 years! Not since her senior year of High School...because she used to have summer cross country camp there every school year. So here I am at the landing. Here's our boat... And here we go!! In the background to the right you can kind of see the Queen Mary...Sara took a close up shot but the boat was moving around a bit so the picture is kind of cut in half...sorry about that :/ Here's a lighthouse... And here's Parker's Lighthouse which is a restaurant.  Sara had her 22nd birthday dinner there about a week ago. Here is the Long Beach Arena painted by the famous seascape artist Wyland Here's a big boat... it was a Cheveron oil tanker boat. It was going to be a sunny day so we had to make sure we had sun glasses... We finally made it to the island! and it looks like this is a stop for a cruise ship as well. We woke up early so we could take the early boat to Catalina and have breakfast there. And what a breakfast! Sara was eager to have some chocolate chip pancakes that she used to have every summer she went to the island.  You can see them smothered with melted chocolate chips heehee. Now that we were all fed it was time to explore the island. There are two major ways to get around this tiny place...either you walk or...you take a golf cart!! It's such a small town (Avalon that is...it's the ONLY town on Catalina) that cars are much too big to have on the island so everyone drives a golf cart! You see them back there? We found a whole army of carts for tourists to rent! We had fun playing around with the carts...now back to exploring! The building in the background to the right is the island casino.  Not sure if there is a real casino in there but they do have a movie theater in there. (It only plays one movie though haha) Palm trees galore on the island   A pretty fountain...Sara used to run from the school down to the fountain every morning during camp and stretch by it before her big runs.  The longest run of the camp that she only did one year was 11 miles long! (and amongst those crazy hills no less!!) Needless to say...once was enough for her haha. We found this silly guy by the best ice cream shop on the island...Big Olafs.  Back when Sara used to come there used to be tons of these Buffalo statues all over the place painted all different patterns and colors...seems this one is the last of its kind :[ The day went by too quickly! Sara had alot of fun swimming and paddleboarding and eating. But we had to make sure we caught the last boat of the day or else we'd be stuck on the island over night! So here are some last pictures of the day... A seal statue... That house on top with the conical roof is Holly Hill house...the story is that a man had it built for a woman he loved...but he took too long to build it so she married another man. Sad right? it is currently a private home. some beach volleyball players And here we are at the dock! People fish right off it... Now to wait in line for the boat Such a lovely day...glad to be back home :] Had a fun time mom! Write again soon!!
arasmi irun4fun2005@yahoo.com Posted Sep 8, 2009, 7:58 pm	Today we went to Universal Studios Hollywood.  We got lucky that it wasn't as hot as it has been the past few weeks. here we are in the line to get to the parking. A lot of people had the same idea as us to come here for the holiday! Whoo! We made it in...here is the famous universal globe at the enterance of the park. And here is a statue in the park ...you see that statue to the far right? That's an actual person!! He looked just like the other statues there haha Here is the first attraction we went to...I was too scared to look so i stayed in the backpack for this part. When we got out we met Vin Diesel!! Just kidding...but we did get to see the cars from the movies "The Fast and The Furious" here is the one Vin drove. Oh but look Matt Damon! oh no...just a fake...haha...he was there to show props for "The Bourne" series. Here we are at "The Simpsons Ride" The Simpsons are a big cartoon here in the States. I'm afraid we were much too short to ride the ride :[ Next we went on the Studio tour of the backlot This is a building in a part of the lot called "Old Mexico" they have rain effects here and a fake flood...but i didn't want to get wet so we didn't take a picture This is a famous courtyard that has been used in many old horror films. This is a fake subway set that we were in...we got trapped and there was a big earthquake in there! It was all fake of course but it was scary!! The tour was fun...and as we walked around we found the capsule from the movie "Apollo 13" And look! Tom Hanks!Heehee We rode the Jurassic Park Ride and the Mummy Ride And watched the "Waterworld" show Bye bye Universal Studios! Sara got a year pass so maybe we'll be back again soon
arasmi irun4fun2005@yahoo.com Posted Sep 13, 2009, 2:56 am	Hi Mom! Thursday was my last day here with arasmi and the other voyagers. I am heading off to my next host in Canada. The other voyagers gave me a big hug. then we had a little ice cream party because it was hot...I enjoyed the green lime popsicle...yum! then it was time for me to get all packaged up and off to the post office! I'll let you know once I've reached my new host. Bye Mom!
smaug Posted Sep 23, 2009, 5:07 am	Hi Mum! I am in Canada ! Wow, today when I travelled from the post office to smaug's post box I thought I was going to freeze,  apparently the temperature was almost down to 0C, brrr  . Then, when someone picked my envelope out of the post box I had the strange feeling of being at the center of the attention  , and guess what, when I put my head out my friend Snuttig was there to welcome me  . He introduced me to the other TVs who are staying here: Sully Monster comes from Australia, Ronnie is visiting from Spain, Lysander comes from Scotland and sammino is a stay at home TV . There is also a little duck called Paulina who isn’t officially a TV but who is always going around with the TVs, and more "resident" toys. I guess I’ll have a great time here, can’t wait to explore the country  .
smaug Posted Sep 24, 2009, 5:29 am	Hi Mum! Wow, it was so hot here today, it went up to 34C  . It is strange to have the hottest day of the year when we are officially already in autumn, but smaug told us not to get use to it: the forecast for next week said that morning temperature could go as low as -5C or less,  . So, when he came back from work he told us that we should make the most of the nice weather and we went out for a walk along the river, so I had my first chance to explore Calgary  . Here we took a picture from a bridge on the Bow River looking at downtown Calgary. Then we went walking a bit in the river channel and took another couple of pictures. There were plenty of seagulls around but no ducks  , maybe they were home for supper  . As you can see it was getting a bit too dark to take more photos but we kept walking a bit longer before coming home. It was nice, pity it soon will be so cold  .
smaug Posted Sep 29, 2009, 4:43 am	Hi Mum! today was a lovely sunny day so smaug decided to have a final (for the season) high mountain hike.  Our destination was Mount Allan in the Kananaskis Provincial Park. We spent the first part of the day climbing up a thick forest (where we tried to take some photos without getting anything presentable in an update  ). When we eventually came out of the trees we were on a steep ridge overlooking Kananaskis Valley. From the ridge you could see the valley heading north… …and south… …this big mountain called Mt Kidd... ….and the top of the ridge, called Olympic Summit. Just next to it is the Nakiska ski area (that you can't see in the picture) where all the alpine ski races where held during the 1988 Winter Olympics, hence the name…or at least I guess so  . Once we reached Olympic Summit we were not even half way to our destination  . We had to follow a long and very, very breezy ridge (so breezy, the rucksack was shaking  all the time, wow  ).  From the ridge we got some lovely views over Kananaskis Valley and the surrounding mountains  . ….and we could also see our destination, Mount Allan. Here you can see Mount Allan on the right half in the shadow and the much higher Mount Lougheed on the left. Halfway through the ridge we came across these funny pinnacles formed by rock that somehow  resisted erosion . Eventually we reached the top at 2819m  and the view, of course, was great  : we could see the Bow River Valley in the north-west… …Kananaskis Valley in the south-east… …endless mountains in the north… …and Mount Lougheed just in front of us On the way back smaug decided to enjoy a bit the sun by laying in the grass. So we took the chance to come out of the rucksack, have a bit of fun by ourselves and so we went climbing  . Well, the others went climbing. I am lucky enough to have wings so I didn’t really need to climb , but sammino and I had the task to find out  the best routes and holds from the air and direct and support the climbers . Climbing must be hard work  !! Here I was helping Snuttig in one of the steepest sections. While here sammino and I were keeping a watchful eye when the others were going up an angled fissure. How exciting!! And how great to sit all together watching the landscape  !
smaug Posted Oct 4, 2009, 7:55 pm	Hi Mum! Today it was Sully Monster’s birthday, so this morning we all gathered around to sing Happy Birthday for him  . Since smaug was at work and didn’t leave anything special for us, sammino decided that we should raid the kitchen and find some party food. We started with the fridge without any luck  (I kind of noticed that the man didn’t come back home with any shopping bag for quite few days). The first cupboard we checked wasn’t much better than the fridge, all canned food  Now this looks interesting, not healthy maybe, but tasty  So we stuffed ourselves with nutella, cookies and crisps. After that we checked out the latest updates on toyvoyagers Then, since it was a really cold day, we spent the afternoon wrapped in a fleece blanket chatting and watching TV on the sofa...keeping a few extra cookies nearby, just in case
smaug Posted Oct 4, 2009, 11:03 pm	Hi Mum! Today we said goodbye to my friend Snuttig. It was nice to meet him a second time here, I wonder if I’ll meet him again. He is going to California...so lucky  ! He is actually moving with a very good timing as here, in the night, it started snowing  .
smaug Posted Oct 14, 2009, 3:53 am	Hi Mum! tonight sammino went out with smaug saying that he had a mission and he was going to come back with a surprise for us. Very, very much later he reappeared with two new TVs  : Hedgie and Mortimer. They all looked very cheerful, maybe a bit too cheerful...I dare say that they were totally drunk  . They decided that we should have a few beers with them... ... and then they fell asleep  . I guess we will have to wait until tomorrow to find out something more about them  .
smaug Posted Oct 18, 2009, 8:34 pm	Hi Mum! Today we were all still feeling a bit lightheaded after all the drinking last night  . smaug actually noticed that Mortimer was even too lightheaded and needed urgent surgery before the head came off completely  . Of course, we TVs all gathered around the surgery theatre  to help. I’ll spare you the details of the operation; luckily it was successful and when he woke up he was feeling fine  . Later in the afternoon we thought that we might go out for a walk, but it was still cold and snowy so we decided to spend the day nice and warm at home just looking out of the window  .
smaug Posted Oct 26, 2009, 3:22 am	Hi Mum! It’s been a bit boring around here over the last fortnight as smaug was too busy to take us anywhere  . The only event worth mentioning is the arrival of a new guest last weekend. His name’s Henry-Bo and comes from Germany too  . As always we all gave him a warm welcome  . Yesterday we were hoping to do something, but it was snowing again in the morning  , ...so we just spent the day planning future trips. Eventually today the weather was good, so we went for a quick drive in the morning towards Kananaskis Country  . First we took a picture of Kananaskis Valley... ...then we stopped at this falls... ...and well. The well was really nice, but fully filled with soil so there was really no risk of falling inside  . On the way back we stopped to take a picture at Barrier Lake. The lake is apparently famous because it served as Alkali Lake in the X-man movies  . Later in the afternoon smaug had to do some work so we stopped at his office where, to keep us quiet, he damped us at the window with some food  . Nothing ever likely to feature on the Michelin Guide, but it was edible. When we went home we found out that Monsters, Inc. was on TV. So Sully Monster told us something about his previous life (before becoming a TV) as a movie star  . Wow, until now I didn’t really realized that I was sharing adventures with such a celebrity  .
smaug Posted Nov 2, 2009, 3:52 am	Hi Mum! Today the weather was wonderful here in Calgary  , so smaug decided to take us out for a trip to the mountains, but as we left the prairies and approached Banff National Park we were greeted by a mix of rain, snow and heavy clouds  . Still, as we could see some blue gaps in the sky  we headed North hoping that the situation improved. To our supreme disappointment we just entered a thick snowfall with no real sign of improvements on the way. The road conditions were getting actually a bit tricky  . Eventually we just headed back trying to take some wintry picture here and there when the gaps in the clouds allowed it. Here I was at Bow Lake with Crowfoot Mountain in the background... ...and here at Hector Lake. This is a famous bend just south of Lake Louise were road, railway and river are very close to each other and it is a typical location for a picture. Ideally there would be a train  passing by and a sunny view of the mountains...neither of which was really available today  . Later we just run from the storm and headed back home where we were greeted again by a sunny blue sky and spring-like temperatures  .
smaug Posted Nov 4, 2009, 3:37 am	Hi Mum! Today we said goodbye to Sully Monster who is moving to his new host. Last night we all gathered around to wish him a safe trip  ... ...and, of course, we ended up spending the whole night chatting  .
smaug Posted Nov 11, 2009, 7:06 pm	Hi Mum! today the weather here in Calgary was gorgeous so we thought we were going for some nice trip, but apparently it was snowing on the mountains  , so, to avoid ending up in another blizzard, smaug decided to just have a walk here in town along the Bow River  . At one point we found a platform over the river bank where we could take a couple of pictures...looking upstream... ...and downstream. While there I met this couple of local ducks  . Later on we found out that the footpath that we were supposed to follow was closed, so we went up an another small road that climbed the hill on the side of the river. It was mainly walking between the trees, but we could occasionally get a glimpse of the river below us and of downtown in the distance. When we were amost at the top we found another gap from where we could see downtown, But after that we ended up between some houses and, since it was getting very windy, we just decided to head back home.
smaug Posted Nov 19, 2009, 4:48 am	Hi Mum! This week a new guest arrived! Her name is Lucy K and she’s from Germany too...and she brought some sweets for us, how kind of her  ! The rest of the week nothing really happened, but today it was Hedgie’s birthday so we all gathered around to sing Happy Birthday for him  . Later in the day, instead of getting a big cake for the celebrations  , smaug decided to take us for a walk in the forest in the ElbowValley, not far from Calgary. The trail was wide and not really steep, but it was mostly within the trees. I crossed a few frozen streams like this one... ...and occasionally had the chance to see the surrounding mountains  . Later, we found ourselves on a bank of the Elbow River...that gives the name to the valley. And this is the river again from the shore. As you can see it was getting dark and we reached the car just before nightfall. I was so tired when we eventually arrived back home  . Bye Nathalie
smaug Posted Nov 23, 2009, 4:39 am	Hi Mum! Today smaug took us out for a walk. We went to Lake Minnewanka, not far from Banff. The lakeshore trail is one of smaug’s favourites in winter as even with the snow it is usually passable and safe. smaug was wondering if the lake had already started freezing...not the case as you can see. After a bit we crossed this small canyon called Stewart Canyon. And it was frozen up  . And in the distance you can see the lake. Here we are back close to the shoreline looking east... ...and west. The trail follows the lake shore up the easternmost point for more than 20km, but we just followed it for a couple of hours and turned back. We passed again close to the mouth of Stewart Canyon. This is where the canyon’s ice meets the lake’s water  . And here is another shot of the lake. On the way back to the car we noticed that someone built a big inukshuk on a beach, so we took a picture with it and the lake behind us. Well, it desn't look so big in this picture  , but it is just behind Henry-Bo's head  . And finally, while already nice and warm in the car, we got a final shot of the lake from its westernmost point. Smaug told us that in few weeks the lake will probably be frozen, but it will take a bit longer before the ice is thick enough to walk on it. Can’t wait to see that  !
smaug Posted Dec 6, 2009, 5:09 am	Hi Mum! It’s been a quite boring around here recently  as smaug was a bit busy. We had hope to go somewhere this weekend, but on Friday the weather played funny and during the evening commuting hour Calgary roads turned into a giant ice-rink with cars almost unable to turn or stop even at the slowest speed and pedestrians struggling to stay on their feet on the sidewalks (should have been funny to be out there  ). Of course the whole city got stuck in massive gridlock and smaug took more than 2 hours to get home (compared with the usual 15min). So, when he eventually arrived home, he told us that he had already enjoyed enough driving for the whole weekend  . But today he decided that, with the real winter approaching, there were far too many useless clothes still around the wardrobe and it was time to put them away and tidy up a bit around. sammino told us that this meant that the house was going to be a total mess (even worse than the usual one  ) in a matter of minutes, so we got really excited  . First we helped getting out some boxes. Then we opened them...hmmm, they looked a bit too full to get other clothes in there. But, as sammino foretold, soon clothes started coming out of the boxes (instead of going in  ) and they got scattered everywhere. We decided that the most interesting items were the cycling and football jerseys, so we started playing with them. But after a while smaug must have decided that we were not being helpful  , so he suggested that we might had more fun surfing a bit internet and to encourage us out of the way he even offered us some ice-cream  . It sounded a bit as a polite way to get rid of us, but the ice-cream was very good .
smaug Posted Dec 11, 2009, 4:24 am	Hi Mum! Today there was a big snowfall here in Calgary  . It started in the morning and became heavier during the day, with strong winds too, wow  . So, since smaug was busy first at work and then trying to make his way back from work  , we TVs spent most of the day chatting and looking at the snow from the comfort of the living room  . Even the balcony, that is quite well sheltered, was soon white with snow. Later we decided to rummage in the storage room and found some Christmas lights. We particularly liked the ice-cubes lights... ...and the snowball ones (very appropriate to the current weather  ) Hopefully smaug will allow us to help him in putting them up  !
smaug Posted Dec 14, 2009, 2:17 am	Hi Mum! Today we told smaug that we were bored of staying at home and wanted to go out somewhere. He suggested that maybe we should have a look out of the window first...hmmm, al covered in ice...can’t see anything  . We wondered if that was supposed to be a subtle message to discourage us, but it takes more than a frozen window to scare off some bored TVs, so out of we went  . Oh my, it was bone-rattling cold, almost -30C  , it felt like being Dr Zhivago! But we have a pride, so we went on and walked along the Bow River. In this section of the river the surface has not completely frozen yet, so the sludgy mix of ice and water is still more than 20C warmer than the surrounding air and causes this strange steamy fog  . As you can see the footpath wasn’t really crowded... smaug pointed out that few people (unless they needed to) were insane enough to be out and about in this weather  . A bit further downstream we reached a section of the river that was almost completely frozen. We also decided to play a bit in the snow  . It was so powdery that even us TVs were almost sinking in it. Eventually smaug said that his right hand was flirting with frostbite  (due to the fact that operating the camera with a glove on was kind of impossible), so he decided to head back home. About time, my wings were totally frozen and about to fall off  !
smaug Posted Dec 21, 2009, 11:48 pm	Hi Mum, This evening smaug had to be in Banff, so we TVs accompanied him. On the way we stopped to meet this herd of Elks  . As taking a picture focusing on both us and the elks didn’t work, smaug decided to take a zoomed version of the above photo showing only a part of the herd. We suggested that we could get closer and meet them  , but smaug explained us that elks get a bit annoyed when people approach them and he didn’t fancy spending a few lively moments being chased down by a deer taller and massively heavier than him  . Since we were a bit early for supper, we went to have a look at Lake Minnewanka. You might rememeber that last time we have been there (about a month ago) it was still a…lake. Well, today, thanks to the cold weather, it was a massive slab of ice  . Smaug said that the ice would probably support the weight of the TVs, but their host might not be so lucky, so it will be a few more weeks before we can walk on the ice. On the way down to Banff we stopped taking a picture with another frozen lake and Mt. Rundle in the background. Unfortunately, once we made it to Banff, we were not allowed to attend the supper, but we found a nice window from where we could look at the mountains while chatting all the evening  .
smaug Posted Jan 2, 2010, 7:30 pm	Hi Mum, today a new guest arrived . His name’s Michel and he is a white bear from Germany. sammino went to pick him up at the airport and then introduced him to us all. Later, since his trip apparently had been far from smooth, we helped Michel to recover with some Timbits, and, of course, we provided help in eating them .
smaug Posted Jan 2, 2010, 8:49 pm	Hi Mum! Today we took Michel out for his first trip in the Mountains. As it was a bit cold we convinced smaug to take pictures from inside the car . Here we were entering the Bow Valley. While here we were reaching the gate of Banff National Park. Once in the Park we had a lovely view over Cascade Mountain. Then we took the road to Lake Minnewanka, but we didn’t meet any elk. And eventually we reached the Lake. Later this evening we were allowed to taste a typical Christmas cake from northern Italy, a pandoro. Not sure how smaug managed to find one here in Canada, but it was delicious  .
smaug Posted Jan 2, 2010, 9:33 pm	Hi Mum, Today smaug took us out to visit a place not too far from Calgary called Elbow Falls, where the Elbow River forms some nice (guess what!?) falls  . Here I was just downstream of the falls. (No, there are not ice falls: although it is very well hidden, there is also some “liquid” water coming down ). And this is the river flowing away in a nice little canyon  . Later we played a bit in the snow, but it was freezing cold and we soon make our way for the heat of the car  .
smaug Posted Jan 3, 2010, 10:27 pm	Hi Mum! Happy New Year  ! Today the weather was fine and it wasn’t even too cold (-15C  ), hence smaug decided that it was a good idea to have a walk in the forest to try burning some of the excessive food eaten over the last couple of weeks. So we TVs went too, working as ballast in the rucksack  . We spent most of the day under tree cover and it was a bit too dark to take photos, but we still found a couple of points where we could take a few decent shots  .
smaug Posted Jan 3, 2010, 11:00 pm	Hi Mum! Today we were all a bit sad as three TVs are leaving Calgary. Ronnie and Lysander are going back home in Spain and UK, while Henry-Bo is moving to his next host in Hong Kong. So we all gathered together to wish them a safe journey .
smaug Posted Jan 10, 2010, 7:49 pm	Hi Mum! Over the last couple of days temperatures here in Calgary crept over freezing point for the first time in weeks, it was really nice and warm ! To take advantage of this unexpected spell of summerish weather, today we went for a hike around Lake Minnewanka...where temperatures were not that summerish at all  . On the way to the lake we met again the elks. Since they are often at this spot along the road, we decided that they are probably paid by the park tourist board to attract tourists , but they are cute, aren’t they? As you can see the lake was nicely frozen... ...and the path wasn’t in much better condition. At one point we had to cross this frozen stream that looked quite slippery... ...and the little bridge crossing it didn’t give us much more confidence. But somehow we got across, and ended up at this junction where we found this sign: grizzly bears  !!!! Smaug said that we were not entering that area today and, anyway, all the bears were likely to be asleep for winter. I hoped he was right. Eventually we reached our destination, a bend in the lake about 10km from the parking lot. Here you can see the “beach” behind me, The lake looking upstream... ...and downstream. Everything was frozen or covered with snow. On the way back it was getting a bit darker so we didn’t take any more photos and, luckily, we didn’t meet any grizzly.
smaug Posted Jan 11, 2010, 1:22 am	Hi Mum! Today is my last day here in Calgary. When smaug told me that it was time to move to my next host I thought that you were sending me to migrate and pass the winter somewhere nice and warm , but I was very excited to know that I am actually going to Russia . This afternoon all the TVs here gathered around me to wish me a safe journey . And sammino gave me a big goodbye hug . I had a great time in here in Canada, but now I can’t wait to meet my new host: next update from Russia  .
TaisAfinskaia maria.forletters@gmail.com Posted Feb 15, 2010, 6:14 pm	Hello mummy! Finally I`m in Russia! I thought I would never go out of my package, Maria told me that she even had forgotten that I should come. So I`m a pleasant surprise  I brought postcard from Canada with me and everyone said thank to smaug! I met here three more TVs Pocket, apanda and Etwas, I didn`t talk with them too much, bacuse as you can see at the photo I`m very tired. There is an aquarium with golden fishes so I can have a rest near it and dream about some pond. Good night mummy!
TaisAfinskaia maria.forletters@gmail.com Posted Feb 20, 2010, 10:55 pm	Hello mummy! Today I supposed to have my first adventure in Moscow, but the weather was nasty and awful. We had hard wet snow and very strong wind. So I decided to check Moscow  café  first. I tasted cake and it was good Hope the weather will improve soon and I`ll have my first excursion around Moscow. Good night, mummy!
TaisAfinskaia maria.forletters@gmail.com Posted Feb 26, 2010, 6:53 am	Hello mummy! Today I went to the city in the evening. I`ve made some photos but they are dark and you`ll not see great church I wanted to show you  But I hope you`ll enjoy some photos from Moscow underground! It`s very crowdy but interesting.
TaisAfinskaia maria.forletters@gmail.com Posted Feb 28, 2010, 9:59 pm	Hello mummy! As you can see I` in my travel bag with my TV-friends! Tomorrow we are going to Amstedam! I`ll write to you note from there! Wish me luck
TaisAfinskaia maria.forletters@gmail.com Posted Mar 3, 2010, 10:05 am	Hello mummy! I`m in Amsterdam!!!! Here you can see my photos from airplane! It was interesting - I`m a duck and I like flying But I had to help Maria to calm down because she was scared! Photos about my adventures in Amsterdam are coming soon
TaisAfinskaia maria.forletters@gmail.com Posted Mar 4, 2010, 9:51 pm	Hello mummy! Today was my day with Amsterdam and Maria. And I was ridding bicycle! We went to the Amsterdam`s area and we used ferryboat. I saw real ducks In the countryside we saw ancient windmill! Quote: A windmill is a machine which converts the energy of wind to rotational motion by means of adjustable vanes called sails. The main use is for a grinding mill powered by the wind, reducing a solid or coarse substance into pulp or minute grains, by crushing, grinding, or pressing. Windmills have also provided energy to sawmills, paper mills, hammermills, and windpumps for obtaining fresh water from underground or for drainage (especially of land below sea level). Look at the photo mummy - I could hardly keep my feet on that bush - the wind was very strong. Then we had a lunch-break and continued our way. Now I`m so tired and going to my bed. Good night mum.
TaisAfinskaia maria.forletters@gmail.com Posted Mar 8, 2010, 9:57 pm	Hello mummy! Today I had a bus excursion through Barcelona. First we had Spanish breakfast with small tea-pot and two cakes. Not too much for one ducky?  The weather was awful: wind, snow and rain together! I`ll show you some photos of Barcelona, but they will not show you my main impression from today! See next update and find out why
TaisAfinskaia maria.forletters@gmail.com Posted Mar 9, 2010, 8:23 am	The main aim of our trip today was visit to Aquarium! Europe's largest aquarium, containing 8,000 fish and 11 sharks contained in 22 basins filled with 6 million litres of sea water. I made photos with the most interesting fishes! At some photos you can hardly see me, but I wanted you to see these fishes! After seeing all fishes I became friends with very big frog! As I told you mummy weather is not so fine and I didn`t want to spend much time outside, it is better to look at it through the window.
TaisAfinskaia maria.forletters@gmail.com Posted Mar 13, 2010, 4:43 pm	Hello mummy! I`m in Paris! Today was perfect day! I used Paris metro for the first time, tasted delicious French cookies and had very pleasant walk. We went to Cite - part of Paris where Notre-Dame de Paris is situated! I was inside of cathedral (it is so great inside!!!) and then we climbed by stairs on the top (400 footsteps mummy!). There are very ugly figures there and I found even one bird. I enjoyed view of Paris from  Notre-Dame! P.S.And tomorrow we are flying to Moscow!
TaisAfinskaia maria.forletters@gmail.com Posted Mar 21, 2010, 7:42 pm	You would be surprised mummy, but I`m about a month with Maria, but yesterday I had my first walk in Moscow!!! I have seen Amsterdam, Barcelona and Paris, but have not seen Moscow (where I came). So Maria took me to the heart of Moscow - Red Square. Quote: Red Square (Russian: Krásnaya plóshchad’ is a city square in Moscow. The square separates the Kremlin, the former royal citadel and currently the official residence of the President of Russia, from a historic merchant quarter known as Kitai-gorod. As major streets of Moscow radiate from here in all directions, being promoted to major highways outside the city, Red Square is often considered the central square of Moscow and all of Russia. I hope it is not the last I`ve seen in Moscow
TaisAfinskaia maria.forletters@gmail.com Posted Mar 28, 2010, 7:46 pm	Hello mummy! Today we have seen many interesting thins! For example, old Russian car and old courtyards. Then we went to Alexander Garden: Quote: Alexander Garden was one of the first public parks in Moscow. It occupies all the length of the western Kremlin wall in front of the Moscow Manege. After the Neglinnaya River was encapsulated in an underground pipe, they decided to turn the former riverbed into a public park. It was laid out in 1819-1823 to a design by Osip Bove and named after the reigning emperor. The park comprises three separate gardens, which stretch along the western Kremlin wall for 865 meters. The park's most prominent feature is the outlying Kutafya Tower of the Moscow Kremlin. A ruined grotto was constructed to Bove's design underneath the Middle Arsenal Tower in 1841. The garden's cast iron gate and grille were designed to commemorate the Russian victories over Napoleon. In 1914, a year after the tercentenary of the Romanov dynasty was being celebrated, they erected an obelisk in the Upper Garden. Four years later, it was reconstructed by the Bolsheviks into a monument to the socialist and communist thinkers. In 1967, they constructed the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier with an eternal flame brought from the Field of Mars in Leningrad. The Post Number One, where the sentinels stand on guard, used to be located in front of Lenin's Mausoleum, but was moved to the Tomb of The Unknown Soldier in the 1990s. May be you are wonder mummy why I made photo with horse monument from the back side? All people in Moscow are wondering the same - for the strange reason all people who comes to Moscow make photo with the back of these horses! So I did the same  The last photo shows you the main Russian Cathedral! I liked it - it is very beautiful!
TaisAfinskaia maria.forletters@gmail.com Posted Apr 8, 2010, 7:53 am	Hello mummy! I celebrated Easter in the countryside with Maria, Beaver and kikuchan. We had much sun and fun. Now when spring has come it is so pleasant to be in Russia! Somewhere there is still a little bit of snow but it is only in countryside - in Moscow you`ll not find snow this time. I`ve tasted Easter cake and egg! It was delicious
TaisAfinskaia maria.forletters@gmail.com Posted Apr 13, 2010, 6:54 am	I`m on my way to UK! Wait for my new fantastic updates!
LittleBlogFrog Posted Apr 29, 2010, 7:43 pm	Hello Mum! Phew... it was a long journey from Russia to the UK but I have finally made it.. I bought a little map card and some choccies with me from Russia Its been a bit rainy today but my new host says that the sun will probably be back out soon. This is the area outside my hosts house, look its all fields! She also showed me a couple of the animals that live in the garden at home... We are going to spend an evening in tonight but my host said we'll be going on our first adventure very soon, until then.... Miss you, Nathalie x
LittleBlogFrog Posted May 2, 2010, 9:47 pm	Hi Mum, Guess what? I saw 940 other ducks today....yes 940!!! Let me explain, my host showed me a page of the village newsletter today that said about a local event taking place Then she said it was going to be our first trip, so 'Ruby Moon' (My hosts other TV) lent me her Toyvoyager t-shirt to keep me warm and we headed down to Castle Acre for 3pm when the race was going to start... Ready....steady...go! and all the plastic numbered ducks were released into the water... There was lots of local people that turned up to watch the ducks race... each duck had a number on it and whoever bought the duck that won got a prize at the end.... It wasnt long before some started to get stuck.... I wanted to help out but my host said we just had to wait for the river to get them moving again..... It took a very long time for them to reach the end but I cheered them along all the way On the way back to the car we past Castle Acre Castle too.... Cool, eh? Miss you mum, will write soon! x
LittleBlogFrog Posted May 6, 2010, 8:37 am	Hi Mum, Just to give you an update, I'm good! Unfortunately the weather isnt overly great for exploring at the moment so I have been at home making friends with Ruby Moon (hosts TV). However, Im off to London this weekend, we are going to see Sister Act the musical at the London Palladium so hopefully Ill have lots to show you in my next post. Until then, miss you... Nathalie x
LittleBlogFrog Posted May 6, 2010, 6:22 pm	Hi again Mum, the weather this afternoon started to brighten up. My host was off to work in the local town and asked if I'd like to go for the journey... I looked at the bedroom window to check the weather... .. it didnt look too cold so I decided to go, this is me walking down the long road by my hosts house to catch the bus.... ...here i am during the bus journey... we decided to sit right at the back .... ...After my host had finished work we didnt have too much time to stay in town however we made a stop off at gardens by the town library ... ... in the middle of these gardens was a big archway, we couldnt get a picture showing all of it because its quite tall but here is the bottom of the arch..... It is called the Greyfriars tower and is the only remaining part of the Franciscan monastery on this site.... It is also one of only three surviving Franciscan monastery towers in England! Off to London on Saturday - cant wait! Bye mum, miss you x
LittleBlogFrog Posted May 9, 2010, 9:47 am	Hi Mum, I going to have a quiet day today after a very busy day yesterday when we went to London. We started the day off by taking the London underground from Charing Cross Station to Oxford Circus... We took a wander round Regent and Oxford Street and kept finding these elephants everywhere! My host said they were part of a public art exhibition and that theres over 250 of them around the capital from May to the end of June, after this they are to be auctioned off for Charity. As we had lots of time before going to the matinee performance of Sister Act the Musical, we went on an elephant hunt! I spotted this one in a shop window! After that we found a shop that sold mini versions of the Elephants, it also had a section in the shop where you could buy and paint your own one! Then we took the tube to South Kensington to visit The Nautural History Museum..this is the front entrance: Our first stop off was at the dinosaur exhibit.. Then we walked around and saw lots of different types of animals some big and some small... This was a very cool escalator at the side entrance of the museum... we used it to get to the Earth part of the museum. This is the view after climbing the stairs in the central hall.... what a pretty building! After our visit there, it was time to head to the London Palladium... here I am in the theatre... we had really good seats as you can see! I was very exhausted after our long day but enjoyed every minute. Miss you, Nathalie x
LittleBlogFrog Posted May 11, 2010, 4:49 pm	Hi again Mum, Right well after our city trip at the weekend my host thought maybe it was time to explore the countryside a little more in her village of Pentney, but first of all my host was off for her daily swim at Energise. Energise is about a 5 minute walk from the house and is a fitness centre with a swimming pool, spa and gym. TobiHH (another toy my host is hosting) and I decided to tag along.... When we got there my host showed us how her membership card was used to lock the lockers in the changing room...... TobiHH and I decided it was probably not a good idea to get wet so we waited in the locker and got to know eachother... After my host had a swim we were off to explore Pentney a little more... This is the village sign.... alot of places in Norfolk have signs like this one... the images on the sign indicate what kind of things you will find in the area. The Pentney sign shows the Abbey which is historical remains that are located on the other side of the village from where we are. Opposite this sign is Pentneys St Mary Magdalenes Church ...Then we passed a field of horses .. ...As we were walking I found a chalk rock, so TobiHH and I wrote a message on the pavement.... ...Before we headed back inside we had a bit of a tree-climb in our hosts back garden.... ...Well I better go for now.... still miss you! Nathalie
LittleBlogFrog Posted May 16, 2010, 12:18 am	Hi Mum, me again!.... Today my host was going for a picnic on Hunstanton beach and TobiHH & I were invited to come along... After TobiHH and I had a play on the beach we made a stop off at the Sea Life Sanctuary....Here is just a couple of the creatures we saw... TobiHH and I were really excited to see the pool of seals, we stayed and watched them at their feeding time... This section was a huge tank filled with all sorts of fish and sharks! ..The fish were all pretty colours but the sharks were a little scary :s We had a lovely day mum Will post again soon! Nathalie x
LittleBlogFrog Posted May 20, 2010, 12:55 pm	Hi Mum! Well as we were going to have a day in today, my host said we could bake some blueberry muffins .... We got together ingrediants first of all.... We had to measure them all out... but TobiHH decided he would climb in to be weighed first.... ...Then we added some eggs before mixing it all together. After that we added the blueberries and spooned the mixture into the muffin cases before popping them in the oven.... While we waited for them to cook my host did the washing up and I played hide-and-seek ... ...Soon they were ready to come out the oven and be placed on a cooling rack... mmmm... We have to leave them to cool for a little while now... my host is just about to go out for her swim and has left me and TobiHH in charge to make sure nobody eats them while shes gone...  We agreed but TobiHH keeps licking his lips so Im not sure if their WILL be any left when she gets home now! Uh oh... Speak soon Nathalie x
LittleBlogFrog Posted May 22, 2010, 7:35 am	Hello! I thought I would write and tell you about the day I had yesterday mum. My host, TobiHH and I were watching the TV weather report yesterday morning and it said it was going to be very hot... so we packed a bag and headed off to Hunstanton Beach again to soak up some sun. As it was hotter we got to stay longer this time! After something to eat we went and sat on the beach.... it was very hot and sunny... Here I am walking on the promenade..... As we continued to walk we saw The Wash Monster! The Wash Monster is a big boat with a painted shark on the front... its eyes flash red too! It is used to take tourists out on a journey around the coast. We raced back onto the beach to watch it leave the coast... ....After that a little more sunbathing was needed....dont worry mum, I didnt get sunburnt.. My host let me choose a postcard from one of the shops to bring home with me. She was very happy with the postcard you let Paddington Bear send to her by the way. So, I guess your'll be seeing me soon mum....Ill let you know when Im on my journey so you can prepare a welcome home party  Bye! Nathalie
LittleBlogFrog Posted May 22, 2010, 9:12 pm	Hi Mum, Just to let you know Im packed and ready and on my way home very soon. Cant wait to see you! Nathalie x
olgamaus Posted Jun 7, 2010, 1:43 pm	After a year  travelling I came back home for a while. I brought some souvenirs with me, a subway map from Moscow and some interesting things from England. I will continue my journey soon. Nathalie
olgamaus Posted Jul 25, 2010, 5:00 pm	Hi, I got an invitation to visit camilla's Mum in Italy. I'll spend a summer holiday at the beach with her. That's fantastic! We took a walk today in Solingen, the neighbour town of Remscheid. We visited Schloss Burg, a medieval castle. We also took a walk in the forest. I think I'll leave to Italy next week. Nathalie
annix Posted Aug 3, 2010, 9:17 am	Hi mummy, I'm in Italy! Last night it rained and my host says that now the temperaure is better than a few days ago. She says there are other TV here so now I want to meet them all. I'll write you soon
annix Posted Aug 5, 2010, 3:50 pm	Hi mummy, I'm visiting a wide park close to where my host lives. I'm here with my new friends and I want to introduce them to you: Blinchick, King Tut; Barnardo and Baabaa! Bye
annix Posted Aug 10, 2010, 2:14 pm	Hi mum, I'm to the Lake of Como in a place called Bellano. It is well known for this natural gorge. I'm walking on narrow platforms fixed in the rocks to see the waterfalls...it's amazing!
annix Posted Aug 11, 2010, 1:23 pm	Hi mum, this is the Lake of Como, after visiting the gorge I'm here to see the lake. Bye
annix Posted Aug 12, 2010, 1:55 pm	Hi mum, Varenna is my last stop on the Lake of Como, the sea is waiting for me... Bye
annix Posted Aug 13, 2010, 4:26 pm	Hi mum, my friends and I are ready to go to the seaside!!! Bye
annix Posted Aug 16, 2010, 4:15 pm	Hi mum, I' m at the seaside in Loano, on the Ligurian Sea. At the moment I'm at the swimming pool of the hotel with my friend King Tut. Bye
annix Posted Aug 19, 2010, 1:40 pm	Hi mum, these are some typical houses of the Ligurian coast, they are all painted in different colours and with different subjects, do you like them? Bye
annix Posted Aug 19, 2010, 1:41 pm	Hi mum, these are some typical houses of the Ligurian coast, they are all painted in different colours and with different subjects, do you like them? Bye
annix Posted Aug 22, 2010, 4:38 pm	Hi mum, I'm spending the day on the beach. It's quite hot today so a lot of people want to take a bath. Bye
annix Posted Aug 25, 2010, 3:28 pm	Hi mum, my friends and I went out for a "seafood pizza" and then we decided to see Loano by night! It was nice and we enjoyed it! Bye
annix Posted Aug 27, 2010, 1:08 pm	Hi mum, this morning my friends and I went to the beach for a cappuccino and a short walk, then we come back to our hotel for lunch... in the afternoon we leave to come back to our host's home. Bye
annix Posted Sep 2, 2010, 10:08 am	Hi mom, here I'm on the Lake of Como in a small town called Laglio... yes, it's a very "vip" place, you can find pictures of this town in most of the gossip magaziens because George Clooney has a beautifuf villa right here! I'm feeling like a vip too! Bye
annix Posted Sep 2, 2010, 10:43 am	Now I'm in Argeno, another small town close to Laglio, I had a break in Villa Belvedere with my TV friends Baabaa, Blinchick and Barnardo, then I visited the place and I met some ducks who were swimming in the Lake. This is a very deep lake, it arrives at 400 mt which is really a lot for a Lake! Bye
annix Posted Sep 8, 2010, 10:32 am	Hi mum, today I want to show you how to prepare a typical Italian "piadina"! - first of all you take your "piadina" and you spread some cocktail sauce on it - then you add some ham... - ...some grilled courgettes, peppers and aubergines... - ...some smoked soft cheese - and you put everything in a pot for a couple of minutes! I'm becoming a very good chef! Love, Nathalie
annix Posted Oct 11, 2010, 4:26 pm	Hi mum, my host is ill, she catched a cold,  so I'm helping her to recover: I'm taking her temperature and I give her some medecine. I've also prepared a good soup. Now I think she'd better go to sleep, I'm sure that tomorrow she'll be ok again. Love Nathalie
annix Posted Oct 31, 2010, 4:49 pm	Have a nice Halloween mummy!
annix Posted Nov 13, 2010, 1:08 pm	Hi mum, I say hello to my friends and I come back home, the envelope is waiting for me! See you soon
olgamaus Posted Nov 24, 2010, 8:10 pm	I came home a few days ago after a really long, fantastic trip. We took a walk today in the neighbour city Wuppertal, Timothy and I, Katja and her friend Erika. We enjoyed the sunshine in late November. Despite the sunshine it was really cold, close to freezing point. Our hiking trail went through an arboretum, where lots of trees from foreign countries were planted. We walked for more than four hours, until my feet were aching. Bye Nathalie
olgamaus Posted Nov 30, 2010, 8:54 pm	Today I packed my things and continued my journey. I'm travelling to the USA now. I have a German delicacy in my luggage, as a surprise for my next host. Let's see if she'll like it. Mummy helped me to fill in the customs declaration. Nathalie
GabbyGecko Posted Dec 13, 2010, 7:07 am	Hi Mum! I made it safe & sound to Colorado! Boy was that a long ride. However, it was quite comfy. The pastry was quite a good cushion in the box for me. I'm lucky I made it here when I did because I was getting closet to opening it up and eating it myself! Pea and her host are very nice. There is also another TV here and he speaks German too - Dusel the tiger! This is a picture of us in our guest house! Then Pea went through the box and pulled out all of the goodies - the post card, the delicious pastry and a new little rhino friend! My host just loves her goodies - so good job mum! Then, I got quite the lovely welcome from all the local geckos. The gathered underneath the Christmas tree & scribbled together a Welcome poster for me! Dusel was even in the picture! I also got to meet one of the local residents - Nan. She looks like she ran into a door - she's quite the strange looking creature. She doesn't breath right either. She just snorts. Then, everyone has been writing their letters to santa so they get their requests in before he stops his production lines up in the North Pole. So that was one of the first things that Pea insisted on me doing tonight. I asked for a nice warm scarf. Now I have to wait...Dusel said that it took over a day to get his response! I wonder if it's because Santa only probably has dial-up internet connection up there in the North Pole or if it's because he's answering a ton of last minute wish list letters....Be quick santa! Then, Pea thought that Dusel needed a brushing and fluffing. However, I'm not too sure if she's going to be able to make him look like Fabio... but she pulled up a picture of him anways to try... Ok - well i'm off to snooze now. We are going on an adventure tomorrow!
GabbyGecko Posted Dec 15, 2010, 3:33 am	Yesterday, we went to see real live animals at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs, CO!  We had so much fun and we got really close to some of the animals. Some of the animals were really scary to be that close to! The zoo was over an hour away and we had to drive straight west. We were actually driving towards one of the tallest mountains in Colorado -Pikes Peak. It is over 14,000 ft tall! Here me, Dusel, and Pea hanging out on a fence post with the mountain in the distance. Look how flat it is where we are! Then, we had to stop and get some lunch on the way to the zoo. We went to one of the top rated restaurants in the state! It actually only servers lunch.  And they only serve peanut butter and jelly! Yes - only peanut butter and jelly sandwhiches! They make their own peanut butters and jellys every morning. Here we are enjoying part of a sandwhich called "the bomb". It has ginger peanut butter, jalepeno pear jelly,  spinach, sprouts, and bell peppers on it. It sounds really strange but it was delicious! Here is some of the animals that I met: This guy was really cool! I dont know how he balanced! Then this guy really scared me! I was very happy to have Dusel, a TV tiger with me so he could talk some sense into this guy. I was afraid he was going to eat me! Then - just to prove how flat it is where i am - here's a picture from a very high place at the zoo.
GabbyGecko Posted Dec 18, 2010, 10:29 pm	We just planted the Christmas Amaryllis! It's a giant flower that blooms in the winter months. You can buy them at the grocery stores (the bulb), and then you plant it and watch it grow! I guess they can get really really tall. Here we are with all the supplies. The brown hockey puck looking thing is the dirt... Well, it will be.... Then, we put the hockey puck in the pot & add hot water.... The hockey puck is disintegrating... Ha ha ha ha ha... TA DA! The hocky puck soaked up all the water and turned into a giant mound of dirt! You can't plant a bulb in that mound of dirt so we had to fluff it all up. The last step was to put the bulb in the dirt. We made a little mess too, while we were at it. We just have to keep it in a bright warm place and its going to start growing! I can't wait to see what it looks like. Pea said that they can get to be over 2 feet tall.
GabbyGecko Posted Dec 20, 2010, 4:51 am	I got turned into one of Santa's helpers today!
GabbyGecko Posted Dec 25, 2010, 6:52 am	It's almost Christmas here in Colorado! One more day! It was such a lovely day today - even thugh there was no snow. We were all crossing our claws & paws for snow. Maybe that's what Santa will bring us? I can hope at least. My host said that the mountains got a lot of snow - over 130 inches!! However - none of it made it over the hills and to the plains. It was a lovely evening tonight with a beautiful sunset! The three of us still weren't feeling that it was quite Christmas Eve yet so we convinced our host to start a fire for us in the fireplace. The three of us were quite cozy in front of the fire, warming our backsides. We did have to keep fighting one of the dogs for the prime spot! Tonight, we are camping out by the Christmas tree in hopes to see Santa Paws...er Clause! The stocking is all of OUR goodies! We keep wanting to shake all the different packages to see whats in there, but they were a bit big for us! I will post the pictures of our unwrappings tomorrow!
GabbyGecko Posted Dec 26, 2010, 7:01 am	Ho ho ho! Merrrrrrryyyyy Christmas Mum! It's Christmas here in Colorado for another 30 more minutes or so. We had such a busy day! We were very lucky critters & Santa Clause came to visit us last night. He filled our stocking while we were sleeping. We were all a little disappointed that we didn't get to see him though. We tried so hard to stay up & keep watch. Oh well - maybe next year! When we woke up, we had a little elfing of our own to do as there were still some gifts left to wrap before we headed over to my host's parent's house for Christmas dinner. We were very helpful: We got in such a groove wrapping things up that we almost got ourselves wrapped! Then, since it was such a nice day, we took the Mustang out for a drive. I guess it usually doesn't get taken out on joy rides a lot because it's not very good in the snow or rain as it is missing windshield wipers, a heater, and air conditioning. Apparently being fast makes up for that? Not too sure about that.... Anyways, we took a drive to a place called Daniels Park. You can see for miles and miles in all directions. It was really neat! We got to walk out to the edge of some rocks and look out over the front range of Colorado with the beautiful mountains in the background. Then, as we were leaving we came across a bunch of buffaloes! Could have fooled me - they look like big hairy monsters with wet noses. (Seriously - their noses looked like a gigantic dog nose!) They smelled really bad too. We then headed towards Christmas dinner! Here are the three of us waiting patiently for some TURKEY! While we were waiting, our host's mom pulled out a letter from her Grandma. Instead of buying everyone presents this year, she made a donation in the family's name to an organization that donates livestock and food to third world countries so they can build their own sustained food supply. She donated a cow & a bee hive to Africa! Very cool! After eating tons of turkey, stuffing, squash, and all of the rest of the fixings - it was time for everyone to open presents! Everyone's things were put in a gigantic pile. In the middle of this picture, Dusel & I realized that we forgot to put name tags on all of our gifts! We had to go through the pile and shake everything so we could remember what was what to give to the right person. While everyone was opening gifts, the three of us hung out by the Christmas tree. This one is much easier to take care of than a real one! No cleaning up - when done, put back in box! ] I'm not sure how we had much energy left when we got home, but we did! We decided to open up the stocking that Santa had left for us last night! Wow! How did he fit all of that in there?!?! He's like Mary Poppins & her magical bag. Must be elf-magic. Then we opened up some of the games we got. First us was basketball! My job was to stand by the hoop and toss the balls back to Dusel & Pea. Then my turn. Team picture! I took a break to get warm with the Chihuahua. Even though it's warmer right now, she still needs a space heater to keep from shivering! Then we played a game of Crazy 8's. Then Dusel & I played a game of tic-tac-toe... Until the Dog Monster interrupted us.... Oops. I didn't see that coming - Dusel won! I think this hat must be a bit to big & covered part of my eye site. Oh well! Congrats! Merry Christmas!
GabbyGecko Posted Dec 31, 2010, 4:51 am	We've been laying low the past couple of days since Christmas due to all of the excess candy laying around here. We decided that it was in everyone's best interest that Pea, Dusel, and I eat it all. One of our hosts has been spending a lot of time lately trying to finish one of his car projects. Our other host has been hoping that it gets done soon so we can take it out for a drive, so we decided to go and help this evening. Here we are picking out our tools. I'm not sure what any of these are... Since feathers aren't very good for working on wrenches, I decided to hold the light. Dusel is holding the wrench while Pea works on...uh... Something... (Honestly - I'm not sure if she did anything down there...) We decided this particular car was too much work so we decided to look for somethign else that we could work on. We found this old car, but I dont think this one is going to be easy to work on... Then we found this giant tooth brush on a drill. We asked Dusel if he wanted a tooth brushing. He said no. We got in trouble for trying to turn the drill on so we decided to focuss our helpful efforts somewhere else. Tonight we are supposed to get our first big snow here in Colorado. We offered to plow the drive way!
GabbyGecko Posted Jan 1, 2011, 11:42 pm	Happy New Year from snowy Colorado! We also met someone very interesting on the back porch. He had lots of stories to tell us. But it was getting cold, so had to leave early...
GabbyGecko Posted Jan 5, 2011, 5:38 am	Today I wanted to share some pictures of our sleeping quarters! Us guests get to stay in the pink two story house. Pea sleeps in her own hand made hammock. Then all of her walls are decorated with bright colored outfits. Pea & her human make a lot of Pea's own decorations. Here I am with the blankets that are in the guest house. We have a small quilt that they sewed and then a blanket with a crocheted border. Here are some of Pea's full time guests. They are very bright! Here is the top floor of our sleeping area. All of my host's gecko friends live up here!! There's quite a lot of them. I'm having such a terrible time remembering everyone's names!
GabbyGecko Posted Jan 16, 2011, 12:57 am	Our hosting was telling us tonight how she had to do tons and tons of penmanship practice when she was in grade school. They did page after page of cursive letters to make sure that they had readable hand writing. Back then - handwriting practice was required! This conversation started because we saw a news broadcast about how more young kids are being taught how to type instead of how to write. In fact, it reported that many school districts no longer require cursive to be taught! Typing comes with the territory of being a Toy Voyager. How else would we post our updates?!?! Since we are already masters of the keyboards, we thought we would try our hands...er... paws on hand writing tonight. First -we had to familiarize ourselves with a pen. It is quite large & cumbersome to fit in a paw. This is a fountain pen. Then - we looked over some samples. Some were very swirly. And some were more print-like. Then we practiced our letters. over. and over. and over again! We even ran out of ink a couple of times and had to fill the pen back up. Then it was time to practice our signatures! All good Toy Voyagers need to have a signature. Guess what?!? Tomorrow I get to ride a horse!
GabbyGecko Posted Feb 2, 2011, 5:37 am	Hi there mum! Sorry I haven't updated in a week or two. Our host has been buried at the office. She has finally surfaced from her mountain of paper work to update our travel logs! It's been very cold here in Colorado. This moning on our way to the office, it was -46 (that's a negative!) F with the wind chill. It was awful! We set a record low today & they say that it's going to be even colder tomorrow. It's been SO cold that they have cancelled all major schools in the STATE for two days in a row now! Unfortunately, work was not cancelled. We decided to try and see who could stay outside the longest. However - none of us won. We all wimped out at the same time. When we came back in, we wanted to see how cold it was. Here is the picture of me with the current weather. C-O-L-D! We also had bug shaped pasta this evening, at Pea's request. I wasn't the biggest fan... I would have preferred bird seed... We also had a new visitor come today! Diddl-Maus! While he arrived, we will be sadly saying goodbye to Dusel this week. It has been a wonderful time with and seeing him meet a real life tiger! Good bye Dusel and good luck! Welcome Diddl-Maus! (See mom - I have been practicing my Caligraphy! I got to write the welcome banner this time!)
GabbyGecko Posted Feb 6, 2011, 2:01 am	Pea wanted to show us her home town golf course. Usually when I think of golf - I think warmer weather - not snowy weather. But she promised us a behind the scenes look at things. You can see here the awful snow! First- she taught us what each of the different type of golf clubs were. Her we are sitting on top of someone's set of clubs. The club house is where the Golfers check in, hang out, eat, drink, and shop. They sell all different types of clubs! I guess these are called wedges. Golfers really like baseball caps. A lot. The people that work at the club house always have to be on top of the weather to make are the people outside playing stay safe. Obviously, there was no one playing today but they were still watching the radar! The people in the club house also watch whats going on on the course through high powered binoculars. There wasn't much to look at today. Players can either walk the course or ride around in a golf cart. If you walk, its about 5 miles round trip! Those lazy & smart people rent the carts. Here is the drawer that holds all the keys. The way scoring works in golf is that each hole is assigned a certain number of strokes - 3, 4, or 5. The par 3 holes are shorter in distance than the part 5s. If you you get your ball in the hole in the designated number of stokes - you get a 0. Any more strokes than par, yoiu get positive numbers. Any less (which is good!) you get negative numbers. You want the lowest score possible. Here are the score cards that the players get.
GabbyGecko Posted Feb 9, 2011, 5:33 am	Guess what mum?!?!? We're going on vacation! We are going to Lake Havasu City, AZ. It's a very popular boating spot. It is also the location of the original London Bridge. The brought it brick by brick from London to Arizona and reconstructed it. Here is where we are going on the map: We will have to fly from Colorado to Las Vegas Nevada: Then we will drive from Las Vegas Nevada to Lake Havasu City AZ. We will end up driving through 3 states to get there! We start in NV, go into California for a bit and then into Arizona. It is only about a 3 hour drive. Here is our route: On the way there - we will have to drive through the Hoover Dam. It dams up the Colorado River to provide hydroelectric power to Las Vegas and surrounding areas. It sits on the border between Arizona and Nevada. It is now home to the world's highest suspension bridge - the Hoover Dam Bypass. And we get to drive over it!! Here is a picture of it. It opened for traffic only a couple of months ago - in October 2010. Pea has seen it two years ago when they were still buidling it and she was so surprised at how big it is now!! I hope we are strapped in tight to our car!
GabbyGecko Posted Feb 12, 2011, 6:00 am	Our official assignment of watching for the mail man is OVER! We have been taking turns sitting on the window sill for the past 3 days now waiting for some special packages! It was quite the successful mission becaus both packages arrived today. I got teh honor of dialing the telephone to tell our host that both had arrived! The first package is *drum roll* another Toy Voyager friend! Froggy has come to visit us & will be traveling with us to Lake Havasu next week! He had quite the advertising slogan on his box! He was packed very well & and was not jet lagged at all. He was hopping around the house in no time, learning his surroundings. The second package that came today was one of the pictures that our host took. She had one printed nice and and pretty to give to a friend. It's actually printed on fabric instead of paper! She took this one in her front yard here just a couple of weeks ago! I hope I get to see a sunset like this while I am in Colorado. As you can see - it is quite the full house here. It was very nice of Diddl Maus to move beds so that Froggy could have the larger one. We are working on Valentines tomorrow!!!
GabbyGecko Posted Feb 13, 2011, 4:52 am	Our host brought us out to a very special Valentine's Day treat today. She took us to a bakery that makes nothing but cupcakes! It is called Gigi's Cupcakes & is a very popular spot. Everyday there are 12 different types of cupcakes to choose from. They bake them fresh in the back of the store. We were going to get our picture taken in the store, but we were kicked out for drooling on the glass before we could get one. We waited very patiently by the box until we were allowed to have our treats. Our host said we had to wait until after dinner & we had to eat all our vegetables before we could have our dessert. We didn't disagree! We were all thinking "cupcake" while we quietly ate our green beans. This was their "Winter" menu. We drooled all over this piece of paper. Finally it was time to open! We each got to pick one cupcake. They were bigger than us! I got a "Snowball" cupcake! It was vanilla cake with cream cheese frosting & dunked in coconut! I have quite the little sugar buzz going on right now. It was SOOO good!
olgamaus Posted Mar 25, 2013, 10:57 am	Today I finally came home from my last trip to the USA. I grew up a bit in the meantime. It took me more than two years to get back home. When I came to my home address, neighbours told me that my Mummy moved to another house last summer. They showed me the way - and here I am! It is really cold here, I thought we had spring now. The small park in front of my new home is still covered with snow. I went on a short walk with some of the current guests in the afternoon. We took a photo close to the station. From here I spent the rest of the trip in Mummy's pocket In the next days I will discover my new home. Nathalie
olgamaus Posted Mar 26, 2013, 7:10 pm	I will take part in the Big German Round Robin 2013! I am so excited I will visit PieksiHH's mentor first in Northern Germany. Today we both left Remscheid. Mummy said that probably we will be there tomorrow. Nathalie
RikeH Posted Mar 31, 2013, 5:43 pm	Hello Mum, PieksiHH and I arrived in Sülfeld. Dicker Kumpel gave us a warm welcome. He introduced me to the other TVs here. There are some guests - including my sister Claire - and some brothers and sisters of Dicker Kumpel and PieksiHH. We showed our nice postcards. I am sure that I will have a great time here. Love Nathalie
RikeH Posted Apr 1, 2013, 7:12 pm	Hello Mum, The bunnies were really excited today. We asked why – it was Easter. Time to search some Easter eggs and other chocolate. I found something! Well – there was something in the basket of the bunny. But it was so high above the ground. I asked Long Hippo to help me. It was much easier this way. I got the chocolate bunny. Later we all sat together and were happy, because we all find a lot of delicious sweets. Happy Easter, Mum! Yours Nathalie
RikeH Posted Apr 2, 2013, 4:28 pm	Happy Easter again! Today we visited Dicker Kumpel’s grandma. Believe it or not – I met the Easter bunny there. It was so great to meet the Easter bunny. Then it was time for coffee and cake. It was delicious! I had fun with other bunnies! And a chicken was there, too. Later in the afternoon I went into the garden and sat in the sunshine. I met another bunny there –he gave me this wonderful Easter egg. Love Nathalie
RikeH Posted Apr 9, 2013, 9:40 pm	Hello Mum, We went to a small city called Bad Oldesloe today. Behind me you see the church. Normally the water wheel moves, but it was frozen today. We went to an Asian restaurant and had something delicious to eat. This is the town hall. And this is another house called Stadthaus. On our way back we stopped at this beautiful castle. Love Nathalie
RikeH Posted Apr 11, 2013, 8:50 pm	Hello Mum,  I live in Sülfeld at the moment. And today I explored the village. We still have some snow here. This was the old school. Now the mayor lives here. I loved this old door. Behind me you can see the church of Sülfeld. It was closed so I had a look at this sign, how it looks like inside. On the other side of the street was the pharmacy. This is the middle of Sülfeld  - not that exciting. Love Nathalie
RikeH Posted Apr 15, 2013, 8:55 pm	Hello Mum, We went to Hamburg today. Behind me you see the Alster Lake. I met some relatives there. Look – far behind me you see the town hall. What a wonderful view. I went nearer to the town hall – a beautiful building. There will be a big garden exhibition in Hamburg soon – this is the mascot for it, I think. Later we went into the theatre – it was a funny play – I loved it. Yours Nathalie
RikeH Posted Apr 17, 2013, 7:46 pm	Hello Mum, We went to the town Bad Segeberg. It is the town of the Apaches here. There is one of their stakes. I drove with this wonderful loco. There was a beautiful old house. And another stake. This big Eagle belongs to the third stake. Look – the church of Bad Segeberg – and a nice blue sky. We went up a hill and had a view over the theatre, where the Apaches will play Winnetou – Blutsbruder this year. I had a great view over Bad Segeberg and its big lakes. Later we went downhill and visited the small lake of Segeberg. I met some ducks there. Then I read this horrible sign. Why shouldn't they feed  birds here? yours Nathalie
RikeH Posted Apr 22, 2013, 9:43 pm	Hello, We had nice weather here and took a walk around Sülfeld. Behind me you can see the famous tree of Dicker Kumpel. I found some nice flowers. I loved this view -  and saw some relatives far away. We took a rest and sat in the sunshine. Later we crossed a nice small river. Back home I found this wonderful stone in the garden. Yours Nathalie
RikeH Posted Apr 30, 2013, 9:14 pm	Hello Mum, Bad news – RikeH had the flu and was not able to make nice trips with us. So we decided to explore Sülfeld in the springtime. The first stop was next to this sign – I learnt a lot about an old channel. There it was – smaller than in the Past I think. We stopped at a nice place and talked a lot. No snow anymore! We went along this small lake – it was frozen in the wintertime. Look – what a wonderful tree! This is the old school of Sülfeld. And behind me you can see the emblem of the village. Some years ago they celebrated 800 years for Sülfeld – an old village, isn't it? This is the church – a really nice building. I spent some time on a playground – and loved it. Yours Nathalie
RikeH Posted May 4, 2013, 6:58 pm	Hello Mum, RikeH is still ill. But the spring arrived in Germany. So I decided to explore the garden. I found many nice flowers – tulips in different colors. Two more colors. I took a rest next to these blue flowers in the sunshine. I loved these beautiful flowers – but I don't know the English name for it. The last wonderful thing I found was this blossom of the magnolia. Yours Nathalie
RikeH Posted May 14, 2013, 8:30 pm	Hello Mum, We visited another small city near to Sülfeld today – it is called Bargteheide. I loved this lake – but unfortunately no other ducks lived here. This was funny – a big old water pump. This sign was really interesting. The rainwater take two directions here – the rain from one side of the street flows in two rivers to the Baltic Sea. And the rain on the other side flows to the North Sea in two other rivers. My last stop was next to another nice lake. We planned to visit the church, but it started to rain – so we drove home. Love Nathalie
RikeH Posted May 15, 2013, 8:30 pm	Hello Mum, I had a great time here  – but now it is time to travel to my next host. I said goodbye to Dicker Kumpel – he was a wonderful host. Then the other TVs gave me a big hug. Hopefully my trip will be a fast one. I will write soon. Yours Nathalie
fam-united Posted Jun 2, 2013, 8:56 pm	Hello Mum, I arrived in Bruchsal, which is a small city in Baden-Württemberg. I will tell you more about this state later. Today I'm on a sightseeing trip by car - the weather had been terrible during the last days, but today it is a little bit better. Here you see one of Bruchsal's oldest streets: Württemberger-Straße.
fam-united Posted Jun 3, 2013, 4:38 pm	Then we drove to Heidelsheim, which is one of Bruchsal's surburbs. Heidelsheim belongs to Bruchsal since 1974. The river Saalbach also flows through Heidelsheim. The small city was first named in 770 A.D.
fam-united Posted Jun 3, 2013, 4:55 pm	We drove to Blaustein on the Autobahn. My hosts' one son lives in this town, which is close to Ulm. Here you see some impressions during our drive, which took about 2 hours one way. You still see thick clouds in the sky. This parking house was built over the autobahn. It is next to Stuttgart airport.
fam-united Posted Jun 3, 2013, 5:08 pm	It seems, that sightseeing means to look out of windows or driving cars. The weather was too cold and we only had a little time in Blaustein before we had to drive back to Bruchsal again, so here you can see just a view over the roofs.
MA_17 Posted Jul 17, 2013, 9:06 pm	Hello Mommy, I arrived at my new destination!!! In front of the house of my new host I met another toyvoyager who already arrived. His name is Big foot. Together we rang the bell. The door opened and we were welcomed by the others. They all cuddled us. Then we both showed our souvenirs. Your Nathalie
MA_17 Posted Jul 20, 2013, 10:00 pm	Today Tsukumo left us.
fam-united Posted Jul 21, 2013, 6:52 pm	Two more hours in the car, then we were in Bruchsal again.
fam-united Posted Jul 21, 2013, 7:08 pm	The weather is really nice, if you don't count the heavy clouds, so we decided to go on a drive to two of Bruchsal's suburbs: Untergrombach and Obergrombach. At first we wanted to visit the chapel on Michaelsberg, a small hill which belongs to Untergrombach. It was too crowded there, because there was a wedding. So we only took a photo of the small hills of Kraichgau.
fam-united Posted Jul 21, 2013, 8:20 pm	Then we drove to Obergrombach. At first we enjoyed the nice view over the vineyards to Obergrombach. Our plan was to take more photos, but it started raining again. So here's only one more photo of Obergrombach with a beautiful half timbered house.
fam-united Posted Jul 21, 2013, 9:31 pm	Today we decided to bake a rhubarb cake. Our host allowed us to do it all alone without her help. So please take a look at the recipe. We explain it step by step: At first we had to find a place - we are quite a few Of course we aren't all traveling. Some of us are here as active toyvoyagers, but many of us are guests, who decided to stay here as long as the owners don't find time to get in contact with our host. And of course some of us live here, but we all have one thing in common - we are toyvoyagers. At next we had to get the eggs. We need six eggs for the cake. It was Sausi Karl's job to beat the eggs. Then one of us - don't know who - added 50g sugar for each egg, so it was 300 g sugar. It's quite a lot, we know. Madam Miff added one packet of vanilla sugar to the dough. Of course we had to beat the dough again, but we couldn't handle the camera while beating the dough. Matcha and Ted added 300g flour and one packet of baking powder. Then we had to stir the dough again until it was fluffy. Melek helped and I helped, too. Then Matcha prepared the dish for the dough. We baked without bottom on a foil. I was still busy stiring the dough. And the I filled it in the dish. Then we all were sitting there and waiting for the cake to get baken in the oven. Man it was boring at first. But we didn't expect, that half an hour can be such a short time, when so many tvs are together. After this break we had to prepare the rhubarb, because we wanted to fill the cake with rhubarb cream. Little Dragon helped to skin it. And Matcha helped to cut it in pieces. Billy helped Matcha to stay on the pot during cutting the rhubarb pieces. Then we had to prepare some ingrediences for the cream. We needed two packets of vanilly pudding powder, one egg white and one yolk. We had to stir the egg white. Before adding the stirred egg white, we had to add the pudding powder. We had added a little bit of water to it and shook it until it was smooth. Then we added the pudding powder to the cooked rhubarb. We also added the yolk. Then Louis the Rat added the stirred egg white and gently folded it in. Finally we cut the cake in two layers and filled the cream on the first and then on the second layer and put the last layer on top of it.
fam-united Posted Jul 22, 2013, 9:15 pm	Today the weather was nice again, so I decided to go on a sightseeing tour in Bruchsal. At first we walked to the church St.Peter. On our way we passed by this relief. In front of a kindergarden I found this nice mosaic. The church is next to the graveyard. To walk through the graveyard is very difficult for older people, who have problems, because the ways are rather steep. Opposite the church you see these two statues. Around the church you find some of Bruchsal's oldest streets and houses. Bruchsal was first named in 996, but it surely is older than that. The first settlement was around year 640 in the area of this St. Peter. During World War II. Bruchsal was nearly completely destroyed, so you only find a few old houses nowadays. This is an old restaurant with a nice beer garden. The river Saalbach flows through Bruchsal. It's usually about 30cm high. We came to this interesting building and my host told me, that it was the former slaughterhouse. Nowadays there is a supermarket and a restaurant. Then we walked back to river Saalbach. We found a beautiful caterpillar on the way. Big clouds are coming - will they bring more rain again? We finished our round and now we nearly stand at the same place, where at first we read, how high the river Saalbach was. We saw these two beautiful houses there. Here is a part, where the river is divided in two parts, one of it is called Annabach. There is a small barrage between them. We walked over a small bridge next to the barrage. On our way back home we had to cross the river once more. We are sorry, that we cut Nepomuk's head. Württemberger Straße is one of the oldest streets of Bruchsal. You still can find some really old houses here. Now we are back home nearly. This is also a street with old houses. It is called Friedhofstraße, because it leads to the graveyard, what means Friedhof in German. We took this photo while standing at the same place just turning around. In the far you can see that big house with the special roof? We will go there now. The house is called Santa Maria. You can read about it on the sign.
MA_17 Posted Jul 23, 2013, 10:36 pm	Hello Mommy, today we visited the most famous lake of Berlin: Greater Wannsee. Its size is 2,732 km² and it is about 2,53km in length. Nobody was there in the morning, just some little Toyvoyagers. Your little Nathalie
MA_17 Posted Jul 24, 2013, 10:07 pm	Hello Mom, today we drove through Teltow, a small town near Berlin. It looks very nice. On the place where Teltow ends Berlin starts. There's no space left between both cities. In Berlin we drove through the shortest avenue of the whole city: Tusnelda Allee. There's just one house number. It's number 1 for the church. There's nothing else in this street. Nathalie
MA_17 Posted Jul 27, 2013, 8:57 pm	Hello Mommy, today it was hot. Too hot! But we decided to visit the Botanical Garden. It has an area of 43 hectares and around 22,000 different plant species. Sadly our camera didn't have enough energy. Nathalie
MA_17 Posted Jul 28, 2013, 1:18 pm	Hello Mommy! Today we visited Erfurt the capital of the Thuringia. It is also the main city nearest to the geographical centre of Germany. First we went to the Krämerbrücke. It is a bridge which is covered with inhabited, half timbered buildings on both sides. It is unique in Europe north of the Alps. This is the next stop we wanted to visit: the famous Erfurt Cathedral (left) and St. Severus Church (right). The Catholic Erfurt Cathedral is a 1200 year old church located on Cathedral Hill. It is of an International Gothic style, and is also known as St Mary's Cathedral, and is located, uniquely, on a hillside. It was beautiful inside the Cathedral. Your little Nathalie
MA_17 Posted Aug 1, 2013, 10:23 pm	Hello Mom, it's my hosts holidays so we have lots of time to visit some nice places. Today we went to a small village called Wiehe. We were allowed to sit in the first row in the car. This village is really small with only 2000 inhabitants! But then we were told that here we will find the worlds biggest model railroad year-round  show! It was so impressing. Big train, small trains, tiny trains... ...travelling through the area of Thuringia & Saxony-Anhalt... Germany... Europe and the USA! First I took a picture in front of the mountain Brocken. It's not so far away from here. This is America! Mt. Rushmore looks a little bit different I think. your impressed Nathalie
MA_17 Posted Aug 1, 2013, 11:32 pm	Hello Mommy, today our host had to go to Halle/Saale. Sure, we were in the car, too. Halle is a city in the Southern part of the German state Saxony-Anhalt and it is a very important economy and education-center in east Germany. The University of Halle-Wittenberg is the biggest university in Saxony-Anhalt and one of the oldest Universities in Germany. It has a population of about 250.000 inhabitants. First we saw nothing... But then... Halle! We crossed the river Saale which had a big flood in June. The city center is coming closer. The church which you can see on the left is "Market Church of Our Dear Lady". It was built between 1529 and 1554 and is the most recent of its medieval churches. And 2 more churches... (middle + right) This white building is called Francke Foundations. It is famous for its baroque buildings (including Europe‘s largest surving half-timbered building) and historical collections. Some newer buildings in Halle... This is Riebeck square. About 10 years ago it was the most dangerous place in Halle to cross by car. Now there are more traffic lights, better paintings on the street and you don't have to check for the tram, because they also finally got traffic lights. Yes, we got it! Look, this is the "Water tower North". It's 54 meters high and it was built between 1897 - 1899. The high level tank got a capacity of 1500 m³! Driving in the shadow is really nice at this temperatures! We left Halle. Then we passed a small city called Bitterfeld... At the end of that small city we saw the famous lake Goitzsche. It is a former brown-coal open cast mine. And we crossed the river Mulde, where Crawfish made a report about the flood in June. There was a locomotive standing next to the street, but there was no station anywhere. Just a few kilometers left till "home". Our butts already started hurting. Nathaliiiiiiiiiie
fam-united Posted Aug 2, 2013, 8:24 pm	You've seen the dark clouds  in my last update? Today I will show you our little river Saalbach again. It was half past 11, when we took these photos. The river usually is about 30 cm high and now it is 140cm I will not write much and just show some photos.
fam-united Posted Aug 2, 2013, 8:37 pm	At eight o'clock p.m. it was like this. The water was much higher. Maybe you remember some places where we had been on 30th May or in the morning of today. The way with the little bridge, which leads to the small island, was closed now. I'm still behind the barrier, because it was much safer there. We took this photo standing on the bridge - hard to believe, that it was only a few hours ago, that we walked along the way under the bridge (maybe you remember the photo?)
MA_17 Posted Aug 8, 2013, 8:01 pm	Hello Mommy! I think today was the hottest day of the summer. Our therometer said 39,5°C. But, who cares?! We jumped into the car and travelled for a few hours. We were really surprised when we arrived. Lots of other plushies welcomed us! Look, all of us are official registered as Toyvoygers. We are the "flying gang". Your Nathalie
MA_17 Posted Aug 14, 2013, 9:38 pm	Hello Mommy, every time when we're having an overnight stay in Berlin we hear a noise around us. It rumbles and sometimes it tickles under our feet. It often feels like tiny earthquakes! Most of the time it happens by night when we are in bed. This is scary!!! So now we decided to ask Alex_Kitty what this noise is and he showed us! It's the underground which is passing under our feet. The station close to our house is not so nice, so we went through the city to find one which is more beautiful for taking a picture. Nathalie
MA_17 Posted Aug 17, 2013, 9:35 pm	Hello Mommy, at the moment our host doesn't have so much time. So we decided to enjoy the day at a playground. It was not easy to find one. After a while we saw this slide. Hmm, looks like nobody was playing here for a while. We decided not to use it... Nathalie
MA_17 Posted Aug 17, 2013, 9:51 pm	Hello Mommy, guess what! We found a boat! It was standing around... Little Toyvoyagers are very curious! Alex and Troot went to close to the boat when it keel over. Luckily they have friends who rescued them! So what to do with a boat...? We should use it! We all jumped into the boat and paddled on the great ocean. Let's see where we will be stranding... Your non-seasick Nathalie
MA_17 Posted Aug 21, 2013, 10:12 am	Hello Mommy, our journey by boat took really long. After a while we fall asleep and when we woke up we were on a place we didn't know. It looks a little bit scary. There was nobody else except us. Is this an unknown planet? Who is living here? Will we get back home? Does somebody know where our boat is? Nathalie
fam-united Posted Aug 24, 2013, 11:34 am	I had the chance to go to school today and learn more about the federal state Baden-Württemberg. Bruchsal is a town in Baden-Württemberg. Parts of river Rhine flow through Baden-Württemberg. It is the longest river in Germany with about 1,232 kilometres (766 miles). There are also parts of Limes. A limes was a border defence or delimiting system of Ancient Rome. It marked the boundaries of the Roman Empire. There are many people in Baden-Württemberg, who love Sports. Some of them even took part in Olympic Games. On pupil told us more about them. Schwetzingen is a German town situated in the northwest of Baden-Württemberg, around 10 km (6.2 mi) southwest of Heidelberg and 15 km (9.3 mi) southeast of Mannheim. It was mentioned as "Suezzingen" for the first time in 766, recorded in the late twelfth-century Codex Aureus of Lorsch, but there are already traces of settlement from the Stone Age. Schwetzingen Castle is the city's most famous landmark. Its gardens are also notable, as there are elements of French Baroque and the English garden style. Ulm is situated on the River Danube and was founded around 850. Ulm is primarily known for having the church with the tallest steeple in the world, the Gothic minster (Ulm Minster, German: Ulmer Münster) and as the birthplace of Albert Einstein. Bruchsal is situated at the border to the hilly region of Kraichgau and Rhineland Planes. Of course we can't forget the Black Forest, when we talk about Baden-Württemberg. There are the Southern and Northern Black Forest. In the south part you find the highest mountain of Baden-Württemberg is Feldberg with an elevation of 1,493 metres (4,898 ft). Typical for the Black Forest are the Black Forest Houses. Pforzheim is a town of nearly 120,000 inhabitants in the state of Baden-Württemberg, southwest Germany at the gate to the Black Forest. It is well-known -for its jewelry and watch-making industry. Until 1565 it was the home to the Margraves of Baden. Mannheim is situated at the rivers Rhine and Neckar. It is the second or third largest city of Baden-Württemberg. Mannheim is unusual among German cities in that its streets and avenues are laid out in a grid pattern, leading to its nickname "die Quadratestadt" ("city of the squares"). The eighteenth century Mannheim Palace, former home of the Prince-elector of the Palatinate, now houses the University of Mannheim. The civic symbol of Mannheim is der Wasserturm, a water tower just east of the city centre. Mannheim is the starting and finishing point of the Bertha Benz Memorial Route. Lake Constance (German: Bodensee) is a lake on the Rhine at the northern foot of the Alps, and consists of three bodies of water: the Obersee ("upper lake"), the Untersee ("lower lake"), and a connecting stretch of the Rhine, called the Seerhein. The lake is situated in Germany, Switzerland and Austria near the Alps. Specifically, its shorelines lie in the German federal states of Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg One girl even needed two posters to show so many interesting places of Swabian Jura. It is a low mountain range in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, extending 220 km (140 mi) from southwest to northeast and 40 to 70 km (25 to 43 mi) in width. It is named after the region of Swabia. Stuttgart is the main city of Baden-Württemberg and the largest city, too, with a population of 613,392. (2011) Stuttgart is spread across a variety of hills (some of them vineyards), valleys and parks – unusual for a German city and often a source of surprise to visitors who primarily associate the city with its industrial reputation as the 'cradle of the automobile'.
fam-united Posted Aug 24, 2013, 12:58 pm	Once more we went for a walk through Bruchsal, because I still haven't seen some places here. At first we walked through the Buergerpark. This park was created at the end of the 1980s when the city centre was re-designed and the Bürgerzentrum (community centre) built. There are two memorials to the Nazi victims; a third embodies international understanding, drawing upon Bruchsal’s town twinnings. Here you see the tower of the ancient castle. This is a reminder for the Nazi Victims. Huttenstraße is one of the few streets with really old houses. After a few minutes we reached our destination: The baroque palace of Bruchsal. Schloss Bruchsal is one of the most beautiful Baroque palaces in Germany and the only episcopal Baroque residence on the Upper Rhine. The foundation stone was laid in 1722 by Cardinal Damian Hugo von Schönborn, Prince Bishop of Speyer, who made the palace the centre of his absolutist dominion.         After being almost completely destroyed in the final days of World War II, the main tract was painstakingly reconstructed according to the original design and work was completed in 1975, including the magnificent dome, Marble Hall and Prince's Hall. The staircase designed by Balthasar Neumann is considered to be an architectural tour-de-force and has been described as the "finest staircase in the world". Today, the palace is home to the Town Museum as well as the German Museum of Musical Automata. The Chamber Music Hall provides the impressive setting for the Bruchsaler Schlosskonzerte. On the right side you see the tower of the palace church, which is not next to the church, but at the end of a hallway, which leads to the church. I'm standing in front of the backside of the palace. There are four halberds as guards to the palace garden. The palace garden, arranged symmetrically along the axis of the main tract, was originally viewed as an outdoor extension of the living spaces inside the palace with the plants serving as a living building material. The garden was intended to reflect the power and glory of its owner, which explains the extravagant fountains and sculptures. Work started on the upper garden in 1721 at the same time as the palace. From 1760, the garden was gradually transformed into a landscaped park following the English model yet without abandoning the basic Baroque structure. Today, the palace garden continues to provide an atmospheric setting for open-air concerts and the Bruchsal Summer Festival of Music and Drama. Take part in an guided tour through the Palace Sonderführung, visit an Open-Air-Concert or the Summer Theatre of Bruchsal Badischen Landesbühne. At one crossing in the garden you find four statues of the four seasons. This statue is summer. At another crossing I've seen the four statues of four elements: water, fire, earth and wind. This statue is fire. View back to the palace. I found a nice place to sit down a bit in the rosegarden. Then we walked down the alley of chestnut trees. On the right side of the left building I found a sun dial. We walked through a gate to go to the front part of the palace. Even Mozart was here with his father a long long time ago. The building in the middle is the county court. The building on the left side is the church and you can see the tower behind it. Sadly the church isn't baroque anymore. The costs were just too high to rebuilt it the way it was. We leave the palace, but not the palace area. Adjoining the outbuildings on the northern periphery of the palace is the Damianstor, a gatehouse featuring a low central archway flanked by two low side wings that secures the palace grounds to the north. Happily, it was escaped significant damage on 1 March 1945 and still provides a striking entrance to the palace grounds and the town centre. The upper rooms in the gatehouse were used as a prison at one time. The two entrances at the sides are later 19th century additions. Today, the local art society "Das Damianstor" stages various exhibitions of contemporary art in the sections of the building directly above the gate arch. I read about the palace - there's a lot more text in German than in English. I'm looking at the county court. This fountain is in front of the county court. It is called Amalienbrunnen.
fam-united Posted Aug 24, 2013, 2:44 pm	Then we walked  to the "Stadtgarten", which is a park with another beautiful baroque building called the Belvedere. This fountain is called Ferdinand-Keller-Brunnen. My hosts and I love this lime tree. The Belvedere on the edge of the "Stadtgarten" was built by Leonhard Stahl in 1756 as a hunting lodge for Prince Bishop Franz Christoph von Hutten. The location was chosen so that the lodge would command an unspoiled view of the palace, town and Rhine rift valley beyond. Behind the trees you maybe see a part of the Belvedere. There were many people around training for a play, so we didn't want to take photos there This street leads along the Stadtgarten and you have a nice view over Bruchsal's houses from there. The large tower you see on the left is the only remnant of the ancient castle. The green roof belongs to a part of the older people's house. In the far you can see the two towers of St. Peter. The yellow-white house also is part of the older people's house. In the far on the left you see a grey building. It is the private grammer school St. Paulusheim, which belongs to padres of the Pallotti order. All houses between here and St. Paulusheim belong to the older people's house. We were standing next to this building, while we took the photos before. Then we walked downstairs and I found this Pieta. Looking the way up again I could see the Wingerthaeusle, which was mentioned on the sign before. Between two buildings of the older people's house I found this carillon, which plays once every day. Here we are standing next to the grammar school St. Paulusheim, which I mentioned before. We walked down the stairs again to go back to Huttenstraße. The house on the right still belongs to the older people's house. It is really large. On the foot of the stair I found this sign, where I read more about St. Paulusheim. Then we walked along Klostergasse, which is a small street with nice old houses. There was a sign about Ceratiten on a wall of a house. The lower part of this house's facade was built with limestone, which included ceratites, a type of ammonoid fossils. I like this doorknocker. Here we see the river Saalbach again. Only a few minutes to walk now and we are back home.
fam-united Posted Aug 24, 2013, 2:48 pm	Freilichtbühne Ötigheim is an open-air theatre in Baden-Württemberg. We were there to see "Schwarzwaldmädel", which was really nice. Nevertheless we sat too far away to take more photos.
MA_17 Posted Sep 8, 2013, 6:22 pm	Ouh Mommy... Our host found us lying on the ground with some bottles. Hmm, these drinks were delicious. She took the bottles away from us and said we should not wonder when we see spooky places which look like foreign planets... Whatever... I don't care what she said...I just want to sleep! ZzZzZzzzzz Quack quack Nathaliezzzzzz
MA_17 Posted Sep 10, 2013, 10:09 pm	Hello Mommy, I still don't know what happened the last days. I know we drunk a bit and fall asleep. When I woke up I couldn't see anything as you can see on the picture. I think I'm in a box. It's shaking. Oooooh, I hope that ends very soon! Nathalie
HoBi Posted Sep 18, 2013, 5:07 pm	Hello mum, Today I arrived at Murph’s home. I showed Murph my gifts. Thank you MA_ 17. Until soon Nathalie
HoBi Posted Sep 22, 2013, 2:45 pm	Hello mum, Today we visited Dicker Kumpel. We brought a gift for him and his friends. Dicker Kumpel had a big surprise for Murph. What will it be? I was so excited! It was a Time Machine! Should we try it? Will we have a safe journey? Did Dicker Kumpel know what he built?  We were brave. And we tried it!  Let’s start! Where are we? And ‚when‘ are we? Wow, it was Murph’s birthday! It was time to celebrate it… to be continued…
HoBi Posted Sep 25, 2013, 5:40 pm	Hello mum, First we all sung a song for Murph. Then Murph got his gifts. Murph unwrapped his gifts. Dicker Kumpel and Kleine Fee prepared a delicious meal. We had a barbecue with marshmallows. It was so yummy! At the end we went out into the garden for a firework. What a wonderful party – I completed one of my life missions!  Many greetings Nathalie
HoBi Posted Sep 27, 2013, 7:44 pm	Hello mum, Where am I? And what day is today? Upps, It is the 15th of September.  And it is TobiHH’s birthday! We all sang a wonderful song for him! Murph asked TobiHH if he would love to come to Bad Salzdetfurth with us. Unfortunately it was time to say goodbye … What a shame. I would love to have adventures like this each day. Until soon Nathalie
HoBi Posted Oct 3, 2013, 4:41 pm	Hello mum, today we wanted to search mushrooms. At first we found this mushroom – every child knows it.  These mushrooms taste hot: peppery boletes And here! Unbelievable! We found a star in the forest! This plant looked funny. The wild arum is very poisonous. Another mushroom  : a little king bolete. A little break. This mushroom is very, very poisonous. Each year many people were killed by the poison of these mushrooms. It is called the death cap. Do you know this plant? The deadly nightshade is also very poisonous. But there are some people, who eat this berries. Then they get a jag and do strange things… The lion shield is rare here. What a wonderful colour  At the end we found more stars! Don’t they look great? They are my famous mushrooms!Mum, do we have these at home, too?  It was a wonderful day in the forest! Love Nathalie
HoBi Posted Oct 8, 2013, 9:21 pm	Hello mum, finally we are on holidays  . At our first day we visited a big abbey. This was the abbey church from outside, beautiful – wasn’t it? And then inside of the church – can you see the gold and all the angels? The decoration for the harvest festival was so beautiful. The garden of the abbey: There were many old trees. It was a very beautiful abbey. A brewery belongs to the abbey. We bought a lot of delicious stuff.  Tomorrow we will hike. The nature should be really nice here. I am curious! Greetings Nathalie
HoBi Posted Oct 10, 2013, 5:01 pm	Hello mum, Today we hiked. And this was the point where we started. The beautiful “Bremsdorfer Mühle” in the “Schlaubetal”. We walked along this small river. It is called Schlaube. It was a wonderful landscape. We found a new mushroom for TobiHH’s life mission. It was a grey mushroom. We continued our walk along the river. Wow – another mushroom with a new color. It is purple. Can you see the color? The mushroom is very bright. Maybe we will find another mushroom that is really purple. We will see. [/URL] This lake was the destination of our hike. What a beautiful scenery. Do you know this tree? It grew in front of our holiday flat A Walnut tree – and the nuts were ripe. We collected all nuts. They were so yummy.  Until soon Nathalie
HoBi Posted Oct 13, 2013, 3:19 pm	Hello mum, We walked around this lake today. First we found a purple mushroom. This one is really purple, isn’t it? What a wonderful view over the lake. We were not able to use this boat anymore  … Unfortunately we couldn’t take this mushroom with us. It is not allowed to pick mushrooms from a nature reserve.  What will we find there? Wow – what a view! Yesterday I walked along the Schlaube. This is the spring of the small river. This small river feeds the whole lake that we walked around.  Unbelievable. Isn’t it beautiful here? These mushrooms look like small balls, don’t they? I really love it here! Greetings Nathalie
HoBi Posted Oct 17, 2013, 5:00 pm	Hello mum, Another hike through the 'Schlaubetal'. First we found a mushroom for TobiHHs life mission. It was pink! Again the small river – the Schlaube This mushroom is eatable, but many people got stomach ache when they ate it.  We walked through a lot of sand – it there a beach near to us? No, but there were many mushrooms.  A small waterwheel in the forest. Wow! The next mushroom for TobiHH's life mission. It was green! The last photo of the „Schlaube“ – what a wonderful river! Until soon… back in Bad Salzdetfurth Nathalie
HoBi Posted Oct 21, 2013, 5:03 pm	Hello mum, today I took a look at the hometown of Murph. It is only a small town, but it has a big church. This river flew through the whole city. There are 2 big salines in the spa gardens. The people used it to produce salt in the past. This is the famous place of Murph. It is called Summstein – you sit inside of it and bumble. Then the whole body prickles. Very funny! Next to the Summstein you see the colorful pigeonry, but I didn’t see pigeons. I really loved this beautiful fountain. There were many flowers in the park. They opened a golf-course here. It is an 18-hole-adventure golf course. Bad Salzdetfurth is a really nice city. I hope that I will show you more of it. Nathalie
HoBi Posted Oct 26, 2013, 4:22 pm	Hello mum, it was a wonderful  fall day. So we went into the forest. Of course we wanted to find mushrooms. The first mushroom is called the panther cap. It is very, very poisonous. We found a new mushroom for TobiHH’s life mission. It was a white mushroom – the common helvel.  Maybe you know this plant – it was the water mint. What a wonderful mushroom: a magpie fungus Ugh, these mushrooms smelt like garlic. What a wonderful forest. These mushrooms were good. The name is sheated woodtuft. They were very yummy.  We found this sign in the forest. HoBi don't like these animals. We are not fussed about them - we are ToyVoyagers.  Another colour for TobiHHs lifemission – orange! At the end we found this rare mushroom. Unfortunately we don't know its English name. But it was really purple  What a wonderful day in the forest! Yours Nathalie
HoBi Posted Oct 29, 2013, 6:04 pm	Hello mum, It is time that we have a closer look on TobiHH’s  life mission: mushrooms in 9 different colors – that’s a lot!  Let’s see how many colors we already found. We should write down all the colors … … and then we count the colors. We only have 8 colors now. One is still missing. What color could this be for a mushroom?  We know that black mushrooms exist. Will we find one? Keep your fingers crossed for us! Until soon Nathalie
HoBi Posted Nov 1, 2013, 2:53 pm	Hello mum, Today we went over a big meadow. We took a long walk! There were mushrooms on these meadows – and they looked beautiful. Far away we saw a big flock of sheep. Unfortunately you cannot really recognize it on the photo. More mushrooms – and they were in a beautiful yellow! We continued our walk – maybe we will find a black mushroom. Look, Mum. Didn’t these small worms look funny? They are mushrooms too… I especially like these trees. Another mushroom – unfortunately it was not black, too. What a wonderful day on this meadow.  Sadly we didn’t find black mushrooms here – hopefully we will find some soon. Until soon Nathalie
HoBi Posted Nov 7, 2013, 5:10 pm	Hello mum, Today I went to a beautiful park. On our way to the park we found this gate. I loved the color. ... and this fountain. Behind me you can see the castle. There was a small pavilion in the park. The owners of the castle is the family von Cramm. In the Past the famous tennis player Freiherr Gottfried von Cramm lived here. These old tomb slabs were impressive. A beautiful lake belongs to the park, too. …and ducks…  Let’s see, what more we can find here. The Castle at close range. These old bonnets look funny, don’t they? Wow, what a beautiful park! Look what we found in the park. I would love to live in this Castle and find more gold!  Yours Nathalie
HoBi Posted Nov 13, 2013, 5:21 pm	Hello mum, today I took a look at the hometown of Murph. There are many half-timbered houses in Bad Salzdetfurth. This river flew through the whole city. Bad Salzdetfurth is an old miningtown. And you find memories of this time everywhere. The golden ball in front of the ‚Kurmittelhaus‘  is the sun. All over the town you find planets in the right distance and in the right dimension. This is the earth. This was the train station of Bad Salzdetfurth. I have no idea why it is called Kulturbahnhof.  It is a nice town. Greetings Nathalie
HoBi Posted Nov 22, 2013, 4:13 pm	Hello mum, Today must be the day! We want to find the black mushrooms. Because up to now we found 9 different colors. The black ones should be here! But first we had a view over Hildesheim! What a beautiful big mushroom – but it was not black! We also found some nice flowers! There are hardly any leaves on the trees. We had to rush to fulfill Tobi’s life mission. It is nearly impossible to find mushrooms when it is cold.  Unbelievable! Can you see the small black thing in our middle? Wow, we did it! Tobi’s life mission is completed.  There were really mushrooms in 10 different colors. Greetings Nathalie
HoBi Posted Nov 26, 2013, 5:19 pm	Hello mum, today I visited Hildesheim. The first stop was the market place with many nice old houses. This is the „Knochenhaueramtshaus“  – a really famous building. The next stop was the dome of Hildesheim. It is currently a big construction area. Here is a rose, which is 1000 years old. Why lives a Hindu God here in Hildesheim? We don’t know – but his name is Shiva. He is a little bit spooky. The „Kehrwiederturm“  is the last tower of the old city wall. In front of a church we found this fountain. On the way back to the car we found this house. It was rebuilding a few years ago. We didn’t like the location – it does not fit in this place.   But we like the name.  Greetings Nathalie
HoBi Posted Nov 28, 2013, 5:17 pm	Hello mum, we visited a ruin today. This catapult was really huge. There was a big wall around the ruin. We had a great view from the wall. It was the garden of the castle. You won’t believe. The people had a heating in the past. The thing with the holes was the heating. There was a nice view from the tower over the ruin. Yours Nathalie
HoBi Posted Nov 30, 2013, 1:16 pm	Hello mum, Today is a great day – I will move to my next host. I had a great time with TobiHH and Murph. Hopefully I will have a short trip. Until soon Nathalie
Miss-Cynical Posted Dec 5, 2013, 9:32 pm	Hi Mom, today I arrived at my new hostmum in Schleswig-Holstein! Luckily it was only a short journey. New hostmum released me from my box and three other TVs were already waiting to welcome me! Here you see me with Tiger-Lily, Bolmur the polar bear and Smilla the sheep! This was a very warm welcome and everyone hugged me! Then we had chocolate, cookies - and gummybears, that my hostmum HoBi send within my parcel. Yumyum. We had a wonderful party until it got dark and we all sat around a candle and talked. I was the superstar - because non of the TVs here have traveled by now so I could tell all the stories of my adventures. Bolmur and Smilla will be Christmas wild releases so they had a lot of questions. I could share my experiences and give them good advice how to behave on a journey and with a host family. Tiger-Lily was curious too, she will make her first travel to a new hostmum beginning of next year. It was a great party! Good night, Mum!
Miss-Cynical Posted Dec 5, 2013, 9:36 pm	Hi Mummy! Today hostmum woke me with a nice cup of tea. I was curious what we are going to see in the next days, but hostmum told me that I unfortunately will stay inside for a few days because there's a huge storm going over Schleswig-Holstein, and that we better stay in the house until this is over. We're less than 10 km away from the borders of the river Elbe and the North Sea, the river Stör is only hundred meters away from our house and we all hope that the dykes will not break during these spring tides so that our property will not get flooded. At night I couldn't fall asleep for quite some while, because I could hear the wind blowing soooo loud outside! It is really stormy and I was afraid of the hurricane and all the strange sounds on the outside. But Tiger-Lily crawled into my bed and said, everything will be okay and I felt much better. I hope the storm will end soon - without making damage to hostmums house ... Good night, Mum - I miss you!
Miss-Cynical Posted Dec 6, 2013, 10:50 pm	Hi Mom! It is "Nikolaustag", a day commemorating Saint Nicholas, a tradition here in Germany. On the evening of December 5th, children place a boot or a shoe in front of their door. Overnight, the Nikolaus, a figure similar in appearance to Santa Claus visits the house and fills the boots with sweets if the children were good; otherwise they are left with only a rute (a cane composed of birch twigs). As ducks don't wear boots of course, hostmum knitted a Nikolausstiefel for me that I put in front of the door last night. This morning it was actually filled with chocolate and cookies!!! Wow, this Mr Saint Nicholas really visited me - despite of all the storm and rain and hail at night ... Good night!
Miss-Cynical Posted Dec 11, 2013, 12:15 am	Hi Mum, after the huge storm we finally went outside for a walk. While at home and in our neighbourhood everything was okay, I was shocked when we walked down the main road. Look what storm "Xaver" did to the old windmill "Hoffnung"! It was already very rotten and the windmill vanes had already been removed, but now the storm ripped off most of the outer cladding sheets! What a pitiful sight! Will it ever be possible to restore "Hoffnung"? How sad :-( At home I met Jeffrey for the first time! He is a BLACK cat and was sleeping on a BLACK sheepskin (master of disguise!), so I didn't see him and stumbled over him! WAAAH! .... see his sharp teeth?! He's going to kill me!  In fact he just yawned :-) and then went back to sleep immediately. That was a close call! :-) So glad he wasn't mad at me or ate me for dinner! Miss you, mum - good night!
Miss-Cynical Posted Dec 11, 2013, 7:02 pm	Hi Mum, today we have been visiting the lowest point in Germany! This is 3,54 m under sea level! WOW! That's way deep, isn't it? There was a lot of information and a small pavillion for a rest. And there was guestbook! Hostmum helped me writing an entry! Look, here it is: That was fun! :-) Although it was cold and foggy this was an interesting day because I learned a lot about the geography in Schleswig-Holstein! Bye for today!
Miss-Cynical Posted Dec 11, 2013, 7:30 pm	Hello Mama, As I was so sad about the windmill "Hoffnung" and that it got damaged so badly by the storm, hostmum decided to visit a fully restored windmill. This one is in Wilster and it's called Aurora! It was not damaged at all by the wind and looks beautiful! At this place the first windmill was built in 1534, it got destroyed by a fire, they built a new one here that again was destroyed. Then "Aurora" was built in 1872. And here it is, renovated in the 1980s and 90s. Here Tigerlily and I are having fun on an old millstone: and on a old cartwheel: Bye for today!
Miss-Cynical Posted Dec 11, 2013, 7:47 pm	Hi Mum, Today I had to say good-bye to my friend Bolmur, the little polar bear. Bolmur will be released into the wild today. I hope somebody nice finds him and takes him home to celebrate Christmas. Bye Bolmur, I already miss you! There he goes - on his first adventure as a "Christmas wild release". Good night!
Miss-Cynical Posted Dec 14, 2013, 9:07 pm	Hi Mum, today me and hostmum took the ferry ELSE to cross the river Stör. We entered the ferry with our car and were greated by the ferry(wo)man Tina. Yes, ELSE has three fulltime ferrywomen! I think that's cool! Tina is hostmums neighbour and she allowed me to enter the drivers cab and I could take a look at all the instruments and displays in there! That was interesting! As it was so foggy that day the radar was activated and I could check our position on the monitor! Cool! Well, actually I couldn't tell what all these spots on the screen are - but I'm sure Tina knows! Although it's only a very short distance and takes only a few minutes to cross the river of course there's a lifebelt on board! :-) This was an interesting short trip today! Bye-bye for today!
Miss-Cynical Posted Dec 14, 2013, 9:09 pm	Hello mum, Today we went shopping in Wilster and it was already dark outside, so we took a short walk to the christmas tree next to the Town Hall. It looks nice! Can't wait until hostmum will decorate the christmas tree inside our house!
Miss-Cynical Posted Dec 14, 2013, 9:16 pm	Then we went to see the "Honigflether Schöpfmühle" a small mill that was build around 1850. Hundreds of these special mills have been built in this region in the past - they didn't grind corn but transport water from the lower levels up to the fields. This is one of the few mills that still exists - and full functioning! For christmas time each year the mill is illumated at night which looks beautiful! You can't hardly see me in the picture ... Here I'm sitting on one of the vanes ... Here's some information on the mill and hostmum reads it to me. You can read everything about the mill here. That was another cool and interesting day :-) Good night, Mum!
Miss-Cynical Posted Dec 16, 2013, 12:22 am	Hi Mum, we've been playing dice tonight! Hostmum was our referee, she watched us closely so we couldn't cheat *gg* We had to score all numbers from 2 to 12 with two dice and who finishes first will win the game. The winner receives a gingerbread cookie! I had to choose two dice and Tigerlily holds the dice box. Tigerlilys first score was 8, mine was 6. We kept on throwing the dice until there was only one score left for both of us. I needed 12 and Tigerlily 2. It's Tigerlily's turn - here she goes: Oh no, a double ace - she won!!! She gets the gingerbread from hostmum and demands to listen to Motörhead's ACE OF SPADES while we eat. Tigerlily is a good friend and shared the cookie with me, I even got the bigger half. Yummy! Good night and kisses from Nathalie
Miss-Cynical Posted Dec 17, 2013, 5:09 pm	Hi Mum - I'm so excited, need to tell you about my special encounter today: I met some real ducks! Hostmum and I have been in Glückstadt today and parked the car near two small lakes at the Municipal park. Right in front of the car I saw two ducks! I jumped out, walked over to them and we chatted (cackled!) a while. One of them was very colorful - the other one looked like me! Hostmum explained to me that these are "Stockenten" (Mallards) and that male birds (drakes) have a glossy green head and are grey on wings and belly, while the females have mainly brown-speckled plumage. This explains why I don't have so many colours - because I am girl! That was a nice and interesting encounter! Bye-bye - I wish you could have been with me today, Mum!
Miss-Cynical Posted Dec 20, 2013, 10:14 pm	Hello! Postcrossing Day! Me and Tigerlily helped hostmum to write loads of postcards! I'm so excited - I can't wait for Christmas! Can't wait for the Christmas tree to be decorated and Santa Claus coming! ooohhh, it's still four days to go  Bye for today - miss you, Mummy!
Miss-Cynical Posted Dec 24, 2013, 7:34 pm	Dear Mum, MERRY CHRISTMAS to you! I wish you all the best and I hope you have a nice Christmas day with all your Family and friends! I will tell you all about my "Heiligabend" and the celebration we had in the next few days! Hugs & kisses from Nathalie
Miss-Cynical Posted Dec 26, 2013, 9:23 pm	Hi Mum, finally it's Christmas! On "Heiligabend", the 24th of December, we've been celebrating christmas at hostmum's house. First I wished hostmum and Tigerlily a Merry Christmas! That's me sitting in the christmas tree: ... and under the tree with Tigerlily and all the christmas presents. Unwrapping my present: It's a puzzle! It's a goose family! What did you get for Christmas this year, Mum? Later we sat by the fireplace, talked, drank, laughed - just had a wonderful christmas evening! Although it was a wonderful christmas day I missed you, Mum! I hope you had a wonderful Christmas as well! Bye for today! Nathalie
Miss-Cynical Posted Dec 26, 2013, 9:25 pm	Hi Mum, today we helped hostmum cooking a traditional German dish: Karpfen Blau (cooked carp). We have a huge cooking pot with water, onions and several spices (bay leaves, pimento, salt ...) Here's the fish (it looks disgusting ... but it tasted very good in the end!). ... potatoes, lemons, parsley ... Yummy - it looked strange but tasted very good! Bye-bye!
Miss-Cynical Posted Jan 1, 2014, 12:07 am
Miss-Cynical Posted Jan 1, 2014, 11:45 pm	Hi Mum, I hope you had fun celebrating the New Year's Eve! Wishing you all the very best for the 2014! Hostmum made a nice dinner for us - meat fondue with fresh salad and bread. Tasty! Here you see me and Tigerlily celebrating "Silvester" (New Year's Eve) with sparklers! Right after 12 o'clock we did "Bleigießen" (a German New Year's Eve custom of telling fortunes by the shapes made by molten lead dropped into cold water). That was fun! More sparklers! We then went outside to take a look at the fireworks and meet the neighbors - we all wished each other a happy new year, had a drink, chatted and laughed a lot. Sorry, hostmum forgot to make pictures! We don't know what the future holds in store for us in 2014 - I hope only good things, especially health and happiness! Yours, Nathalie
Miss-Cynical Posted Jan 31, 2014, 8:44 pm	Hi Mum! Today a new TV arrived at our place - it's Hemming, the cute little wolf! He came all the way from Delft! Me and host-mum already awaited him! Hemming is so cute! I'm so glad he arrived, because I'm the only TV in the house right now - I don't have to feel so alone anymore! We had a nice cup of tea and some chocolate, sat around and talked the whole evening. Good night!
Miss-Cynical Posted Feb 1, 2014, 6:09 pm	Hi Mum, when I woke up this morning it started to rain - so this was the last chance to built a snowman, before all the snow had melted. Hemming and I quickly headed outside ... And here's our snowman! Bye-bye for today! Hugs, Nathalie
Miss-Cynical Posted Feb 4, 2014, 7:20 pm	Hi Mom, as the weather was so nice, hostmum stopped at the "Stör-Sperrwerk" (flood barrier) where you have a nice view. At this place the river Stör runs into river Elbe. You can see the Elbe behind us. And this is the barrier behind Hemming and me. Here's some information about the flood barrier and how it works. On the other side you can see the river Stör (there are still some ice floes) The sunshine was so nice - but it didn't last long, soon it was getting very misty .... Bye-bye for today! Yours, Nathalie
Miss-Cynical Posted Feb 4, 2014, 7:51 pm	Hi Mum - I'm so excited! Today hostmum told me that I'm going to ENGLAND to visit sneakysnail end of this week! We checked the toyvoyagers page and browsed through some travellogs so I could get an impression of where I'm going! It was nice in Schleswig-Holstein but now I'm really looking forward to new adventures in GREAT BRITAIN! Maybe I'll get to meet the Queen and the rest of the royal family ... Wooohooo! Good night, Nathalie
Miss-Cynical Posted Feb 5, 2014, 6:55 pm	Hi Mum, today was the big day - I'm leaving for Great Britain! I said goodbye to hostmum and Hemming. Bye Hemming, take care! Hemming was a very kind wolf, I had a nice time with him. Already miss him! Then it was time for me to crawl into my package ... There's some chocolate (if I don't get too hungry during the journey I might leave it for my new hostmum) and a postcard from Beidenfleth. And of course I take the puzzle with me I got for Christmas. Hostmum promised to watch my future entries in my travellog. And off I go ... England I'm coming! Bye-bye! Nathalie
sneakysnail Posted Feb 10, 2014, 6:18 pm	Hi mummy! I ARRIVED TODAY!!! When hostmum put my box down on the floor, I could hear excited voices and I popped out to say hello. NiliHH, The WotWots and Little T.B. greeted me and welcomed me to sneakysnails house. I unpacked the things that I had brought; a chocolate bar, a postcard and my puzzle. The other TV's were curious about my puzzle and so I suggested that we all build it together. We took it to the table and tipped out the pieces. Then, we begun. It didn't take us long when we all worked together and it was nice to see my puzzle built again. I think I'm going to enjoy my time here and hostmum said she has something fun planned soon. Bye for now, Nathalie.
sneakysnail Posted Feb 12, 2014, 3:29 pm	Hi mum. We went 10 pin bowling today at the local bowling alley. The floor inside had carpet with bowling patterns on, how odd? Another odd thing about 10 pin bowling, is that you have to wear clown shoes to play it! I did not have to put on the silly shoes because, luckily, they didn't come in my size. Bowling was fun but we all had to work together to push the balls because they were really heavy. Once they got going though, the shiny floor took them down the lane for us! When bowling was done, we played in the arcade. I helped Little T.B. push NiliHH across the air hockey table. She said it was great fun and she was squealing with joy. Then I played another game, something to do with chickens. I'm not really sure what you had to do but I had fun playing so it doesn't matter if I won or lost at the end. It was fun at the bowling alley, my first adventure with Sneakysnail. Yours, Nathalie
sneakysnail Posted Feb 15, 2014, 8:59 am	Hello mummy. A new friend has arrived today in the shape of a giraffe called Gigi. She is very sweet and as she hopped out of her envelope we all jumped on her to give her a giant hug! As she is only very small, I think we may have squashed her a little bit, she didn't seem to mind though! Then she unpacked five lollipops and handed one out to each of us. I got the pretty pink one and I was very pleased. We all sat and crunched our lollies and Gigi told us about all of her adventures. I told her about my adventures too and we got along well together. I think we might become good friends! Yours Nathalie
sneakysnail Posted Feb 20, 2014, 2:56 pm	Hi mummy, I went to London today! We had a murder mystery treasure trail to complete. There were things to find as you were walking around the streets. We set off and went to the station to catch a train to London. It didn't take us long to get there, even though we had to change trains halfway through the journey. When we arrived we saw an interesting water feature and went over to have a look. I noticed there were some friends swimming on the water and I went over to say hello. They thought we had some food for them but sadly we didn't. I wanted to swim with my new duck friends but hostmum warned me that I'd get very cold so I decided it was best not to get in. We continued the trail and soon we came to a path beside the Thames. I could see The Shard in the distance. It is a very tall and new building. As we walked past the river, some more ducks were bobbing along. They were too far away to photograph though. Next we came across some interesting art works, a big wheel and a chimney. Can you see me hiding in the wheel? I fell out but luckily hostmum caught me! The chimney was mosaic and very pretty. Soon, I saw another interesting thing, a big water whirlpool in a tube. It was good to stare at for a while, before it made me dizzy! Next we came to another good view point. This time of the O2 building. It has yellow spikes all over it and it's used for music events and stuff like that. Then we came across an unusual flower sculpture which worked well as a slide!. That is where the tour ended and we walked to a train station and hopped aboard another train. We eventually got off at the Tower of London and had a look at the magnificent building. Unfortunately we couldn't go inside. Then we walked over to Tower Bridge so that NiliHH could complete a life mission. The bridge was rather magnificent too! Soon it was time to go home. Hostmum popped me into her bag and I fell asleep. Just as I was having a lovely dream, hostmum woke me up and showed me a giant ice cream! I was still sleepy and very confused so I tried to take a bite out of it! It didn't taste good and I realised it was plastic and eating it would be a very bad idea. I liked the giant ice cream but I was still really sleepy. I jumped back into the bag and dreamt about ice cream clouds. At home I awoke on hostmums chair, I guess I must have been really fast asleep. Yours, Nathalie
sneakysnail Posted Feb 21, 2014, 4:24 pm	Hi mum. Today we said goodbye to NiliHH and Mrs Fleece. They are both going off on new adventures. Everyone gathered round together and I wished them both good luck.  Once they were in their packages, it seemed very quiet and calm even though five of us are still here. I guess everyone is just a bit sad to see them leaving. I'm sure it will liven up soon. Bye for now, Nathalie
sneakysnail Posted Feb 24, 2014, 5:16 pm	Hello mummy, Another day, another goodbye. This time it was The Wotwots who are leaving sneakysnails house. I said my goodbyes along with the others and wished them well. Then hostmum took them to the post office and sent them off. Something good is happening here too! The weather has improved over the last few days and it feels like Spring! I will show you photos of some nice 'springy' things soon! Nathalie
sneakysnail Posted Mar 1, 2014, 10:37 am	Hi mum, We went outside and looked for signs of Spring today. There were lots of things to see. First we saw some buds on an acer tree, they will grow to be beautiful leaves soon. Then we noticed a huge plum tree with white blossom on it. When the blossom falls, it looks like a snow flurry. Next to the plum tree is hostmums pond. I saw a funny tall grass with stripes on it and then I checked to see if any ducks were on the pond. Sadly there were no ducks, only lots of pond weed! Once we were done in hostmums garden, she took us to her friends house. Her friend loves to garden so there were loads of flowers there. Firstly we saw daffodils which are always the first sign of Spring to hostmum. Then I went to investigate a nice red flower on its own. Hostmum couldn't remember its name though! She took us to see a patch of violets and then some pansies. I loved the pansies, they have different colours on the same petal! The last flower we saw was pink and pretty but, again, hostmum forgot its name. Inside hostmums friends house, I made some friends of my own. A t-shirt wearing meerkat called Mike, a chimp called Chimp and another meerkat called George! I told them about my travels until we had to go home. It's getting nice here and I hope it doesn't get cold again! Yours Nathalie
sneakysnail Posted Mar 9, 2014, 5:15 pm	Hi mummy, Not much is happening here at the moment, hostmum has been very busy. Today we helped hostmum to put up her new curtains. She has redecorated her bedroom and the curtains came yesterday! First, we unpacked them from the box and inspected the design. Then, we checked to make sure we had the tools and equipment we needed. Preparing the curtains was next and I had to hold a string whilst hostmum pleated the curtain. Then I measured the poles and put on the rings for the hooks to attach to. We all hopped onto the steps and tried to reach the window top. None of us were tall enough and so we made a tower of toys. Still, we couldn't reach. Hostmum had to put the curtain rail up but I helped her to keep it level. When the curtains were up and finished, I thought it looked very pretty. As I say, not much happening at the moment but the sun has been out all day! It got quite hot earlier! Hopefully something fun will happen soon. Yours Nathalie.
sneakysnail Posted Mar 17, 2014, 6:35 pm	Hello mummy, Last night we went camping in hostmums garden! She said she would give us everything we would need for the night and then set us off into the wilderness. Handing us a tent, a couple of blankets a campfire and matches, and some food, we headed outside to find a good spot. Then it was time to put the tent up. It was quite simple... if you know what you're doing. We struggled with it for ages, but eventually it was up and I hopped in to test it. The weather was great and hostmums cat joined us as we were having a picnic. The food was delicious and laid out on a very appropriate plate! Once I'd eaten enough I took a look at our 'furry visitor' who was now snoozing in the midday sun. Much of the afternoon we spent playing, talking and eating. Little.T.B. was in charge of guarding the food from the cat. I think we needed someone to guard the food from Little T.B.! I went to grab a quick snack and found only a tiny portion of food left! Someone... no names mentioned... had been munching on our supplies we'd saved for breakfast. As it got dark, I carefully lit the campfire and sat with the others. Being outside in the dark with no human was a little scary and we made it worse for ourselves by telling spooky stories! The fire was warm and soon I was getting sleepy. I climbed into the tent and the others soon followed me. During the night, I did not wake and day light soon broke through the little tent. The others were already awake and looking around. I ate my tiny portion of food and talked with the others. Hostmum had chosen a brilliant day to camp, the sky was so blue, not a cloud in sight! Of course the fire had gone out whilst we slept but it was plenty warm enough. It was around an hour later when hostmum came out and took us inside. I really loved camping but I am glad it was only in the garden and not further away Bye for now, Nathalie
sneakysnail Posted Mar 21, 2014, 6:28 pm	Hi mum, Today we took a trip to the local library to look at some books. There was a funny dinosaur book stand and I looked through the books for one I wanted to read. Soon I picked out a book about a duck and read it all the way through! I really enjoyed it. In the library there were lots of chairs, a tiny one and a big round one amongst others. The round one was very odd but comfy. Hostmum struggled to fit into it though! There was also a nice mural of a lake on the wall and we investigated it further. I liked pretending I was swimming. Once we tested the chairs and found a comfortable seat we again looked through the books for an interesting one. We came to a book about animals and found a page for hostmum to read! I then came across a nice picture of a duck with some funny writing. I laughed as I read it. When we finished with reading we took a look around the library and came across a section about all the countries. Unfortunately we didn't have time to stop and browse. The library was fun and I found out lots of interesting information. Yours, Nathalie
sneakysnail Posted Mar 27, 2014, 4:15 pm	Hi mum. We said goodbye to Gigi Giraffe today. She is going to a new host in Germany. I gave her a big hug and said goodbye before helping her climb into her envelope. It was sad to see her go... but maybe we'll meet again someday. The weather here is strange. It was very rainy and cold, then it got hot and sunny, now we're back to cold and frosty mornings. Spring has sprung and the weather should have stayed warm. Hostmum doesn't mind, she likes the cold, but others are complaining. Never mind, it'll sort itself out! Yours Nathalie
sneakysnail Posted Mar 31, 2014, 6:56 pm	Happy Mothers Day! Sadly I am not with you this mothers day and so cannot give you a little card or present. I've made you an e-card thingy instead! Hostmum took a picture of me and I decorated it for you! Hope you like it. We made a card for hostmum too. I cut out some flowers and glued them onto the card. It was a bit plain so I thought of what else we could add to it. Searching the house, I came across some pens. A bright idea popped into my head. I coloured some bits onto a butterfly and Little. T.B. wrote a greeting. Then we gave it to hostmum. She was very pleased with it, so pleased that she put it up before I could snap a photo. Well, I'm glad she liked it! Hope you had a nice mothers day. Love from Nathalie.
sneakysnail Posted Apr 10, 2014, 11:51 am	Hello Mummy. I'm sorry I have not updated in a while, I completely lost track of time! Today I helped hostmum with some household tasks because she had so much to do in a short space of time. First, I gathered some cleaning equipment and soapy water for hostmum. She said this job was too messy so I went to do some sweeping. Her pet canary, Colin, makes a lot of mess with his seeds and so I swept them up with a dust pan and brush. Then I did some vacuuming with Little.T.B. He was moving the nozzle around whilst I shifted the main vacuum. We did the whole rug and once we'd finished it looked very neat. Hostmum commented that we did it better than her and that we should do it all the time for her! I'm not too happy about that idea! Next we cleaned and polished the table. I had to stand on a biscuit tin to reach the spray can. Once the polish was done, it made the table all slippery and shiny. I hopped off of my tin and slid around. It was great fun and we were distracted by playing there for a while. Eventually I was done and I went to clean some windows with smudges on. The spray I used was blue and looked pretty in the sun. I cleaned away the smudges and looked out at the beautiful forest that is springing into life. Maybe we can visit it soon. Hostmum thanked us for all our help and said we would have a nice treat in the next week or so. Yours, Nathalie
sneakysnail Posted Apr 11, 2014, 6:15 pm	Hi mum. We welcomed a new guest to Sneakysnail's house yesterday. She is called Freya and is very cute. Once she hopped out of her envelope I introduced myself and helped her to unpack. We were soon friends and the rest of the day was spent talking and telling jokes together. Yours, Nathalie
sneakysnail Posted Apr 18, 2014, 4:35 pm	Hi mum, We took a nice walk in the forest today. It is all green and lovely because of the new spring leaves. There are also some flowers blooming in the forest too. I saw bluebells around the base of a tree. Hostmum said we are lucky to see them here, they are becoming rare in many UK woodlands. There was a large group of white flowers too. Hostmum called them white-bells though she doesn't think that's their real name. Soon we came to a large tree with a swing hanging from its branch. It was made of a curved branch and some rope. We all had a go on it (including hostmum) and then we walked on towards the lake. Before we got to the lake, we saw a nice tree with a nook in the trunk. It was large enough for us all to sit in and so we rested there for a moment. We continued walking until we reached Highams Lake. It has many ducks on it and I was hoping to see some. They were mostly sleeping or caring for their babies but I did see one close to the waters edge. Next to the lake was a nice round tree. I thought it would make a good viewpoint and so we climbed up top to look out over the lake. Not far away, there was an information sign and we went to read it. I saw there were some pictures of ducks and so I read about them. On the way back home I noticed a nice looking holly bush and carefully went to sit in it. I had to watch out for the many prickles on the leaves. During the recent storms, many trees fell in this forest and it was not long before we saw a large one blocking our path. It was massive but we discovered that it was only a branch from a nearby tree. Imagine how big the tree must've been! We sat on the branch to show you how big it was, can you see me? In the forest are two little house, sort of like the kind you get in fairy tales. I liked them lots and so does hostmum. She said she wishes she could afford to move into one of them! As we neared home we took a rest on a moss covered log. We were tired and several hills approached ahead. The energy from our rest helped us home and soon we were resting in a cosy armchair. Yours, Nathalie
sneakysnail Posted Apr 21, 2014, 2:50 pm	Hello mummy. Today, as it is Easter Sunday, hostmum set up an easter egg hunt for us! Our treat for helping her with the cleaning the other day! She hid eight small eggs around her house and then one giant one too. I began looking on the sofa but did not find anything there so I went to search elsewhere. I looked in hostmums camera bag and found my first egg! I opened it up to see if anything was inside and out fell a little ring sweet. Quickly I munched it and continued looking on the table. In the fruit bowl another egg was hiding amongst the bananas. A heart shaped sweet this time. Yum! I searched high and low and found no more eggs. Until... I looked in the big plant pot! Hidden deep in the pot was the giant egg!!! I called the others over and together we pulled it out of the plant pot. As we opened it up, we wondered what could be inside. There was a whole packet of sweets. EACH! We ate our sweets and then hid the eggs for each other again. Sadly there were no prizes in them this time. Bye for now, Nathalie
sneakysnail Posted Apr 26, 2014, 3:38 pm	Hello mum. I'm on my way home! Today it was time for me to leave Sneakysnail's house and begin my journey home to see you. Before I left, we took a commemorative photo of us three good friends. I am sad to leave them but one day we might meet again. I packed my bag and said goodbye to my buddies and then I got into my envelope. I snuggled down and hostmum taped it up and took me to the post office. Yours, Nathalie

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