Posted Nov 18, 2011, 5:50 pm
I'm *-Cookie-* and today mummy made me a ToyYoyager.
I'm so happy! I always wanted to see the world!
But I'm also a little bit scared of all the time I won't be home with mummy.
I hope she won't be too sad while I'm away. 
But mummy will still have my twin sister with her at home. Mummy said she won't be made a TV and so someone will be home to cuddle with. 
But before my registration was complete I was weighed and measured. Not the most comfortable thing I can tell you.
But mummy said it as necessary so I went trough with it. Luckily it was over soon and I could go watch TV while mummy completed my profile for me. Lucky me!
When she was finished writing all the things I had told her before she said that it was time for me to write my first update. How exciting!!
As it's dark outside now I will show you more of my home another time and will go cuddle with mummy now.
Yours *-Cookie-*
------------------------------------
My travel plans so far:
January - May 2012: Yosemite --> Thank you so so much for the absolutely wonderful time I spent at your place and in Denmark with you! It was a really really lovely time with you and all the other TVs!!
May 2012 - January 2013: Kristykirkpatrick ??
Note: I heard from Kristy. I guess Cookie is still there and taking a break from travelling.
Posted Nov 19, 2011, 3:34 pm
Today I want to show you all some pictures of my morning workout. Mummy had to recharge her camera's batteries. That's why we upload them so much later than morning.
Mummy says I have to do that because it's healthy and will keep me stretchable. But it is very tiring I can tell you...
Your tired *-Cookie-*
Posted Nov 19, 2011, 11:12 pm
Tonight I saw a strange creature in mummy's room.
It was big and hairy and had the colour of my paws, brows and mouth. At first I was a little scared of this weird thing. But mummy explained that it is called a hamster and very harmless. She also explained that hamster are awake at night and that's why I hadn't seen her before. Mummy said her name was Wollmaus. I asked her what a "Wollmaus" is and she said that it's one of those dust thingies that accumulate in corners, near heaters and under beds etc. (mostly if you don't have a carpet). Mummy said that she reminded her of a "Wollmaus" the first time she saw her and that's where she got her name. 
I'm such a lucky girl to just have reminded her of cookies!
After a few minutes I got a lot braver and even let the Wollmaus sniff at my ear. See?!
And now - after such an exciting day - I'm going to bed! *yawn*
Yours *-Cookie-*
P.S.: Don't worry, mummy fed the Wollmaus after taking the pictures (just in case you were wondering about her empty "bowl").
Posted Nov 20, 2011, 1:46 pm
This morning mummy finally showed me what my surroundings look like.
The first three pictures show the view from the balcony. But it was a little tricky to take the photos because of the sun...
Then I went to look out the other side of the house and over the city. Mummy said I will see the city soon. So excited!
The next picture shows the big forest just behind the house. Mummy said we will go there soon as well.
I can't wait to go finally outside! I hope it won't be too long... While I'm waiting for this day to come already I took my place on mummy's arm and looked outside. A veeery comfotable position!
I'm enjoying the view a little longer.
Bye for now!
Yours *-Cookie-*
Posted Nov 23, 2011, 8:32 pm
Mummy was very tired after classes these past few days so we just lay down and cuddled a lot.
But it's hard to arrange all those legs... Yet you can also see how comfy it was once arranged.
Yours *-Cookie-*
Posted Dec 1, 2011, 1:31 pm
Mummy said I could have a lebkuchen (spice cake) if I got it out of the package all by myself. Yey!
But I didn't think it would such hard work!
Totally worth it however! *munch munch*
Posted Dec 29, 2011, 2:18 pm
it's me again!
I know I've been gone for way too long, but mummy was busy with classes and I was travelling a lot! So much fun! Will show you pictures later.
For now, I have some pictures for you of me while I was working on my travel plans. Look, I even learned how to write!
See you!
Posted Dec 30, 2011, 9:37 pm
So exciting!
Posted Dec 30, 2011, 9:52 pm
This time it was a very old one. And I saw some of the Christmas decorations of the train station. Maybe you can spot them, too? (The small yellow dots on the second picture. ) And I even got to see a (very long) train full of nice new cars!
Travelling by train is sooo exciting!!
Posted Dec 31, 2011, 11:26 am
Pretty, isn't it?!
I love the Christmas season! Snow for Christmas would be perfect, but this year it's very unlikely...
Posted Dec 31, 2011, 12:19 pm
Today I went with mummy and one of mummy's friends to Hanover.
We went shopping in the city and later visited the Christmas market. Well we kind of visited the Christmas market in between as well. It's quite hard not to because the little wooden huts are placed all over the city center. Even though it's not really a Christmassy atmosphere at the moment, it was a really great day nonetheless! So much fun!
The first picture shows a big gate. On the front it says "Christmas market Hanover" and it is the opening gate to one of the places of the Christmas market.
In the middle of the city center they put a really big pyramid. Is was a place selling mulled wine built in the style of Christmas decorations many people have a home, mummy said. She also told me that those pyramids originate from the Erzgebirge.
I also saw some of Hanover's sights. First we saw the "Kröpke". It's the big clock. And curiously it was wearing a knitted cloak. Maybe it was cold??
We also saw thid guy with the umbrella. I wanted to talk to him, but mummy said he was made of metal and had to stand in the same place all the time. How boring! I prefer seeing different places.
Hope to see more soon!
Bye for now,
*-Cookie-*
Posted Dec 31, 2011, 4:13 pm
Mummy wanted to take the train to visit a friend of hers in Halle. As it's a 3hr ride and we had to go back in the evening she decided to take the train at 7 o'clock.
On our way we saw the oldest train station of Germany in Vienenburg, but mummy didn't manage to take a picture because the train was overcrowded and we had to stay in our seat if we didn't want to lose it...
We also saw some very old trains. In the first picture you can see parts of those. (Mummy was to slow to take a better picture...)
We also saw the sun rise on a beautiful morning.
On the whole ride I saw a lot of mountains. Some of them even had a snow covering. Can you spot it? That was the first snow mummy and I saw this year. Even though mummy had told me in November that it would probably snow soon. But sadly it didn't.
And we saw a castle up the hill in Bad Harzburg. Doesn't it look great? Yet, as the train was moving mummy couldn't take a picture with me in it. (Maybe we'll manage next time.)
The last picture shows the train station in Halberstadt. Halberstadt is very famous for "Halberstadter Würstchen" (sausages).
The train was so very full! Every seat was taken and people were crowding the aisles. At some point it was so full that the people at the stations couldn't get into the train and had to wait for the next one or take the bus.
I was so very happy when the ride was finally over! *phew*
Posted Dec 31, 2011, 4:44 pm
First mummy's friend showed mummy her flat, but mummy kept me in her pocket because they first ate some breakfast. Finally we then left again by tram to go back into the city center.
First we went into a very big bookstore and after that we went into more shops for some Christmas shopping.
Then we went to look at all the different things offered at the Christmas market and mummy and her friend had a cup of mulled wine. I had a sniff because I'm not old enough to drink alcohol. It smelled very tasty. Mummy said it was very tasty indeed.
While strolling the Christmas market we saw Santa reading Christmas stories and next to the small house where he read was a fenced off area. Of course we got curious.
When we could finally see something I was very astounded. Santa brought one of his reindeer with him! I saw a real reindeer! Wow!
The Christmas market in Halle is located at the market place and there are some very old buildings. You can see two of them in the pictures. The first looks like a church and the second is a turret with a clock.
As we got cold being outside all the time we went into a café for a cup of hot chocolate and tea. When we got outside again it was dark. Look how nice the big pyramid (Yes, Halle had one as well. This is where mummy and her friend got the mulled wine.) and the Christmas tree look with all the lights shining!
After one last look around we had to get back to the train station for our ride home at 6 p.m. Sadly it was too dark outside to take any more pictures and mummy and I were very tired. But it was a great day!
Posted Jan 1, 2012, 1:20 pm
On our way into the city we saw a guy selling Christmas trees. Mummy said that on another place there was an even bigger area full of Christmas trees. On our way home I even got to see it, but unfortunately we couldn't take a picture because the bus was very crowded (school had just finished for the day)...
Posted Jan 1, 2012, 1:44 pm
During WW2 the rose burned down and was buried under debris. Yet it survived and still blooms every year.
So it is not very astonishing that there are Christmas decorations in the form of a rose and there even are paths marked with roses that lead along many sights of Hildesheim.
Posted Jan 1, 2012, 2:34 pm
One was built like a medieval or viking village with a tavern (the big hut on the right) and tents where handmade clothes and jewellery were sold.
The rest of Christmas market was set up - like every year mummy said - around the town hall. (The third and fourth pictures show the part of the Christmas market behind the town hall with the ferris wheel. And the last three pictures show the part in front of the town hall.)
The street lights around the town hall wear Santa hats around Christmas. I think they look very nice and they certainly won't get cold.
We also saw a red telephone booth. Mummy said that German telephone booths normally are yellow - she also said that are only very few left
- and the ones in the UK are red.
The part of the Christmas market in front of the town hall is surrounded by very old houses. Mummy said that those houses are the oldest ones in Hildesheim. She told me that they were built as meeting places for different guilds in Hildesheim many many years ago.
And guess what, Hildesheim had one of those big pyramids as well.
I liked all my visits to the different Christmas markets very much. And my history lessons were fun, too.
And mummy said that tomorrow we will go to her parents' home for Christmas. I'm sure excited!
Posted Jan 1, 2012, 4:16 pm
Mummy, I and the Wollmaus arrived here two days ago very late in the evening. We'll stay here for two weeks before classes start up again for mummy. Finally holidays! Mummy promised she will have more time for me!
Today we got out the Christmas tree for the gift giving tonight!
It is made of plastic and very small (becaue of the cats living here), but the lights change colours.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you all!
Posted Jan 1, 2012, 4:29 pm
Mummy is very sorry for the semi-bad quality of the pictures, but we sure hope you get my point!
Under the tree you can see all the presents from yesterday evening. I even got a present, too!!
It's the chocolate bear right next to me! Yummy!
Posted Jan 1, 2012, 5:27 pm
My first lesson was to learn the proper name. It is "origami" I now know and that means "paper folding" in Japanese!
I sure was excited when mummy got out the box of colourful papers and immediately wanted to help.
We decided to start with something easy: a shuriken (Japanese throwing star). First we folded the yellow paper according to the instructions. That was very easy! Then we needed a second paper. I decided on green because it complements yellow very well. And before we knew it the shuriken was finished.
As that was way too easy I wanted to make a dolphin next. After some starting problems we managed to make a nice dolphin.
See!
I'm very proud of my two first origami figures and decided to make some more tomorrow maybe.
Posted Jan 1, 2012, 9:16 pm
Besides the shuriken and dolphin I made a bunny, a penguin, a shirt, a beetle, a pineapple and the big one is called "kusudama" (a japanese decorative ball). It was a lot of fun making them all!
Posted Jan 1, 2012, 9:25 pm
Mummy said that it's possible to watch it in colour or in Bavarian, but she prefers the original one in black and white and English. So we watched that.
It's a very funny film and the butler James is tripping over the tiger's head all the time.
I'm looking forward to watching it again sometime!
Posted Jan 1, 2012, 10:51 pm
Very delicious I can tell you!
But look for yourselves! Doesn't it look great?!
Posted Jan 1, 2012, 10:59 pm
I laughed very hard!
Then we all went out to watch the beautiful fireworks all around us and our own as well of course. They were really, really pretty!
But unfortunately mummy's camera didn't work too well in the dark. So we only got one decend picture and that was so small that mummy had to cut me out... Maybe and hopefully we will manage better next year.
But nonetheless: Happy New Year and all the best for 2012!!!
Posted Jan 2, 2012, 11:09 pm
How could she!?! 
She said we were looking for big envelopes to safely send me on my first travel in. I will go travelling soon hopefully! It seems I'm a bad luck puppy... My first plan didn't work out, the second might not work out, so hopefully the third will. Keep your fingers crossed, please.
We also got some sweets and I thought that that was a great alternative to sausages and ham!
And see what cool shopping carts they have at this place!
The supermarket was totally remodeled and they also got new carts with a place for a pen and paper and even a magnifying glass. Can you see how big my head looks?
Posted Jan 2, 2012, 11:23 pm
Look, I dressed up as a pineapple or a dragon! *roar* And mummy made me a kimono, but it is some sizes too small for me...
Posted Jan 3, 2012, 9:18 am
We readied all the ingredients and started. First I got out the eggs. Mummy said she always puts them separately in a cup to see if they are still ok to use. After that I checked the butter - put on the radiator to soften - and it was soft enough to use.
Then I put all the ingredients one after the other into the bowl and stirred the mix until it become right. Mummy didn't even need to help!
Ok, she mixed the last bit because it was too hard for me to do so, but in the meantime I got out the form, checked the dough and buttered the form. I even got to try the dough. Yummy!
Then I waited patien... I mean impatiently for the cake to finish baking. After some time I checked if the cake was ready. But it wasn't...
But it was sure hot in front of the oven. So I let mummy check the second time.
But all the waiting was really worth it! We got such a yummy cake!
Posted Jan 3, 2012, 11:54 pm
For dinner mummy wanted to make pizza and of course I helped or rather I more or less made the pizza all by myself. Mummy only had to pour out the tomato sauce because I didn't really want to get all sprinkly-red and get the finished pizza out of the oven because since yesterday I know how hot it is inside there and I'm sure glad to stay a little farther away.
It was a really yummy dinner!
Mummy promised to try and show me around another day this week.
And now I'm really tired. *yawn*
Good night everybody!
Posted Jan 17, 2012, 2:14 pm
The first picture shows a stork's nest which hasn't been used recently, but every year there is hope the stork will come back or a new one will find the nest.
The little river is called "Mühlenbach" (mill stream) because in former times there was a little mill.
And the last thing I saw was the post office and the yellow post box where mummy put the cards.
Next time I will write I'll probably be back home.
Posted Jan 17, 2012, 2:29 pm
Today we spent very comfortably without any work.
And then all of a sudden we saw this beautiful sunset outside. So we had to take some pictures! It looks gorgeous, doesn't it?
Posted Jan 17, 2012, 9:03 pm
Mummy brought two envelopes back from the mail box! She said two other TVs had arrived. One came from Hamburg and the other all the way from America! Mummy also told me that I will travel to America in a few weeks time as well. First I'm going to travel to Bavaria. I'm so excited to finally go travelling!
So I wanted those two out of their envelopes as fast as possible! After mummy had opened the envelopes I crawled in and persuaded them each to come out. They had brought cards mummy liked a lot and sweets we sure will like a lot. Mummy just told me to say thank you for everything they brought and that I really have to work on my manners or I won't get to travel at all...
After they had shown me everything and had introduced themselves as NiliHH and Scritches we found out that Scritches came from Nili's mum so he had to tell her everything there was to tell. That was a little boring for me, but I was also happy to hear all the things he had to tell. After he had finished recapping I bombarded the two with questions of my own about travelling. They told me a lot and I think we got off to a great start! I'm really happy!
Posted Jan 21, 2012, 11:48 am
I savely arrived at Lichtenfels!
I had a good journey. Thank you for the sweets you gave me
My hostmum helped me out of the envelope and introduced me to the other TVs here. I showed them my hometown on the postcard.
Imagine, I am not the only dog, there is Kibblet the dog, too!
Then we shared the left sweets. I think we have a great time together!
Love you, Mummy!
Cookie
Posted Jan 21, 2012, 6:16 pm
Posted Jan 21, 2012, 6:20 pm
But I'm looking forward to finally travelling and before I'll leave on my journey we will go out into the city and take some more pictures.
Posted Jan 21, 2012, 6:37 pm
First we saw St. Andreas-Kirche (St. Andrew's church). It's a really big building and you can only see about half of it on the picture.
Then we visited the "Huckup". It's a statue of a thief who stole a bag of apples. Now his bad conscience is weighing him down heavily. Poor guy! Should have thought about stealing those apples better! He carries his bad conscience piggyback. That is also the reason for the name. "Huckup" means "huckepack" in Low German which is "piggyback" in English mummy said.
After that we visited the "Blaues Pferd" (blue horse) which only looks like a real horse from the right angle. I've never seen a real horse before, but that sure looks like we managed to find the right angle.
Then we went to take a look at the ice skating rink set up behind the town hall (where part of the Christmas market was only last month). It sure looks nice and maybe mummy will go skating with Nili and Scritches while I'm in Bavaria.
As we wanted to take a group picture and everything was wet, we went around the town hall and took a picture on the steps in front of the building. We're all looking really good (in my opinion).
Look what I found! A blue post box! This one looks really old, but is still in use. Mummy loved it! And I think it looks really nice, too.
Then I got another picture in front of the town hall (here was the other half of the Christmas market to be found last month). The rain was getting stronger again and since Nili and Scritches will stay here a little longer, mummy deceided to take a picture of me only and of them some other time.
The last picture of Hildesheim for me for the time being is showing St. Jacobi-Kirche (St. Jacob's church) which is located right in the middle of the pedestrian zone and called "City Kirche" (city church) because of that.
Then it was time for me to say good-bye to Hildesheim for now.
Posted Jan 21, 2012, 6:43 pm
First the really touristy picture of me in front of the sign saying "Hanover main station".
Then one of me in front of the big sign telling travelers when and where their trains will depart. Look there was even a train going to Munich! Mummy said that is in Bavaria as well. And Bavaria is where I'm going to be soon.
And since the rain had stopped temporarily we went outside in front of the train station and got a picture in front of the statue of Ernst August who was once King of Hanover. I got a picture with a real king, yey!
Posted Jan 21, 2012, 6:48 pm
Posted Jan 21, 2012, 6:55 pm
Then we put some nice surpises into my envelope for my hostmum and hostdad.
Mummy had also told me there would be some TVs as well so we put a little bit more.
When everything was prepared I climbed into my envelope (It's a little bit small in there, but mummy said it wouldn't be a terribly long journey.) and mummy managed to cut her finger on it.
I'm not even really gone and she begins to have accidents... Now I'm worried as well!
Stay safe mummy! I'll write from Bavaria!
Posted Jan 22, 2012, 9:12 am
Are you fine? I am, look, we just had a great sunday morning breakfast with all TVs!
Hostdad bought fresh croissants and biskuits. I was allowed to cut the biscuit. Then I tasted the salami. Yummie!
Hostmum prepared biscuits with bacon and cucumber. Very fine!
Now the day can start!
Hope you have a nice sunday, too!
Kisses, Cookie
Posted Jan 23, 2012, 4:21 pm
Yesterday we made a trip to the most famouse castle in the region, the Veste Coburg. It is one of the best preserved castles in Germany.
The castle exists since the 13th century and was restored and upgraded a lot of times in its history.
Martin Luther, the reformer stood there in 1530 for a few month.
I like these old buildings.
There was a water supply well, 28 meters deep! We visited the museums. So much things I like!
E.G. the armed horse, the suit of armour in size of dwarfs, and the comfortable place to stay, the smokers lounge.
In the last photos you see a model of the whole castle. Veeeeeeeeeery big and impressing!
Mummyyyyyyyyyyyy, this was the first part of Life Mission 1!!!
I am soooooooooooo happy!!!
Love you sooooooooooo much
*-Cookie-*
Posted Jan 31, 2012, 5:02 pm
Sorry that I didn´t write for one week. Hostmum had a lot of work, but from tomorrow on she must not go to work for 5 days!
Today I want to ontroduce you my new dog friend Solvang. He is very big, but we always play together
The last photo doesn´t show Solvang, this is a dog on TV. My favorite telecast "Menschen, Tiere und Doktoren". I watch it everyday
Dear Mummy, I love you!
*-Cookie-*
Posted Feb 1, 2012, 11:31 am
brrrrrrrrrrr. It is cold outside! Nevertheless we made a sightsseing trip through Lichtenfels.
Hostmum showed me the nice historic center of Lichtenfels with the old tower, the old city gate and the half-timbered houses.
The next station was the school where you can learn to braid. This is the only school in Germany for braiding!
We saw a willow tree and the raw material to braid. Usually baskets are made out of willow, but the pupils here make crazy things. Like folding screen, a bench where I rested a short time. We saw also funny artwork. I don´t know what to do with, but it looks like nice
Now we go home and have lunch!
Byebye, Mummy! Tomorrow we´ll have a lot of work! I´ll write you when we are ready!
Love you
*-Cookie-*
Posted Feb 2, 2012, 3:47 pm
We had a hard work today! Hostmum has decided to paint the bathroom. Waffels, Fussel and I helped her.
At first we were at the building center to buy colour. I´d prefer pink, but hostmum don´t
We started to paint! New colour at the wall is not enough, we need a new carpet, too! We choose the green one. Hostmum says it is nice
I had to make the curtain on the rail.
Wow, ready! Doesn´t it look nice?
Love you, Mummy!
*-Cookie-*
Posted Feb 4, 2012, 6:52 pm
Today we visited my hostdad´s mum. She lives near to the castle Lauenstein. Unfortunately it is not open for visitors. But we had a good view from her balkony
She has a cat called Lissy. She likes me and let me ride on her back
Now we have a party
If you are interested what we do, please look in the log of Wavy Gravy
Loooooooooooooooooove you, my dear Mummy!
*-Cookie-*
Posted Feb 11, 2012, 5:03 pm
Today we made a sightseeing trip to Bamberg! It is about 35 km away from Lichtenfels. Bamberg has a very nice old historic center and it is a world heritage!
Our first stop was at the "Gabelmo" in frankonian dialect. It is a fountain with a neptune figure ontop. Then we walked over a bridge and had a good view to "Little Venice", some very nice old houses at the bank of river Regnitz. Our next station was the historic town hall, it was built in the middle of the river, how crazy! On the left side you can see a little bit of the face of the building. There are painted figures on it!
Another "must have seen" is the gothic cathedral with the four towers. To big for our small camera
Then we were very hungry! We decided to eat something typically frankonian. We ordered roasted pins with lump and sauerkraut. And certainly original Bambergian smoked beer. I even don´t know if I like this
But it´s part of my lifemission
It was a cold but very interesting day!
Kiss for you, Mummy!
Your *-Cookie-*
Posted Feb 14, 2012, 8:56 am
Do you know, that I am able to cook?
All TVs made a surprise dinner for hostmum and hostdad!
I was responsible for the kingprawns. I roasted them in a pan, added herbs and the tomatoes Wolley had roasted. Waffels job was to put the noodles into the water.
A little pinch of pepper, now it is perfect!
Enjoy your meal, hostmum and hostdad!
*-Cookie-*
Posted Feb 20, 2012, 5:23 pm
Do you remember our trip to the braiding school?
Last week we saw a report on TV about Lichtenfels and this old handcraft.
There we saw how historical carpet cleaner are made. We took some pictures for you.
Just look:
The first three pictures show how baskets are made.
On picture four, five and six there is the process of building carpet cleaners. And in the last pictures you see them ready and in miniature.
Cool, even to small for me! When I come home, I will get a mini carpet cleaner as a souvenir for you!
Love you,
*-Cookie-*
Posted Feb 25, 2012, 1:40 pm
Today is wonderful weather! So we went with our hostparents to Lichtenfels city to an Ice cream parlor. On the way we saw wonderful spring flowers!
We looked into the menu and decided to have and ice with strawberries and a cup of cappuccino.
Ohhhhhhhhhh, yummie!
What a wonderful day, I think springs comes soon!
Love yooooooooooouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!!!
Posted Mar 3, 2012, 4:08 pm
Today we got a big envelope. We wondered what should be inside. We are not expecting a new TV...
We opened it and I crawled inside. It was a present of Dr.Kröbner who has hosted hostmums little 3*Euro
Cool, Dr.Kröbner sent us helmets!
Noooooooo, hostmum said that this are bowls for us TVs and now we finally have our own dishes! She remebered us that it was 3*Euros lifemission to buy something. THIS are the famous bowls!
Thank you, Dr.Kröbner!
That´s for now, I hope we fill the bowls this evening
Kisses, your *-Cookie-*
Posted Mar 10, 2012, 9:55 am
Today we helped hostmum to arrange the apartment because we are waiting for some famous visitors!
I helped as good as I could. At first with the vacuum cleaner, then with the mop. Wow, everything is shiny!
Oh no, I saw that the windows have to be cleaned, too.
And the frame of the painting!
Now our visitors can come! I am so agitated!
Love you
*-Cookie-*
Posted Mar 11, 2012, 1:48 pm
Yesterday we had a great day! The famous visitor was Dr.Kröbner with all his TVs! We had a very nice evening with chips and we chatted a lot to exchange our experiences as being a toyvoyager. Imagine, we were not less than 16 TVs!
Me and Kibblet talked in a few calm minutes about our lifes as dogs. He is a very good listener and a very smart bear!
I like him very much!
So, now I wish you a good week, your
*-Cookie-*
Posted Mar 17, 2012, 4:31 pm
What a wonderful day, spring is coming! We spent the day in the garden of our hosts. At first we played a little bit in the sun. We sat on a blanket and made game of dice. I threw the dices and guess what! I had 3 times the "6"!
But then a mistake happened. The little _Lilly_ drove the tractor and it got out of control and rolled across our playground. Oh that clumsy little sheep
Then hostmum reminds us that we have to do some work in the garden. Oh yes, I like to work in the garden
I helped as good as I could with the grate.
We found some wonderful blue crocusses in the meadow. I like the spring!
Then we relaxed in the sun. It was such a wonderful day!
Love you, my dear Mummy!
Your *-Cookie-*
Posted Mar 26, 2012, 4:32 pm
Fortunately hostdad has a big backpack and so we traveled comfortable uphill.
In front of the famous rococo basilica Vierzehnheiligen we stopped. It was built by Balthasar Neumann in the 18th century. It is a famous church aof pilgrimage, too. Look how big the front is, according to us TVs!
Behind the church is another grand building, the brewery Trunk. I tasted original franconian dark beer. Sooooooooooooooo yummie,
Love, your *-Cookie-*
Posted Apr 1, 2012, 5:22 pm
Today we made a hiking trip to the Staffelberg. We walked the whole way by foot. Ok, our hosts walked by foot, we sat comfortable in the backpack
It was a pretty sunday, we had a good view over the valley. We saw the monastry Banz at the other side. On top of the mountain we had lunch in the restaurant and I tasted two typical franconian dishes. At first Bratwurst with sauerkraut and then curd with onions and bread. I liked the bratwurst most
On our way back we visited once more the brewery in Vierzehnheiligen, but I had no beer today
Arrived in Lichtenfels there was a exhibition of cars and motor bikes. Look at the cute motor scooter with flowers, would you like to have one? Me, too
Love you, my dear Mummy! And wish you a happy week!
Yours, *-Cookie-*
Posted Apr 8, 2012, 3:37 pm
Today we were on easter egg hunting in the garden!
I found an egg on the slide, it was very hard to climb up! And a big chocolate bunny on a stone.
Altogether we found a whole basket full of sweets!
Yours, *-Cookie-*
Posted Apr 16, 2012, 4:13 pm
Believe it or believe it not, I am on holidays! We arrived on Saturday in our holiday home near the noth sea coast in Denmark. Today we made a walk to the beach. It´s already much to cold to go into the water but the weather is really nice! Rough wind, blue sky and only a few clouds!
Look at yourself! I found a lot of sea shells, it´s a real treasure on the beach!
I just love this place!
Yours, *-Cookie-*
Posted Apr 19, 2012, 3:59 pm
I brewed the coffee together with Maeusle
The boys were at the bakery and made scrambeled eggs for our hosts. I think they really enjoyed this breakfast!
Love you, Mummy!
Yours, *-Cookie-*
Posted Apr 22, 2012, 3:42 pm
What a day, today it´s Baerle s and Maeusle s birthday! We sang "Happy Bearsday" to you for them.
In the afternoon we had coffee and chocolate cake together.
It´s great to celebrate birthday together with other TVs!
Love you, Mummy!
Your *-Cookie-*
Posted Apr 25, 2012, 8:19 pm
Imagine what we did today! We were at a miniature golf course! I chose the pink ball
I had to start. Concentration... ooops, the first drive landed on a stone
But I was back in the match! I needed 5 drives. Hostmum said it was very good for a little dog like me
Now our holidays will end soon, I am a little bit sad. But hostmum said that you arranged a new host for me! I am very excited where I will go to!
Kisses, your *-Cookie-*
Posted Apr 27, 2012, 1:46 pm
I am a little bit sad, we had a lot of fun together!
Napoleon and me discovered a box with biscuits last night. Oh, I like them, so yummie! Napoleon and I tasted... only one biskuit.
And only one more...... and so on
Now I have to say "Goodbye Denmark" It is soooo sonderful at the northsea!
Kisses for you!
Your *-Cookie-*
Posted May 3, 2012, 4:13 pm
Today Wavy Gravy , hostmum and me made a trip to Bayreuth. At first the weather was not to good, so we didn´t take any pictures. But then sun came out! We visited the opera house which was built in the middle of the 18th century. It is in baroque and the interieur is very luxurious. In Bayreuth the margravine Wilhelmine advanced the culture so that there is still a cultural heritage today. The opera house is nominated to be a UNESCO world heritage!
I found a statue of her in a small park and tried to chat with her dog, but he didn´t answer. So we made a rest on a pretty bench.
But that´s not all! The most famous event in Bayreuth are the "Wagner Festspiele", the Wagner festival. Richard Wagner is a very, very famous german composer who built a opera house only for his operas in the end of the 19th century. Every year several V.I.P.s come to Bayreuth to enjoy his music.
We didn´t go to the festival hall but we found a souvenir with a nice picture on it
Last but not least we saw some funny artwork. Men climbing at a house, very funny
Yours, *-Cookie-*
kristykirkpatrick@rocketmail.com
Posted May 28, 2012, 9:09 pm
A good meal from Lindy's is in order!
Luminaries were our favorite part!
A funny gag! Mesquite police were on hand to raise money! They'd arrest anyone you wanted...for a price!
Sunset was beautiful!
Its hard work!
resting between laps
after party @ Denny's!
We raised $225. Our team raised over $14k! and the event was a HUGE success!
kristykirkpatrick@rocketmail.com
Posted Jul 10, 2012, 6:56 pm
Left Miss Kristy's car at the shop for an oil change. We walked to Grandy's to wait. It rained really heavily on us on the way back!
Another day, we had jack in the box at Kristy's aunt Carol's
We of course went to Denny's several times. We're regulars now!
we like storytime at Denny's. Miss Kristy's kids got her an ereader for Mother's Day.
We spent the 4th of July at Denny's too! We saw fireworks, but not so close as to hurt our ears!
after the fireworks, we went back inside and ordered from the kids menu. Then, we colored the menu!
We really like chineese food, too!
Lindy's home cooking is a local favorite! Nolan 's Grammy was with us one day
The hot water heater broke! We went to the laundry mat. It was fun!
We went to see Kristy's Dad
We stopped at burgerking one day. The original chicken sandwich just isn't what it used to be!
We adored Island Burger!
Ghengis grill was fun! We picked ingredience with the same starting letters as our name, then Miss Kristy made a bowl adding a few ingredience of her own!
Salmonella Left us to go to Germany! We will miss the pink, but we are very excited for her!
kristykirkpatrick@rocketmail.com
Posted Jul 24, 2012, 7:31 am
birdt is leaving us to new adventures in Switzerland! We are sad to see Birdt go, but excited for him!
As usual, we spent a lot of time at Denny's this month. We love it there. Especially when Mr. Jim is our server.
We had to drop by the bank, so a visit to The Corner Pocket in downtown Garland was in order!
Date night was spaghetti warehouse. YUM!
We went to Island Burger again, too
kristykirkpatrick@rocketmail.com
Posted Jan 5, 2013, 10:10 pm
Denny's!
Wendy's
Back at Denny's!
We went on vacation! Nice hotel room and the waffels were shaped like TEXAS!!
Back to Denny's! The nachos there are awesome, especially when you sub seasoned fries for the chips!
Different day, different Denny's. We're a bit addicted!
Special night! We went to razzoo's!! We didn't have alligator, though. They were out!
Working at Denny's! Kristy does her best thinking there!
Posted Jul 27, 2013, 12:48 pm
This is Cookie 2 writing. I'm Cookie's twin sister and mummy took me with her and Scritches on her trip to London, UK.
First we saw Nelson's Column on Trafalgar Square.
There are big lions at the foot of the column. They were a bit scary.
Then we explored the city for the day and in the evening we went to Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament.
Look, it was already getting dark at 4:30 p.m..
The last place we wanted to see for the day was Buckingham Palace. Since we got a little lost on our way it was really dark once we found it.
Can you see the flag blowing on top? It means the Queen was home when we visited.
Also it was the second time I saw a castle. Even though it was a palace this time it still counts towards my life mission.
Posted Jul 27, 2013, 12:57 pm
And it was also Mummy's birthday today!
We visited the Tower of London today. This complex is way bigger than we had thought.
Do you know about the legend of the ravens of the Tower of London?
It goes: "If the Tower of London ravens are lost or fly away, the Crown will fall and Britain with it." So there are always at least 6 (plus 1 in reserve) ravens on the grounds. You can find more information here.
To celebrate Mummy's birthday we even went on the big ferris wheel, London Eye. It was really special up there - seeing London from above when it was already dark.
But it was really hard to take good pictures in the moving wheel in the dark. So there's only one without me.
Tomorrow we'll be leaving already again.
It was lovely visiting this awesome city and I sure want to come back some day!
Posted Jul 28, 2013, 3:39 pm
Today we used the fact that all of us are at home at the moment and took a group picture of Henri, Lieselotte and myself.
Aren't we all looking good?
Posted Aug 8, 2013, 4:28 pm
First we gathered all the ingredients we needed for the base cake.
Then we melted some butter in the microwave. Wow, so fast!
We let the butter cool down and grated an apple. I held the grater while Lieselotte grated the apple and Henri observed everything from a safe place high up on the coffee pot.
After that Lieselotte and I mixed sugar and butter and Henri cracked the eggs.
After mixing the eggs into the sugar butter mix we had the important task of weighing the flour. Look, we are hard at work here:
Then I cut open the almond pieces and added some to the flour.
Lieselotte added a pinch of cinnamon and I added a teaspoon full of baking powder.
We mixed everything well, added the grated apple and put it into the oven.
While the cake was baking we got out more ingredients to make custard. And we tested out the pot.
We poured some apple juice into the pot and let it heat up while Mummy mixed the other ingredients together with the custard powder. And no I didn’t get my feet wet here.
While the custard was cooking we grated chocolate – lots of chocolate. *phew*
Then we had a little break while the cake was still baking and the custard was cooling down in the fridge. *yey* When the time was right Lieselotte took the cake out of the oven and Henri cut it into pieces to make it cool down faster.
When everything was cool enough we crumbled the cake and mixed it with the custard.
Then Mummy melted the chocolate while we watched from a safe distance so as not to get all choclatey.
While the chocolate melted we formed little balls out of the cake-custard-mix and stuck sticks into them.
Because the chocolate didn’t turn out as it should have we opted for a chocolate-free icing with lemon juice, water, powdered sugar and colourful sprinkles.
Our cake pops turned out very yummy!
Of course we had to try one. Can you see the empty stick in the bottom right corner? Yes, we snatched it while Mummy wasn’t looking.
And Mummy’s mother was happy with her unconventional birthday cake as well.
Posted Aug 8, 2013, 5:32 pm
Mummy brought a big envelope inside from the mailbox.
We all really wanted to see what was inside.
Mummy opened the envelope carefully so we could all peer inside.
We saw a cute little pig in the envelope and told it to come out as we all wanted to meet it. The little shy piggy did as we told it when we all smiled our best smiles.
We all gave it a welcome hug.
And we learned that in fact it is no "it", but a "she" called Oink. She was sent to Mummy from
Strunki, her prevous host.
And she brought chocolate, a postcard and a real treasure map. We asked her to tell us all about her previous adventures. So she gave each of us a piece of chocolate because story-telling is so much better with sweets and told us all of her travels in the Bergisch Land and beyond.
Wow!
We are really looking forward to showing her around in the coming days!
Posted Aug 19, 2013, 7:39 pm
But first we had to send 2 postcards and then we posed on the mailbox.
On one of the meadows behind the retirement home we saw some goats. Two came running to have their pisture taken with us.
Around the corner we saw a huge blackberry bush.
After some more steps we saw a big construction site:
Here the buildings belonging to the agricultural cooperative society and the freight depot had been pulled down after a big part of them were burnt in a fire earlier this year.
Here we are posing in the construction site fence in front of a big pile of rubble:
A little way down the street we posed on a street blockade in front of one of the many corn fields.
Can you spot us on the barrier?
Also we have all been wondering what the street signs are supposed to mean. "Please only crash here" maybe?
At the end of the street we saw a field full a solar panels.
What a strange crop!
On our way back home we found this lovely pear tree hanging very full with fruits *yummy*, but without a partridge in it though.
Where one of the little streets is today there were many little garden plots. The street was built when Mummy was little so she remembers all the nice little gardens and she was very sad when they were all removed in order to build the street. Luckily a few of the gardens still exist today.
This one has a nice vegetable selection. Here you can see big cabbage plants:
And here are more different plants:
And we just had to pose in front of these beautiful sunflowers:
It was a nice little walk with lovely weather!
Posted Aug 19, 2013, 7:56 pm
First we had to gather all the ingredients for the cupcakes.
Look, how well we fit into the bowl!
Then we had to grate an apple.
Or more precisely Lieselotte and I grated the apple while Henri observed us and Oink snacked on an apple slice.
But Oink made it up when she took over the important task of weighing the sugar.
I mixed sugar and butter together while Lieselotte and Henri weighed the right amount of flour and Oink measured the baking powder.
Everyone watched while I mixed everything together well.
Then we let Mummy fill the dough into the muffin tray and we snacked on the leftover dough. *yummy*
While the cupcakes were baking we weighed ourselves.
Look, all together we weigh a little over 200g.
Then we measured the red currant jam for the topping...
... and mixed it together with butter, powdered sugar and crème fraîche.
To make the finished cupcakes look like apples we had to make some decorations from marzipan and colouring.
Here you can see the results:
The cupcakes fresh out of the oven...:
...and decorated:
Sadly, we couldn't taste them just now because they were for the next afternoon and had to be put in the fridge overnight.
But tomorrow I'll try one!
Posted Aug 19, 2013, 8:05 pm
We took them to the apartment of Mummy’s grandmother to give as a present to Mummy’s aunt. We set them nicely on a cake stand (another present) around 2 smurf figurines.
Looks good, doesn't it?
And finally after so much work and waiting we got to taste one of them:
Very good! (And yes, in case you were wondering they were supposed to look like apples so some of them even had marzipan worms. *eek*)
Posted Aug 19, 2013, 8:41 pm
Today we made a fairly exotic dinner: jasmine rice with red coco curry.
First we all weighed the rice and Mummy set it to boil on the stove.
(Well, technically we watched Mummy cut the chicken meat first, but we didn't want to put any pictures of raw meat here because it's a little yucky and we are considerate of others.)
So we only show it after it was already in the pan.
While the rice boiled on its own we took the coconut milk and red curry paste...
...and mixed them together in the pan (after removing the meat).
After a while we added the meat to the mixture again and let it simmer.
We also added the rest of the coconut milk and some almond pieces and cooked everything until the rice was ready to be served.
We served the rice in a heart shape and put the curry around it. It tasted very good – very spicy and totally different than what we are used to here. And the whole house smelled amazing.
We also learned how to eat with chopsticks, but we weren't very good at holding the chopsticks with our paws. So there are no pictures of this embarrassing endeavour.
Even though we don’t get outside much at the moment we have a lot of fun and we are certainly well fed.
Posted Aug 25, 2013, 5:51 pm
But first we stopped at another nice place overlooking some fields.
On the way to the lake we even saw a dragonfly. And it stayed still long enough for pictures.
Then we finally reached the lake. It's very green and peaceful there. Plus only very few people were around which made it seem even more peaceful and secluded.
About halfway around the lake we sat down on a bench and enjoyed the beautiful view and the nice weather.
We also saw a pretty blue dragonfly. It was gone too fast for more pictures, but I want to show it nonetheless.
On the other side of the lake we saw two swans. Can you spot them both?
A hint: One is looking for food with his head under water in this picture.
On our way back we saw the Uchter Mühlenbach (millstream of Uchte) also called Beeke which is Middle Low German for rivulet.
We followed the rivulet until we reached one of Mummy's favourite places:
Mummy used to play here often as a child - also in the forest you can see on the left side in the background. Btw the bridge is a railway bridge.
From here we followed next to the railway tracks until we reached this huge rock:
It came from Scandinavia and was transported here during the Ice Age. It weighs 31 tons.
This was our last stop today before we went home on the railway tracks.
Posted Aug 25, 2013, 7:07 pm
We had a look around once we were allowed out of the backpack in Mummy's car for a minute.
In Soltau Mummy met with some more postcard-crazy people.
First they had a little sightseeing tour and of course some postcards were bought. But after a while we went into the Lüneburger Heide (Luneburg Heath) where the humans found a nice place to sit down.
We had a look around:
Doesn't the purple look nice?
But after such a long time we were very hungry. Luckily every Postcrosser had brought something to eat or drink and we had a picknick.
Doesn't it all look yummy?
Coincidentally we also met lots of other toyvoyagers.
Here we were inspecting a big stack of postcards (it was a postcrossing meeting after all)
:
And of course we had to have a group picture taken:
So many TVs!
Most came from different cities in Germany, but one was on holiday from the USA and another was raised in China (where a Postcrosser found him).
This stone marked the place where we had settled down.
Yes, it was definitely a beautiful view!
Of course we needed a picture close up with some heather.
And when all of that got too boring we played hide and seek and catch around the heather bushes.
I also had to say goodbye to Mummy and my fellow toys because I'll be going on my next big trip now.
At the end of the meeting I went into sannah's bag to go with her back to the USA. Exciting!
Posted Sep 5, 2013, 12:34 am
I am safe in the US with sannah. Since it has been either too hot or too grey in the past days, we are mostly enjoying the view from sannah's apartment.
And that isn't too bad because it is overlooking the river and therefore there is always something to see. People fishing, running, walking or biking by ... And some of the stones in the river actually turn out to be ducks! Obviously they are in training for something, swimming against the stream!
More adventures will follow soon. All the best, Mom!
Yours, Cookie
Posted Sep 5, 2013, 10:13 pm
Today, sannah took me with her for a walk through downtown Rochester. Rochester is well known as the home of the Mayo Clinic, therefore most buildings are somehow used by them: for treatments, administration, research … You name it! Skywalks (and subways) connect the buildings and are especially useful in the winter when it is freezing cold outside! Have a look at some of the buildings.
Those sculptures are above the main entrance to the Mayo Building.
The most understanding one of all the high rises downtown is the Plummer Building, erected in the late 1920s. sannah loves its style – here you can see the top even better. I took that picture from sannah-man’s office.
And here its tower is being reflected in the Wells Fargo building.
Just half a block away, the style of building changes. This is the Chateau – formerly a movie theater, nowadays a bookstore.
These buildings are much more typical for small and mid size towns in the US: shops downstairs, living quarters or offices upstairs. That is the traditional housing style, mostly inspired by Germans.
And finally, this is the Old City Hall of Rochester. It also has another purpose nowadays, offering housing as a loft style apartment building.
Now I got an impression of where I currently live. I hope you do, too?
Bye, Cookie
Posted Sep 14, 2013, 10:55 pm
In the past days, the weather here has been great. I don't know whether that could already be called "Indian Summer" or not - but however, it was sunny, not too hot and just perfect to ride a bike!
Rochester really has a lot of bike trails and paths, mostly along rivers or creeks and through parks.
This is along the Cascade Creek Trail ...
I am resting on a bridge over the creek:
Here the Cascade Creek meets the Zumbro River.
A nice view - and so calm, isn't it?
But well, the main street called Broadway isn't that far!
I had so much fun outside that I decided to stay in sannah's purse instead of being with the other tvs. And therefore, I met a bull a little later! Luckily, I only saw him from a distance - there certainly are nicer creatures out there!
Have a nice weekend, Mom!
Greetings from Minnesota,
Cookie
Posted Sep 21, 2013, 10:12 pm
Today sannah walked the dog: me! The weather is fantastic (again) and therefore we walked around Silver Lake, an artificial lake of Zumbro River and home of many geese. One lap is about 3km (or 1.8 miles) long.
From the northern shore, you can see Rochester's skyline in the distance.
We continued our walk along the waterfront. Many wildflowers grow along the way - you can hardly tell this lake is men-made!
I even learned something about the geology of Minnesota!
As I told you: Geese are everywhere! The stone bridge leads to a small island ...
And from there, we made a short cut to another island.
I love the calm atmosphere!
I would not mind if sannah took me on other walks around Silver Lake - it is hard to believe that downtown is so close!
All the best for you, Mom!
Yours, Cookie
Posted Sep 23, 2013, 4:18 am
The weather was (again) so great today – sannah took us all for a hike. We first had to drive by car, but then we found some trails leading in all different directions at Great River Bluffs State Park.
And the best thing: I was overlooking the Great River – the Mississippi!
On the other side of the river there is Wisconsin – the Mississippi is the natural border.
The hills in the distance are called Prairie Bluffs.
And those bluffs in Wisconsin are about six miles away.
I had just an amazing day! Hope you are fine, too, Mom!
Bye, Cookie
Posted Oct 5, 2013, 12:06 am
Yesterday was a surprise day! On one hand, the weather turned fall-ish very fast, on the other, we went on a trip. sannah did not really have shopping plans, but took us to see the Mall of America – the (second) largest mall of the world. A shopper’s paradise.
Well, it is so large that shopping is not the only option. What about riding a rollercoaster? Yes, the hallways with shops on three floors circle a little amusement park in the middle.
You can buy all kinds of stuff in the stores. Books, candy, clothes, toys – you name it. Some of them I have already seen back in Europe! And what attracted me the most was the decoration of the LEGO store, all made up of those tiny little bricks! Amazing, isn’t it?
And just to give you, Mom, an impression of how large the mall is … This is just one small corner near the east entrance. And since it was late (9:00pm), there weren’t that many people left, but still …
It was so huge!
I am still overwhelmed by the amount of shopping possibilities.
Bye for now,
Cookie
Posted Oct 13, 2013, 5:36 am
Today was another beautiful, yet windy day – golden October, if you want to say so. Ideal conditions for another road trip leading us west this time.
As you could see in very small letters above my head, our destination was New Ulm, founded by German settlers more than 150 years ago. Nowadays, this small city celebrates its German heritage for example by hosting the annual Oktoberfest.
And they also have a copy of something else “typical German” – the monument of Hermann, der Cherusker, also known as Arminius. Over here, he is called Herman the German.
We did not climb the top, but the view was already great from the bottom of the monument. But there were more typical German things in town. For example this huge Glockenspiel though I did not hear it play.
For a very short moment I thought this might be another castle for me to visit and to add to my life mission list. But despite the crenelation, this building is only a quite modern Training and Community Center of the National Guard. Does it count as an entry in my list? It is up to you to decide!
I read on a postcard that this former postal office, now a museum, was designed after a similar building in Ulm, Germany. But I have not been there, therefore I don’t know if it is true. Maybe only the architecture is alike.
Adjacent to the city is the Flandrau State Park. We enjoyed the afternoon sun at the Cottonwood River. The fall colors were beautiful, but the sun was nice, too. So I took a sun bath.
The peak for fall colors is coming close, soon it will be winter here. But so far, we just enjoy the nice weather.
I hope your fall is as nice as mine.
All the best, Cookie
Posted Oct 19, 2013, 5:18 pm
Fall is here! The temperatures have really crushed down in the past week. And the leaves continue to change color, well, most have already started to fall. When the sun is out, it is warm enough, though.
We went to a small park area close to sannah’s place.
The Zumbro River was very calm.
Altogether, we played a little hopscotch.
Aren't maple leaves the prettiest?!
Embrace the fall colors back in Germany!
Colorful greetings,
Cookie
Posted Oct 28, 2013, 3:16 am
As you know, fall is here. Last week, we have even had the first snowflakes! So we decided to go a maybe last road trip before we can expect larger amounts of snowfall.
Our destination: Duluth, MN and Superior, WI – the uttermost southwest corner of Lake Superior. We wanted to go as close to the shore as possible.
But I did certainly not expect a real sandy beach!
The sand is a little reddish brown because of the high percentage of iron in sand and rocks here.
This lighthouse, Wisconsin Point, marks the entry to the Superior harbor. It was very windy, but we enjoyed the beach!
More adventures from the north shore will follow soon.
Bye for now, Cookie
Posted Oct 28, 2013, 10:38 pm
After going to the beach, sannah and her husband needed a cup of hot coffee. But then, we went to the only attraction (as sannah-man said) of Superior, WI: The SS Meteor.
It is the sole surviving ship of the "whaleback" design, built where it is now, in Superior, Wisconsin. This design enabled her to carry a maximum amount of cargo with a minimum of draft. But now the SS Meteor is only a museum ship – a very long one!
As the season was already over, we could not go in – the museum was closed for the season. Additionally, it was already getting dark. So I took a last quick picture on a huge bell …
.. and then we headed back to the hotel.
Bye for now,
Cookie
Posted Oct 31, 2013, 10:19 pm
Today sannah helped me to finish one part of my life missions - we visited the Great Lakes Aquarium in Duluth, MN.
Do you find Duluth on this map?
Of course there were lots of fish tanks since it is an aquarium, but one part was also a museum and the information boards clearly wanted to educate, not only entertain!
So I learned something about the evolution of fish and am glad that this bone fish is longtime dead ...
That fish must have been huge! I prefer this size ...
Some newts lived next door ...
Look at me, how brave I am: eye to eye with a snake!
And luckily this friendly guy ...
... looked exactly like his buddy on the information table! It is a Northern Pike!
This was one of the largest and highest fish tanks!
Another kind of fish I am glad to see behind glass! Don't want to be bitten by that one ...
But this one made me laugh out loud - they look sooo funny! They are sea lampreys - underwater vampires because their diet consists of the blood and body fluids of other fish.
In another fish tanks, I did find nemo!
Their neighbors were sea horses:
And on the last photo I took at the aquarium, there are not only fish. They shared to tank with turtles - even sannah didn't see them at first sight because they were not moving at all! Can you spot them, Mom?
I learned a lot at this nice aquarium. But it was time to leave because they offered a halloween special and a bunch of pint-sized princesses and superheroes were trick-or-treating in between all the fish tanks ...
Hope you liked my pictures, I loved my stay there!
All the best,
Cookie
Posted Nov 3, 2013, 6:33 pm
I really like the ocean feeling in Duluth – it reminds me of Hamburg, you know … The “real ocean” is a little (or a lot) away, but the feeling is pretty close.
The weather was on our side again and we explored the Canal Park district of Duluth and the Lakefront Walk along Lake Superior.
But first of all, we saw the best known icon of Duluth, the Aerial Bridge. It connects downtown with a small strip of land called Minnesota Point.
This lighthouse marks the entry to Duluth Harbor.
And this shows how Duluth rises from the shore upwards along one of the main roads.
We had a last look back to the harbor entry before we left.
I hope you also got some ocean feeling ...
All the best,
Cookie
Posted Nov 4, 2013, 1:21 am
Today, we stopped in Zumbrota, Minnesota. Doesn't that sound funny?
Say it twice or three times in a row! *giggel* It is a very small town about half an hour northwest of Rochester.
Therefore, there wasn't that much to see, except for the reason we came: A covered bridge, the only one left in the state. Here it is:
It hasn’t always been where it is now, it was transferred here in order to be put on display.
We entered the bridge and had a look through one of the tiny windows on the small creek running below.
And then we also admired the carpentry – it nearly is a craft!
Luckily, we were just walking over the bridge …
You wonder where we were going? Wait and see!
All the best,
Cookie
Posted Nov 8, 2013, 2:39 am
Our destination for the day was another state park. I hope you don’t get bored with them! We went to another one at the great Mississippi River, Frontenac State Park.
At first we all together learnt something about the State Park itself. This picture was taken from donated ground – the former owner wanted everybody to enjoy this view.
The peak of fall colors has been in Rochester several days ago, but here high above the river nature was a little more protected.
As seen before: On the other side is Wisconsin!
All the best,
Cookie
Posted Nov 24, 2013, 4:13 am
Mom, today I could not believe my eyes when I looked out of the window of our room!
It is so cold outside that the Zumbro River is partly covered with a thin layer of ice!
What looks like stones in the river actually are ducks ... Remember they were swimming against the current like crazy? Well, they still do, but now staying warm is most likely also important for them ...
I hope the temperatures will be back to normal later ...
Freezing greetings ...
Cookie
Posted Dec 7, 2013, 11:41 pm
sannah told me yesterday that somebody else would like to meet me very soon. This means I am ready to move on and I am so excited!
sannah is very busy at work (it is Midquarter - whatever that means), so she had not really had the time to take me someplace else. But she took me to work with her!
Her workplace is a school belonging to a church ... Here it is!
And this is her classroom in the basement of the junior high wing.
I had a look into one of her algebra books, but did not understand much ... Math seems to be very complicated!
But sannah shares her room with the Spanish teacher - this poster was much more interesting! Do you understand it, Mom?
On our way home from lunch, sannah realized that I have not yet seen the roadside attraction #1 of Rochester: a watertower shaped like a corn ear!
sannah will bring me to the post office some time this week ...
All the best for you, Mom - I heard there was a big storm in Northern Germany in the past days, I hope you are all right!
Yours,
Cookie
Posted Dec 15, 2013, 5:42 am
Since it is time for me to move on to my next host very soon, sannah took me with her to my last adventure – to Minneapolis, the largest city of Minnesota.
We have mostly stayed around Nicollet Mall and noticed that there wasn’t much going on on a not-so-late Saturday afternoon. Leaving the mall and heading back to the Light Rail that had brought us into town, we noticed the amazing Christmas lights in the streets downtown.
On Hennepin Avenue are a lot of theaters and the nightlife was just about to begin.
But not only did it start to snow slighty, it was also freezing cold - and we needed to watch our steps ...
Therefore no more photos, sorry …
All the best,
Cookie
Posted Dec 17, 2013, 12:55 am
Hi Mom,
today was time to say goodbye ... I had a last look upon the so familiar site of Zumbro River.
Isn't it amazing how much nature has changed since my arrival? The snow is fresh - having fallen all through the morning. And I am going to miss those ducks although they can be really really loud ...
sannah let me write some greetings for my next host ...
... and then we went to the small in-store post office in walking distance.
sannah told me that I am going to meet plenty of other travelling toys like me - let's see how long it will take me to travel about 500 miles!
Bye, sannah - and
Bye, Mom!
Yours,
Cookie