July is always a busy month in our house. With two birthdays to celebrate, holidays to pack for, fruit to be harvested in the garden and high temperatures luring us to the pool or the lake, we are kept on our toes.
The past week has been especially busy but in a fun way - the ideal kind of busy.
Our apple tree has been dropping hard, unripe apples all week, our kohlrabi plants are ready for harvesting and our Turkish plum tree has come into crop. The boys and I have spent a lot of time in the garden, alternately picking fruit and paddling in the paddling pool. With temperatures well over 35°C, we had to keep in the shade as much as possible. Where better to do that than under a plum tree?
Number Three was fascinated with the paddling pool and couldn't get enough of it. He was so brave, standing and splashing away with his hands, even though he is barely ten months.
We also celebrated Number Three's birthday with a Lego Movie themed birthday. Despite it being near 40°C we had a brilliant afternoon of fun with him and six of his friends. I find the German birthday party rule of thumb great - the number of children should be approximately the same as the age of the child. Number Three turned seven and invited six friends - seven children. It makes for a manageable party and since most people go by that rule, there is no pressure to invite the whole of his class at school.
Those were the highlights of my week. Tomorrow's bake sale at school should be lovely, seeing all the children queue up for cake with a Euro or two in their hand. This is my contribution (sorry for the bad photo). Dolphins are the latest craze with my boys.
