Keropie's Cuties: Berlin at last....

After some feelings of homelessness we are finally in the safe haven of Roderick and Julia's home and the reason for our trip in the first place!

We were greeted by my big brother and his gorgeous wifey at the airport and my delicious neice and nephew. Caitlin, who is not shy now, was very shy when we met her and Conor, my very new nephew of 6 weeks, was asleep!

Caitlin soon warmed up to us and I love hearing her call me "Aunty Dooolie". However, Aurora is the light of her life and where ever Aurora is, Caitie is. Caitie is sooo fascinated with Aurora and quite often she is playing with her hair, or feeling her face and smooching her. It is very sweet to watch.
Aurora and I went with Julia to take Caitie to preschool the day after we arrived. She didn't last long though - we brought her home because she wanted to be with us.....aawwww.
Ethan and Conor have a little boy thing going on too. Whenever no one is looking Ethan quite often will go up to baby Conor and will pat him and have a little chat. When he sees me looking he will say how cute he is. As time goes on Ethan is getting a little more confident around him.

Caitlin has a big trampoline that all the kids adore. It is a great source of entertainment, sporting and singing. They all make up these little sing songs that they end up singing on top of their lungs together before falling in a giggling heap. Ethan is like a jack rabbit and tries to bounce everyone as high as he can while they sit in the middle hysterically laughing and begging for more. Watching them all play like this is just how I imagined! I love it!

So as you can imagine we haven't been too touristy yet. We have spent quite a few days doing absolutely nothing but hanging out together (and sometimes napping). We did go out on Monday the 24th into the city. We were supposed to go on a walking tour but I forgot my info and we missed it, but that was OK. The Berlin Dome (huge cathedral) wasn't a far walk. We enjoyed sandwiches and ice-cream beside the river before embarking on a stroll around this gorgeous building. Just like a lot of buildings in Berlin, they were bombed and restored, as was the Dome. The mosaics and carvings are extraordinary. The crypt is in the basement and it houses royalty from 400 years ago. Some of these final resting places are massive and ornate beyond belief and so fascinating to look at. The kiddies went down with us and they too felt the same way wanting to know who was the king/queen/children and how old it was. We then made the big climb to the top to walk around the dome. The roof is decorated with large angels and there is a 360 degree view of the city. It was wonderful being there with the kids as they have seen my photo's from 2005 and heard my stories but here they are now living it with me and that feels great.

We were quite warm after climbing up and down stairs so we sat in from of the Dome in the grass square at Museum Island. It was peaceful until the gypsies came begging. Think of flies at a picnic.

Not in a hurry to get anywhere or any plans to be anywhere we kept strolling up the road. Along the way we stopped off at Peugeot Ave where we drooled over cars we will never own! There were a couple of old originals and some concept cars too so it was more like an exhibition. Next stop the Brandenburg Gate, followed by a lovely long stroll up the tree lined road to the Victory Column which is featured in a U2 clip and a German film called Wings of desire. 282 (I think) steps later we were tired, so we stopped at the top to admire another 360 degree view of Berlin. I love being here with Damien and the kids and them finally seeing things that I have seen.

Piccy time (out of order as usual!)

The Brandenburg Gate