Swimming Outdoors in May for Kids' Day

I cant hardly believe it, we went outdoor swimming for our Kids' Day this May! I know we usually spend our Kids' Day every first Sunday of the month; but because I had a very lovely appointment last Sunday, we decided to celebrate it this Monday. Since it's Pfingsten or Pentecost and it's a holiday in Germany.

Though the weather is really warm like summer, we are not really sure if the water would be too cold for the kids, and for me, too; so we decided to go to a place with both indoor and outdoors pools and that would be in Lampertheim, a few minutes drive from our place.

After a quick breakfast, we headed off to the pool and discovered that we were among the first visitors. The outdoor pool's 24 degrees warm but since it is a bit windy, still cold for the kids. So instead we found a place in the indoor pool.

Here's the wadding pool

An ice cream break

Our place in the sun (and wind, brrr)

Mama, we want to eat (Wir haben hunger!)

A refreshing dip in the... wait, this is the fountain and not the pool :)

MC's place in the sun, she needed at least three towels for that sun bed, arrrgh

there's also a sea and the nude beach is located on the other side

IC's ice cream break

Well, we had fun despite the cold wind in between! We had picnic there, the kids got to eat ice cream, we get to walk along the shore (there's also a sea here), we got to play and we enjoyed the time out. In fact, we stayed there for seven hours! Usually four hours would be too long already! But this time, there was never a dull moment.

Our Mother's Day

This is already a ritual every Mother's Day.

A few weeks before the day, the kids would be kicking me out of the kindergarten doors as fast as possible; actually, all moms get the same 'loving treatment'. They fear that their secrets would be revealed as they were preparing for their very special surprise gifts.

And at home, Papa would be whispering to the kids with packages in each hands; when they think I am not at hearing and seeing distance; which would then end up with them scrambing to their rooms and shouting 'mama, you are not allowed to go inside our rooms!'

And of course, they would have secret meetings in which I would be behind closed doors. As they would be practicing their Mother's Day special song.

That makes Mother's Day more special for me, the waiting game. Although sometimes, the kids would give me a sneak of what I would be getting. With the extra remonition, 'but I should not tell you this.' As if I asked them :D

Another ritual for Mother's Day would be... I always receive my gifts as soon as we wake up; in bed. And this time, here's what I got: A bath mat with massage function, a spa orange oil, two heart frames which the girls made in kindergarten, and an invitation for dinner in a new restaurant that I have been wishing to visit. There's a short poem attached in the kid's heart frames:

Liebe Mama freue Dich, Dear Mama be glad
denn zum Glück hast du ja mich. that you have me
Dieser Tag wär ohne mich For this day without me
gar kein Muttertag für dich! would not be a Mother's Day for you :D

Alles Liebe zum Muttertag wünscht Dir Isabela / Michaela

And yes, I wasnt allowed to help in preparing breakfast because they have another surprise for me. The kids got busy with papa in the kitchen and I get to stay in bed longer, a very rare occasion indeed, yipeee! And look, we had breakfast in our terrace! Fun.
And then I showed MC the glass with scribbles that she created for me during her first kindergarten year. She was so proud of this glass; and I am proud of her, too. Last year's Mother's Day loots are here.

What else did we do this Mother's Day? I called my Nanay, we dropped by my sister-in-law's house to give Oma (my mom in law) her Mother's Day gift and of couse, wished my sister-in-law a great Mom's Day, too.

And then we went to the restaurant for an early dinner. Where the kids got to play and thus, we had time to savor our sumptuous feast.

Moms, how does a baby smell?

I was reading the book 'Perfume' by Patrick Süskind and was struck by the following words when the priest was asking a wet nurse to describe the smell of a baby and she said:

'It's not that easy to say... because they dont smell the same all over, although they smell good all over. Their feet for instance, they smell like a smooth warm stone - , or no more like curds.. or like butter, fresh butter. And their bodies smell like a pancake that's been soaked into milk.
And their heads up on top, at the back of the head, where the hair makes a cowlick , there right there is best smell of all. It smells like caramel, it smells so sweet, so wonderful. Once you've smelled them there, you love them whether they're your own or somebody else's.`

Reading these lines made me go back to those years; in 2001 and in 2004; when I saw my babies for the first time. And although it was my husband who got to hold them first, I would never trade the memory of those precious few minutes. (I love that the husbands are now allowed to join expecting moms during birth.) Of my teary-eyed husband carrying the small bundle in his arms and having the honor of cutting the umbilical cord.

And until now, I could not believe that these girls came from the unity between my husband and me; and that I carried them for months inside me. I am proud of our shared miracles.

And yes, I could smell my babies; even until now. It was their smell that made me fall in love with them, again and again. I dont know if I would agree with the description of the smell though, might be that the wet nurse love the smell of caramel :D

All I know is that I love to smell them. I love their baby smell. And how would I describe their baby smell? They smell of milk; sometimes a bit sour sometimes so sweet and most of the time milky love; D but the milky smell always remain. I might have associated that milky smell with them because I breasfed them for a long time, IC for almost three years and MC for 18 months.

What about you, moms, how does your baby smell to you?

And yes, Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there!