When we first went, the household consisted of Ernst's Oma, his uncle and aunt and their two girls, Silke and Anka. My first memory of the cousins is shy giggly girls, embarrassed to use the English they were learning in school. Our next few trips saw the cousins growing into young ladies, getting boyfriends and then moving out to apartments in Bremen. The last few times we saw the girls and their guys involved food, Becks beer and walking around the city, not necessarily in that order. Now they are married to those young men and here come the babies!
Well, for now just one baby - Paula. She looks so much like a little Ernst! And she knows already she does not like pink and purple, she prefers blues and greens and yellows. So glad I asked, the trip to the fabric store was much easier for a baby who knows what she wants. This one is all flannel with an elephant and animal theme, super soft and cuddly.
So little Paula, this one is for you via the US Postal Service and Deutsche Post. I'm getting a little sad about all our German friends having babies, and me not going there to hand deliver them my blankets. Who knows when we'll get there again - these kids will probably all know two or three languages before we finally meet them. The closest we'll get to Germany will have to be the beer for a while, perhaps a Pauli Girl?
