Dinner in honor of Opa

The clan

the boys putting Opa's quarters in their piggy banks

reading Der Struwwelpeter

Today would have been my grandpa's 88th birthday. So in honor of him we had my grandma over for dinner and dessert. We had one of his favorite things which was cucumber slices with salt. I made meatloaf and some sides and we ended with some cheesecake. The boys danced around after dinner and then we got them in their jammies. I had Oma read to them Der Struwwelpeter, a traditional German fairytale. I loved these stories when I was little but it has been awhile since I have read them. They are probably not age appropriate for our boys but I got a great laugh out of it and I think my grandma did too. She read some in German and then translated it to English. The boys seemed to enjoy it, and I am pretty sure they will never suck their thumbs. (In "Die Geschichte vom Daumenlutscher" (The Story of the Thumb-Sucker), a mother warns her son not to suck his thumb. However, when she goes out of the house he resumes his thumb sucking, until a roving tailor appears and cuts off his thumbs with giant scissors.) We ended the night with Goodnight Moon, a prayer and some hugs! We love you and miss you Opa!