In the Footsteps of Luther

Pretty country (below)/ Outside the church in Leipzig where Bach worked most of his life...Luther also preached in this church (above)

On the road again...our world traveler

Taking the train....we like that!

Dresden

Visiting with our friends

Daddy, Emeline and Uncle Martin in front of the house where he was born.

Emeline and Daddy in front of the church Luther attended as a child in Mansfeld.
Emeline and Chris in Mansfeld.

Last week we Chris has some business to take care of east of us in Germany. So, Emeline and I decided to tag along and got to see Leipzig (think JS Bach) and Dresden. We also got to visit with some friends in Dresden. Emeline’s favorite time was playing with their kids and their little dog Jack. After leaving Dresden we got to go to Eisleben where Martin Luther was born and where he preached his last sermon and died. We also visited his nearby childhood home of Mansfeld. So, it was pretty funny when our daughter got all excited seeing the painting of Martin Luther as Junker Jörg in Luther’s birthplace museum. She also loves Chris’ book on Luther that has that painting on the cover. Yes, we are nerds. Thankfully, Emeline has lots of family to save her from nerdom. What can we say, Emeline loves her some Uncle Martin.

I have so much more to say about our trip, but sadly no time. I definitely have some thoughts on Dresden, which was almost completely bombed away in WWII. I hope to post some more about our trip soon. I might even just add some more to this post next week some time.

But, as is always the case, I don’t want to keep you from seeing Emeline, so I am posting these pictures!

Danke

Pig-tails.....



Hugging Emma...
Daddy pulling Emeline is her play baby stroller...Go Germany!!! This is before the European Cup Final between Germany and Spain. Sadly, Spain won, but we were still proud.

Emeline is starting to say a few words…and they are not in English. Ok, so she says Daddy and Mama in English—and I like that. She has been saying “Tschüss” which is a casual way to say goodbye for a couple of months. This week she started saying “Danke,” which means thank-you in German. When she says "Danke" it just melts my heart…

Now we speak almost all the time to her at home in English, so I am a bit surprised that she is still saying most of her words in German. However, she has two main play-mates—Emma who is American and her little German buddy “M”. I believe Emma taught her to say “Danke.” Emma says “Danke” all the time and we go crazy when she says it, because it is so sweet. When Emeline said it we all went crazy, too. Emeline has started to copy sounds, so that has led to her repeating words. Our German friends also love it when she says “Tschüss” and “Danke” and try to get her to say these words. So, I guess she is getting lots of reinforcement for the German words in particular. I am not 100% sure, but I think she is also saying “Nein,” which means “No” and “süß” which means “sweet.” Her little German buddy M probably taught her the “Nein.” I have heard her say it a couple of times, so I think she knows what she is saying and is beyond just copying. I also sometimes say “Nein” instead of “No” to her, but I am more than sure she knows what “No” means in English. I am always saying “How sweet” (Wie süß) in German—Why?? because I am from the South and Southern women say that all the time. So, she learned the “süß” from me.

Emeline amazes me. She is learning so much all the time. She also still understands some Spanish words. I was reading a Dora the Explorer book the other day to her, and she got very excited and squealed with delight when I read the word “Hola.” She also continues to understand more and more English. I know this might seem a bit boring, but the way she is learning language just fascinates me.

Yep, I am one proud mama, but I bet you already knew that!