Maddie met a wonderful new friend while we were there. Sena and her family live very close to Frank's parents. So close that her family and Frank's parents are very friendly and visit often. Sena is the youngest and such a sweetie pie. She met Maddie and the rest was history. They played together every day for the last week we were there. Maddie even started walking over to Sena's house to play -- by herself. Leaving Sena was so hard. Maybe more so for me than Maddie, because I knew of the friendship she would miss. She is so young, it's hard for her to understand what being apart from a friend means. It has been difficult to explain to Maddie that the next time she and Sena see each other, they will be much older. Sena cried when we left; I cried. Sena's family all came over to say goodbye to Maddie and give the girls one more play session together.
It was really a good experience for Maddie. She was such a big girl with a new big kid friend ....Sena turned 10 while we were there. We miss her and her family!
The girls eating strawberries on the patio. I should mention that Maddie speaks no Turkish and only one or two words of German. Sena's English is good for her age, but limited. By and large, the girls played well together because they had fun together, not because they spoke the same language. It was amazingly sweet.
Maddie loved the hometown park. Here she has a whale of a time...oh, I couldn't resist.(Yes, it's a fish, not a whale)
Mason meets his other Ur Oma. Frank's Dad's Mom was so excited to see Mason. He couldn't keep his eyes off her either. She lives with one of her great-grandchildren and is young at heart!
Near the end of our trip, we traveled to Lake Constance to take a boat ride and see the city. It was Maddie and Mason's first boat ride. He slept for part of the ride and they both enjoyed all the water and wind. It was SO hot, so of course, we had to buy sodas immediately upon leaving the dock, per Maddie's request!
Ahoy!
Maddie and Frank at TuWass -- the town's natural water spring park. All the water was oh so warm. Definitely the nicest indoor water park I've ever been to. We went twice during our trip.
Mason and Opa. The kids spent so much time playing and goofing and strolling with Oma and Opa. Mason learned to army crawl (his tummy drags on the ground!) and Maddie took strolls through the apple orchard behind their house. They both had a blast, even if they were low on sleep.
I think this was taken on our last day there. Maddie's energy is unbelievable to me. She was like a little German Energizer bunny. Here, she's in mid-air thanks to Opa.
It was a great, fun and exhausting trip. I'm so glad Maddie will be able to remember some or all of it as she grows up.
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