Awake. So. Awake.

The kids woke up ready to roll this morning ... at 3:15am.

We fought back with every tool in our arsenal -- classical music, lullabies, special sleep friends, extra-warm blanket.

At 4:20 we gave up the fight. We went back to sleep while the kids had the run of their bedroom and playroom. But, by than, we were kind of awake, too. Drat.

A lot of good struggling to stay up did.

Meanwhile, I have 12 hours to figure out two Halloween costume that fit this year's theme: Dora and Diego. Somehow, I don't think that's ample time.

Must ... Keep ... Awake

Sure, it's 9pm in New Jersey, but 3am in Berlin and that's where my head is at. But ... must ... stay ... awake or this jet lag will own me.

We kept the kids up to about 7:30pm. Alice rallied, just before she dropped from exhaustion she was running from room to room shrieking with laughter. Leah didn't fare so well, she was sacked out on the sofa barely able to keep her eyes open. On the plus side, there was absolutely no argument when I called "bedtime."

The flight home today was like running a marathon. Nine hours of keeping two small kids occupied. Luckily, my ace in the hole is TV. Leah could sit for hours watching it. Alice, on the other hand, got restless several times -- sending me into the nether-regions of my backpack to produce something that would keep her sitting.

My house looked different to me walking in. The colors more crisper than I was imagining in my head. And my bed couldn't look more like appealing, after weeks on a 5-inch foam mattress we slept on in Berlin, it looked like a cloud ....

Ugh. Must stop thinking about my bed ...

Eating In Berlin - Still Getting Used to It

One of my main areas of trouble (other than traveling with two young kids) is figuring out how Berliners eat. And when. And what.

For example, I went out on Sunday morning with the family to do some grocery shopping for the half-week we had left before leaving for Milan. The grocery store was closed. All the grocery stores were closed. All that is open in Berlin on Sundays is bakeries (thank goodness) and flower shops. That just doesn't make sense to me. Why close something as necessary as a grocery store?

And dinner... when and what do they have? The to-go places around the apartment close at 4. Other than the tapas place (a blessing) there is one other restaurant and its nearly always empty. Do most people eat at home? And we normally don't see kids in restaurants, where are they?

So bascially, if I miss lunch out (which I usually do), I miss out on the one hot meal I get all day. Otherwise, it's bread and yogurt for breakfast in the apartment. And frozen pizza or pasta in the apartment at night.