just the 3 of us?

i am 38. i can't remember the last time i spent the whole day, alone, with both of my parents. a day unhurried, not watching the clock. a day of just being together with no exact plans.

thanks to my loving husband who said he'd pick up The Kinder from kindergarten and have them for the afternoon, i can now say i remember the last time i spent the day with my parents. we headed to the harbor

and we were so glad we did.

(and no, my father is not steve martin )

we took a harbor boat cruise

(yes, like the one we went on with buddy's parents, but sans Kinder)

and had so much fun taking in all of the sights--and taking in one another. can you tell where i got my smile?

although it was just the 3 of us, funny thing is, people we knew kept coming to mind.  1st of all, like buddy's mom. oh how we would have loved to have her join us!

then we had to think of my brother. if you didn't guess his name from my post a couple of weeks ago, here's your answer.

then i was reminded of mr. burghdorf (and his lovely wife marilyn). mr. burghdorf was my favorite teacher in highschool and was one of the reasons i became an english teacher. we are still in touch. hi mr. burghdorf! sailing into town anytime soon?

cheryl, you know who this reminded me of. not the right spelling, but didn't have to be!  you are forever in my heart!

okay, so back to the 3 of us.  we took the cruise boat and got off at a recommended stop.  it was a nice stretch where you could walk along the harbor, and there was also a sandy beach with lots of neat homes overlooking the water. 

 finally, it was lunch time and we were hungry.  not knowing where to go, we saw The White House and being loyal to our country, figured it had to be the right spot.

boy did we make the right decision. we had no idea, until later, that we had chosen one of the most well known places to eat in all of hamburg.  it was one of the best meals of my life. i am serious!  it was such a treat.  all 3 of us were in glory.

oh, you wanted to see that dessert a little more up close and personal? so did i! don't worry, i had one too :) 

our lunch was unhurried and relaxing and so, so enjoyable.  here's a cultural dining difference for you to take note of--germans do not hurry their meals at restaurants.  they expect you to sit and dine and to take your time.  you do not feel guilty for lingering and for ordering coffee after your meal, and for having no plan to quickly leave the table so someone else can occupy it so the server can make more money. it's not like that here. and on this day with my parents, i was especially grateful for that.

we talked. and laughed. and enjoyed.

we savored our moments with one another.

and we were grateful.

mom and i took pictures

(the above shot is hers)

(and the shot below, we realized later while we were comparing pictures, is the exact shot that we both took--like mother, like daughter)

and before we hopped on the boat to head home, mom eyed this on a bench, reminding us of yet another person:

 JESUS LIVES

...and we realized,

it was not just the 3 of us after all.