Royal wedding or what not to wear

Hello world!

It's a joyous day because it's the day of the royal wedding.
Prince William finally married his Kate (who is now automatically the Duchess of Cambridge, the Countess of Strathearn and the Baroness of Carrickfergus - in case you were wondering). 

Leaving the church...

I know that lots of people couldn't care less, but I have a soft spot for that kind of thing. 

At the office we even had a team breakfast in honor of the newly weds and that we also got some mimosas to get through the work day lifted the spirit even more.

So congratulations, William and Kate. I hope you will have a successful life together. :)

My favorite picture of the two.

Having that said, it's time to take a look at the wedding guests (since everybody only seems to talk about how lovely Kate's wedding dress is). 

Let's see if we can spot the ones having an issue with not being in the spotlight (or so it seems if you look at their attention-seeking outfits) and those that should be mentioned for other reasons.

First up we have this photo: Carole Middleton (Kate's mother), Queen Elizabeth and Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall.

Carole looks pretty good to be honest.

The Queen could make a nicer face, I think, but it is really Camilla who draws my attention here. While the colors she chose for her gown are not "that" bad, I feel the hat is a bit unfortunate. 

Her facial expression is worse though. 

Oh Camilla, why can I never see a photo of you with a normal smile? 

You always look as if you are about to pass a kidney stone...

Pastel rules or what?

Next, please!

Here we have Miriam Gonzalez Durantez, the wife of Britain's Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg. Apparently she couldn't decide what to wear because she is sporting a turban-ish head scarf AND that giant red flower on her head.

I am sure humming birds would find her attractive...

Zara Phillips, the eldest granddaughter of Queen Elizabeth, opted for a different head gear. 

To me it looks like a combination of satellite dish meets gift wrap ribbon and I am wondering if she is secretly trying to send a signal to aliens with that thing.

Bigger is not always better.

I have saved the best for last and since I could not decide which photo to use I will just show both.

Those two ladies are Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice, daughters of Prince Andrew.

Their dresses: Really ugly... those bows and ornaments make it look like as if they had pulled the clothes out of grandma's closet.

The real kicker are their hats though. 

Eugenie's blue "hat" with this flowery thing and those feathers standing up high make her look like a futuristic flight attendant working on a space ship.

My favorite is Beatrice's "hat" though. 

I mean what the heck was she thinking when she chose that thing? 

If Zara is trying to send messages to outer space, Beatrice must surely be able to receive some.

An alternative explanation would be that both, Eugenie and Beatrice, are already space aliens and that is their traditional head gear. 

Take me to your leader, girls.

Their facial expressions are not helping...

Warning: This head gear is not suited for driving.

Easter

I hope everybody had a good Easter!

We were planning on hiding some eggs for Ace in our apartment but unfortunately he got sick and was not feeling well at all on Sunday.

Nonetheless he had a few good moments so we managed to do the Easter thing and snap a few pics.

Sporty

When we went to the gym on Saturday, I might have been able to catch a glimpse into the future. Our fitness center offers MMA classes for all ages and while we were working out, I was able to watch their Junior Grappling class. They had a group of about a dozen kids there - ages 5 to 8 years. Most of them were boys, but I could also see 2 girls.

Watching those kids - especially the young boys - made me wonder what Ace will be into in a couple of years. He is so full of energy already that I have no doubt that he will be doing something active. But what might it be? 

Naturally our family enjoys soccer, but Markus also likes to watch American Football as well as UFC and boxing on TV. 

We both run and before Ace we have been known to swing the tennis racket on a regular basis.

Markus really likes cycling and I enjoy inline skating (despite the fact that I haven't been doing it a lot in the past years.. ). 

But of course, there are still a ton of other sports Ace could get into. (I just hope it won't be lacrosse - it looks too much like butterfly hunters gone wild. :P) 

Lacrosse - Too many nets if you ask me.

I can't wait to find out what he will like... :)

Kiddie TV can be weird

Ace loves watching TV.

You can count on it: As soon as we get home from work/daycare in the evening, you will hear his "Tibi! Tibi!"- chant and our little guy will hand us the remote control so that he can watch an episode of his favorite TV shows.

Currently he is into Curious George, Caillou and The Cat in the Hat.

Occasionally he'll also watch Sesame Street or Barney. But not that often.

Markus and I have a love/hate relationship with most of the shows.

I mean I can't deny that we can use them to our advantage.

In the mornings for example. Ace is so not a morning person. Getting him ready for daycare can be such a struggle and the last thing I need at 7 am is whining and crying. But if you turn on Curious George he'll be fine. And before he knows it, he is completely dressed and actually feels pretty good... awake and ready to conquer the world.. So he'll tell Markus "Bye bye", blows him a kiss.. and off we go.

It works in similar fashion if we need to make a phone call without having him yell into our ear or if I need to clean the bathroom with bleach.

On the other hand, sometimes these shows are really hard to stand.

Here are my (and Markus') random thoughts:

Curious George:

What is wrong with the man with the yellow hat?

Why doesn't he even have a name? - All the other characters have one!
Including (my "favorite") Professor Pizza. (Really?)

And what's up with this obession for yellow?

But more importantly: How can he be so irresponsible?

He lets George do what he wants or gives him tasks that will set the monkey up for failure. 

He expects too much.. I mean come on: It is a monkey! 

For once a picture without the hat...

Caillou:

OMG - just stop whining already! I have no idea why Caillou's mom hasn't wacked him over the head already. Or maybe she has and that's why he is bold? I mean at 4 years old? Isn't that weird? I'd see a doctor.. but nobody in that family seems to be concerned.. so I guess they know something I don't...

Don't be fooled: He is just trying to hide the boldness.

But you know, I can't condemn the parenting Caillou's family does in general, cause they show admirable amount of patience with their kids.

However, I have observed some things that I find questionable.

For example, in one episode Caillou and his dad go for a run.

Remember, Caillou is 4, so obviously his legs are a lot shorter than his father's.

I can't say that Dad cared a lot though. He runs off and is ahead without even thinking to ask if Caillou is okay and can keep up. Kind of inconsiderate.

Eventually they have enough and decide to make their way back to the house.

Dad encourages Caillou with a "Last one at the house is a rotten egg!"

Ehm.. yeah.. sure.

Caillou's friend's parents aren't doing much better though:

Caillou is at his first sleepover and gets homesick. He wants to go home.

His friend's mom suggests helpfully to have dinner first and see how he feels afterward.

OK, fine.

At dinner then, Caillou repeats that he wants to go home and mom pulls an amazing idea out of her ass: "Why don't you guys eat as fast as you can, so that you can finish your plates and have dessert? I'm sure you'll feel better then."

Nice.. Let's teach our kids how they can suffocate their emotions with food while they are still in Pre-K! I am sure this way they'll get a future eating disorder for free as well! Yay! - Not... :(

Sesame Street:

I still have to see an entire episode, but there is always one part that creeps the heck out of me: Elmo's World.

First of all the entire scenery... kind of weird all this crayon scribble.. but whatever.. if they like their designers to smoke while work.. Fine. :P

What's really bugging me though is Mr. Noodle. He is such a weirdo! He gives me the creeps.

Creepy guy aka Mr. Noodle

And now recently I discovered he also has a brother - equally strange! Ugh!

I feel uncomfortable just watching them.

(And worse: I just found out you can book Mr. Noddle for your kid's birthday party: http://www.charitybuzz.com/auctions/RCDS08/catalog_items/83810

AH! SO not happening!)

There is one show I absolutely adore though: The Cat in the Hat!

I love it. So educational. The stories are so sweet and the characters are singing in nearly every episode. I could watch that show all the time. I might even learn something myself! Ha!

Always in a good mood: The cat

But of course Ace has his own ideas of what he wants to watch.. so I can only suggest Dr. Seuss' creations - in the hope he feels more like talking cats and fish instead of monkeys that sell ice cream or ride the subway.. ;)