December 25, 2018 - Christmas

The big day is finally here. We unwrapped a lot, laughed a lot and played a lot. Of course, we watched a few movies as well.

December 24, 2018 - Weihnachten

As every year, we celebrated the German Weihnachten on Christmas Eve. Austin and his girlfriend came over for lunch as well, which was very nice. 

December 22, 2018 - Getting Ready

Just two more days. Everyone's excited and exhausted. Margo went to lunch with Bonnie while we did more packing and horsing around.

December 12, 2018 - More Snapshots

A couple more miscellaneous shots from the past two weeks.

November 30, 2018 - A Couple of Shots

With work being busy, there really wasn't any time for me to photograph at all. I managed to get a couple of shots here and there.

November 3, 2018 - JHG Champagne Tasting

We had an excellent turnout at our annual Champagne tasting this weekend, which was superbly organized and executed by Marcus. Lots of great conversations, lots of excellent wines and lots of fun.

October 26, 2018 - Taekwondo

Arno received his green-blue belt today and did a great job with his routine. It was really fun to watch him excel at the sport, which also comes with a healthy dose of confidence.

October 14, 2018 - Arno's Party

For Arno's birthday party with his friends from school, we rented a game truck for the boys and made a ton of pizza for everyone. It was a great day for Arno and certainly a busy one for us.

October 12, 2018 - Mavericks

Marat had given us  four tickets to the Mavs game tonight and it was Arno's first pro sports event. He was very excited and invited Freddie, his best friend from school to come along. It was a preseason game, which meant we saw a lot of new players and a lot of magic on the court. We had a great time and a fitting occasion for Arno's birthday. 

October 10, 2018 - Arno's Birthday

This was it: never in the single digits again. The first image shows Arno on his last day of being nine and then we move on to the morning of his birthday. We started by opening the gift from his Oma, which is a beautiful bow tie and then continue to the afternoon when he got to open the other presents including a new phone. This, of course, was extremely exciting. Numbers were soon exchanged and calls were made. Now, it's already business as usual.

October 5, 2018 - Margo

Just a couple of shots ...

September 30, 2018 - Lunch at School

The Dad's Club at St. Monica organized a fund raiser through selling pasta for lunch and dinner today. We only had time to pop in during lunch, but had a great time and certainly a great lunch as well. Arno helped with the clean up as part of his boy scout team.  

September 22, 2018 - Cooking at Home

We had a very nice afternoon with Barbara and Hans-Walter making lobster rolls from the ground up and really enjoyed the results as well. On Sunday Margo and Arno both got dressed up for their weekly Cotillion sessions, where both get their finishing touches on manners and ballroom dancing.

September 15, 2018 - JHG Dinner

Tonight was our second annual "Eat Like a Knight" dinner at Bob's house. This was also the first one where I did not organize or prepare anything, which was great. Marcus did an much better job and really put it together just perfect.

September 8, 2018 - Meredth's Birthday

We had a quiet evening to celebrate Meredith's birthday with a steak dinner and lots of great presents. Arno gave her a list of reasons why she is the best Mom in the world and Margo sang a song that she had written for her.

September 2, 2018 - Labor Day BBQ

Julie and Stan invited us over for BBQ and a swim at their house. We had a great time, as always, and really enjoyed the company of a few of their neighbors and friends.

August 20, 2018 - Museum and Milkshake

Yesterday, we found out that the Highland Park Pharmacy, one of our favorite hangouts for as long as we can remember will close for good by the middle of next month. The old building has to make way for a new office complex and thus a 106 year-old institution vanishes much to our dismay. We decided to go to the DMA first, take in a bit of culture before heading to HPP. It was completely crazy when we got there. Apparently everyone is coming to pay their respects before they close the store.

August 13, 2018 - Cheer

Margo and Arno have moved from the Highlands to a new school in town and closer to the house. We love it already and were welcomed with open arms by the parents and students. Margo had her first taste of it during cheer camp, which takes place over a weekend  just before the first day of school. The school actually has far more cheerleaders than football players, which I find very refreshing.

August 7, 2018 - Flash

It's always fun to shoot with a flash and wireless trigger so that you hold the unit in one hand and the camera in the other. The images are always interesting, however due to the considerable discomfort any subject might experience, I can only do it so often. 

August 3, 2018 - Friday Night

Long week! Margo had a hiphop dance performance today and Arno is still getting to know his new MacBook. We were all left pretty much without juice, decided on an easy dinner at the Mermaid Bar and to turn in early afterwards.

July 29, 2018 - More Modeling

We're still working on the shots for an agency and probably just need a better photographer. It's a work in progress, but the main thing is that Margo and Arno are willing to give it a try independent of what comes of it in the end.

July 28, 2018 - Couple of Shots

It's been a busy week. Arno purchased a new MacBook Pro with his savings, which makes use very proud, while Margo had a theater play in which she performed extraordinarily well. Unfortunately, they did not allow cameras.

July 20, 2018 - Commercial Shoot

Quinn invited Arno and me to visit him in the studio for a shoot this afternoon. It was really fascinating to realize how much work goes into 30 or 60 seconds of TV and online spots. The set was incredibly creative with industrial lasers that can burn a hole into the wall and thus have to keep moving. The commercial is for top-tier college football teams so Arno also got to marvel at a bunch of extremely tall and strong guys. 
10/27/18: we saw the finished commercial at lunch today for the first time and it looked awesome.

July 11, 2018 - Modeling

We've been taking photos to apply with modeling agencies ... here are some of them. 

July 8, 2018 - Couple of Shots

It's been a while and we have not really done anything special other than all seeing Lion King in Fair Park. However, that event was completely off for cameras and the ushers enforced it hard. I had to fight to even get my camera into the venue. Anyway, here are a few shots from different occasions and more on Margo and Arno soon as we'll be working on their modeling cards now.

June 30, 2018 - Quick Swim

Austin visited us for lunch and we all hopped into the pool beforehand. The funniest moment though was when Margo catapulted a chunk of whip cream onto Arno's pants. She hit just the spot to make it very embarrassing.

June 29, 2018 - Margo's Fashion Show

Margo spent this week in fashion camp where she learned about models, agencies and how to walk down the runway. Today was the clear highlight for the girls as they had the opportunity to show off all of their newly acquired skills. It was fun to watch!

June 22, 2018 - Germany

Just a quick trip to visit my Mom. Nils and I met up in Oldenburg, I went to see Marcus' new restaurant and visited with Charlotte and Malte until deep into the night. It's always great to catch up with everybody, even if it's only for a few short moments. 

June 15, 2018 - Back Home

We're finally back home and are pretty happy about it, too. The morning was utterly uneventful and the drive not worth a mention. Back in the house, we all scrambled into our own rooms for some welcome privacy, cherishing the ability to close ones door on ones close relatives for a few precious hours.

June 14, 2018 - Day Three

So, we did go to the pool and we swam - again. It did not help with yesterdays' sunburns though and forced us to take it a bit easier for the rest of the day. After threatening everyone with a modern art museum and being vocally overturned, we still needed to get away from this place for a bit. We all got in the car and drove to Austin for a tour of the capitol building and some very decent food in a hip Italian place.

June 13, 2018 - Day Two

Our first full day was characterized by lots of swimming, floating races down the lazy river and strong efforts on all sides not to use foul language. We mostly succeeded. Other than that, we also ate a lot as we always do, but without the cooking, which was very nice. It's so easy to not worry about it or spending lots of time in the kitchen. Tomorrow we'll try to convert our lobster tan into a real one while swimming a whole lot more.  

June 12, 2018 - Lost Pines

Meredith has a conference in South Texas each year and so we all decided to go. It is in a place called Lost Pines, which immediately prompted Arno to suggest that we switch the E and I in the name on all signs. Great idea! Anyway, we'll be here for the next couple of days and need to figure out what to do besides playing pool and swimming in the pool, which seem to be the only sensible options so far.

June 9, 2018 - Arno's Goodbye

Arno had invited his best friends for pizza and a swim. He'll be joining a new class after the summer at St. Monica, so this was also a goodbye party for him. 

June 8, 2018 - Willy Wonka

Arno and Margo have been at Hockaday for the week as part of their summer camps. While Margo was focused on fashion design and sewing, Arno learned how to perform a play and, of course, acted in it as well. It was great fun to watch the kids and to see Arno on stage.

June 6, 2018 - And Yet More ...

So here are the last of the portraits. I am fully paid up and we all got what we wanted.

June 4, 2018 - And More ...

I am still getting my $2 worth of photos (more soon). Here are some portraits throughout the day. Otherwise lots of cooking, horsing around and a bit of swimming, now that the pool is perfect once again.

June 2, 2018 - Portraits

I knew this day would come. Arno and Margo now want to be paid for their portraits. We mutually agreed on two dollars for 100 images each. Next, I'll probably have to pay the espresso machine as well ... 

June 1, 2018 - Friday

Arno was home from school today due to a shoulder injury and so we spent some time at the pool, had a great burger for lunch and horsed around a bit while I worked in-between.

May 30, 2018 - Arno's Graduation

Arno cleared the hurdle to fourth grade today, which was quite easy for him. We attended his very long awards ceremony and then went home. I told him he could pick any place he'd like for lunch and that's how he tricked me. We ended up eating at McDonalds, which we virtually never do, much to Arno's delight.

May 28, 2018 - Memorial Day

This weekend was our first in the pool, which has just been refinished a few weeks ago. It was really nice to be back outside, enjoying the sun and playing around. We had a really quiet weekend without obligations and just a lot of time to play games, cook food and watch movies.

May 24, 2018 - Around the Room

I've just been playing with the camera a bit tonight.

May 23, 2018 - Margo's Concert

Margo has been dabbling in music for a while now and had played the trumpet for about a year now. Today she finally got her chance to show it all in front of an audience of parents and fellow students at her school. 

May 21, 2018 - A Birthday Party

Arno and I went to a birthday party for Nolan, one of his best friends, which took place in a really large gym. The boys played football and soccer and ran around quite a bit. It was really fun to watch him interact with his friends.  Afterwards, we all met up for dinner at our local Thai spot.

May 12, 2018 - JHG Wine Tasting

We had our annual JHG wine tasting tonight, which was great fun and, as always, highly interesting.

May 11, 2018 - Friday

This was a really busy week, albeit the fact that I rolled off a project and wasn't working twelve or more hours per day for the first time this year. We resurfaced the pool, will get a new backyard fence this weekend and had lots of stuff going on for Margo and Arno. Maybe most interesting, Meredith bought Margo her first pair of heels, which is about a decade too early as far as I am concerned, but who's asking? 

May 2, 2018 - Margo's Birthday

Margo was very excited when she went to bed last night and we all had to promise to get up really early so that we have enough time to unpack presents. Obviously, we all complied as we began our day around 4:45am this morning. Margo got clothes, a new phone and a necklace. In the evening, I picked up the kids and we all met at Houston's for dinner.  

April 29, 2018 - Downtown with Tourists

Arno and I went to see an Ansel Adams exhibition at the Dallas Holocaust Museum today and then wandered off into downtown. He had never been to the Kennedy memorial and so we went. It was actually very nice and we had lots of fun taking pictures.

April 28, 2018 - Margo's Birthday Party

Margo invited her best friend, Ashley, to celebrate her birthday today. We went to lunch at Houston's, saw a girl teen movie and then moved on to the beauty salon, had lots of cookies and ice cream and roamed through the Mall a lot as well.

April 15, 2018 - Dinner

We took the 94 Mercedes out for a ride today, which turned out to be a bad idea as the rear window went down, but not up again. There'll be a major repair bill in our future somewhere. After bringing the car back into the garage, we proceeded with safer transportation to make a second attempt at dinner.

April 8, 2018 - Breakfast

I changed my flight to a 5am out of Boston this morning, which meant little sleep and a long day ahead. The upside was that we were able to hit Norma's for an all-American breakfast of bacon and eggs in the morning.

April 7, 2018 - Convocation

Today we had our convocation at the German retirement home in Boston. It is great to see everyone after a year and there is always lots to catch up about. We've had many good conversations, lots of new insights and met new folks as well, which is certainly a pleasure. Ruediger and I went for a walk across the Commons before our church service and formal dinner in the evening where we had lots of laughs and a really good time.

April 6, 2018 - Boston

We arrived in a snow storm today, which was quite a change from the 22C we had in Dallas when we took off. I had a few hours to walk around and luckily the sky cleared a bit so that I could walk and shoot a little. In the evening, we had a reception dinner at a local sea food restaurant, which was very special as it always is.

April 1, 2018 - Easter

Given that Easter Sunday and April Fools Day fell on the same day, we decided to have a bit of fun with it. Meredith had the great idea to give Margo and Arno empty presents, which worked out exactly as planned. Of course, they both got a goody bag with a few small gifts and some candy in the end. 

March 25, 2018 - Chillida Exhibition

We saw a very interesting exhibition by Eduardo Chillida today at the Meadows in-between Burger House and Paciugos. It was really nice to  get out a bit and enjoy the day.

March 11, 2018 - Football in the Park

Our Sunday was thoroughly uneventful except that Arno and I went to the park so that we could throw the ball for a bit. Arno has a very good arm and can throw very well. Thus, we need to work on catching the ball a little. 

March 4, 2018 - Arno's Riding Competition

Arno got to show off his horseback riding skills today in the annual competition at the SMU stables. He did very well and mastered the challenge with stride. Overall he finished second, which left him a bit ruffled. Hopefully that will just turn into more ambition down the road.

March 3, 2018 - The Park

We needed to decide where to spend another perfectly sunny afternoon. The downtown park sounded real good and gave us a shot at visiting as many of the museums as possible. It also provided a much needed break after a very long week of work for me.

February 25, 2018 - A Movie and Some Cool Moves

Arno and I took off today to see "Black Panther" at the Highland Park Village, which was awesome. We had lunch at the local grocery store, then proceeded to the theater and really enjoyed the flic. Afterwards, we went to the park and the DMA. Since it was a balmy 22C out, we quickly lost our sweaters and Arno jumped right in with the break dancers who typically show up on Sundays.

February 19, 2018 - The Weekend

We've a very engaging dinner with Diana and Martin last night and then another great meal with Hans-Walter and Barbara today. It was really great to catch up with everyone as we laughed through most of the night and talked through the day. 

February 14, 2018 - Valentines

Since the date fell into the middle of the week, we exchanged gifts in the evening. Meredith got a wobbly head figure of the Queen, which she must now fashion on her desk at work, but which more likely ends up in a drawer or on someone else's desk. Margo and Arno both got what they wanted and I ended up with a big box of chocolates, which I do and don't want - both for obvious reasons. Afterwards we frolicked around.

February 3, 2018 - The Party

Several good friends came over for our party tonight. Meredith procured all the food so that we could just focus on our guests, which was really nice. Unfortunately, I did not catch everyone on film while we talked a lot, laughed as much and had a couple of glasses of wine.

February 2, 2018 - Birthday

Today was my fiftieth birthday. We started the day early since we all needed to get to work or school and then opened presents in the evening. Margo and Arno had both written letters, which was very sweet.

January 28, 2018 - Duck Sunday

We went over to Michaela and Tony today for a fabulous lunch with potato soup and duck. It was a lot of fun, as always, and we spent a great afternoon talking and tasting a bit of wine. 

January 20, 2018 - A Night to Remember

Erin and Michael came over for a glass of wine and some pizza tonight. We had lots of laughs and ended up drinking quite a bit of wine. Most amazingly, Margo and Arno stuck around for most of the dinner, which is most unusual. They were just very comfortable.

January 14, 2018 - Weekend Fun

We had a very relaxing weekend, played games, watched the Kingsmen movies and visited a park with dinosaurs. What else could you want?

January 7, 2018 - Buying New Boots

It's been two years since Arno got his Cowboy boots and was time to move him up in size. So, after a big breakfast and a quick round of backgammon during which everyone refused to pay me for their losses, we went and tried a couple of nice ones.

January 6, 2018 - Walk in the Park

I had a few hours in-between the morning and afternoon activities and decided to take a walk around downtown while is was balmy and sunny. 

January 1, 2018 - New Years Day

Since everybody stayed up past midnight yesterday, we had an adequately slow start into the day. For the most part, we caught up on our Star Wars and tried to keep warm.