Attention.....

Some people did not know that you could click on the pictures. If you click right on the picture it will get bigger on another page. Then you hold the cursor on the bottom right of that picture and a circle with arrows on it will appear. Click on that circle. This will make the picture full page. It is good to make them full page so you can see some of the specifics in these Karnaval pictures below.

Last Karnaval Shots......

Thought I would put this in because my dad always has a good laugh at men dressed as women. This guy would face the door and then spin around a say hello to everyone. You wouldn`t know it was a man to the turn. Really funny. These men were dressed as female flight attendants and walking in front of the float with `Heimbach International Airport` This is funny because Heimbach is like Carlisle, Rockwood, Erin, Rosseau, etc. Anyways, they were pushing drink carts and serving drinks to the crowd (alcohol or alcohol free).
Of course classic German parade item below. Parents and their children dressing up as clowns and joining the parade. But notice the drink cart that Dad and son are dragging behind the group (case of beer and mixed drinks)

More Karnaval...

Jess and Josh at the parade Some people bring umbrellas to the parade and turn them upside down so they can catch all of the candy. Below is an example of this (funny thing is that the guy is like 65 with no children or grandchildren with him).

Karnaval....

Just some random pictures from a party we were at today. Genie from Aladdin
This was pretty funny. The guy would disappear for a minute and then coming flying out on his chair that was on a track. He would then walk back into the float, have a drink, and then reappear 5 minutes later.
This was a Western Saloon with a full bar inside with cowboys smoking and drinking.
This was a float for our team featuring the Ice Hall and a Baren with our jersey on.

The Salute.....

This was Josh`s first time in his Deutschland outfit. Jess and I are a little worried with his response. That is all we will say about this!

Karnaval in Neuwied......

Today was Karnaval in Neuwied. I thought that instead of boring you with pictures of floats, bands, etc. I would show you some of my highlights.

Below is a picture of one of our trainers running onto the street drunk. He is changing the sheet music of the guy playing the trombone so he doesn`t know what he is playing. This is after he picked up one of the marching girls and spun her around so she was too dizzy to walk. Parades are a little different over here!

This is a group of guys marching in the parade as Jamaicans. It would seem harmless except for the BEER BONG in his right hand! Seriously, he was passing it around the crowd getting people high as he was walking.
This is one of our fanclubs marching in the parade.
Josh and I watching with the Baby Bjorn. He was awake for most of it.
I put this one in of a float to explain something about Karnaval Parades. As I said before, the people on top throw candy, popcorn and shots of alcohol. Therefore, Junior and I were dodging projectiles for most of the day. Imagine explaining to Jess that Josh got hit with a mini shot bottle of Jagermeister!

Who Am I?

Jess and I have been arguing of late who our son looks like (Jess or me). Please feel free to weigh in. This is a good photo to use for analysis.

Passport.....

This is Josh and his new Canadian Passport. This means he can officially go home after the season! Jess and I were laughing for 10 minutes about having to show this thing at the airport when we leave.

Tyson....

We played Tyson`s team last night and got to go out for dinner with him after. For those of you who don`t know, I played with Tys last year and he was like our son. We figured that it would be good to take a picture with Jess and both of her children.

Jess and Joshua....

Proud Mother

Karnaval....

Well, Karnaval has started in Germany. This is that festival that I was telling you about where there is a party everyday, in a different city, for a week. It would be like going to Guelph for Monday`s party, Cambridge for Tuesday`s, Kitchener for Wednesday`s, etc. Everyone goes from party to party. The crazy thing is that the parade that kicks off each party starts at 2:11. You may be thinking, when do the Germans work? As a German resident, I can answer that with I really don`t know! Today was Karnaval in Gladbach so we took some pictures from our window. This is a really tame party compared to others but it was worth showing. The parade starts with a marching band. Of course they do laps around the city for about an hour. All you can hear from the apartment is da dum, da dum, da dum dum dum. (Side Note: There is also Karnaval music blaring from the speakers lining the main street. Karnaval music is really only played during this week. It is a mix of pop, oompahpah and folk music)
These are men dressed in African attire with their faces painted black. I will not comment on this, you can raise your own queries. This is a float with people on board. They throw candy from the top to the people below. It is like Mardi Gras I guess. You need to keep your head up though because some poeple like to Nolan Ryan the candy down.
And of course, Josh taking in his first Karnaval and wondering if he really wants this citizenship!

I will post more from the different parades we attend. They will be much better and the one in Heimbach on Tuesday has 30, 000 people. Of course we won`t go to Cologne for the big one because it would be like going to downtown Toronto during Caribana or the Gay Pride parade. Too many people!

Led Zeppelin...

I have included this picture of Josh in his favourite outfit. There was some concern after the first shot from Josh`s grandmother that the entire outfit was Led Zeppelin. Not So! There are indeed jeans and socks that go with it. This is a huge puke Josh had on me this morning. Notice the t-shirt I am wearing (Team Canada Hockey). I think that this is his way of expressing himself after watching the Canadians lose to the lowly Finns and continue their terrrible play.
I would like to announce to everyone that we may not be picking up the phone for the next week. Jess and I will be screening our calls in relation to the viewing of 24 Season 4. It is an exciting time for us and we will be resuming our normal phone schedule upon completion. Thank You!

Sue and Lynlee leave........

Well, Sue and Lynlee have officially left. Lynlee is now in Australia ready to start school. Sue on the other hand is in Etobicoke ready to go back to family life (possibly ending the greatest take-out food streak ever by a family in Toronto). Josh misses his grandma but knows he will see her soon along with his other grandparents and his grandpa Jim (Coach, as he refers to himself)

Josh.....

This is a picture of my beautiful wife and son. Normally, we would make copies or put it into an album but with young Josh, it won`t happen. Notice the puked up breastmilk all over the front of Jess. This is a family tradition that Junior has started early on scarring many of the pictures we take. (Side Note: As I was writing this, he threw up all over Jess in the other room and began screaming - now I feel a little guilty) Josh is resting up for a big night of grunting and draining whatever energy Daddy has left to play his game tomorrow.
This is the young one in an outfit Grandma and Grandpa bought for him and sent over.
Sorry for the delay in any pictures or stories. Our computer has been on the fritz and I was close to throwing it out the window. Sometimes I think it would be easier to use a Commodore 64 with a floppy disk drive than our laptop.

Passport Photo....

This is the outfit we put Junior in for his passport photo. They might check him for heroin at the airport but I think it`s cute!

Valentine`s Day.......

Jess and I made it out for dinner by ourselves tonight. We left Josh at home with the babysitters. It`s funny that we finally went out but I could still hear his cry and could still smell his diaper but he was not even around! Life has changed. Anyways, it was a good night and a good change. This was Jess, Lynlee and her mom earlier in the day in Cologne shopping.
Jess and I in front of the Dom. I don`t think the Germans had ever seen a man wearing a Baby Bjorn before in public by the looks I was getting.

Lynlee is here...

Jess`s cousin Lynlee is here on her way to Australia. She is staying for 7 days.

More Pictures.....

We have this thing that the mid-wife showed us where he poops and pees on the toilet. We hold him behind his knees overthe toilet and it forces him to poop. We are not new age parents, and are in no way trying to speed up his toilet training. We are merely trying to save money on diapers. This process saves us 3 to 4 diapers a day (around 21 a week = 84 a month = $30.) The point of the story is that in the picture below, after having a toilet poop, Josh passed out. This is juniors first Valentine`s day card from Grandma and Grandpa Davis!

New Pics.....

We don`t think Junior is too happy about having the Davis nose. He`ll grow into it though! He enjoys lying around the house in his Made in Canada clothes. Seriously though, we cannot get him off the change table. It is his happy little place. No matter how upset he gets, if you put him on that thing he just looks around and kicks his feet in the air. Last night I was close to just leaving him there at 2am, grabbing a chair and reading a book.
Just an extra photo.

Coffee Trip....

We decided to go into Linz today for coffee and to get out of the house. This is Jess and her mom in the shopping area.
Sue and I

Our Little Angel......

For those of you who keep writing and telling us what a cute baby he is, how adorable he is, etc. this is for you. This is the Josh you know and have come to love below. This is the Josh we know and have come to love. He does the adorable thing where he cries for 8 hours around 1am if he doesn`t see a breast (again I don`t know where the line is with this breastfeeding thing). So, so cute and Jess and I were just saying what a blessing he was last night at 6am!

Resting up for the night shift......

Ok, I have to put a picture in today for Uncle Kyle. He is whining that there are not enough pictures on the site. On the other hand, my friend Chris is accusing me of `Baby Picture Overkill` Therefore, here is one from today. He is resting up for a big night of staying awake and grunting. Couple of hobbies he has picked up early on.

Castle Day......

We are now into repeats on the blog. Yes, this site has been seen before but not with Sue. So, I will include our pictures today from Burg Eltz. Hopefully, I will get feeling back in my shoulders by tomorrow after carrying Junior up that hill in his 30 pound carseat. Otherwise, nice little day! This is Jess and I without baby. Yes, our camera does work without him in the shot!

Sue Arrives.....

Jess`s mom has arrived in Germany. It is good to have some help around the house, and it`s nice to have the opportunity to take a nap. Jim said that all Sue was going to do was to hold the baby and drink tea. Well, this is day 1 and the picture looks about right! This is Sue and Josh. Anyways, Junior is sleeping better but it is still an adjustment (I think he is growing tired of the Germans). I have to sleep over a Janne`s before games because it is tough to play on 2 hours sleep! He`s feeding well and likes to gorge himself (I am so absorbed in this baby thing that I don`t even know if that is appropriate) . Jess is doing great and is even going to my game this weekend. Thanks for all of the e-mails, calls, gifts, etc. We truly have great friends and family and...... with great friends comes great babysitting!