Mother’s Day 2020

This year marked my 10th year celebrating Mother’s Day as a mom.

{Köpenick Rathaus – city hall – on the left}

To enjoy the day, we packed a picnic (with gourmet provisions procured the day before at the Kollwotzplatz farmer’s market and neighborhood gourmet Feinkost, or deli) and headed to Köpenick via a car share we rented for 24 hours. After driving for thirty minutes, we reached Köpenick.

{Front door of the Rathaus}

Köpenick, which became a part of Berlin in 1920, was first mentioned in a 1209 deed making it older than Berlin.

{Horse tamers}

Last year, Dave surprised me with a date night to Köpenick for a wine and blues festival. While we were on the banks of the Spree watching the boats on the river, my gaze fell upon a boathouse directly across from us. I quickly checked the map app on my phone and discovered a rowing club. What luck! The next week I stopped by and was rowing with the master’s group.

{Energie Rowing Club in Köpenick}

Since then, I have returned either via bicycle (20  miles round trip) or via train to row with the Energie rowing team (a separate post describing my life as a rower including this new team in Berlin is in the works – stay tuned) to this historic community.

{Always climbing something}

{Vacation mode style}

So it was with delight that we returned to Köpenick as a family. We set up our picnic on the lawn between the Rathaus and the Spree while the boys immediately found two playing spheres nearby.

{Fun on the climbing spheres}

{Fan of the black truffle chips}

{Finally took a break}

{On the banks of the Spree with the Energie boathouse in the background}

We had originally planned to take the car to a forest after our picnic so the boys could rollerblade and scoot on the paved path, but since the weather was so lovely, we decided to rent a boat for a few hours instead. On the way to the boats, we passed the Schloss Köpenick.

{Schloss Köpenick}

{Always time for ein Eis}

{Photo was taken by Benedict}

{Dave has become a selfie pro}

After waiting for about an hour for the next boat to fully charge, we were on our way.

{Captain Dave and his first mates}

{Isaac taking over the wheel – he was sooo excited}

{Captain Ben}

{Boating past Stand Up Paddleboarders and modern apartments}

{His two front teeth are slowly coming in}

{Mom’s turn at the wheel}

{At the start of the 1936 Olympic Games rowing course where the US Men’s 8 took home the gold*}

*The Boys in the Boat – http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/boys36/

{He thought we were going too slow and wanted us to speed up – future rower?}

{View of old town Köpenick from the water}

{Schloss Köpenick}

{Captain Dave and the Schloss}

{With the Rathaus in the background}

{Energie Rowing Club}

As we finished our tour on the river, we dialed into a Mother’s Day call with the Lubells to wish Martha a happy Mother’s Day.

{Mother’s Day group call with the Lubells while on the river}

It was a special day for all, especially for me. I love the water and with my ties to rowing, Köpenick was the perfect spot to go to celebrate motherhood with my guys.