We don't call Truffle "our baby" and we're not "her parents" - I adamantly prefer the phrase "her humans." Still, there is something really fun and cute about little 8-month old Clara being Truffle's cousin. Clara is our niece, Lauren (Dave's sister) and her husband Patrick's first daughter.

Earlier this month, we were so stoked to enjoy Clara's presence - without a doubt, the best little baby girl in the history of mankind. Clara is cute, giggly, curious, and always up for an adventure (even during naptime). She has these crazy big blue eyes, and when they focus on you, you actually feel lucky to be their subject. They focus on whatever is happening around her, these giant blue eyeballs moving around the room watching adults, views out the window, or Truff lying right by her side. She talks a lot, but hardly cries - well, only when to say I'm hungry! or I need a change! All in all, she was a champ coming this far around the world.

Clara, Lauren, and Patrick arrived with smiles the Saturday before July 4th and stayed for a week (that's right! visitors can and should stay with us). We got some sunshine - FINALLY! - so we were able to hit up some of the best spots around town.

Here are some highlights from our time together:

Got tea and cake at my favorite coffee shop before watching Germany beat Italy on the 9th overtime penalty kick
Took the free Rick Steve's audio tour of Munich, which included stops at the Hofbräuhaus and sorbet, and ended the evening with a walk through the Englischer Garten and a stop at the Chinesischer Turm for some outdoor biers
A walk along the Isar river with a pit stop at our neighborhood biergarten for some drinks and a giant pretzel. Yes, that's 3 beer gardens in 24 hours.
A day trip to see some gigantic, German-made stuffed animals at Steiff, honoring a Penndorf family tradition of these teddy bears
Visit to Dachau, a Nazi German concentration camp
Walk around a quaint, off-the-beaten-path German countryside town of Nördlingen along the German Romantic Road, and dinner at a cute pizzeria, complete with an opinionated, Italian matriarch who insisted on what Lauren should and shouldn't be feeding Clara.
A daytrip to Landshut where Carl Penndorf was born, Lauren and Dave's late father. There, we met distant Penndorf relatives who then hosted all six of us at their home in Dorfen for a BBQ. We looked at the "blue book" together, a hardbound typewritten Penndorf anthology written by Dave's grandfather, tracing the family lineage back 500 years and found the exact family connection (shared great-great grandparents)!

All in all, we learned that there is someone who can rival Truffle at the attention from random passers by. Her name is Clara. And we learned how fun it is to show people around our new hometown.

With a tear, they left a few weeks ago. We couldn't have asked for a better trip. Thanks to Lauren and Patrick (and Clara!) for making it all the way to continental Europe just for a visit with Uncle D, Aunt Sarah, and Cousin Truff.