Transitions

So, I guess I decided to create a new blog- one that follows our everyday happenings here at home, in good ole Pennsylvania. This blog I will sadly leave behind for now, and perhaps one day I will be privileged enough to again attach some grand adventures in Europe. That is my hope anyway. So, see you all in my newest blog!

Happy Birthday Monica!

Nathaniel turns 4!!!!

Nathaniel has been excited for awhile to be turning 4. He was especially excited at the prospect of having a Lightning McQueen cake and getting a bike, both of which he's been talking about for months. Well, his dreams came true when we arrived at my in-laws after flying in from Germany. He was a bit out of sorts as it was 2 am "our time", although just 7pm here in Pennsylvania.

We all had fun being together as a family again, and Nathaniel was very satisified with his cake and gifts! Happy Birthday, Tater Bug!

Flying Home

So Thursday was our exciting day for our trans-atlantic trip home. None of us slept great again, despite our comfortable hotel room. We had our last German breakfast in the breakfast nook. When we were finished I got a photo of the kids for our flight home. We do this as a safety precaution- in case they get lost we have a pic on hand of what they look like and what they're wearing. But it also makes a nice marker of our changes of seasons. As you can see, they were being very silly and very excited to go to MawMaw and PawPaw's house.

They were very good on the flight home. They briefly napped until they served lunch. The rest of the trip they were relatively quiet and very well behaved. The flight left a few minutes late, but was a very smooth, comfortable flight. We landed about a half hour late, and arrived at our new home a few hours later. Dustan's siblings were all here and we had a lot of fun seeing each other. We are so very glad we are finally home!

The Last Night

Not as in last night, but as in this is our last night in our house in Germany! I can hardly believe that our time here is coming to an end so fast. I am currently waiting for chocolate chip cookies to finish baking. We made vanilla cupcakes earlier for Nathaniel's birthday party tomorrow at school. The kids had fun helping. They are so excited for the birthday/ goodbye party. I don't think they realize when they leave for school tomorrow it will be the last time they leave this house. Hmmmm... I am so melancholy at the moment.

We have lots of work yet to do tonight- mostly just cleaning the kitchen and making sure everything is packed for tomorrow so that the movers don't take anything that we need. I'd better be off before the cookies burn!

Passing Time

Yesterday we had a busy day visiting with our friends.

We got to go to a park in Leimen with our friends, Antje and Luca. It was a really neat place.

Amongst the variety of things to do were some goats to bleat at and a really fast slide, a faux ruins to climb and rickety bridge over a "gorge", and best of all, a zipline. After some time enjoying the gorgeous spring weather (yes, 55+ degrees, we came home for lunch and then went to visit our German neighbors. By 3:30 the kids were pooped out, so we came home to relax and watch a bit of a movie. Nathaniel fell asleep within 10 minutes, and so that allowed us parents to get some rest time too ; )

'Round 5 o'clock we went to some friend's house for dinner. What a wonderful, relaxing evening we had, and I indulged in several helpings of salad, bread, pasta, wine and blackberry cobbler with vanilla ice cream. Mmmmm... Good stuff, Stacey! Thanks!!!

Movers!!!

They are here! They showed up at 8am this morning, which is always a good sign. We like to have hard workers be part of our team. There are 4 on the team- I think.... it seems I can only think of 3 faces. Hmmmm... but it is strange thinking that this is the last time that I'll hear German discussions taking place in my home. What's left of it anyway.

It is now going on 1pm, and they are wrapping up. They are loading the truck and will soon be done. The rest is to be left for Tuesday's happy packing day. The kitchen, office, bathroom, entertainment center, couch, and kids' room is all that's left. So, I guess that's just under half of it. Then that will be the last of our presence in Germany.

Our friends here are kindly helping to entertain the kids for the next several days, as their toys have already been packed, and Dustan and I have to touch up and clean the house. I'm sure my arms will be very sore this week. They're already starting to feel that way after I worked on scrubbing off glue from the windows (from Nathaniel independently posting his artwork there). There are LOTS of ceilings and wall space to wipe down and paint (that's a whole 'nother story), cupboards to scrub, mildew to make disappear from the bathroom and grout in the basement... windows to wash and floors to polish last as we head out the door on Wednesday.

We will be staying in the next town over, in Leimen, at the Hotel zum Baeren. Strangely, albeit winter and the middle of the week, most hotels are full for Tuesday and Wednesday night, and I just booked their last room available yesterday for next week. I thought that was odd. But no matter, at least we got a room.

We are all in that in-between stage of things-- where we're just wanting things to be done with and settled. But, we have to endure these long moments as part of the overall fun adventure of international moving.

We are not happy to have to say goodbye to our friends here, and I think Dustan was momentarily sad to be leaving his co-workers in a bind with his absence. He is finally feeling appreciated at work this week, with people realizing he'll be gone and his farewell luncheon (he even received a nice plaque and a funny little handmade card, lots of "missing you already" comments and such.

Well, back to work I must go and take advantage of the kids not being here. We look forward to seeing all our friends and family at home next week! Only 6 more days. Can you believe it?

Anxiety

Well, we now have dates for the movers to show up and pack. The VW was taken last week to be shipped and is currently at sea. We have sorted through our belongings, and given away several bags of clothes and toys outgrown, and are selling the household goods that stay here.

Friday will be the first day that they come to pack. So, we will have the loft cleared out and the living room and office, along with the entire basement. That will leave Tuesday to do the bedrooms and kitchen. We then have the cleaning to do- cobwebs, windows, washing cupboards, lightswitches and floors... even painting? Yeah, the landlord expects us to have the house repainted before we leave. We have the arguement that that falls under normal wear and tear, and therefore we shouldn't have to do it. And so, this is yet another point that we must get legal advice on, and one detail that we would really like to avoid.

Tomorrow we will wake up to only 9 days left before we get on the plane and celebrate Nathaniel's 4th birthday in good ole Pennsylvania. The house is a mess and we are having company over tomorrow afternoon. Maybe that will motivate me to clean up a little- hah! I really do clean everyday, it's just hard to tell. ; }

Announcing...

Congratulations to my Sweetie! Dustan has secured a new position in Baltimore. He has been interviewing with different places for a couple of weeks now, and this is the job he's been most excited about, doing the thing he really likes. They officially offered the position to him on Thursday, we then worked out the kinks, and today he signed it. It is for 6 months on a temp to hire agreement with the client company being Constellation Energy. This is a great opportunity for him, and we are all excited to be going back home.

Of course, I am somewhat disappointed that our time here is done, but am looking forward to being involved in family life again, and this time with kids old enough to go do fun activities too. We will be moving back to York County and Dustan will be commuting. This is all happening very quickly too. Hopefully we will get the dates set up for the movers to come sometime soon. And, by the end of the month we will be back in the States!

A walk thru town

Ariel and I took a walk through town today, as the sun was finally shining. *Sigh* I am growing nostalgic about Germany more every day. I got some pictures of the library I've been meaning to photograph since we came here. The sky was a beautiful blue background for the Karnival decor, with silver-grey clouds glowing from the sun.

After a couple of pics, Ariel had some fun on the playground. It was a bit chilly, hovering just below 40 degrees with a gusty wind, but being in the sunshine was worth it.

Karnival Season

Lately life in Germany has been busy and exciting. It is fasching season here. Karnival season is a big thing here, much bigger than Halloween is, though I can't say it's as big of a money maker. Nonetheless, towns hang flags and drape rags across the streets in old -fashioned festivity spirit. Parties are thrown as well as parades and events.

At the Kindergarten, the kids dressed up for several days and had celebrations. They made Venetian masks too. They have been having lots of fun doing this! The only downside to this is the witches find this a good time to enjoy, and make themselves seem friendly to children. Also, of course, the vulagarities of adult activities accompaning the celebration is right out sinful and disgusting. Aside from this fact, the kids see it as just lots of fun. They love celebrating with the Germans!

Springtime in January?

I was incredulous at what I heard some ladies at the grocery store discussing. The topic was how cold it is in Germany. They were Americans, but they either were from the South or just plain idiots. They were saying how cold German winters are- oh, how awful and horrible weather. What?!? Yes, in December it was a bit cold- but stayed right around the freezing mark. There has been no snow to speak of, only a week or so of beautiful heavy frost, and no freezing rain. Not really much rain to speak of all together. It does seem to be mostly cloudy most of the time, but this is much of the case much of the year. So, maybe this fact gives some people the illusion of bad weather. But really, it's been a decent winter. The weather is mild in Germany all year around- not much of extreme temperatures in any season.

My biggest point of it being a mild winter- nature. The birds are returning already, and the flowers are blooming. I have been watching my daffodils, tulips and hyacinths break ground for a full month now. My hydrangeas have leaves sprouting on them and the azaleas and rhododendrums are getting ready to bloom. Primroses, snowdrops and crocus are in bloom, among several vines and bushes and other native flowers that I don't know the names of. And it is yet January. Hmmmmm.... not my definition of a hard winter. People are really unrealistic and babies when it comes to the simpliest of things- even the most basic thing as weather. I think those who face the mudslides, blizzards, avalanches, typhoons, volcanos, storms at seas, floods and other natural disasters are the only ones to have something to complain about concerning the weather. Good grief.

Frustration

Yesterday I was more than a little perturbed at my children. Whiny, to say the least. The result of some craziness was this;

Nathaniel came exploding out of the bathroom, and the door swung back so far that it hit the wall behind it, and split the door where the bottom hinge is, and popped the top one out some. It's no good. The door has to be replaced.

One upside to this; at least it deters anyone from using the toilet, as it's been on the fritz lately, and the landlord refuses to have it fixed. Now that Dustan has removed the door completely, there is no privacy. How annoying is that though?

Need some pepper?

Last night we went to Waldgeist with some friends. It is a restaurant a bit north of here that serves king sized food. Real funny stuff. They serve whole, butcher size sausages, steaks the size of your head and schnitzel the size of my body. Dustan got a 1/1 schnnitzel, which is 2lbs of pork. Scary. I'm not sure if he got half of it into his belly.

As we were walking out, we saw a server putting some pepper on someone's food for them. We didn't get a picture of it, but I found someone else's clip of their trip on youtube.

Wilhelma Zoo

Wilhelma Zoo is located in Stuttgart, which is about an hour from here. We went the other day with Pa & Romona. It is a large zoo, with lots of inclosed exhibits that will keep you busy for a wintry day. We walked thru some greenhouses with beautiful camillas in bloom. We looked at some interesting creatures in glass enclosures. There were very strange ones that I've never seen before. Nathaniel was excited to see huge sloths. (Sloths are on Diego and also on Ice Age.)

There were pathways galore and the park like setting was very relaxing. There was beautiful tile work and ironwork, statues and dry fountains. Following one path, we managed to find the aquarium, which is always a favorite in our family. In the midst of this there was a crocodile exihibit, which was the highlight of Nathaniel's day. There were also all kinds of snakes and lizards too.

We then continued on our way were we found the amazon building, which is always cool, and a small schmetterlinghaus. There we saw newborn butterflies, and then into the insect building we went. They had some cool bugs, and some really nasty ones- like a caseful of the biggest cockroaches you've seen- all alive. EWWWWWWWW!!!!

When the kids were getting tuckered out, we made our way towards the exit where we found the flamingos and the penguins outdoors. Always a favorite too, we stopped and admired them a bit.

All in all we had a good time, even though Nat was a bit cranky and put on his brakes a few times. Afterwards we went out to dinner at the Brauhaus in Leimen and it sure was yummy! What a great day spent with family!