Let the "Italian Adventure" begin...

Good Evening.  Well, we are loaded and ready to begin our “Italian Adventure.”  To reach our final destination of Rome, via Touran, it will take us approximately 10.5 hours.  You may call us brave, adventurous, avid tourists OR just plain stupid to be embarking on this European road trip with a 1-year old and 3-year old and NO DVD player:).  I am sure that every European would just shake their head and say, “they are American” (remember, people here think I am CRAZY for driving 15-minutes to Musikgarten and Ballet).  It is very uncommon here for people to drive to their holiday destinations, most Europeans would opt for a cheap air fare (which we looked into but could not find) or the Train but 1) we have a company car, 2) we wanted to make sure and have all of our “travel gear” (i.e. single stroller, double stroller, infant backpack carrier, etc.) and 3) we thought it would be “fun” to make stops along the way.  We are going to take our time and HOPEFULLY have some fun along the way.  Once we get to Rome, we will check into our Holiday Rental Apartment and park our car for the trips entirety.  Once we are in Rome, we will of course rely on public transportation due to the traffic being described as “horrendous” and even though we technically have German Drivers Licenses, we are still very much foreign drivers:).

So, we are packed and as ready as we will ever be!!  Our plan is to leave at 4:30AM to hopefully 1) beat some of the awful traffic (remembering that Germany is VERY overpopulated for the actual size of the country) and 2) HOPING that the girls start off the trip sleeping for at least a few hours!!  Matt and I are going to be dressed and have the car running and THEN load the girls.  Once we get to our first pit stop, I will dress them.  In order to reach our first hotel, in Lake Como, it will take us 5 hours.  We hope to be at this location in time for an early check-in and a nap for all of us (considering I will probably get up at around 3:00AM).

So again, wish us luck and of course, lots of memorable moments and fun.  I may do a few quick Blog entries while in Italy, to keep you all updated or just do one BIG Blog entry once we return home.

Love to you all…

THIS WEEK the girls have been playing so great together and giving each other tons of “unprompted” kisses and hugs; it has been very, very sweet (and rewarding) to watch as their Mother.  One time, Britta hurt her finger and went running to Elle INSTEAD of me; Elle was of course delighted and said, “I guess she just wanted me to take care of her Mom.”  Now, let us hope these feelings remain present throughout our trip!!

Going 100mph all day long.....

Good Evening Family and Friends.  WOW…today was a busy one!  I feel bad for anyone who stood too close to me; I am pretty sure I was sweating almost all day:)!

So, IN BETWEEN trying to organize our 8-day trip to Italy (and yes, basically starting this huge undertaking just this past Sunday evening) Britta decided she needed to have ear infection like her big sister (must we share everything??)! Now more than ever before, I wish I was like my sister; she does some of her absolute best work at the “last hour,” whereas I get easily sidetracked due to feeling overwhelmed and will choose to ADD something to my “to do” list, just for the sake of desiring to complete something.  Hence, we have a new play area in our basement:) (see pictures below).

Today went something like this…provided (once again) our new house cleaner with information re: where our cleaning supplies are, areas to focus on, etc.  Then, already 15-minutes late, I dropped Elle off at school and Britta and I drove to our Musikgarten class.  After Musikgarten, Britta and I took our usual 3-mile walk.  Then, instead of purchasing new toys & activities for our trip, I thought, let us reassess and reorganize what we already own and then see what we need to purchase.  Well, this “evaluation” turned into me getting the idea that, “hey, we do not have enough going on, let us create a play area in the basement today.”  So, Britta and I then go to IKEA to pick up just a few “essential” items for a fun and bright new play area for the girls (and play dates).  After IKEA, Britta and I picked Elle up, had lunch at a park and while the girls took their nap, I proceeded to work on the new play area.  After nap, Elle had her gym class (see pictures below).  Britta and I took Elle to class and ran some local errands while Elle tumbled around.  Then, after gym class, we visited the Doctor who determined that “yes, Britta too has an ear infection AND her throat does not look well either.”  Thus, to the Apotheke we go to pick up medications for Britta AND Elle, because yes, Elle’s ear STILL did not look better (not worse though) and we are trying yet another plan of medications to heal Elle’s ear (I am close to having a second opinion and/or have an ENT look at it).  Tonight, I worked on laundry and started the packing process for our trip (since we are staying in a holiday rental, we must also pack laundry detergent, dishwasher detergent, etc.).  Thankfully, the girls went to bed without too many “issues” and I have been able to pre-purchase some of our museum tickets and read some tourist literature since about 9:30PM.  Unfortunately though, I do not see tomorrow being any slower…BUT hopefully, our vacation can be relaxing for all of us.

Good Night…Love & Prayers… 

Our German basement is not like the one in Cedar Falls, but it did not work out too bad.  Once the temps start to get cooler, I think the girls will enjoy more of a play area in our home.  Also, I thought for play dates it would be nice for the kids to have a fun area to play, instead of all over our home (though there are still some toys upstairs on the main floor and Elle's room, the majority are in the play area now).  The swimming pool was already in the basement because Elle wanted to keep it inflated to "pretend swim" while I worked on laundry.  Now, they can come up with new idea for it or still swim:)

Elle telling me, "please Mom, no more pictures!!"

Elle telling Britta she is not old enough to climb up the ladder:)

Elle's Medications.....

Britta's Medications.....

An ALL-AMERICAN Shopping Spree:)

WHAT.A.DAY!!  Thanks to my friend Julie, I was able to visit the USA Commissary Grocery Store---THANK YOU!!!  It was definitely a new type of “shopping spree” for me.  1) I had to show my USA Passport to enter base, 2) I have never before experienced a “rush” when entering what would be comparable to Hy-Vee—LOL!  In the States, I disliked going to the grocery store but today, it was nice to be surrounded by things familiar to me (not only the products but EVERYONE speaking English).  I enjoyed being able to read what was written on the boxes.  I enjoyed being able to understand the nutritional contents without having to get out my iPhone App to complete the conversions.  The bottom line: I enjoyed knowing what I was actually buying for once!!  Besides food and drinks, I also purchased vitamins, skin & hair products, toothpaste, diaper cream, Pedialyte, etc.  Even though Germany has MOST all these items, there is something about using the familiar once in awhile that feels really good.  IT.WAS.AWESOME!  Tonight, we enjoyed a delicious 100% American meal- grilled steaks, loaded baked potatoes, and green bean casserole.  We should definitely be good until after the Yew Year on our American products.  Though I feel proud of myself that our family is entirely self-sufficient on German products, it feels overwhelmingly satisfying to have some American goods in our kitchen cupboards for a change! 

Good Night family and friends…

Weekend Recap: Enjoying the pleasures of Fall

Good Evening.  Thankfully, Matt returned safely home from Poland this afternoon around 3:00PM.  His flight was delayed a few hours due to some minor computer glitches at the airport, but he made it back!  Then, we thought he was going to have to go to the States for a quick meeting this week, but that has been postponed until October.  So, we can leave on Friday for Italy as we had been anticipating.

The girls and I had a really nice weekend.  On Friday, the girls painted their first Halloween pumpkins of the season.  As you can see from the pictures below, Britta kept getting messier and messier as the project progressed (I eventually changed her paints to fingerpaints:)!!  Later in the afternoon, once the pumpkins dried, the girls delivered the pumpkins to our neighbors (Walter and Ina) who we share the “garden” (remember, garden is just a fancy word for a small backyard here in Germany:) with.  The older couple continues to spoil the girls with little gifts every week and Ina is currently knitting the girls mittens and socks!

Then on Friday evening, the girls and I attended Elle’s Fall Festival at her Kindergarten.  Elle, Britta and I all had a lot of fun.  Elle enjoyed playing with her friends, Britta enjoyed “trying” to follow Elle and her friends around and I enjoyed meeting some more of Elle’s peers’ mothers.  After the Festival, we bought some more pumpkins and took a walk before dark; it is getting dark here already at 7:45PM!!

Saturday evening, the girls and I were invited to some fellow John Deere Expat’s  home for dinner.  Elle and Britta always enjoy playing with Will and Ellie and I always enjoy talking with Kari and Michael.  Kari made us lasagna and it was delicious!  Matt ate the leftovers when he got home from Poland while the girls and I were napping.  When we woke up, he said, “Wow babe, you really turned into a gourmet cook while I was gone!!”  Unfortunately, I had to tell him that the lasagna were leftovers from dinner the previous evening (he thought that made more sense-LOL).

The rest of the weekend, we tried to be outside as much as possible.   In one of the pictures below, you will see how on one of our walking paths we saw that the corn was starting to be combined.

Tomorrow, I get the privilege of going to the USA Commissary with a friend; I am SO, SO EXCITED to look and buy some American products!!  YEAH for friends who are affiliated with the USA Military!  I think our entire family is going to be happy tomorrow night enjoying some good ole' American goodies!!


I also MUST, I mean MUST, work on our itinerary for Italy.  We leave in just FOUR days, for 8 days, and I have nothing organized besides our lodging.  As I wrote before, the more organized I have our trips (i.e. knowing the cities public transportation, kid-friendly restaurants, pre-purchased tickets, etc.) the more fun EVERYONE has:)!!

Have a great week!  Love and prayers…

The pumpkins drying...for HOURS (especially Britta's pumpkin due to all the lovely paint:)!!

Elle before attending her Fall Festival at school...she really was happy, but I guess wanted to have this type of pose for her picture...so funny:)

Britta YELLING "Hello" to our neighbor Walter

Elle doing some dance moves before we loaded the mini (you can see Walter in the background)

A little kiss for Britta!!

Britta playing in the rocks at the Fall Festival

Elle playing with her friends.  

Britta "hiding" while playing "Hide And Seek"  Britta will say, "come find me Mom!!"

Busy, busy...finding that Germany is no different...

Good Evening Family and Friends.

It seems like we keep getting busier and busier.  When we were in discussions about moving to Germany, I envisioned our life slowing down for a 2-year time period.  I am finding that in some ways it has and in many ways it is only getting busier. 

For example, our weekends seem more relaxing and longer because there are no home improvement projects to complete due to us renting and knowing we are not going to be here for long and not having any yard work to complete (I can mow our entire “garden” via our electric mower in less than 10 minutes).  Also, most evenings our family takes a short walk together because we hardly watch any television (we get English television from the UK but the shows are different) and enjoy taking advantage of all the fabulous parks and recreational trails. 

But on the other hand, our life seems to be getting busier and busier.  I am finding out that Matt’s Region II position has many late business dinners and more travel than I was anticipating.  Then, thankfully I continue to meet more and more new women/mothers, but with these new friendships, come new commitments, gatherings, etc.   Also, another blessing is that Elle is loving school and this week, had the opportunity to start a recreational class on Wednesday afternoons (3:15-4:30PM).  The class is affiliated with her school and teaches the basic skills to gymnastics and soccer (on a rotating basis).  When Britta and I picked her up, she demonstrated for us jumping off of a balance beam onto a gymnastics mat.  While walking to the car, Elle said, “it was so fun Mom; it was awesome!!”  But now, Elle is involved in preschool 4 mornings per week, and ballet and recreational class once every week.  Britta continues to love her German Musikgarten class and soon, we will begin participating in this class two times per week.  This week, Britta was very outgoing in her class and followed the instruction of her teacher very well (i.e. tiptoeing, stomping, hopping, skipping).  It was very enjoyable for me to watch; she was adorable and appeared to be having fun.  Then there are my activities, which include assisting with future John Deere Expat functions, MOPS, PWOC, attending various playdates and activities with Elle’s school and organizing our vacations.  Now, please do not get me wrong- I am NOT complaining, I am merely surprised at how fast time is going and how busy we are becoming.  Though, I am a person who would much rather be busy and involved than have too much idle time.  I just hope we can continue to keep a happy-medium, be busy but yet have down time to relax and enjoy each other.  Though, this is a familiar challenge for all families and I should have known it would not be any different here, than in the USA.  I suppose I thought with the language barrier we would not be as involved, but my philosophy is that it will probably take us longer to know what is going on, but in due time, we will figure it out!!

Tomorrow, Matt leaves for Poland for work.  So, it will just be the girls this weekend.  We plan to paint pumpkins tomorrow morning and attend the “Fall Festival” at Elle’s school tomorrow afternoon and evening.  Saturday, we plan to visit some friends and Sunday, Matt will already be home!!  Elle has been asking to go on a “leaf gathering” walk; she wants to see how many different shapes and colors of leaves we can find so we will probably do that either Saturday or Sunday.  I was hoping for some cooler autumn temperatures this weekend, but on Sunday, it is suppose to reach 80 degrees!!  Though, it is suppose to be beautiful and sunny for the next 7-days so I cannot complain. 

Also this weekend, I MUST start on creating our itinerary for Italy.  We are leaving a week from tomorrow for 8 days and as of now, I really only have our lodging reserved.  I have found that the better organized I am, the more fun our family has (i.e. knowing a cities public transportation, pre-purchasing any and all tickets, kid-friendly places to eat, etc.).

Oh, and just a few random things while I am thinking of it…

*we officially have German drivers licenses:)

*the other day when I picked Elle up from school, the teacher shared with me (before Elle could see me) that she was playing with a girl from Italy and another from Turkey; I have NO idea what language they were speaking!

*Elle is really starting to make some good friends at school, interestingly, her “best buddies” are also from the States.  There are three little girls in her room that are from the USA, besides Elle of course:)

*Britta now asks, “what are you doing Mom?” all the time, along with “why Mom, why Mom, why Mom?”  Thus, even the most basic tasks take a long time because of all of the explanation- very cute.

*One of my dearest and best friends is sending me stick deodorant from the States due to the Germans using primarily spray deodorant and my armpits currently being “on fire” and severely broke out due to some allergic reaction I am experiencing.  I feel like my body does not like it here-LOL.

*Our neighbors, who we “share” the “garden” with continue to spoil the girls!  Almost every day they have a treat for them and a different homemade dessert for our family.  They are probably 75+ years old and very dear and kind people.

*Every morning driving to school we see multiple 70+ year-old women on their bicycles buying bread, milk, etc.  Britta and Elle always laughingly say, “watch out Big Nana!!”  But then Elle says, “that is not really OUR Big Nana, OUR Big Nana is in Iowa.”

Have a great weekend everyone!  I will Blog again on Sunday.  All my love and prayers…

Matt visits Elle Kindergarten

Good Evening Family and Friends.  Below, are some pictures from today.  The weather was BEAUTIFUL here today; fall is definitely in the air!  Another "mood booster" today was knowing that in just NINE weeks, the girls and I will be flying home to the States!! YEAH!  Elle keeps telling me what type of puppy she is going to get when we get to Iowa.  Matt and I told her that our family could get a puppy when we get back to the Midwest FOR GOOD, not just a visit:)!!  I really do not think she understands this; I may just have to arrange for some Hasbro's "FurReal animals" to be waiting for her at Papa Donavon and Nana Becky's home for her!!  Enjoy the pictures...good night.  

A picture of Matt walking into school with both girls.  Elle was so excited to show Matt her school.  She showed him the  pretend house in her room, the books she enjoys reading and some craft projects she is currently working on.  Matt was also able to meet the Director and both of Elle's teachers.  On Friday evening, the school is having a Fall Festival.  We are expected to bring a food to share with the other children, parents and teachers.  There will also be items for us to buy (i.e. jams, pumpkins, quilts, etc.) with all of the money going to the school.  It should be fun!   

Again, my shopper:)!  Britta and I ran to Toys R Us to purchase a birthday gift, while Elle was at school.   I used the car as a behavioral incentive while we were there, telling Britta she could ride it when we were all done if she listened to Mommy.  And sure enough, she was a perfect little angel:)--she would often ask me, "ride car??" "money??"  I think she was concerned I did not have enough money with me, because the last time we were there indeed I did not.  Lucky for Britta, I had two 1Euro coins with me.  She had a lot of fun!  And at the end said, "bye bye car!!"  

Elle's "Million $$" Ear--or really, "Million Euro" Ear!!

Good Evening family and friends.  By tonight, I can at least talk about what occurred today with Elle’s ear without becoming teary…. even though, everything is OK and I am trying to keep everything in perspective, lately, I just feel emotionally exhausted…

Today, I called our German Pediatrician to schedule the girls’ flu shots.  I shared with her that I thought Elle could get her shot too, since her ear appeared to be doing better.  I told the Doctor that since Thursday, there had been fluid coming out of the ear and she was no longer complaining of the pain.  The Doctor responded, “WHAT, there is fluid coming out of the ear??!?  This is not good, you must come in immediately.”  Well, since I did not attend medical school, I had no idea that fluid coming out was a “red flag” of something more serious going on in the ear drum.  When I got off the phone, I had feelings of guilt and anger.  I felt guilty that as Elle’s Mother I did not recognize this to be a more serious problem.  I felt angry that I was living in Germany and had not been able to see our American Pediatrician the day Elle began complaining of ear pain—or at least the SECOND time she began to complain.  But, I took a few deep breaths and proceeded onward. 

This afternoon, we visited the Pediatrician and indeed, NOW Elle has a serious ear infection.  She was prescribed a hefty dose of antibiotic, two medicated nose sprays and a medicine to assist with thinning her mucus.  I feel so bad for her.  Elle continues to do very well with taking all of her medication.  She thinks the nose spray tickles, which I am happy about because personally, I HATE nose spray.

We will go back to the Doctor in one-week for follow-up.  I pray Elle’s ear begins to heal.  Now I must close this Blog entry because I am getting very behind on all of the health insurance paperwork.  We need to stop visiting Doctors so much and getting all these prescriptions!!

On a happy note, Matt plans to accompany us to Elle’s school tomorrow morning for drop-off; Matt has not seen Elle's school yet.  Elle is very excited to show him around.  At dinner tonight, she told him, “it [the school] is so beautiful Dad” and wondered what he was going to wear!!—LOL!

Good Night.  Love and prayers….

Weekend Recap: Date Night, Shopping, Church...& a lot of good food:)

Friday Night: Date Night

The girls in the back of what Elle calls, "Kim's baby car."  Kim had asked if she could take the girls to a petting zoo nearby, before dinner and baths.

Kim treating the girls to some ice cream.

Elle enjoying the play area at the petting zoo.

Britta enjoying looking at the animals.

Elle feeding the goats.

After dinner, Matt and I enjoyed a lovely patio area outside another restaurant nearby.

As you can see...the hair color is fading (I suppose this happens with multiple washings per day-LOL).

Matt and I found it amusing that we were eating at a Mexican restaurant, with an English menu, in Germany!!  The food was delicious and it was nice drinking a Corona for a change!!  As you can see in the background, the drink special was "Sex on the Beach" for 4 Euro!!

The lovely patio area, with the Castle in the background...

Saturday Night: Shopping and out to eat as a family

We shopped at a Department store similar to Macy's/Von Maur/Dillards, etc.  This picture is where the trendiest and most expensive mens jeans were located:)!!  Recognize any of the names?!?!  A pair of basic Levis cost 90+ Euro, which is equal to about 130 Dollars.

Elle enjoying her Fanta or as she calls it, "Santa."

Sunday: Church 

After church, we at a small Italian restaurant recommended to us by a former Expat.  At the end of the meal, Britta and Elle got free Geleto!!  Of course, both girls loved this aspect of the restaurant:)!!