Fresh from the Farm

Only in Germany would I find a chicken feather still STUCK to the outside of our eggs!  And to think, I was just starting to get comfortable with the fact that the eggs are all located in the middle of the store (room temperature) and not anywhere near the refrigerator section!  It definitely gave the girls and I a good laugh tonight, as we were preparing dinner.  They both had a lot of questions re: the eggs, chickens, etc. and the accompanying feather:).

A typical Sunday....

The front of the church, hosting both an American and German Flag.

We love Sundays.  As I have mentioned a 1,000 times before, there are far more differences than similarities to living in Germany versus living in the States, BUT surprisingly our Sundays have not changed all that much.

1)         We wake up and go to church.  Our church in Germany is located on the US Military Base (the only church on base where we do not need to me affiliated with the Military to attend).  We attend the Protestant, English-speaking 10:45AM service.  It takes us about 20 minutes to get to church, but this is not a problem for us.

2)          After church, we still go out to eat.  And this week, we visited “Mandy’s Railway Diner” known for its American Cuisine and “American-like” atmosphere (see pictures below).  The food was great and the staff was very welcoming and friendly.  We even got to listen to the Dirty Dancing soundtrack while we ate:)! 

3)         After we eat, we all enjoy a Sunday afternoon nap or quiet time with Elle (Matt and I rotate who gets to take a nap with Britta!).

4)         After nap, we try and go for a walk or visit a park as a family.  This is actually something we did not always do when living in the States.  In the States, we would usually work on projects around the house or run errands.  Since in Germany we do not want to put any money into this home and NO stores are open, we spend quality time as a family- this is definitely a positive aspect of living here!

5)         Then in the evening, we usually grill something, play games and watch a movie (though usually us girls are “forced” to watch a NFL game via the UK Sky Network, but not this week due to the Super Bowl already being determined).

It was indeed a perfect Sunday.  Now, onto Monday and a very busy week…love and prayers…

Within the church are the 50 State flags on display.  Do you see Iowa??

Ending the meal with a favorite...ice cream.  Though, we have yet to taste an ice cream that is as good as Papa Donavon's ice cream:).

My two beautiful ballet dancers:)

Elle is in the "Rainbow Bright" leg warmers:)

Elle continues to LOVE ballet.  We ended up switching ballet studios due to me continuing to feel uncomfortable around the previous ballet instructor (she insisted that both Elle and I communicate to her only in German, even though she could speak English??) but like all things in life, it was actually a blessing in disguise.  Elle (and I) loves her new studio and though the instruction is still in German, the ballet instructor makes it so much fun and engages all of the little girls so well that Elle just loves it.  Last week, they asked if Elle could move up to the 4 & 5 year-old class because they thought her physical skills/movements resembled more of those taught in the older class (moving out of the 3 year-old class).  Britta and I sat in on the class, only because it was a new class for Elle, but she blended in quite easily and was constantly giving me the “thumbs up” while she pranced around the studio (thus next class, Britta and I will be sitting with the other Moms and not in the dance class- we were a little distracting to Elle:).  Again, as a mother, it made me feel all warm & fuzzy inside observing Elle having such an enjoyable time. 

Though the picture is not in the best focus, it is yet another picture of Britta taking mental notes & learning from her Big Sister

Then, when we got home, Elle asked if she could stay in her dance attire and continue to dance to some music around the house.  Britta of course wanted to participate too, so I went upstairs and grabbed Britta one of Elle’s old dance leotards and ballet slippers.  The attire fit perfectly and both girls enjoyed dancing around the house to some “dinner music” I had on cd.  They even showed Papa Donavon and Nana Becky some of their dance moves via video.  I hope to get Britta into a “Mommy & Me” class, at the same studio, this Fall; she appears to enjoy music and dancing just as much as Elle does (and her Mommy:)!

Germany = CARB Capital of the World

It is good thing that the Germans are so physically active, because if they were not, everyone would be very overweight due to their large consumption of carbs (i.e. breads, beer, pasta).  In our small village alone (and by small I mean 30,000 people), there are five bakeries all within walking distance of our home!  Below is a picture of the bakery we visit the most, mainly because it is located inside the grocery store we use.  Every time we go grocery shopping, Britta goes into the bakery to check for pretzels while I pay.  She then reports back to me that there are indeed pretzels and requests one for her and Elle (who is at school).  I have yet to see a bakery that does not have an abundance of large fresh pretzels:).  I am still trying to learn the difference between all of the various breads and pastries, but the tasting process is not all that bad (as long as I too stay ACTIVE!). 

Weekend Recap: Rothenburg, Germany

This weekend we visited Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Germany; the town is well known for its well-preserved medieval old town.  Rothenberg ob der Tauber remains to be a walled city; inside the walls are brightly colored buildings that reflect German history, tradition and charm.  Our hotel was over 900 years old and was filled with character and a sense of old-fashioned warmth.  We visited the world famous Kathe Wohlfahrt store & Christmas Village.  We also participated in the “night watchman” tour Saturday evening.  While wandering about the cobblestone passageways and alleys, we could hear the orchestra practicing for Sunday service inside St. Jacob’s church; it was truly one of the most peaceful moments of my life.

Overall, it was a relaxing and enchanting trip and it was only 90-minutes from our home!  As we continue to get into our routine, I am finding myself “almost” enjoying living in Europe; I am definitely getting more comfortable and confident living in Germany and thus, the most simple of tasks are once again becoming pleasurable to me.  And, thanks to technology, I was able to book our February trip to Prague, Czech Republic and our Spring Break trip to the Canary Islands, Spain.  Now I must finalize our remaining travel plans for this Spring; at Elle’s request, we plan to see tulips in Belgium and Mickey Mouse in Paris:)!  We of course continue to and will always miss our family & friends while living abroad, but we are trying to make the most out of this truly, once in a lifetime experience.  And overall, it is pretty darn amazing and something everyone should experience if given the opportunity.

The girls had to double layer  (winter coats and rain coats:)

Elle enjoying the eggs in my LARGE salad for lunch!

Britta's "newest" smile:)

The night watchman

The girls still had their "Saturday night movie night" in the hotel!!

Walking into the Castle Gardens

Taking a break:)

A portion of the city wall

Cheese stick anyone?

Since returning to Germany, the girls have been asking to go swimming.  As an incentive to sleep through the night, I told them that as soon as Mommy got a full nights sleep we could go.  And, both girls delivered...they went to bed without any tears and slept through the night (well almost, but at least when they did wake up they went back to sleep without any tears which I considered a success).  Thus, we made our first visit of 2012 to our favorite swimming spot!!  We all had a lot of fun swimming in the children's swim area and the heated salt water pool.  Both Elle & Britta "had" to bring their babies swimming too.  After swimming, we ate a late lunch at Mc.Donalds and both girls were asleep before I even got on the Autobahn.  It was a definitely a fun ladies outing!

FUNNY STORY: there was a little bit of a "language barrier" ordering our meal.  Instead of ordering 4 mozzarella cheese sticks, I ordered four orders of 4 mozzarella cheese sticks.  Thus, we had SIXTEEN cheese sticks.  I immediately noticed our bill was very high, but the girls were so tired (though insistent on eating at Mc.Donalds) I did not try and correct the mistake, etc. I just figured, we could eat a few for lunch and Daddy could eat A LOT for dinner:)!  As they were bringing out more & more cheese sticks to our table, Elle said, "why do we need all these cheese sticks Mom?"  I just laughed and said, "because I guess we really like cheese sticks El:)!!"