I Heart London (part 1 - there are way too many pictures for just one entry!)

I've been trying to figure out a way to write an informative yet amusing account of our trip to London. 

Nope, nothing's coming. 

In fact, I wrote a good amount last night, went to bed dissatisfied with it, and deleted it all this morning.  So, today you get a bunch of pictures with a little bit of description (London speaks for itself anyway!) and (hopefully) I'll get closer to catching my blogging life up with my real life.

As a quick introduction, we took a rather impromptu trip to London with our very good friends the Dawsons the week before Christmas.  We stayed in a house just south of the city and took commuter trains in every morning.  I love London.  I was a little worried about the cold, but it was actually warmer than Heidelberg was at the time, and, because it was the week before Christmas, there were no crowds.  I took way too many pictures.  Here are some from the first day...

                               

                 

                            

Above - us (I'm behind the camera) at the tower of London.  It took us a little longer to get there than we had hoped.  Our travel plan ran smoothly until we tried to make the transition to the tube.  Unfortunately there was an accident on the tracks, so the line we needed got closed right as we were about to board.  We walked.  We were just glad not to have been on the train, stuck in a tunnel, underground, with 6 young children.  In any case, we made it to the tower and loved it.  From my previous visit (when I was 14!) I only remembered the ravens, signs saying "Beware Ravens Bite," and the crown jewels.  All of those things were there, and they were still impressive, however, this time I was more impressed with the structure and the history of the place.  The kids enjoyed being outside and having open places to run.  They also enjoyed the white tower museum with the weapons - especially the part where they got to try out some of the weapons.  Ian was particularly surprised at how heavy a sword is. We spent the better part of the day at the tower - there is A LOT to see and do there, and I think we all had a great time.  I did, anyway.  I would love to go back and actually take the tour with a guide so that I can get a little more of the tower's historical background.  Maybe next time!

       

     

Here we are (all of us this time - a definite perk of traveling with friends is that you can actually get a family picture without having to talk to strangers) in front of the London Bridge.  These pictures are taken from the Tower of London - in fact, the upper right hand picture is of both the tower and the bridge.  The kids loved seeing places they've heard about, sung about, and seen in movies.  In fact, much to the amusement (and delight, I hope) of morning commuters, the morning after having seen London Bridge they sang the song (you know - London Bridge is Falling Down) and played the accompanying game with the Dawson kids while we waited for our train.  In any case (delighted Londoners or no) it kept them happy and busy. 

Speaking of train travel, one thing that was very funny to us was how hard the ticket vendor at the West Wickham train station tried to get us on to the later (cheaper) trains.  If you travel after 9:30 a.m. you get a discount.  Well, we didn't want to travel later.  We wanted to get going and we definitely didn't want to spend any more time than necessary waiting on the platform.  I know that this kind man was just trying to help the dumb Americans who were obviously spending WAY too much on train travel, but really, it's worth the extra money to not have to wait around for a train with 6 children 10 and under (4 of whom were 3 and under).  Also, it gets dark SO early in London (here too for that matter) that you really need to get an earlier start if you want to have enough daylight to get to anything.  Eventually we did convince him that we wanted the earlier tickets - they were worth every penny.

                 

          

                                         

And finally, here we are again - this time in front of Big Ben and the Parliament buildings.  As you can tell the light was quickly fading.  I think it was around 4:00 in the afternoon.  (Looking at the time on Big Ben in the pictures - yup, I'm right.)  I can't believe how huge Parliament is.  HUGE!!!  Ian and Naomi especially loved seeing Big Ben - they recognized it from Peter Pan and Mary Poppins.  Anyway, we heard the famous bells ring, we took some pictures and we called it a day. 

And that's day one of London!  Stay tuned for day 2 - hopefully we'll have another few entries this week as I try to get caught up!

Lonely and Sad

Now before you are start calling me to check on me, let me just assure you right now that the title of this post has nothing to do with my emotional well-being.  Granted, there are days here that are lonely, however that is (maybe) a subject for another day.  This post is all about Naomi.....

My friend wrote this post on her blog a few months ago.  As I read it, several thoughts came to mind.  These included, and were not limited to: "Wow, I really can't imagine having a daughter that sensitive and, well, so dramatic -  at least not for a few years, anyway," and, "If cute kittens make her cry, what's she going to do when she finds out about things like ethnic cleansing and global warming?"  and finally, "Heaven help her mom when she hits puberty!"  My friends, never say never.  And never assume that you are immune from ANYTHING!! 

The Monday after Thanksgiving we went and bought a Christmas tree for family home evening.  We were going to decorate it that night, but by the time we had picked the tree, loaded it into the car, driven home, dragged the tree up the stairs and into our apartment and securely installed it in its tree stand, I was ready for the kids to go to bed.  I had the mistaken impression that if we waited until another night to decorate the tree (hopefully starting earlier in the evening) we'd have happier and more cooperative children.  HA!

Thursday night we started decorating.  I must insert here that I love decorating the Christmas tree.  I love having a real tree.  I love the smell of the pine sap.  I love pulling out each decoration and remembering who gave it to us, or who made it.  So, I was really excited to get started. 

We had a grand start.  The kids were happy.  They were getting along well and were actually able to hang some ornaments without help.  We had only dropped (and broken!) one ornament.  Then Ben made the fateful statement that `would (unbeknownst to us) change the course of the evening from one of music, smiles and laughter to one of uncontrollable sobbing, moaning, and dismay.  While helping Naomi hang an ornament on a branch that was out of her reach, she asked him why they had to hang the ornament on that particular branch.  He responded that the branch was lonely and sad, and we wouldn't want it to stay that way would we?  Seeming to accept that logic, they hung the ornament and moved on.  Or seemed to.  Just moments later Naomi burst into tears.  We're not talking a little sniffle here.  Not even a steady cry.  This was uncontrolled sobbing.  I (being the sensitive mother I am) rushed to her side and asked what was the matter.

"It's.....so...sobsobsobsob.....lonely....and......sobsobsob.......sa-a-a-a-a-a-d-d-d-d....."

"Naomi, are you lonely?  We're all right here...do you need some help putting on the ornament?"

"Noooooooo.....the.....sobsobsob.....bra-a-a-a-a-a-anch.....lonely....sa-a-a-d...."

Good grief.

Are you kidding me?

Seeing my daughter in such distress, I did what any sensitive mother would do.  I ran and grabbed the camera.  And here's the evidence of our joyous evening:

                   

The sobbing lasted a full hour.  She cried while we finished decorating the tree.  (Fortunately we were almost done!) She cried while she used the potty.  She cried while she got her jammies on.  She cried while Ben brushed her teeth.  There was no stopping it.  I'm doomed.  So, when you're all in the throws of pre-pubescent drama and teen angst, give me a call.  We'll be there too. 

                                                

Nuremberg Weihnachtsmarkt - a.k.a. Black Friday German Style

I realize that it has been, well, awhile since I updated my blog.  I guess the reason is that I was busy enjoying my Christmas break rather than blogging about it.  From what I can tell most of you have been doing the same.  Suffice it to say, a lot has happened and if I ever want to catch up, I'm going to have to blog until I drop.  (Actually, the dropping part has already happened.  I'm home from church sick (Naomi is too) and I can only stand to lie in bed in a stupor for so long, so, here I am with the laptop, in bed, ready for a blogging marathon.  We'll see how much I get done.)  I'd like to try and keep my entries in chronological order, so I'm going to go back a ways to Thanksgiving....

Thanksgiving was great!  We had dinner at our house.  Ben once again baked a delicious turkey complete with stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy and I, in a fit of insanity, baked 6 pies.  I thought I could get six pies done in a day and I almost did.  Ben, like the truly fabulous husband he is, came to my rescue at around midnight (the night before Thanksgiving) and helped me out with the last pie.  We had Apple, Pumpkin, Pumpkin, Cranberry Pecan, Raspberry Chiffon and Chocolate Cream.  And why so many pies?  Truthfully, because I'm just a little bit crazy.  And, in my mind there are pies one cannot do without at Thanksgiving (Apple and Pumpkin).  When you've committed to make one pumpkin pie, you might as well make two (who wants half a can of leftover pumpkin pureé) so there are the first three pies.  Cranberry Pecan has become a must have for Thanksgiving Dinner at our house - Ben loves it (amazing for a man who once hated pecans!) so now we have four.  I personally need a touch of chocolate at any meal, so that brings us up to five.  The last pie is the traditional one.  I can see you now puzzling over how Raspberry Chiffon Pie is traditional for any Thanksgiving meal....well, it's not.  The tradition began when I was in high school.  My mom had my sisters and I each choose a pie to make for Thanksgiving one year (I think blueberry was my first).  Since then I have tried to bake a new pie each year.  Some have been total successes (for instance the aforementioned Cranberry Pecan Pie) while others...let's just say....haven't.  (The Cranberry Chiffon Pie just WASN'T worth the effort!)  Anyway, the meal was great as was the company.  We had two families over that we knew in GA (our good friends the Dawsons and the Chis) as well as our next door neighbors. It was a lovely day.  (Unfortunately by the time the pie making was done, I was exhausted.  I don't think I took any pictures that day.  Or, if I did, I can't find them.)

Now - back to the title of this post.  Black Friday.  The Germans (as far as I can tell) don't really do black Friday.  No huge lines of people waiting to get into stores at ungodly hours of the morning.  No marathon shopping sprees.  No fantastically terrific unbelievable deals.  No people getting trampled to death while trying to get to the electronics section of Wal-Mart in order to get that mini DVD player for only $14.99.  Nope.  None of that.  Honestly, I'm fine with missing black Friday.  I have many good friends who avidly search the inserts in their papers in the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving and find unbelievable deals.  They get to the stores early and walk away with a good portion of their Christmas shopping done.  I have only tried the black Friday thing once. It wasn't for me.  I don't have the patience to locate the deals in advance, I don't like to get up before seven, and I can't stand waiting in line.  The one time I tried to shop on Black Friday, I went to Kohl's, found a few things, saw the line, dumped my few things and walked out of the store. 

I will, however, get up early to go to a German Christmas market!  German Christmas markets (Weinachtsmarkts) have been around for hundreds of years.  Almost every town in German has one.  Most of them open the weekend that Advent begins. (Advent includes the 4 Sundays before Christmas.)  We decided this year to go to one of the oldest and most famous - Nuremberg.  It took us two hours to get there, there were mobs of people and it was COLD!!!!!, but it was worth it.  Here are some pictures:

                

This church is the first thing was saw when we entered the old city.  It was completely destroyed in WWII and has since been completely rebuilt.  Nuremberg was leveled during the war.  It's amazing to me how completely Nuremberg (and other cities like it) have rebuilt their churches, palaces and other historical buildings.  The French Horn players (and trumpeter!) were out in the COLD!!!! playing Christmas carols.  I had to take a picture because they reminded me of my dad.

                       

On the left are Ben, the kids and the Chis walking towards the Christmas market.  It has gotten so large that it doesn't completely fit into the main square anymore so there are vendors on many of the streets radiating out from the square.  On the right - the church overlooking the market on the main square.  Below - the kids were fascinated with the building built ON the water.  Imagine what they'll think of Venice!

                                         

          

After we had wandered around the main market we headed over to the Children's Market.  I wish that we had found it sooner.  They had rides, a place to color pictures, cookie decorating, candle dipping, a toy area and more treats than anyone could want.  It was a child's paradise.  We did the cookie decorating, the coloring and some rides.  The kids, of course, wanted more, but we wanted to get back to the main square so we could see the Christmas Angel officially open the market.  Big mistake.  It wasn't a mistake to want to see the Angel.  It was a mistake to wait so long to secure a place.  By the time we got back to the main square it was packed.  There were HOARDES of people - so many people that it would have intimidated even the most stalwart of Black Friday Wal-Mart shoppers.  We got pushed and shoved to the back of the square - so far back we were literally shoved up against a shop window and left with no way to escape.  I began to panic when Naomi got knocked down for the second time - especially because right at 5:30 they had turned off all of the lights in the area.  It was pitch black.  However, it was an unforgettable experience.  And the Christmas Angel part was cool.  We couldn't see much of it, but we could hear the brass band and the children's chorus and a whole bunch of German.  (I understood angel, star, snow, winter, Christmas....that's about it!)  And it was pretty spectacular when the Angel came out and flipped on all the lights.  I don't know if we'll do it again...most likely we'll try and watch it up close on YouTube and call it good!

                                                            

7 Years Old!

Just over 7 years ago I was in Baltimore, 9 months pregnant and HUGE. We had just moved there for dental school 2 months previously. It was hot, it was humid and it was miserable. Fortunately my mom flew out to help with the birth (of course the baby arrived just 2 days before her scheduled return flight - thanks mom for staying an extra week!) which saved my sanity and we had a wonderful time taking walks, chatting, watching movies and getting ready for the baby. Most of you know the story of Ian's birth, so I'll truncate it here and just mention that nearly two weeks late, after an induced labor of 6 1/2 hours I gave birth to this beautiful 10 1/2 lb., 21 1/2 inch baby boy. Here he is:


And here he is a few months later:


(I think he was about 9 months old in this picture, which was taken by my sister Sarah.)

It is hard to believe that it has been seven years since Ian was born. He has grown up so quickly. Ian is truly a special child. He is kind. He is happy. He is good. He is a wonderful older brother. He is smart (oftentimes too smart for his own good), and he is always singing (we're working on curtailing that activity at the dinner table). I am lucky to be Ian's mom, and I hope that I can be the mother that he deserves. I'm writing this here because I intend to print this blog yearly as our family journal, and I want Ian to know how special he is to me and how much I love him. I love you Ian!

Here is a little bit of what Ian has to say about himself:



I have to insert here that these (aside from the Favorite Movie category) are all Ian's uncoached responses. He originally put down "Pocahontas," and I just couldn't let him do it. He's only seen the movie once for crying out loud! And it was the day before (Thanksgiving) when they showed it on the Armed Forces Network. I think his real favorite (he had also recently watched Mulan) is the Pixar Shorts DVD that my sister Rachel gave us for the plane ride over. He's also a big fan of the BBC Planet Earth movies right now. In the Future Occupation category, "artist" was a big surprise. His usual responses are architect, dentist and astronaut. (He plans to be all 3.) Thanks Rebecca and Whitney for the idea of a birthday interview!

Here are some pictures of Ian's party. We had 8 boys including Ian. I was a little worried about how we'd survive 8 K-2nd graders in our tiny apartment, but it really went very well. We basically didn't give them time to get in trouble. In 2 hours we played Pin the Spider on the Web, several rounds of Birthday/Halloween Bingo, decorated Halloween cookies, went on a treasure hunt, ate cake and ice cream and opened presents. No time for mischief! The great thing was that I had all the party stuff from previous birthday parties and it was all new to all of this year's guests. One small benefit of moving frequently - you can recycle party ideas. The cutest moment of the party, I must say, was when it was Naomi's turn to pin the spider on the web. None of the boys could stand to have her place her spider poorly, so as she wandered away from the web, they ALL clustered around her and guided her arm. They helped her place her spider in the very center of the web and then cheered for her and told her she won. What a great group of boys! Anyway, back to the pictures:












So, a couple of months late, Happy Birthday Ian! We love you! You are one fantastic kid!

A Random Smattering

I realize that I am woefully behind (once again!) in my blogging activity.  There are two factors at play here, really.  The first is that I really have been very busy.  (A testament to this fact is that it is now 11:10 p.m. and I am just now sitting down to do this.  And honestly, if I hadn't made a promise to my mom, it would have been put off yet another day.)  The second factor contributing to the lack of new and exciting material on my blog is my perfectionist streak.  I have real issues with quality control.  As in I like to be in control.  Like, all of the time.  And I have a really hard time making something public that hasn't been thought through thoroughly.  (How do you like that alliteration?!)  Writing papers in college was AGONY for me.  I never could just push through a rough draft.  I probably re-wrote every sentence in every paper at least 3 times.  Of course by the time my "rough draft" was done, all I had to do was make a few corrections and it was ready to hand in.  The point is, it took me FOREVER!  And that is how blogging is for me.  I can't just spew it out.  (Not that I'm creating masterpieces here - I just can't stand the thought of a poorly constructed paragraph.) So, tonight my goal is to be done with this post by 11:30.  (I need some time to read before bed after all!)  You'll all just have to be forgiving  - I'm going to try and type without hitting the backspace key too many times.  The results could be frightening. 

Because I'm behind, I'm going to throw together a smattering of pictures from the last month or so.  We'll start with St. Martin's Day.  St. Martin's Day is a holiday in Germany that is primarily for young children.  The children make lanterns (or buy them!) and participate in a parade while carrying said lanterns and singing traditional St. Martin's Day songs.  (Come on, don't you all know the classic "Laterne, Laterne?" )  Ian made his lantern in school.  If I had found a pre-school for Naomi by now, she would have made one too, but I haven't.  I tried to buy her one (I went to 4 German stores) and they were all sold out.  Thankfully Ben was quite handy with twisty ties, glue guns, and the rod from our blinds and threw together a lantern for Naomi in just a few minutes.                  

                                           

Here are the kids with their lanterns. Ian had learned the songs in class, so we had fun listening to him sing in German as we paraded behind the brass band.  There were probably 250 children with lanterns in the parade.  It was a beautiful sight.  By the way, folks, those are real candles (with flames!) in those lanterns.  It made the night exciting!

The next topic in our festival of randomness is wiggly teeth.  Ian has had 2 or 3 wiggly teeth for a very, very long time. After much pulling and tugging and yanking one finally gave way.  Ian lost his first tooth!  Here are some pictures as only a dentist can take them...

                       

Ian was thrilled to have his first visit from the Tooth Fairy.  Did you know that she also pays for teeth in Euros?

*Note - these pictures were taken only a day or two after Ian had lost the tooth.  Much to our dismay, the permanent tooth grew in behind the baby tooth long before it came out.  Dang it!

Our final, and also completely unrelated, subject is winter.  As in COLD weather.  As in, after 3 years in Georgia my system is completely in shock.  We've already had snow TWICE!!!  That's twice as much snow as we got during the entire 3 years we lived in Augusta!  I must say I am not thrilled to have to scrape car windshields again.  Neither am I thrilled to constantly have cold hands and feet.  I DON'T LIKE BEING COLD!  The one good thing about snow is that the kids love it.  They were ECSTATIC to wake up one morning to see everything covered in white.  Of course, we went outside to play.  Well, truthfully, Ben played with them while I documented.  Here are a few pictures...

                                     

                                            

                                                        

Well, that about wraps it up!  Unfortunately I didn't make my self-imposed publication deadline.  It is now 11:55.  Still, that's record time (as in short!) for one of my blog entries.  I guess I don't have time to read....maybe next time I'll be faster! :)

Halloween - in Germany?!?!

Yes, we did celebrate Halloween here in Germany.  I guess one of the perks/disadvantages (depending on how you look at it) is that you get to/have to celebrate all the American holidays.  So, this year we got to celebrate Halloween.  I think it was a really good thing for the kids.  Ian, especially, is old enough to have expectations of what Halloween should be like, and I think it helped him feel less displaced to be able to carve pumpkins, dress up, and go trick-or-treating.  I was excited to tackle another costume project, and we were ALL happy to eat homemade doughnuts with friends at the end of the day.  There are a few tricky things about celebrating Halloween here, however.   For instance, coming up with costumes is a challenge - even if you make them yourself.  I was worried that this year Ian would request a costume that:

1 - I could not make or order in time, and/or

2 - would not fit into a scheme with Naomi's costume choice (princess, of course!). (Okay, this could have been a problem anywhere - I just like having their costumes fit some kind of theme.  It's just that finding a costume here is hard enough - let alone finding two that go together.)

Fortunately Ian's teacher requested that the kids dress up as story book characters rather than something scary.  That narrowed down our options considerably. As I listed a few, Ian settled on Robin Hood.  (It is possible that I may have steered him just a little bit in that direction.  After all, Maid Marian is a princess, right? That covered Naomi's costume request.   And I had patterns for both costumes - it was just too perfect!)  I was able to convince Naomi that she wanted to be Maid Marian the princess and we were set.  I loaded up my patterns and headed to the craft shop here on post, excited to get started on the costumes (this was around the first of October) only to find that they only sell quilting fabric.  Hmmm....no good.  So (and I really think that this is the most impressive part of the whole project) I looked up fabric shops in Heidelberg online, found the address, converted all my yardage requirements into meters and centimeters, drove to downtown Heidelberg and purchased the materials I needed.  I do have to admit (why must I be so honest?!) that there was a very kind lady there that spoke English, so I didn't have to try and communicate my needs with my very few German phrases and a bunch of numbers written down on a scrap of paper.  But had she not been there, I was prepared to try.  

And here are the results:

                                                           

                                                                          Robin Hood and Maid Marian

                                        

Robin Hood - isn't he dashing?  He was very, very disappointed that he didn't have a bow and arrows.  Unfortunately I just ran out of time.  I should have relegated the construction of a bow and arrows to Ben.  In fact, I meant to. Lesson learned.   Of course, next year, he'll want to be a Pokemon character, or Spider Man and rather than sewing I'll spend some quality time at  target.com.  And that is fine with me.  Naomi will just have to be something on her own.  I'm just not ready for her to be Mary Jane. 

                                       

Beautiful Maid Marian.  Naomi was ECSTATIC to be Maid Marian.  ECSTATIC.  We went to a Halloween festival here on post for most of our trick-or-treating.  (It was raining outside and the festival was inside - plus, there were games and non-candy prizes.  Definitely a win-win situation.)  Anyway, as we approached each booth, Naomi would run ahead yelling "I'M MAID MARIAN!!!  LOOK AT MY COSTUME!!!  I'M MAID MARIAN!!!"  We had a great time.  Oh, and when we returned from trick-or-treating, we walked in the door and saw this:

                                          

                                                   Doughnuts anyone?  The perfect end to a perfect day!

Back from Bavaria pt. II, or, the Madness of King Ludwig

I know that our Bavaria trip was awhile ago....let's just say that life has been crazy.  Really, when is it not?  I feel like I begin each week with a fresh outlook and a relatively clear schedule.  By mid-week I am embroiled in multiple projects and feeling overwhelmed by the number of things I need to accomplish before the weekend.  As I reach the end of the week I sink, exhausted, into bed wondering where the week went and how it is possible that I got so little done.  Time passes so quickly.  I am hoping that as I get into more of a routine here, and become more familiar with my surroundings, my life will begin to feel less frenetic and over-scheduled.  On the other hand, I am a compulsively busy person.  Maybe there's no hope! 

Anyway, the last two weeks were filled with birthdays, Halloween activities, and church responsibilities and blogging (out of sheer necessity) got shoved to the back burner.  I'm in a pre-Thanksgiving lull right now, though, so I'm planning on getting all caught up.  So, back to Bavaria. 

After our day on the Zugspitze we decided it was time to do some castle gazing.  In two days we visited 3 castles owned by King Ludwig II of Bavaria. The first, Hohenschwangau, was his parents' place. (Ludwig was born in Hohenschwangau, but decided (when he ascended the throne at the ripe old age of 18) that it was too old-fashioned for his taste moved out.) 

                            

                                          

I don't know - if I'd been born in a place like that I'd be looking to upgrade.  Wouldn't you?  Because the 20 minute walk to the top only took us 5 (with kids!!!) we arrived in plenty of time to walk around the courtyards and enjoy the views from each side of the castle, all of which were spectacular.  It is, after all, about location, location, location...

        

       

I have to insert here that visiting the Alps this fall was such a balm for my homesickness.  After living for 7 years in relatively flat places it is so wonderful to live near some real mountains.  If we hadn't encountered several crazy German motorists, and seen the pristine woodstacks on the pristine farms filled with immaculately groomed cattle, I almost would have believed myself to be back in Utah.  It was great to be in the mountains again.

The second castle we visited is the most famous of Ludwig's castles, and possibly the most famous castle in Europe - Neuschwanstein.  This is one of several newer, hipper place Ludwig built during his reign.  It never was finished.  Ludwig (by the time he was in his early 30's) had bankrupted the treasury and was found drowned in a pond next to the castle.  Very mysterious...

    

 

      

The third castle we visited was Linderhoff - Ludwig's mini-Versailles.  I swear the guy spent his life trying to escape it.  He had grottos, a Moorish Kiosk, the mini-Versailles, a Wagnerian hunting lodge.  Way too much money, way too much power.

                                                             

Our last stop (and this was the one that pushed the kids to their limits) was at a monastery in Ettal.  We'll have to go back.  But, we did run into someone who took a picture of the whole family together (we got 3 in one trip!!!) so at least we can document that we tried.

                                  

 

And that's it.  We had a really, really long drive home (taking the scenic route wasn't the best of ideas) and are now trying to decide what to do for our next 4 day weekend.  Trier perhaps?

Oh, and mom, I PROMISE the Halloween pictures are coming soon!