Germany!

We spent the first part of our summer in Germany and was it ever a wonderful trip!  So amazing!  Plus, with Germany's world cup win, we couldn't have picked a better time! :)  It was such an adventure for the kids.  Benjamin had been there before, but was too young at the time to remember, so essentially, it was all of their first time.  Everything from the bullet trains, to the unique architectural styles, to the food, to the German language all around them, was a new experience.  It was so wonderful to share it all with them.  I always feel so happy and at home in Germany.  From the moment I step off the plane and start hearing German, I feel like I could stay forever.  Were it not for Kelly waiting back at home, I almost certainly would.

We stayed with my mom in my Grandma's house. That house has been in our family for 400 years. That makes it older than the USA. It was very important to me that my kids also have memories of this house that has meant so much to me and our family. Being an army kid, no house has been my house for very long, but this house has been the one stable location through all those years.  And while we were there, many family members came and talked about what the house meant to them.  How they remembered spending vacations there or living there.  It really is a special place. I tried to take a lot of photos of them in and around it, so they could one day hold up two pictures and say, "Look, here's me in the kitchen, and look, here's my great-great-great-grandpa in the same kitchen."  I think that's really cool.

Here they're playing Sleeping Queens in an upstairs bedroom.  On the wall is a picture of my great grandma Anna Elisabeth who lived in the house many years ago.  I think she was smiling to see the kids in her home.

We found an old radio in the attic and it still worked great.  The kids improvised instruments and had a blast playing band.

One of my favorite things to do in Germany is walk in the woods and neighborhoods. My grandma and I used to take walks together every day when I'd visit her.  I made sure my kids and I did a lot of that. My grandma's house is in a small village about 10 miles outside the main city, so we had access to the city when we wanted it, but otherwise we had a wonderful time out in nature.

The view from the hill above the village:

On a walk on the road leading out of the village, with our German walking canes.  Most of them belonged to my Onkel Hans.  My grandfather died before I was born and so Hans became my grandfather. He was wonderful to me and he always had his cane along whenever we'd go walking.  On this day Benjamin carried his favorite cane to the cemetery where he is buried and I got to show Benjamin his grave and tell him about the man who carried that stick.  It was a very special moment for me and I think Benjamin felt it too.

There is a large farm on this road with lots of horses.  Christian could have spent all day there.  He became quite a little horse whisperer.  The horses would come right up to him and they would stare at each other for the longest time.  It was adorable.

We had a lot of family come and visit while we were there.  Bella especially liked my cousin Matthias.  He was so sweet to her and she latched right on.  It was so cute to see my kids getting to know their extended family better.

Matthias's wife, Heike, taught the kids how to make clover crowns during their walk and Christian thought it was amazing.  He wore his proudly for several days until it got too wilted.

Matthias and Heike have a son that's Benjamin's age.  Reynaldo and Benjamin got along great too.  It was him that got Benjamin learning German.  The two of them managed to communicate quite well and it was amazing to see Benjamin's language improvements after only a couple days with his cousin.  Here we found a herd of goats on the mountaintop.  It was so Heidi, I had to take a picture.

My mom was taking golfing lessons while we were there, so whenever she was golfing, we hung out at the lake by the golf course.  The kids got to watch the waterskiiers.  Only they don't waterski with a boat like in the states.  They have a set up of cables and pulleys in a circle above the lake and a skiier holds onto a handle attached to the cables and gets pulled around the lake from above.  Stinks to be you if you fall in on the opposite side of the lake from the loading area.  It's a long swim back.

We found a quieter area of the lake and had fun swimming a while ourselves.  Only downside was that the water was COLD!  All the water is cold in Germany.  Maybe it's what makes Germans such hearty, strong people - the ice cold water they all swim in.

We visited 3 different swimming pools in addition to the lakes.  The kids had a blast checking them all out and trying the various slides and toys and diving boards they all had....and their frigid cold water. They have beautiful outside pools in Germany, surrounded by grassy knolls, picnic spots, and playgrounds.  It was one of our favorite things to do there. If you ask Benjamin how he liked Germany, one of the first things he'll tell you was that he did somersaults off the 3m high dive.  It was a proud moment for him.  None of our pools around here have high dives, so he thought it was pretty awesome....but at least our pools are warm!

We also celebrated Benjamin's 8th birthday while we were there.  On the morning of his birthday we had waffles with strawberries with whipped cream and a German strawberry cake.

Then we went hiking on the Doernberg - the hill by the village.  Up on the top of the hill are large rock formations called the Helfensteine.  They are super fun to climb on. Benjamin could have spent all day there jumping and climbing around on them.

They also have Segelflieger up there.  Those are gliders - single seat airplanes without an engine that simply glide on the wind after being launched into the air.

 They are hooked up to a rope which is wound up really, really fast by a truck, like the one below, thereby pulling the plane along the ground until it catches the wind and goes up.

It is really fun to watch and so I wanted to show it to Benjamin.  We didn't see too many being launched but we saw quite a few in the air and several land.  Of course we also had ice cream up there and then we went swimming...again.  He had a great birthday.

Other incidentals:  We played a lot of soccer while we were there.  You can't go to Germany during the world cup and not play soccer.  Playing on a full-sized field gives you real appreciation for how much those guys run during a game!  Those fields are big!

The cherries were in season while we were there and boy did we take advantage.  Everywhere we went wild cherry trees were growing and we left no fence, swing, or tree unscaled.  Those cherries were good!

No trip to Germany is complete without at least a few trips to castles.  We went to this one with my mom, but quickly discovered that old castles with lots of breakable things and expensive admissions costs just aren't a good idea with kids, so we mostly stayed outside and enjoyed the view from out there.  We did go into the ruins of an old castle and that was fun and perfect for kids, but unfortunately my camera battery died as we got there, so I have to wait for my friend who took us to send me her pictures of the day.

I also forgot to take a picture of the church in my grandma's village.  We attended the Lutheran church each Sunday that we were there.  It was built in the 1100s and it so beautiful inside.  I attended there every Sunday with my grandma whenever I'd visit and I wanted to share that with my kids.  The pastor knew exactly who we were and greeted us personally in his sermon has his "guests from America."  Bella fell in love with the organ music and the songs we sung.  She insisted we sing them every evening together while we were there and looked forward to Sundays when we'd get to sing them again.  There is always a really good feeling in that church and it made me happy to see that my kids felt it too.

On one of our walks in the woods we found a little restaurant, deep in the woods.  Inside the place was full of antlers on the walls and taxidermy animals near the tables.  Benjamin's favorite was the boar next to ours.  Here he's giving him his own antlers.  Nothing says "eat up" like a dead boar's snout poking you in the back.

For his birthday, Benjamin wanted a pedometer to keep track of all those walks in the woods.  Here he's proudly showing me when he reached 20,000 steps so far for that day. We were visiting a dear friend in another town and we made the most of the time we had there by walking all over the place.  By the end of the day it was nearly 21,000 steps.  It was a wonderful visit full of sight seeing, walks in the woods, swimming (of course), and time just enjoying each other's company.  I'm so thankful for her hospitality in opening up her home to us for those days.

The kids loved riding the trains between the various cities.  The large train stations and the high-speed trains zooming past the red-roofed villages nestled in the green hills was such an adventure.  On one trip we sat in a car with a group of German 6th graders heading back from a school trip.  They were sitting with their home-room teacher and their English teacher and when they overheard my kids speaking English, they perked right up.  We became the center of attention for this group of about 20 kids.  They and their English teacher stood in a circle around our seats and we talked the whole 2 hours.  We had a great time together.  I helped them practice their English, they asked us questions about America and shared their snacks with my kids, and we sang songs together in both languages.  It made the trip fly by.

The most famous landmark in Kassel, the city nearest to my Grandma's house, is the statue of Herkules.  He looks down upon the city from way up high and is visible for miles around.  The kids wanted to go and climb the steps up to him.  Bella tried counting and determined "there are a billion!"  Not quite, but it kind of felt like it.  We had a blast, though.

What it looks like when the water is on.  They turn on the water 2 times a week during the summer and let it run from the top all the way down, but the crowds are way too much during those times, so we avoided it.  Pay for parking and fight crowds?  We've got water at home. :)

I worried I'd be carrying this little guy before we got to the top, but he was a trooper.  He just kept on going and going without complaint.

We visited my grandma's grave a few times while we were there.  It's weird but I like cemeteries. I like the peacefulness of them, the beauty, and the history.  I like reading the headstones and imagining how the people lived in those different times.  I discovered on this trip that my kids like them too.  We spent a long, long time in the cemetery walking among the graves, talking about those who I knew, looking at the different styles of headstones and decorations.  They also appreciated the quiet and peacefulness that was there.  They were very respectful and well behaved and it was a sweet experience with them there.  I miss my grandma but visiting the grave wasn't so sad because I know that she isn't really in that graveyard.  She's somewhere much better and it's just a matter of time before we can take walks together again.

Well, that was our trip in a nutshell.  My main goal for this trip was to share my culture, heritage, and memories with my children in a real, tangible way. I wanted them to meet their extended family rather than just see pictures and finally have memories to go with the names. I wanted them to know why my German half is so important to me and I wanted them to rejoice in their German heritage too. I think in a small way, I reached that goal.  They each have their own fun memories of the trip, have come to love many members of our family, and each gained a stronger desire to speak German and learn more about that part of them.  It was a great trip and hopefully only the first in a long tradition of vacations to Germany.

The Joys of Summer

Alternate post title:  The joys of not being the one who does the laundry.

It was the second to last day of school and beautiful weather so we went to the park.  All three made a bee line for the sandbox and we ended up spending over 2 hours in that one spot.  Benjamin was on a mission to bury himself alive.  The result:

Even this covered, he wanted to go further.  "I want you to completely bury me!"  All my attempts to help him understand that being buried in sand isn't like in the winter when we buried him in snow and that he wouldn't be able to breathe were ignored until the sand was on his face.  Then he panicked, screamed, and decided covering his head was far enough.  My favorite part, though, was when three ladies walking by, thinking that there were just two little kids playing in the sandbox, jumped with shock as Benjamin emerged from the sand like the Loch Ness Monster.

Then Christian wanted in on the action too.

It was a wonderful day at the park. So happy Summer is here!

Now I've Seen It Firsthand

You know how you read those news articles about the kids who watch a movie or read a book about some really stupid thing like laying on the white dividing line on the freeway and they idiotically go do it and get killed?  I used to read those and say, "Are you kidding?  How dumb are they?  There's a big difference between reading it and doing it!"  Today I saw this behavior pattern for myself.  I thought Benjamin might enjoy a book that I read as a kid - "How to Eat Fried Worms" by Thomas Rockwell.  Especially as a boy, I thought he'd like the ick factor and get a kick out of the concept of such a bet.  Did I think he'd actually try to eat a worm?  Never.  How I underestimated the power of suggestion.  He came to me today and asked, "Could you scramble an egg for me?"  "Sure," I said, "are you hungry?"  "Sort of," came the reply, "I'm going to eat a worm."  "What?!  You understand that just because the kid in the book does that, doesn't mean you have to, right?"  He didn't listen.  "Can you have the egg scrambled by the time I get back with the worm?"  Sure.  So I scrambled the egg, salted and peppered liberally and waited.  I really thought he'd lose his nerve and not do it, but he came back with a dirt encrusted wriggling worm.  "Got the pan ready?" he asked, like we do this every day.  "Are you seriously going to throw that living creature into a hot frying pan?!"  The former vegan in me broke out in hives.  I handed him the pan, the scrambled egg, and wished him well.  I couldn't bear to see it.  Bella and Christian, however, were on him like glue.  They offered to serve as witnesses.  According to their testimony, he rinsed off the worm, threw it into the bowl of scrambled egg, stirred, and poured it into the hot pan.  When the egg and worm were cooked, he got a plate and sat down with a knife and fork, and calmly began to eat.  The screams of "EEWWWWW!" and "UGGHHHHH!"  from the two of them, convinced me that he really was doing it.  When they screamed, "HE DID IT!" I came back into the room and found:

Some egg remained, but no worm.  He claimed, "I couldn't even taste the worm!  It tasted great!  The kid in the book should really have made it like this rather than just always covering them in ketchup and mustard. It's too bad there's no school anymore.  Now I can't go and tell anyone that I ate a worm!"  I really need to think through my book recommendations better next time. :)

Spring Sports

Benjamin decided to play baseball and soccer this season.  He really enjoys them both and is so naturally athletic that I think he could excel at any sport he chose as long as he was willing to work at it.

So I decided to let him give baseball a try.  He came home all smiles from his first practice.  The first drill his coach did was to roll them the ball and then have them pick it up and throw it back to him.  Benjamin froze.  All those strangers watching him and a new coach was just too much pressure.  His throw was terrible. He kept both feet together and did a sort of crazy hop twist with both feet as he threw.  The coach was kind and gave him a couple pointers before rolling the ball to him again and giving him another chance.  The second throw was better but still shaky.  However by the end of the hour practice, he was throwing well and seemed to have warmed up.  He was grinning and sweaty as he got in the van.  I took it as a good sign. :)

Everyone's doing soccer this season.  All at the same time and at the same park which makes it simple, but I envy those parents who set up their folding chair and sit to watch their one kid on the one field.  I'm walking back and forth all morning as I watch the three fields.

Bella was upset with me in the morning before soccer because I wouldn't let her wear her jeans and cowgirl boots during the game.  I told her she had to dress appropriately for play and then she could change after the game.  She's in a fierce cowgirl phase right now.  She wears her boots, her hat, and her jeans and white shirt every day every where.  She finally gave up on the idea of the boots and went with the all purple theme (her current favorite color).  When the coordinator told her she'd be on the green team, we had another drama scene on our hands.  She wasn't going to wear green for anything.  I did finally get her on the field in gym shoes and the green shirt.  A miracle!  Bella spent a lot of time standing, sucking her shirt, and drinking from the free lemonade stand next to the field until she came to me 3/4 of the way through saying, "My tummy feels sick from the lemonade."  She did participate in the practice drills, though. And said she had a good time.  I was happy for her.  I know she'll get better.  And maybe she's just not a sports gal and that's okay too.  She has a thousand other talents.  I'm happy that she's out there and willing to at least give it a try.  It's just that kicking, screaming mob of 5 and 6 year olds that's always around the ball that makes her just stand in the corner.  I can't say I blame her.  It's not something you want to go throw yourself into, but maybe she'll warm up to it.

Christian actually plays this time, rather than just sitting on the ball on the sidelines.  He's three, so there's still those moments when the ball rolls by him and he watches it go by rather than run after it, but he tried hard and played the whole time.  I was really proud of my little guy.  Benjamin was also hard-core and played his best.

The hardest part of soccer is not coaching this season.  I've coached the last three seasons, but I wanted to take one off so I could actually watch my kids play, rather than coach one of them and ignore the others.  I've found it hard to stay quietly on the sidelines when I'm so used to being in charge. While I was watching Benjamin, the coordinator of the program came over and asked, "So how's being a former coach and now just watching?"  "Good and bad," I said.  "I love being able to watch them all play, but it's hard when I see the coach doing something I don't agree with and I think I have a better way."  "Oh, I know what you mean,"  she said, "I coached for a long time and when I stopped I became one of  "those moms."  I always had some idea the coach should try and always an idea for making things "better." Then one day he told me to shut up and I realized I had gone too far.  That's when I decided I just needed to take over the program!" she said, laughing. I really like her.  If I weren't primary president and plenty busy as it is, I might consider that.

I'm excited for our spring sports season.  It's fun being out and being active.  There's a huge playground next to the baseball diamond so even during Benjamin's practice, the other two are running around as well.  It's going to be a great season.

Happy Birthday Isabella!

Isabella turned 6 yesterday and it was, in her words, "the best birthday ever!"  It was a really fun day.  We started, as always, with cake and presents.

I think that face says it all.  Her presents were a hit.

I asked Bella weeks ago what she wanted to do on her birthday.  I really expected her to say she wanted a party, but instead she said, "I want to get my hair and nails done."  I found the cutest salon called "Sweet and Sassy" just a few miles from here.  It's a salon just for little girls.  Sadly they didn't survive the economic downturn in this area and they went out of business 2 weeks before her birthday.  I was so bummed.  But my gym has a salon in it and so I decided to go there and explain my situation and see what they could do.  Normally their prices are kind of high, but I hoped they'd cut me some slack as a former employee and long-time member.  They were awesome about  it.  They offered to give her a shampoo, cut, dry, and style plus a manicure, complete with milk soak, hand massage, and polish all for $30.  Cheapest birthday ever.  I was thrilled.  So was she.

She loved every minute of it.  The hairstylist talked with her about Frozen and The Little Mermaid while she shampooed and cut her hair and it looked fantastic. I couldn't believe how grown-up she looked with her hair done!  All blown out and curled at the ends with a little bobbypin holding her chopped bangs under so you couldn't see the tufts.  Gorgeous. I was so shocked at how beautiful my little girl looked that I forgot to take a good picture of it. (Yes, she cut her own bangs a month ago because "they were bugging me."  I didn't see until I walked into the bathroom and there were long clumps of hair on the floor.  She cut them to the hairline and now they're 1 inch tufts on her forehead.) I did get one of her getting her nails done, though.  Wish it showed her hair better.

She was in girly heaven.  The manicurist was wonderful and she was so good with Bella - even got the green marker and pen off her hands first.  "That was fun!" she declared when it was over.  I just stared at her as we walked out to the car - in her cute silver dress and leggings, her nails and hair professionally done.  She was so beautiful and so mature looking.  I couldn't believe this was my little nose-picking, thumb sucking Bella.  We got into the car and she looked in the rear-view mirror, pulled out the bobbypin, grabbed a purple Dora the Explorer headband from the backseat, and put it over her beautifully blown-out locks, cramming them all back so you couldn't tell they'd been done.  "That's better," she declared. :)  My little girl was under all that fancy treatment after all.

Thereafter I took her out to lunch at On The Border (her choice - "because I want quesadillas and chocolate milk").  I loved going out with just her.  I'd taken Christian to a friend's house for the day so Bella could have her special day without little brother complaining it was boring.  Being just us girls doing something other than home-school was wonderful.  She's really a fun girl to hang out with.  I was also shocked when after the waiter took our order she said, "He was really nice.  He's really cute too."  What??! There was that teenager in her again that I'd seen in the salon. I'd never heard her say that before!  She only ever commented on girls - how pretty their hair or clothes were.  This was the first time she'd ever called a boy "cute."  Much less a 20 year old guy!  I have to admit, though, she was right.  She's got good taste.  I said, "I agree, he is cute.  Are there any other guys you think are cute?"  "Oh yes," she said, grinning.  "Who?" I asked, dying of curiosity.  "Daddy."  Aaaahhh, my little girl was back again.  I think we are coming upon that tween stage of life where she's hovering between child and teenager and we'll see bits of both for the next 6 years.

After lunch she wanted to go shopping so we went out for a while and found some cute things as well as her favorite bread from our corner bakery.  Then we picked up Christian and spent an hour playing at the friend's house.  The rest of the day was spent watching Frozen for the gazillionth time and playing outside once Benjamin got home.  She, of course, got to pick our meals for the day.  She picked baked oatmeal for breakfast, On The Border for lunch (as I mentioned), and hotdogs, mashed potatoes, and tacos for dinner.  I tried to add some nutrition in there by making the potatoes my favorite potato/turnip/cauliflower mixture and I made a fruit smoothie to drink with dinner. She asked for double and triple helpings.  When the day was over, she was still all smiles.

She kept telling me all day long how much fun she was having and how wonderful this birthday was.  She also thanked me multiple times for all the things I provided or made possible.  She was such an angel.  I sure love her.  She's so smart, loving, creative, compassionate, and spunky.  Bella is a joy to have in our family.

Spring Break

The kids and I flew to Utah for Spring Break this year.  Such a fun trip.  The flight over went surprisingly well.  We were running late that morning, as always, so we didn't have time to eat lunch before we left.  After we'd gone through security, I took the kids to a food court area and got them all some ridiculously overpriced things to eat.  Then we took a quick bathroom break and got on the plane.  Not a minute to spare.  As were were walking on the plane, a woman spoke to me and said that she'd been watching me and my kids since we'd started eating and wanted to compliment them on what wonderful, well-behaved kids they were.  I thought that was really nice.  They were wonderful during the flight as well - reading, coloring, eating, and looking out the window without fighting or disrupting.  I was very relieved.  After the flight, as we were walking to baggage claim, a man stopped us and said, "I just have to tell you, you are the most wonderful family.  It was such a pleasure being on the plane with you and your kids."  Who says that?!  "It was a pleasure being on the plane with you"!?!  That made me feel like a rockstar mom, I have to say.   So that got our trip off to a good start and we had a great week.

Easter:

We had a wonderful Easter.  The music leader in primary in my mom's ward is fabulous and it was so nice to be in primary but not be in charge! :)  Then we came home and hunted for eggs.  Christian found the coveted Golden Egg which granted him special privileges, but being the incredibly sweet kid that he is, he gave it to Bella almost without hesitation.  My jaw dropped at that but I really shouldn't be surprised.  He's just that kind of a guy.

Time with cousins, aunts, and uncles:

Benjamin's favorite thing about his cousin's house (besides the people, of course) is the river in their back yard and their motorcycles.  He made sure to get plenty of riding time in.  The others were content to ride with their uncle.

Trip to the aquarium:

I took a lot of pictures at the aquarium, but my lack of photographic ability, mixed with the funky lighting of the aquarium combined to turn all my photos into junk except this one.  I wanted a happy smiling picture but they wanted to do a "freaked out that we might get eaten" picture.  You take what you can get.  I guess their version really makes more sense.  Who's happy and smiling when they're inside a shark's mouth?

Trip to Temple Square:

This was the best shot I got.  I wanted a cute picture with the kids in front and the temple in the background, but Bella was hiding and Benjamin had just pushed Christian so he was about to punch him and it all just spiraled down from there.  Again, take what you can get.  Where are those wonderful "it's been a pleasure being on the plane with you" kids??  Oh yes, they are now the jet-lagged, sleep deprived, thrown out of their normal routine kids.  Not such pleasures anymore.

My efforts at a cute temple square picture ended here. Bella had gotten her hand wet in the fountain and was wiping it on Christian, much to his dismay.  That's when we gave up and went to Deseret Book to buy Benjamin his first set of scriptures as a baptism present.  Only a few months until he turns 8!

The trip was over way to quickly.  I got to see my dearest friends as well.  We went to the Bombay House and Thai Siam to eat - my favorite restaurants in the area.  Never get tired of those places.  Never.   And those Indian guys at Bombay House are so funny!  They have such a tricky dry sense of humor that it always catches me off guard.  Nothing like a serious looked guy in a turban cracking jokes with a completely straight face.  So funny!  Never gets old.  I feel like no matter how much I manage to see my friends during my trips, it's never enough.  I want that TV show life where the best friends live next door to each other and walk into each others' kitchens all day long unannounced but always welcomed.  Like Lucy and Ethel - just living life together in each other's apartments.  I try to tell myself it would make me sick of my friends if we lived like that, but I have a hard time believing it.  I'd really like to give it a try.