Europe, part 1: Germany

The drama leading up to this trip of ours was sometimes a little too much. We decided last fall that we wanted to go visit Spencer's parents (and other places) before we had another child. I won't leave my kids to go on a trip until they are at least two years old, so I knew that if we didn't go before having a baby, it probably wouldn't happen. We booked our tickets before I was even pregnant; it had to be planned carefully - after tax season (haha) and before I would be 7 months along. Luckily, the timing seemed to be perfect.

I was diagnosed with partial placenta previa, and there was the chance we wouldn't be able to go. (At this point, I was SO glad we had purchased trip insurance - SO out of character for us, and that we had used skymiles, meaning that we could cancel and not lose money.) I read up on the likelihood of placenta previa "resolving" itself, and it seemed likely that it would...but maybe not by the time I needed it to. I got a blessing, and then just had to wait.

The morning of my ultrasound I was really nervous. Tyler was up all night with an earache and I was running around trying to get him in to a doctor as well as get myself to my appointment by 8 a.m. When they hooked me up they told me the placenta had moved! I called Spencer to tell him and said, "Aren't you so surprised??" He said, "No." :) I called my doctor that afternoon, got the official clearance to go on our trip (this was 10 days before we were to leave), and got excited. I resumed my research and planning.

Then came a natural disaster. What were the chances?? I would be thrilled to never again hear "Iceland" and "volcano" together in the same sentence. The volcano shut down airspace over Europe for 5 days and once again, we didn't know if we would get to go on our trip. I became a KLM, CNN, SkyNews, and BBC junkie over those several days, and once again put our planning on hold. Long story short, we were able to fly out just a day and a half after they opened the airspace. What a relief.

Anyway...we flew through the night and arrived in Frankfurt at 4 pm the next day. I was silly in thinking I would be able to sleep on the plane, when I know quite well that I cannot sleep sitting up. It was a long night. At least the flight was nice and they fed us almost the whole time. I also watched Avatar on the flight over and was incredibly disappointed; maybe if we had seen it in the theater in 3D I would feel differently. We arrived in Germany and I was so swollen everywhere as well as completely exhausted. But we had tons of plans and needed to get adjusted to the 9 hour time change as quickly as possible. We decided we would stay up until 10 pm, suffering through the exhaustion.

Spencer's parents were great to keep us busy. There was not even time to sit down and fall asleep. We saw the church's offices over there, drove up to the temple, and went downtown to the Romer.

On our first full day (Saturday) there, the touring began. I had one place where I wanted to go in Germany, a castle called Burg Eltz. We have become big Rick Steves fans, and he says this is his favorite castle in all of Europe. It looked incredible in the pictures. We drove about an hour and a half to get there. It was very cool....but they were doing restoration and there were cranes and scaffolding everywhere. It is one of the only castles that remains (and has remained) intact and is decorated and furnished as it was 500 years ago. The tour was excellent.

After the tour we ate some traditional German food at the cafe. Then we drove through the Mosel River Valley on our way to Trier. This drive was stunning! The little German towns were so quaint and the hills on either side of the river were covered in vineyards. We just wanted to jump on a boat and float down the river. There were also castles at every turn. Too bad Spencer and I were taking turns falling asleep in the backseat of the car...

Trier was really neat, but it's all a little cloudy for me as I was quite the zombie. It's the oldest city in Germany and was once a Roman capital. The cathedral there is the oldest Christian church in Germany. When we went inside there were TONS of little kids singing. The place was packed and it was so fun to listen in, even though I couldn't understand them.

The only still-standing portion of the Porta Nigra, which is the city gate/wall.

We also saw the Basilica. It is the largest intact Roman structure outside of Rome. The place was gigantic. Unfortunately, pictures were not allowed (this didn't deter me later in our trip, but it did the first few days).

The next day (Sunday) we went to church. The meeting was wonderful, and the only uncomfortable part was when a serious Frenchman tried to talk to me. Even though I'm sure he spoke good English, I couldn't understand a word he was saying. Then we left Frankfurt and headed toward Salzburg. We stopped in Heidelberg (the Harvard of Europe) for a minute, and then us girls convinced the boys that we needed to go to Rothenburg, a cute walled city with lots of cute shops, and where you can buy traditional German Christmas decorations/ornaments and souvenirs. I loved it here and wished we had had more time.

(The "crooked house"). All the buildings were adorable!

We saw this t-shirt and I just had to get a picture. When we got to Germany, I saw this sign EVERYWHERE. I guess I'm not the only one who has wondered where the heck this place is. Turns out, it means "exit" (freeway exit). But doesn't it sound funny to say? I got a kick out of the t-shirt.

Spencer drove on the Autobahn for a little while. Now THAT was scary. No speed limits on certain portions! Kathy said, "When there's an accident on the Autobahn, it's almost always fatal." Uh, I believe it!

Joe also brought out another side of me...we stopped at a restroom (or, a water closet), where you had to pay to go in, but then you could turn your tickets in for credit in the store. Joe brought us back some ice cream bars, called Magnum ice cream. Oh man, it was the BEST ICE CREAM ever. Unfortunately, I saw it in every city we went to, and had to have it. In fact, in Harrod's (London), I found the mint kind and honestly it was the best thing I have ever tasted. And now I wish someone would market it in the states. To be honest, I don't love ice cream all that much, but this was the BEST stuff ever. And I'm sure the baby loved it too, and I'm sure I gained about 10 pounds this trip just because of that dumb ice cream...

We got to Salzburg on that Sunday night, checked in to our hotel, and drove the 20 minutes north to Oberndorf. There is a tiny chapel there, marking the place where "Silent Night" was written. Spencer's granddad related a really neat personal story about this place that was in the church news right before he died a year and a half ago. I won't copy the whole story here, but we knew it was a special place to him, and we were excited to go see it. I'm so glad we did, especially now, after having gone to Spencer's mission at the end of our trip (more on that later).


And that ends our first two days in Germany (and partly in Austria)...

6 countries, 3 passport stamps

In 7 days, Spencer and I have visited 6 countries, and we still have one more to go. I have said it before - we take "trips" and NOT "vacations." My feet could have a story of their own to tell about our last week, but I'll wait and document it well once we're home. I'm missing my kids and am so grateful for my parents (and some friends) who have made it possible for us to take this trip of a lifetime. And of course for Spencer's parents who did the "tourist" thing with us for a few days and made it much easier on me to have at least 3 other people who I could understand (and who could understand me). As we are winding down, I told Spencer that one sign of a perfect trip is the fact that you're ready to go home. And I'm definitely getting to that point. What an incredible time we've had!

spring

Why is it that now that I have a child in the school system who has an "official" Spring Break, I feel so much more pressure to make it fun? When I was growing up we just had nice beaches to go to that were close and it was easy and fun to enjoy our breaks from school. We don't have such a luxury here; we actually have to work for our fun.

I got an email from Travelzoo almost two weeks ago advertising MLB baseball tickets for $3.50 apiece for the second exhibition game of the season. So that was how we kicked off Spring Break on Friday night. Emma cried because she wanted cotton candy and we couldn't find it. Popcorn, hot dogs and even garlic fries would not suffice. At the VERY end of the game (8th inning) a cotton candy vendor FINALLY came up to the nosebleeds and one of our friends saved Emma's day by flagging the guy down and buying some for the kids to share. Hallelujah.

During Spring Break, we also...

...were visited by the Easter Bunny (who, I might add, was quite lazy with the egg hiding)

...listened to Conference, and then because it was POURING, took some cute and also some goofy pictures inside.

...worked on getting a section of the backyard ready for a garden. The best part was seeing Tyler working (with a hand shovel) right along Spencer (with the big shovel). Later I asked Spencer if Tyler really was any help to him and he said, "No, but that wasn't the point." Love my boys.

...played in the front yard almost every evening. Having a nice yard is NOT overrated.

...went to the zoo with some friends (and with every other family within 100 miles).

...went to the beach TWICE. And ate it up. And I ripped the beach chair, darn it.

...went to the tidepools and quite nearly froze to death.

...bought ice cream from the ice cream truck (many of you know just how rare this is for us).

We are all exhausted. I never once wished my kids were back in school/pre-school, and not once did we feel bored. Successful, if you ask me.

Jobs

Because I'm a mom...

I not only worry about balance in terms of myself and my life, but also in terms of my kids.

Jobs. Chores. Necessary for children. Necessary for me. You might remember this post from almost two years ago. I made up super cute job charts. I thought having job charts would help me out. Well, the novelty wore off after about 3 days, and the kids were back to being job-less. Shocker.

I must take some of the blame. It's so much easier to just clean up myself sometimes. But let's face it - they are 6 and 4 1/2 and are clearly capable of taking care of things for themselves.

Over Christmas break I re-invented the system, and it has worked like a charm. That is 3 MONTHS people! May the luck continue...

Here is what works for us:
I think it's good for them to have responsibilities that they can OWN. So, I wrote down on a notepad one thing they need to do every day (which is usually taking care of keeping their room clean, including making the bed, etc.). Then I sporadically gave them a couple other jobs throughout the week. It's not too much, and they weren't overwhelmed by looking at a chart of several things they had to do every single day. Since I do laundry on Mondays and Thursdays, they are responsible for putting their laundry away on those days. (Hmm, should I put together a list of jobs for myself, and include putting laundry away??) Tyler loves having a clean room. And seriously, it's almost always clean.

Every day I remind the kids they need to do their jobs. And seriously, NOT ONE TIME have they complained! They'll scurry around and get their stuff done, usually within 10 minutes. They have even asked for more jobs (like doing the dishes) because it's become habit. They also know that if I ask them to do something else, which I almost always do, depending on what needs to be done, it's "part" of their jobs. I think that because it's always different and that they aren't staring at an official chart full of blanks on the fridge it is easier for them to do it without whining.

And what do they get? That is the most important part, after all. We have a deal that if they do everything I ask them to, and do all their "regular" jobs (the ones that are written down on that little notepad), they get a dollar at the end of the week. And I swear to you, that is like gold to them. They both have things they are saving up for. I've started giving them $1.10 so the coin can go to tithing and they can keep the dollar, and so that I don't have to break two dollar bills every week.

If all it's going to cost me is $2 a week to get their little booties moving and helping out, I tell you - it is SO worth it. May this continue for a very long time. Now if I could teach them how to cook.

Legos

I don't have a bucket list. If I did, visiting Legoland would not be on that list. But I have a really cute boy who I knew would just eat it up. That, and Spencer's San Diego work schedule worked out perfectly for us all to go (for free, thank heavens. If I had to PAY $67 a person for THAT, I would not have been happy).

Legoland is a cute, creative little park that was probably all Tyler dreamed it would be (maybe Emma too). I like big scary rides so it wasn't necessarily up my alley. There was one "fun" looking rollercoaster the kids had no interest in. I think that after our Disneyland experience last fall, they will never trust me again. But, they drove Lego cars to their hearts' content. They went down big slides, rode on Lego horses, and drove Lego boats. Walking out at the end of the day I didn't have that Aww, I can't wait to come back feeling. I was just tired and glad to be leaving. Don't get me wrong - we had a great time. But I must admit I was thinking, Phew, I never have to come back here again.

But a few days later I found out I have a little boy inside me. And here we go again. Maybe I will be back.
(And seriously, isn't Tyler the cutest? I am beyond thrilled to have another little one of him.)

So far the baby looks just perfect. There might be some minor complications with me, however. I guess I selfishly feel like I "deserve" to have a completely smooth pregnancy, but am still hoping for the best. I think I'll stay a little quiet about all of this for the next few months--surely you understand--but would appreciate any happy thoughts you can send my way!! And, now we'll be "even" - 2 and 2, a dream for my little logical kindergartner. She knew it was a boy because we had to "keep the pattern."

snow birds

The North East was hit with a serious ice storm on Valentine's Day in 2007. Spencer stayed home from work for the first time ever because of weather, and we watched movies and hung out all day. That ice didn't melt for at least a month. Where we lived we had to park on the grass, and all of us fell more than once. That was the clincher... about a week later Spencer got a call from a head hunter from another company and 6 weeks later we were outta there!

I guess we're sort of snowbirds now. But it's good for the kids to remember that they used to be snow babies. They sure seem to forget that this white stuff can freeze you if you aren't careful.

We were lucky enough to go sledding again with our friends. This year the kids lasted a whole 2 hours before whining. I can't blame them - it was snowing pretty hard the entire time, your legs sunk through the snow up to your knees, Tyler's boots kept falling off due to the velcro being full of snow and frozen, and Emma's snow pants were too short. They both had red toes and feet when all was said and done. Memories, right?

BUT, we sure had a great experience! The dads helped make the powdery snow into an icy track that the kids could actually sled down instead of sink into. I perched myself under a covering (that I had to hold up myself, mostly with my head) so I could actually pull out my camera and keep it as dry as possible. The things I do to get pictures! I did hand off the camera a couple times so I could join in the sledding fun. And boy was it fun! The best part is going back to the cabin, letting the kids run off and play, and drinking hot chocolate. Oh, and eating good food. I've had Eggs Benedict exactly twice in my life, both times courtesy of Ashley, Mike fried up some serious French Toast, and I am pretty sure I need to go on a diet.

In the car, ready to go. FULL car.





Love this one. Spencer's tongue being out is a trademark. Actually, it was a miracle he was able to be with us at all. (We're big fans of internet cafe's in 3G dead zones.)

And, our attempt at a family picture. Two of us (who shall remain nameless) were DONE with the snow.