Made it through the 1st week!

We made it through the first week with Eric going back to work!

On Monday, I ventured with the girls to the Aldi's store which is on the northern end of town. It is a little far to walk, but with the bike and trailer, it is about a 10 minute ride (all down hill). I was so excited when I learned that Aldi takes the EC (European credit card). I had just enough cash on me to cover our groceries for Monday, but it meant future trips would be better planned for items and not based solely on amount of cash in my pocket.  Returning home from any of the stores takes a little effort pulling the trailer with groceries up the hill, but I made it to the block before our house before I had to walk the bike trailer combo, plus ask Adeline to get out of the trailer. At dinner, I was reminded again how we do not have a microwave for leftovers, so dinner took a little longer getting to the table. It is a postive thing the girls were good sports about it.

Monday night brought about excitement for the girls as they were able to finally sleep in their bunkbeds. Since we bought them used, the bedding needed to be washed and mattresses aired out. Melanie so kindly started washing it Sunday evening and we finished it up on Monday so it could dry out. Adeline and Emmie were in bed early and had lots to talk about being in their new beds. 

On Tuesday, we ventured back to Aldi's to start stocking up on milk and some food. It may seem odd, but when the family goes through 1 liter of milk a day and then the stores are closed on Sunday and holidays, (Thursday was an upcoming holiday) it is not fun to have warm milk or no milk at all come Monday morning. Oh yes, the milk is in cartons made by Tetra Pak (Eric's current project) and is not refrigerated until it you need it to be so I can keep it in the cupboard. 


We also assisted our farmer neighbor across the street in some yardwork.  He has lost one hand so the girls and I helped him by putting the trimmings from a bush into his trailer that is attached to his tractor. He rewarded all of us by cutting us each a fresh yellow rose from his rose bush.


Wednesday was an exhausting day for me. We started with walking down hill one block to Melanie's to do a load of laundry as our washer and dryer will be available in a few weeks. Then we walked up hill one block  to Adeline's school. Adeline attended school for a reading session with the older students. She was assigned to Liam and Lynn. Liam speaks English and German, so he read a little bit of his German book and then translated Adeline's books that she read in K4 class. Adeline was quiet throughout the session, but I think it was good for her to be in the school yard with the kids and hear them converse. It was interesting to watch the other kids want to be near Liam though as he spoke English to Adeline. We then walked back down the hill to Melanie's home to get one load of laundry, then back up to our apartment to hang the laundry, and have lunch. After lunch, we went down the hill  by bike and trailer to get some bread as tomorrow (Thursday) would be a holiday, so the bakeries and stores would be closed. Then I rode back up the hill all the way to the apartment. Adeline was my cheerleader as I did not have to ask her to get out and walk with me at any point on the hill. Then we returned down the hill to Melanie's home to get our last load of laundry and back up hill to our apartment for the last time on Wednesday.

First Visitors

Sunday, May 30th, started off with some light showers, but turned to partly cloudy with occasional showers. We decided to head off to the nearby walking paths so the girls could ride their bikes.  We had sunny cool weather which was great for walking in the fields, but on the way back we got hit with a downpour. We took shelter under a large Evergreen tree. When the rain lightened up, I ran back with Adeline while Eric (who had the umbrella) strolled with Emmie back home on her bike.

In the evening, we had our first visitors to our apartment, the Wendel family- Melanie, Thorston, Hanna (2 years old) and Marie (4 weeks old). Melanie was an exchange student in my high school. When we came to Germany 5 years ago we got back in touch with each other. Now she is my neighbor as she lives 2 blocks away. They came over to visit us now that we are mostly settled in. Hanna enjoyed sitting at the girls' little table eating noodles with them, while the Dads played some Wii. 

Tomorrow morning, Eric leaves for Sweden till Thursday evening, so it will be just us girls! It should be an interesting week.

By stroller, bike, wagon, or foot

Our first Saturday in the apartment was sunny and enjoyable. First thing in the morning, Adeline and I walked downtown to the market to get our fruits, veggies, meats, and treats for the weekend. Adeline enjoyed picking out the items from the various containers the farmers brought them in. She even got a little carrot when we were getting our vegetables. I was able to order up the special meat of the week, Putzenzopf (which is turkey breast in braids) from the refrigerated meat truck . Actually, I only knew it was some kind of marinated turkey I was ordering, but it looked like it would grill up good for dinner. Another man asked if it was a turkey breast and the lady behind the counter confirmed it. It was a relief for me taking it home for the family. After the stroller's basket and seat were full with lots of food, Adeline and I walked back home in the warm sunshine.

While we were gone, Alex, who is also our landlord and lives 2 flights above us, plus loves technology too, helped Eric to set up the satellite TV.  I am not sure who is more excited: the girls since we have TV now or Alex knowing we have a nice set-up for FIFA games to start in a few weeks. 

Once we got the TV system all set-up, Eric set out on his morning journey to the drink market with Emmie in the wagon.  After making some beverage selections, they returned with Emmie having a joy ride on top of the bottles. Eric commented he was happy the wagon was only so big as he does not think if he had more room he could have pulled any more bottles up the hill.

After relaxing and having lunch on our terrace, Adeline and Emmie helped clean up the flower beds and pull lots of weeds. We learned that we have two  kinds of strawberry plants, big strawberries and wild strawberries. This will be fun for the girls to watch them grow, pick, and then eat. 

Eric worked in the garage putting his bike together. Once completed, he hooked up the bike trailer and made a second trip to the drink market to finish getting the beverages. He came back with our  trailer loaded to the maximum with the crates strapped in and some burning thighs from pulling the trailer up the hill.

We finished the evening off with a delicious barbecued meal and a relaxing evening enjoying our new backyard.

Settling in

Friday started off wet and soggy. It was not a good day for transitioning out of the hotel into our apartment and for Eric to find his way to the Frankfurt office. After breakfast, I sat in the hotel lobby waiting for the heavy rain to lighten up, so we could walk back to the apartment. After about 10 minutes, a nice business man also staying at the hotel asked if we wanted a ride into town. I must have looked desperate with the 2 girls, stroller, and two large shoulder  bags full of clothes and toiletries. At first I declined, but he stated he had a large vehicle and it was no problem. We hopped in his SUV and buckled up for the 8 blocks to our apartment. I was so thankful for his ride when I saw the rain just pour down in buckets and it was only 9am. Once in the apartment, I received this text from Eric as he was on the train: Subject: My shoes and pants, completely soaked. Crappy start. 


After we unloaded from the hotel, we switched into our rain gear to head downtown for some errands. Searching for the rain gear took some time as I had to remember where I put all of it when I was quickly unpacking, but the girls loved putting on their new rain coats and boots.  I was happy to see the rain lighten up as we started our journey to town.  By the time we were walking back home, it had stopped raining.

The cool afternoon was great for unpacking the little boxes that were left and for the girls to catch up on their sleep with all of the excitement we have encountered so far. Eric came home that evening with his socks and shoes still damp from the morning, but he learned the office has a fun happy hour every Friday afternoon with champagne and a fussball table. 

Moving In

The Germans are prompt about keeping appointments, so at 8am our container arrived. Fortunately, there was no cars parked in front of the building next to us. As Eric met the driver, he informed Eric he could start unloading it. Eric just laughed and got on the phone with the moving company. In Germany, the worker only does the job he is paid to do and no other job. So the driver just drives the truck and we had to wait for the movers who were on their way to our apartment to start unloading. Eric also met our one set of neighbors (everybody informed us they are a little strange), by them  informing  him that the big truck could not park in our parking area directly in front of the garage. The container alone is 40 feet long and our driveway area is at maxium 20 feet long and 15 feet wide. Eric just kindly said the truck would not and had a  look of "Really, I cannot believe you just told me that?!"

When the movers finally arrived, the chaos began. I could not unload the boxes as quickly as they were bringing them in. Eric and I were trying as fast as we could to just empty the boxes to make room for more boxes in the apartment and in the garage area.

 Initially, the girls just played on the top bunk of their bunkbeds to stay out of the way, but then they wanted to help. Their help was greatly appreciated as they did a good job filling up the boxes with the wrapping. It took 4 hours to unload the container, and another 3 hours to put our furniture back together, plus empty all of the large boxes for them to haul away.

Right now everything has a place, but it is not in it's place. That will be my project for the next few days to come.

Hanging out in the Apartment

It is day 3 for us here in Germany, which is Wednesday. We are slowly adjusting to the time change with early to bed, but we are sleeping long hours as we are exhausted from the walking. At breakfast now, Emmie is requesting the salami and various cheeses, while Adeline is enjoying a croissant with jam or meat, along with their yogurt and fruit.

We had an early 8am appointment at Adeline's school. Initially, she was scared about going to her school as she thought we were going to leave her for the entire day. We informed her we were only going to visit and take a tour. We registered her for school and were given a  tour of the school. Both girls liked the fourth grade class that had newly hatched little chicks in the classroom. We were also informed Adeline will be the youngest in the school. She will be in a class with 14 students, so it should not be a problem.

Eric spent the afternoon in a nearby town trying to get me a cell phone with no luck. He came home frustrated because the store clerk and manager debated for over an hour about whether or not they would give him a contract because he did not have his 2 year visa with him, but he did have numerous other documents stating he was German resident and had a bank account with enough Euros to pay for it.

It started to rain in the afternoon as well, so the girls played with their toys we had packed in the one suitcase, while I continued to clean and started filling up the refrigerator and cupboards with food. As you can see, our fridge is not too big so it is going to be a challenge with food and drink.

Transitioning to the German culture

After making it through our first night  with a few awakenings due to the time change, we woke up to start our first full day in Hofheim. Upon arriving at the hotel breakfast buffet, Adeline loudly commented on the food selection with, "There is more than just sausage and bread here! Daddy told me that is all they eat." It was a good thing there was more than sausage and bread, as everyone was hungry. Eric and I enjoyed the variety of fresh rolls, cold cuts, and cheeses, while the girls consumed yogurt, fruit and cereal.

We then ventured to the store for our first of many grocery trips to start stocking the cupboards. Having no car yet and knowing we have to walk up hill, I am keeping each trip to 2 filled bags. After our first trip to the store, I was glad to only have two bags to fill as I became slightly overwhelmed in figuring out again the different names for food. Luckily there was a little bakery on the way out to get some fresh croissants and pretzels for lunch.

We spent our first day in the apartment cleaning and getting it ready for our container to arrive. Just before we left the USA, we found out the container was late coming off of the boat, so it missed the scheduled train from Hannover to Frankfurt for a Tuesday arrival.  The weekend train was booked, then it is was German holiday on Monday, so the container could not get on a train till Tuesday (today), so we will not get our stuff till Thursday when it will finally arrive by truck.

Our first priority at the apartment was the lawn as it was overgrown. Eric informed me of  how our electrical mower worked.  After watching Eric mow the lawn and laugh hysterically at him pushing what appears to be a kid's bubble mower, Adeline then asked if she could mow the lawn. We showed her how to work the lawn mower and now she has a new chore around the apartment.

It happened to be Wäldchestag Festival in Hofheim for the afternoon. It is a celebration of people taking walks in the area forests and then coming back to the city to celebrate. We walked down to the festival and listened to the live music while the girls played in the bounce house and rode on the little carousel. We  finished the evening off with some great festival food of bratwursts, waffles, ice cream and beer and apple wine to wash it down.