Celebration day

Saturday morning, Eric and the girls created a wonderful American breakfast to begin celebrating my birthday. The girls were very excited about helping make the blueberry pancakes.

We continued the celebration at lunch in Flörsheim am Main at the Bootshaus, which came as a recommendation. I knew it was the right choice to head out for lunch and not a bike ride when we approached the restaurant and there were white caps on the river. We lucked out as a table was open on the three sided enclosed patio. We enjoyed the river view, but were protected from the cool winds while we dined. Adeline was excited for her schnitzel and I choose the white asparagus meal while Eric found a homemade sausage meal to try. Everything was very tasty.

After lunch, we walked through the town and up to Flörsheim Warte. Along our walk, the girls picked flowers and had fun with Bandit walking along the path. In the middle of the vineyards, there is a little area where you can stop and have some drinks along with some food. It was nice to relax and enjoy the view as we could also see the Frankfurt skyline.

 We then returned to town and headed home. At home, we enjoyed the rasperry torte I selected from our local bakery. 

The Letter

The kindergarten teachers have been inquiring for the past two weeks why I have not de-registered Emmie from kindergarten for next year. (Here you have to formally indicate you do not want a place in the kindergarten when you remove the child from the school). I informed them it was because I had nothing official from the school indicating she had a place in the first class. Meanwhile, Eric and I  have been trying to schedule an appointment with the school director to discuss the next steps for Emmie because it was a different process with Adeline. We have been unsuccessful due to the difference in schedules and recent holidays. 

When I pick up Emmie from kindergarten, the teachers are handing out letters to the children; however, there is not one for me. I am approached again by the teachers about removing Emmie from kindergarten, so I explain to them why I have not proceeed with it. 

We celebrate Hanna's fourth birthday in the late afternoon and I am able to forget about the chaos and stress of  Emmie's school situation. When we come home, Adeline remembers she got a letter for us at the end of school today when I am telling Eric about the pressure I am starting to get at the kindergarten about her place for next year. 

She retrieves it and I quickly open it. It is the good news we have been waiting for-- Emmie has a spot in the first class and school begins on Tuesday, August 14, 2012.

I am filled with so many emotions and reread the letter to make sure I did not miss one German word that would change my first thought of her being accepted. Adeline then reads the letter to Eric to confirm my translation as well.

I read the letter to Emmie and her response is she wants to go to the other elementary school across town and be in that first class because that is where one of her classmates is going. Adeline is sad at this response, but Emmie quickly changes her mind and says how fun it will be to be with her sister in school.

I am so grateful it has worked out for her to attend first class and am very happy for her to start this new journey.

Whistle while you work

This weekend was a working weekend for us. Eric and the girls started cleaning the patio set, while I started organizing for the upcoming activities this month and the summer.

Fortunately the weather was cooler for numerous steps involved with restoring the patio set to its natural Teak color. Just by washing it down really well, it already looked better. By Saturday evening, Eric had accomplished the noisy steps, so on Sunday, he could do the quieter step of just applying the oil. He was able to get the basic set's first layer of oil applied before he ran out of oil on Sunday afternoon. Since the store was closed, the rest will have to wait until next weekend.

Trekking on up

This afternoon, we picked up Adeline's new bike. She picked out a mountain bike. She is a little hesitant with the bigger frame and wheels, but we know she will quickly get the hang of it along with using the front and rear brakes. She is looking forward to using the gears to make it up the hills when we go bike riding.

Bundesjugendspiele

This morning was Adeline's track and field day with the school. The kids warmed up for the numerous events by walking the 20 minutes to the track and field. The kids competed against their other classmates in a shot put, long jump, sprint, and long run. Last year, Louisa beat all of the girls in the running events and the entire class knows Louisa can run fast, so the girls are not very enthusiastic about running. Going into the event this year, Adeline asked Eric for some help in running as she was nervous about the long run. They went out to the track on Sunday afternoon to practice.

The first event of the morning was the shot put. She threw average for the girls and she knew she was not the best at this event. Then came the long jump. She crossed the line and fell backwards on one of her attempts, but the other two were successful.

Adeline competed against Louisa for the 50 meter sprint. Adeline won the sprint. The kids cheered during the race and she was so surprised she won. Afterwards, Louisa told her she tripped up at the beginning, so that is why she was not as fast this time.

For the 800 meter race, all eight girls lined up to start the race. With butterflies in her stomach, Adeline asked Eric to run along with her for this race because she was nervous and excited. When they said go, the girls all started running and Louisa took the lead. By the first turn, Adeline was even with Louisa. As they ran across the back stretch, Adeline was out in front of the entire group by at least 20 meters. Everyone was cheering for her as she came through the straight away where everyone was at. She continued to lead the group around the next turn and down the back stretch. Meanwhile, Eric was jogging along with her and encouraging her as she went, plus trying to help her pace a little bit as she was running faster than needed. As she was running into the last turn, all of the other kids started running along with her. Eric let Adeline run it out on the last stretch as it became congested with the kids and parents. She kept running and everyone kept cheering for her and Louisa as they approached the finish line. In the last meter before the finish line, Louisa caught Adeline and beat Adeline to the finish line by one second. 

Everyone came over and said congratulations to Adeline and Louisa and commented on what an exciting ending it was.  We are very proud of Adeline for trying her best and having fun. She improved greatly as she went from sixth place to second place this year in the long run and won her heat in the sprint. 

Two year Anniversary

This week marks our two year anniversary journey of living in Germany. We spent afternoon  downtown at the Waldestag festival. Seeing classmates at the children's activities area was fun for the girls and enjoying the afternoon events with friends made me realize how we are immersed in a good small town. 

We are grateful for everything God has provided for us in our new home and for the friends we have made to help us along the way. It is amazing how we have adopted some of the the German lifestyle into ours to enjoy the culture. The language barrier continues to get smaller for all of us since we first arrived making the daily tasks easier. There still are moments and days this country makes me question why the hassle of living abroad, but then I take a look into the bakery window at a delicious torte and the stress and worries do not seem as extreme anymore.

Heidelberg Zoo

On Monday, we met up with the Dageförde family at the Heidelberg Zoo. It was fun touring the zoo and catching up with them. The farm animal section was very interactive.  The kids had fun feeding the goats and mules. Emmie had fun watching the little monkey climb around the trees in the monkey house because he was not in any cage. Adeline liked watching the seals swim around their tank.

Bandit did a great job socializing with their dog, Oskar, as well as touring the zoo. We all took frequent breaks as the temperature was definitely hotter than what was predicted.