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. 

PfingstTurnier 2012

Saturday afternoon, we attended the PfingstTurnier at the Schlosspark Wiesbanden- Biebrich. It was an international horse jumping show on the castle grounds just on the outskirts of Wiesbaden. This was the first time for all of us to attend this type of event. 

We found some seats in the stands for the afternoon testing round. It was very interesting to watch the variety of horses perform and learn where they originated from. 

We quickly learned how to watch for the horse and then look over to the large monitor to see if any  any faults occurred during the rest of the course and for the overall time. When the event was over, we then walked over to the other arena and watched a few horse riders receive their medals as they had placed in the top three of passing their test.

Our journey around the grounds led us to the horse stalls, where we watched the vets treat a horse who was limping. 

For a break, we lucked out and got a table right next to horse jumping area for the the highlight of the day, the Global Championship Tour Qualifying round. We watched as the workers made the jumping stations more difficult for this session. 

Finally, the session began and it was very neat to see the horses jumping right at us and then run by as they completed the course. After the first few horses had some faults, they adjusted the timing for the course and the next few contenders made no errors. We also learned there was a participant for the Olympics in this group.

Before we exited the grounds, the girls had fun in Kinderland climbing the inflatable walls to the top.

Gülle-Mühle

We met Adeline as her train arrived Thursday afternoon after being away at camp all week. She was happy to see us and had tons of information to share with us. Here is her week experience as told by her:

On Monday morning, we made the connecting train with five minutes to spare. When we got off the last train, we walked through the forest for about an hour before reaching Gülle-Mühle as we were all tired. When we arrived, we learned the rules and were shown the boundaries. I found  my room and the five of us figured out who would be sleeping where. I was on the lower bunk across from Clara and Rebecca was above me. Lilly picked the lowest bed and Jo-Jo was above Clara. We ate in a large room and the tables were set with the plates and silverware, but we had to go to a different table to get our meal. We ate spaghetti and salad for lunch. I had clean-up duty, so I rinsed the dishes before they went into the dishwasher. In the afternoon, we helped each other make our beds. We also played in the little stream that passed by the camp. At first, I went in with my rain boots, but the water filled up my boots, so I went barefoot. For dinner, we ate bread with lunchmeat. We created cards to send home. I found a note from my mom in my pajamas. We went to bed at 11pm. 

Tuesday morning, I discovered Emmie's note in my day #2 outfit bag. There was a treat, but I had a tummy ache, so I did not eat it. We had bread with jam, butter and a chocolate spread, cornflakes, and fruit for breakfast. I started playing in the stream with my boots, but eventually I went barefoot. For lunch we ate pizza.  In the afternoon, we played in the stream. because it was hot out. They made a fire for us to make our dinner tonight. We wrapped dough around a stick (Stockbrot) and then let the fire  cook it. It took a long time to cook and it was okay tasting. When it started to get dark, Joseph took us out on a nighttime walk. He forgot where he put the treasure at and lead us the wrong way. We got lost in the woods and listened for the stream to go back. He did buy each of us a popsicle for being good sports about it when we returned to camp. We made it back to camp very late. Everyone, except Lilly and Rebecca, switched beds in my room tonight and we went to bed at 12 pm., 

Wednesday morning, I found a card from Daddy in my day #3 outfit bag before going to breakfast and eating bread again. I shared the treat with Clara. It  is neat how they use a spoon to scoop kiwi out to eat it. I have been able to do this myself now for two days. I had clean-up duty again, and this time I dried the the dishes because we had to. It rained, so we stayed inside and did crafts. For lunch, we had meat with sauce over noodles and a salad. In the afternoon, we went with the forester into the woods and learned about the trees. In the afternoon, the older class had a water fight, so I just watched. Fr dinner we had bread and lunchmeat. We had a pajama party. We did not wear our pajamas. The music was too loud for us girls, so we went up to our room to play quietly. I had a headache from the noise along with Rebecca. My teacher came to our room to see how we were all feeling. It was fun to have her in our room. We cleaned up from the party. We also packed up our bags and I found day #4 note as I got out my outfit for going home. I think it is from Bandit as he is the only one who has not sent me a note yet.  I opened my day #4 note as tomorrow we will be rushing. I was correct, it was from Bandit. I switched sleeping spots with Clara for tonight. I went to bed at 11 pm.

Thursday morning, our teachers woke us up at 8am. We ate rolls and fruit for breakfast before packing up our sheets and towels. We then carried our suitcases out to the cars. When everyone was ready, we walked back through the forest to catch the train home. When I got off the train, I did not see Mommy and Emmie waiting for me, till Mommy tapped me on the shoulder and called my name. I gave them each a big hug. We gathered my suitcases and headed home.

It was a fun week. I only needed to ask for silverware once and a plate a different time as the tablesetters forgot them. It rained only one day and not all of the days as I saw on the forecast, so next time I am going to pack a pair of capris or shorts. I liked everything about camp. It is way better than a sleepover. I cannot wait till we go again.

When we arrived back home, Adeline was excited to see Bandit with his new haircut. We unpacked Adeline's suitcases while she told all about her class trip. She handed out the crafts she made for us and explained how she made them for us. Emmie quickly showed her the pop-up card we received from her today before we headed to the train station.

After lunch, we headed to the Rhine Main Therme pool to celebrate Adeline returning home safely. We had a great sunny warm afternoon for playing together in the pool. 

Emmie's week

Since Adeline was off at camp, my week was focused on Emmie. 

Monday morning, the school psychologist visited Emmie and tested her per the request of the school. This is part of their admissions process since Emmie is below the age when children start school here and we are requesting she starts school in the fall. 

When I arrived to pick Emmie up, her kindergarten teachers began to inform me how to de-register Emmie from the kindergarten. It is not automatic since Emmie is not considered to be entering into school next year and they want to free up her spot. Then the principal calls me and asks if we can move our meeting up by 30 minutes. I am okay with meeting earlier, but it means I have to get Bandit home in now 15 minutes and call Uschi. Uschi was accompanying me to the school for the meeting with the school and the psychologist. Fortunately, Uschi was already on her way to our house, so Emmie and I had to hustle home with Bandit. Uschi arrived in time for us to walk back to the school and arrive in time for our meeting.

The psychologist did not share any information that caught me off guard. Her tests just confirmed what I already knew based on the meeting with the kindergarten teachers a few months ago. The good news is Emmie scored superb in everything we work with at home, but the sad part is the things I have now realized she had not been learning all along in kindergarten were a little low. Fortunately, nothing was so low it raised flags. Amazingly, it was all in German and I understood it. We covered the test Emmie took and it was interesting to see the individual results. Overall, it was a productive meeting and I am happy Uschi accompanied me for support again, even if there was not much translation this time round. 

To finish our day, Emmie and I enjoyed a ice cream downtown after her dance class.

On Tuesday, it finally clicked with Emmie that Adeline was not coming home. She then realized I had all the time for her. She enjoyed picking out the things we would play with together and selecting the meals for the day. She also had fun playing with Bandit all by herself.

Wednesday afternoon, the temperatures heated up, so Karolin and Henrik accompanied us to the outdoor pool. After some time in the little kids pool, we took the kids to the big pool and down the slide. It was a great way to cool down after an intense week of heat. 

A little less scruffy

Tuesday afternoon, we took Bandit in for his summer haircut. When we arrived, the groomer had her shaver ready, but she quickly put it away and pulled out her scissors. She explained that if she used the razor it would cause his hair to frizz. 

I also learned that the hair around his eyes should not be trimmed as it acts as his sunglasses since his eyes are a light green/ blue color. I am definitely learning about this poodle part in him. We left him with her for about an hour and a half. 

When we picked him up, he looked more like a little lab again. We can see better now how his 30 pounds pans out. Unfortunately, he had another tick, but she removed it. The groomer said he was a really good dog for it being his first time. She offered some tick repellent, but I have some at home because he is due for another dosage tomorrow. 

He seems to have stopped growing, so we think this is about his height and weight. I am enjoying having a smaller dog, but at times I think he is only four months and not the eight months he will be in a week.

Off she goes

The day has finally arrived for Adeline's class trip to Gülle-Mühle. She was nervous and excited about everything. They spent last week in class making up the chore list, who would bunk with who and so forth. On Sunday, we managed to get all of her clothes into one suitcase and the towels and bedding in a bag.

We arrived 10 minutes early to the train station and made our way to the parking deck where everyone was meeting. Her friend, Clara, was also early and excited when she saw Adeline approaching. As more children arrived, the suitcases were gathered in the vehicles that would transport them to the camp. The sweet box quickly filled up with gummi bears, marshmallow shaped sweets, and cookies for the week. 

Once all of the children were accounted for, they buddied up and left the parking garage. Her teacher led them up to the main train station area to wait for the older class who would be going with them. They all waved their final goodbyes to the parents. The teacher covered the rules again before going to the track where they would board the train at 8:49 am. Adeline spotted us as we were watching them go, so she waved one last good bye. 

We told the teacher, no news is good news, so we are praying we do not get a phone call. We wish Adeline and her class safe travels, good weather, and a great time over the next four days.