Birthday Cake & Pumpkin Pie

Crisp, cool air, an array of colors on the trees, pumpkins everywhere- fall is here!  The thing I most like about autumn is the coziness- darker mornings, snuggling under blankets, warm coffee, oversized sweatshirts.  As each season changes I think to myself, "This has to be my favorite season!"   In Germany there is always something to celebrate.  This time of year pumpkin festivals and wine festivals are happening.

 

Speaking of celebrating, Ben turned 28 this past week.  He didn't want to celebrate it, and with his PT test quickly approaching, he didn't want a cake.  Well, you can't not have cake on your birthday, so I made him a healthy dinner (which was delicious by the way - http://aaronandjillw.blogspot.de/2011/08/italian-chicken.html) followed by a small piece of chocolate cinnamon cake.  We spent the evening at a local nature trail just right outside of our town.  The trail goes through a wooded area and has stations along the way for the kids to do.  I came across the flyer for it several weeks ago but have been unable to find the location.  The other day I drove by the sign for it, so we had to check it out.  It was a good find- we all had fun exploring and enjoying the beauty of nature.

              

With Columbus Day being this Monday, Ben has a four days off of work.  We began the long weekend by taking the kids to a pumpkin farm.  It was supposed to be a 45 minute drive, but we added another 15 minutes due to road construction in a couple of villages, which forced us to take an alternate route.  When we got there we found a large farm nicely decorated with large pumpkins, fresh flowers, and a corn maze.  You could pick your own pumpkin from the field or select one from the large assortment at the little store.  We picked out the perfect pumpkins (Avree and Natalie are going to paint them) and then spent the rest of our time watching the children play- they gathered chestnuts, scattered leaves, and just ran around!
 

        

Happy Fall to All!

Take care & God bless,

Staci

 

 

 

Prague, Czech.

Ever since arriving here we have heard numerous times, "You have to go to Prague. You have to go." Well, we finally did. It was a beautiful city with a castle on a hill. Seriously, it was a heck of a hill to climb.

 

We have some friends that live in Grafenwohr, Dan & Kristine. We always look for an excuse to go see them; this time we went to stay with them to shorten the drive to Prague. We arose early in the morning to get started on our trip in order to make the most of the day. We arrived after a mere 2 1/2 hr drive. We parked, unloaded, and began to wander. We headed first across Charles Bridge. It was a little rainy out, so it wasn't too crowded. We crossed and headed up the hill to the Prague castle. We made it just in time to see the changing of the guards. Upon entering the castle grounds, we peeked into St. Vitus Cathedral. As we continued to wander, we stumbled on a toy museum and went in to check out the old Barbie dolls. We descended the hill, wandered back toward parking, passed the Jewish Cemetery and decided to catch it the following day as our feet ached and the kids were getting weary.


Dinner. It warrants a paragraph to itself. Being tired and not wanting to pay more for parking, we chose to eat at one of the restaurants at the hotel (We stayed at the Hilton). I had traditional Goulash. Being a picky eater, I expected not to like it but was pleasantly surprised. It tasted like a beef stew, minus the veggies. The dish was served with potato dumplings. Ben ate Svickova na smetane  (sliced beef sirloin served in a cream sauce with a garnish of cranberries and bread dumplings). With a beer or glass of red wine, it was the perfect end to a long, rainy day.

We woke way before we wanted to (good morning, Avree). We had a lot still to see. We began this day much like the previous: find parking, hit the bakery. We also made at stop at Starbucks, as much coffee was going to be needed to get us going. We meandered up and down the narrow streets, perusing the souvenir shops filled with key chains, photo frames, crystal figurines and marionettes for sale. We strolled Old Town, gazed at the astronomical clock, tried to visit the Jewish cemetery (closed sat), then headed toward Petrin Hill. We took the funicular up to the top. There is an observation tower which is a small version of Paris's Eiffel Tower. Not feeling up to climbing the winding stairs, we kept going until we came to the mirror labyrinth. We entered, walked through a small maze of mirrors, and ended in a hall of distorting mirrors. Hearing the girls' laughs made it well worth the hike. This ended our trip, we walked back over the bridge and down through town toward the parking garage. It was a quiet drive back.

Although we left Prague, our adventures weren't over! We took our time getting up and going the next morning, and headed toward Pottenstein. It was about a 45 minute drive. We began the day by taking a ride down the rodelbahn. Next, we hiked through teufelshöhle, devil's cave. With time to spare before dinner we decided to rent a paddle boat. We enjoyed a quiet, relaxing ride until we were getting ready to dock and Natalie fell in the water. She says she was trying to catch a duck. A change of clothes and two minutes later, the kids were out and we drove down the street to our restaurant. We dined at Gasthof Schuttersmuhle, better known as Steak-on-a-Stone. They brought us our food on a hot, square stone, and you cook it until your perfection. The food was so good, the weather perfect, it was a great meal (maybe because the kids were asleep the entire time?!).

One more thing to tell about before I close. Have you ever heard about the great autobahn- the road with no speed limit. It sounds really great until you hit construction (frequent) or a stau. Coming back from the Bittman's we hit a stau, which added 3 3/4 hrs to our 4 hour drive. Not fun at all with kiddos in the back seat.

We are thankful for our friends all over the world, and look forward to the next time we get to meet up with the Bittman family.

Take care and God bless you, my friends,

Staci

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

Bastogne, the Battle of the Bulge, and a bit of Hee-Haw

I know this is going to sound cliche, but I am going to say it anyway.  Being here really makes the pages in our history books come to life.  I had a very good teacher in high school who really got me interested in history, and more importantly, helped me to see that it was part of my history.  Being here in Germany and the surrounding countries where some of this took place is both surreal and sobering. 

This past weekend we drove to Bastogne, Belgium.  This is where The Battle of the Bulge took place, the largest and bloodiest battle fought in World War II.  We put this on our list of must-sees after hearing about foxholes left from the war.  Upon further research, the foxholes are most likely from re-enactments, but nonetheless, it was still awesome to stand on the grounds where there once were the foxholes used to protect our troops both from the enemies and also from the harsh weather. 

We had lunch at the Mardasson Monument, shaped like a 5-pointed star.  We then stopped at a donkey farm.  Here a company uses donkey milk to make lotions and soaps, which are good for certain skin conditions, such as eczema.  I didn't try any, but they did smell really good.  Next, we quickly walked through a small museum which has articles from both WWI and WWII for purchase. We spent the rest of the day strolling through the streets eating Belgium chocolates, pastries, and fries.  Did you know that "french fries" actually originated in Belgium?

God Bless,

Staci

Mountians, Monkeys...and a Glass of Milk, Please

You may have noticed we have been traveling a little more.  With Avree finally a little easier to travel with, we are trying to make the most of our time here.  There is still so much to see...
This was my first time in France.  Our destination: Monkey Mountain.  La Montagne des Singes, or "Monkey Mountain," is home to 300 Barbary Macaques from all around the world.  You can see the monkeys in their natural environment doing monkey things: grooming each other, playing around, swinging in the trees, and eating.  I especially enjoyed watching the mommas taking care of their babies.  At the time of our visit there were 16 baby Barbary Macaques.  They were so tiny and cute!  Upon entrance you are given a handful of popcorn to offer to the monkeys as a snack.  As you wander down the path, the monkeys will come and sit on the railing, waiting for a little treat.  Natalie got tickled at them eating out of her palm, and Avree enjoyed watching the movement. 







 



With still a little time to kill, we stumbled upon a gingerbread museum.  We weren't actually sure what there was too see, but it looked like a sweet shop and we wanted to check it out!  The company, Fortwenger, has been making gingerbread since 1768.  The Gingerbread Man took us through an interactive trail where we discovered his history, recipes, traditions, as well as a possibility too see the production in action.  We got there shortly before closing, but if in the area again, we will indeed check it out!  And of course, we got a little snack for the road. 

Suagr & Spice & Everything Nice,
God Bless,
Staci

It's Good to See a Familiar Face

I am a little late on this blog, but I still want to share about our trip with the grandparents.  I want to start off by saying how nice it is to be around family, or just to see any familiar face for that matter.  The hardest part of being in the military, for me, is being away from family.  I grew up in a close-knit family, and it hurts me when I think about my children growing up without their cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents.  I know they are experiencing many other great things, but this is the sacrifice.  Skype is wonderful, but it just doesn't cut it.

Anxiously awaiting the arrival

We greeted Ben's parents at the airport in Frankfurt.  The girls and I made a sign to welcome them, which turned out really cute!  We took short trips the first few days so they had a chance to get over the jetlag.  Our first outing was to the Heidelberg castle, which we have been to many times before.  This time though, we paid to take the tour.  It was worth it because the tour guide took us to parts of the castle only accessible via the tour.  We then went to Triberg, a city in the Black Forest region.  We visited a cuckoo clock museum, hiked to the waterfall, and wandered in a few shops.

Triberg, Germany

Our first overnight trip was to Berlin.  Berlin is a city rich in history.  We caught a glimpse of all the frequently visited sites, and then toured an underground bunker left from the war.  Avree was not very cooperative for this part, but I was fascinated by the part that I heard.  Do you know they are still finding and disarming bombs today?

We detoured from our original plans to go to Normandy, and instead explored a little of Austria.  We stayed in Garmisch, Germany a few nights and took Byron & Patti to see Neuschwanstein Castle and Dachau Concentration Camp.  On from there, we drove to Berchtesgaden to check out the Eagle's Nest.  Unless you take the guided tour, there isn't much to see other than a cafe and a magnificent view.

View from our balcony in Salzburg

 We ended the trip with a short stay in Salzburg, Austria, home to Mozart and also the setting for the film "The Sound of music."  It was a lovely city, with a castle overlooking the town on a river. 
A few other cities we visited during their stay were Worms, Mannheim (Lusienpark), and Frankfurt-Hans Airport (Patti lived around here as a child).

We spent many hours in the car, ate more pastries than we should have, took enough photos to fill a scrapbook, and made memories of a lifetime.  It was so great for Natalie and Avree to have this special time with their grandparents.  Although the time went by way too fast, we are so thankful for the opportunity to have traveled  Europe all together.

Picnic at Luisen Park, Mannheim

Moving Day & a Birthday-

As the band is getting ready to relocate, we have settled into a new house- off post. This is our first time living off post and it was quite an experience. Here are a few things we encountered:

• We were without Internet for about a month. This made things really difficult.
• The movers couldn't fit our queen sized bed up the stairs.  They got creative and ended up disassembling the banister. 
• Meters for utilities are read once a yr.  We are paying an average of whatever the people who used to live here.  We will either get a credit or a bill at the end of the year!
• The local Kindergartens are not accepting military families since they are full and we have the option to go on-post. 

I was surprised with how long it  took us to unpack and get settled in at work.  I guess moving with two children is more difficult than with one.  I couldn't hardly get anything done during the day.  And with the commute and some big projects going on at work, Ben couldn't be much help.   Finally, after a few long weekends and several trips to Ikea, we got it all sorted out.  We reside in the town of Enkenbach-Alsenborn (I think on the Alsenborn side) and are enjoying it a lot.  Out town has a great pizza and ice cream shop, 4 grocery stores, and a swimming pool.  Best of all, it is just 5 km from Sembach, the post where Ben will start working in September.

In between all the moving, unpacking, organizing, and cleaning we celebrated Natalie's 3rd bday party.  She has a thing for pigs so we threw a pig party- Olivia the pig that is!  Lots of her little friends met us at the bowling alley where we ate pizza, cake, bowled, and painted piggy banks.  It was a lot of fun!  We are so blessed with such good friends, and to those who live too far away, we did miss you!

On the Hunt

There has been lots of hunting going on around here.  Of course, Easter egg hunting, but we have also been house hunting.
We celebrated Easter with friends from church.  After a cookout, we had an egg hunt going up a hill into the woods, leading to a small church.  Despite the weather forecast of rain, we had a slightly chilly, but sunny day.  All the kids filled their baskets with more candy than they needed, then we had a confetti egg fight.  Everyone had a great time.

The girls ready to leave for church

Natalie had so much fun finding the eggs

Avree just wanted to play with them

House hunting has been consuming a lot of our time lately.  For those of you that do not already know, due to future plans to close down the post in Heidelberg, the band is relocating to Sembach.  Sembach is a little less than an hour away, and is located in the area of Ramstein Air Force Base.  This will be a big change for us because we will be living off-post.  We have to find a house on the German economy that fits our needs.  This is a bit of a challenge because they do things way different than us.  The bedrooms are smaller, no closets, little if any yard, and they usually take their kitchens with them when they move.  After a week of stress and searching, we found one that is going to work for us.  Our new home is located in Enkenbach-Alsenborn.  It is just over 2,000 sq ft, 4 bedrooms, small fenced yard, and best of all, just 5 minutes from Ben's work. There will be some challenges (small kitchen and lack of storage) but nothing that a little IKEA can't fix ;)  We will be moved by May 1st.

The new house

Please pray for our family as we get ready to move once again, and go through this process of transition.  Thank you. 

Take care & God Bless,
Staci