The Adventures of the Black Forest

Relieved to finally have our own transportation, we are finally able to go where we want to, when we want to!

June is a great month, and with it comes lots to celebrate!  Last week, we celebrated my birthday with a cookout with some friends from the neighborhood.  In just a few days, we will honor our eight wedding anniversary.  And sandwiched in between is Father's Day.  Taking a brief break from life, we took a day trip to enjoy being together.

We got up early Saturday morning and headed  to the Black Forest.  We went to a town called Triberg, which is home to the highest waterfall in Germany.   It was about a two hour drive.  The further we drove, the more the temperature dropped.  As we emptied the car, we were greeted by some pretty chilly air.  We first stopped to look at the cuckoo clocks.  There is a large clock, about the size of a small house, and we got to watch it go off at the top of the hour.  Natalie was quite fascinated with the swinging pendulums of the clocks and the "cuckoo" sounds that they made.

Click here to see the video of the cuckoo clock

Next, we stopped for a picnic lunch.  We ate pretty fast, as it was pretty cold outside. Luckily, I brought Natalie and I a change of clothes.  Ben purchased a hoodie from one of the small shops for 30 E that said "Germany."  The dogs were even shaking.   We returned the dogs to the car to cuddle, and began our hike.  The hike to the waterfall was not too long, but it was very steep.  Ben was pretty patient with me, as I took about five steps and then paused to catch my breath :)  Once at the waterfall, the view was truly breathtaking.

 After the waterfall, we walked through town, going in and out of little shops.  Feeling hungry, Ben & I decided that we couldn't leave without a piece of black forest cake!  Much to our disappointment, it looked way better than it tasted.

On the way back home, we stopped in Ortenburg to see the castle there.  This castle seems to still be in use, so we were only able to see a part it, but it was still worthwhile.

We spent the remainder of the weekend getting the house in order and ready to receive our household goods shipment.  Ben painted the girls' room-  Natalie's pink and Avree's yellow.  As I type this, I am sitting here waiting for the movers to buzz us that they are here.  Finally, it's going to feel like home!

Just Another Day

I keep getting asked how I am liking Germany so far.  So far it is not too much different than anywhere else.  We just go through the week doing normal, routine things.  We have been getting caught up on appointments.  Ben is just now starting to go to work.  A typical day for Natalie and I is to wake up at 7:30, get ready and eat breakfast, maybe take the bus somewhere (appt, library, store), play at the park, eat lunch, nap from about 2-4, play, go for a walk, play on the playground, eat dinner, then get ready for bed.  I usually catch up on cleaning while she is down for a nap.  Between picking up after her and sweeping and mopping all of these floors, it keeps me pretty busy.
Naptime has been a source of frustration for all of us.  She started wanting to nap in my bed, then wanting me to lay down with her, and then wanting to get up and "go potty."  It seemed that I would try to lay her down shortly after noon, and then we would battle for about two hours until she finally gave in after two.  A few days of this, and I decided that maybe she wasn't ready for a nap that early in the day, that perhaps her little body is somewhat off schedule.  I switched to laying her down a little later in the afternoons and that seems to be working.  We are also fighting smaller battles, such as potty-training and sleeping through the night (she is waking and wanting to come into our bed).  Perhaps the move was a little harder on her than I thought it would be.  I feel like things will be a bit easier when she has "her" things and "her" room.  Until then, we are praying for patience and guidance, and welcome any advice on "raising a 2 year old!"
We try to take advantage of the weekends and at least go downtown.  This weekend, we went to the lighting of the castle.  Three times a year they re-enact the castle burning, in memory of the three times that the castle has caught on fire.  It was followed by a 15 min. firework display over the river.  We are anxious to get out and drive about.
Praying for patience,
Take care & God bless!

 

Waiting Around

I debated about blogging again already or not, because not much has happened since the last entry.  However, a week has passed, and I know there are a few people who care about all the little, tiny things that go on.

The main thing that has happened is that we have a phone and Internet (Woohoo!).  We were beginning to get desperate to be in touch, and spent the majority of the first day on the phone.  We stayed up late catching up, and regretted it the next day.

For the most part, things are going pretty well.  This is Ben's last week of in-processing, so next week he will be with the band, which he is really excited about.  He brought a horn home and has begun practicing upstairs in the maid's quarters.  Natalie and I have taken the bus several times, to the store or library, just to give us something to do. One day I took the wrong bus, and it cost us and extra hour and a half on the bus.  As you can imagine, I was very frustrated!  Some days I get a little down about not having our belongings or much to do, but I am trying to be patient.  We are wanting to buy some curtains and area rugs, and it is discouraging that we don't have a car to go around and shop for them.  Not that there is a whole lot of places to look.  I think it will seem a little more like home once we get something in this empty apartment.  So that's where we are, just waiting...

I have met some really great people.  There is a lady in the band that lives at the bottom of out stairwell, Kailin.  We visit with them several times a week.  They have a 1 year old little boy that Natalie gets to interact with.  Kristin, a band wife, has showed me around some and given me rides.  Today, Nat and I went with her to MOPS (Mothers of PreSchoolers).  Natalie got to play with some kids her age, and I mingled with other moms as we learned about decorating cakes, painted a plate, and talked about how our families celebrate birthdays.  It was really nice to get out.

Tomorrow begins a 4-day weekend, which is not so exciting when you have noway to go anywhere and nothing to do.  Maybe we will catch the cable car and go downtown.  Next week will bring busier days for Ben, and I have several appointments to attend.  Another week closer to getting our stuff!!!

Take care & God bless!

Out of Touch

Even though we are now in our house, it is so hard to be without all of our belongings, without a car, without a phone, and without the Internet.  We hope to have Internet at the house by next week, and our belongings will come by the end of next month.  I am trying to be patient.
So how are we surviving?  We have loaner furniture and have checked out some necessary items, such as small appliances and kitchen gadgets.  Other than that, there is a lady, Kaylynn, who is in the band, who has tried her best to keep us as comfortable as possible.  She lives at the bottom of our stairwell, and has brought over several armfuls of things for us to borrow, such as a bathmat, a super-comfortable pillow, and even a few bath toys.  Just some little things that make a big difference.
By now we are adjusted pretty well to the time, although it is a little hard to get used to it being light outside until 10 pm.  Our next obstacle we are tacking is potty-training. I thought it would be a good time since we have no furniture, so we bought panties yesterday and she is pretty excited.  Hope it goes as well as I think it will in my mind!
A friend that Ben knew previously, Will, took us out one evening to downtown Heidelberg to eat and sight-see a little.  We ate at a place called Vetters, where I ate snitzel and Ben had a German sausage.  As expected, it was delicious.  The restraunt was located by the river and the castle, so we got to see that, although we did not take our camera, but we hope to return soon.
For now, we are still gathering essential items and trying to get settled in a bit.  Hope to have the Internet soon.
Take care and God bless!

Catching up...with time

The next few days have been a lot better.  We are now at the guesthouse- with cable, Internet, and a phone, so we feel a lot better.
We went to look at houses (apartments).  There are two housing sections here- Patrick Henry Village (PHV) and Mark Twain Village (MTV).  The apartments at PHV are quite a bit smaller, but also located at PHV is the commissary, PX,  movie theater, bowling alley, and library, so I was hoping to get into an apartment over there.  However, there were only two open, both at MTV.  There is not much else over there, just a few small parks.
So, we took a house at MTV, and I am getting a little excited about it.  It was about 400 sq. foot larger, and with the baby on the way, we need all the space we can get.  The apartment comes with a few pros and cons.  Some features I am less excited about is that fact that it is located on the top floor (3rd), the laundry facility is in the basement, and the electrical outlets are all European.  But, the size makes up for most of the negative aspects.  There are huge windows overlooking a large mountain, so it is a beautiful view.  The floors are all tile and wood.  There is adequate storage, and in addition to all of the built in closets, we have a small storage in the basement, ideal for storing bikes and things that you use frequently, a large community room about the size of our house, and each unit also has a maid's room, which is like a small guestroom located on the top floor, that we will most likely use for storage.  I guess the dogs and I will get plenty of exercise with all of the stairs!
The band will be relocating in about a year, to another post about 20 min away.  I am not sure why they are, I think something about better facilities.  So, in the meantime we will reside at Mark Twain Village on the top floor of Building 3703.

One last thing before going-
Our mailing address is:
CMR 432, Box 167
APO AE 09081
Take care & God Bless!

The first days

Well, we are finally here.  The trip was not too bad, although I started feeling kinda sick during the last hour, mainly due to the lady in front of us wearing some old lady perfume.  Natalie was wonderful, thanks to TVs installed on the back of every seat .  After arriving at the airport, we were shuffled around like herd of cattle, and eventually sorted and shipped on a bus.  I was unconscious for most of that ride.  We got on post and met with our Sponsor, Alan.  He showed us around a bit, and then dropped us off at our hotel, which was off post.
By now, it was about four in the evening, and we had been up for 24+ hours.  We went for a short walk to look around the area.  By this point, we had realized that we were one bag short, which we thought only contained some toys for Natalie, but upon further review, we realized that it also had our shower bag, which stored our toothbrush, Ben's razor, and diapers for Natalie among other things that we have missed.  We came upon a market, and purchased the bare essentials.  Then, we were off in search of food.
Next, we stumbled upon a coffee shop which boasted that they served Paninis.  Recognizing the type of food, we entered.  We soon discovered that they only had a few items left.  Ben ate salmon patties, he thinks, and I chose a turnover-looking thing stuffed with spinach, which turned out to be cold and not very tasty.  Feeling frustrated, we walked back to the hotel, to dine at the restaurant there, where we both ate angel hair pasta and shared an $8 bottle of water.  Exhausted, we returned to our room, feeling lost, out of place, and frustrated.
We got up the next morning and started the process of checking in.  We asked a lot of questions, ate Burger King, and went to the commissary before going back to the hotel.  Feeling slightly more rested, we had a much better day.  We all took a nap, then ventured across the street to the ice cream shop in celebration of Natalie’s second birthday.  She quickly announced that she wanted diet coke ice cream, not sure what that is all about, but she ate her blue bubblegum ice cream, which she thoroughly enjoyed.

Our third day, we were able to check into a hotel on post, which is much more accommodating.  Here we have a bathtub, a few American channels, and access to the internet!!!  We have two joining rooms, which are connected by the bathroom and a small kitchen.  We slept very well, and are up and dressed.  Today, we are headed to see the houses, apartment-style, and hopefully select ours.  I hear that our choices are all on the top floor.  Oh well, we are ready to trade in our suitcases for a closet!
Take care and God bless!