Well I never...

I had the last dinner with my mom for the month tonight. It was a very yummy dinner at Paulaner's in Wiesbaden. We stopped at Schloss Biebrich on the way. I still don't feel like Mom saw enough, but I hope she's happy like she says. I'm fairly certain she had a great time with the kids. I'm completely certain the kids had a great time with her. We also took the kids to the playground on post, because we had to go to the post office to pick up our expected package. (I had a couple of absolutely lovely surprises waiting for me. Thank you, Leanne and Holly! Totally made my day!) We made it to dinner after all of that.

So the thing about eating in Germany, in case you don't already know, is that they don't take your order quickly, rush you from course to course, and they don't bring your check until you ask for it. (Usually, at least.) I've heard it's because the restaurants want you to feel welcome. It's risky business, if you ask me. Take me, for example. I had quite a busy day before we finally made it to the restaurant. I walked in around 5:00 with four little kids and three adults. It's a decent-sized party for not having reservations. But I've been there before and we were early, so I knew we'd be okay. The kids were hungry and getting impatient. But our soup or salad came out shortly after the drinks. A while later the weisswurst and the rest of the order showed up. In between the salad and the the main course, I looked over at Lilly and saw something quite shocking. (Should I do it? Should I write this corny joke even knowing my mom might read this? Yes, I must.)

I looked over at Lilly, and I am not shitting you, I saw a big streak of poop going up her back. And even worse, I noticed a huge puddle of diarrhea directly under her high chair.

Patty, what did you do?!

Honestly, at that point, the only thing one can do is react. What SHOULD I have done? I'm already the embarrassing American family who doesn't speak German and has very loud kids. I certainly don't have the language skills (anyone know how to say "poop", "diarrhea" or even "floor" in German?) to go tell someone my baby spilled diarrhea all over the floor. So out came the baby wipes, and I used them to mop up the brown liquid before the second course of dinner arrived. Then I hid the soiled wipes inside a clean diaper and walked to the bathroom with Lilly in my arms and a big smile on my face because everyone was smiling at the cute baby. (Well, she is.) And I ate the second and third course like nothing happened.

Looking back on this awful yet absolutely hysterical event, I have two things in my mind. One, I kept saying and thinking, "I've never had anything like this happen before!" Because I hadn't! Nor would I have ever expected anything like it. It was crazy! Literally a puddle of diarrhea just lying on the floor. And Lilly wasn't fussing at all. And it wasn't really up her shirt or all over her legs as one (who is lucky enough to know these things) would come to expect. And two, I keep reliving this beautiful moment in my head, and seeing a puddle of poop lying on the floor under the high chair, but it seems like it was a physical impossibility! Did the poop defy gravity? Did it defy the laws of physics? How did it go from her diaper, miss her clothes, her high chair and land underneath (not next to) her chair?! Directly under her chair?

Well, I never had anything like that happen before. I hope I never do again! But the other funny thing about it was how nonchalantly I wiped up the poo. People were walking in to start their dinner, and I just turned my body to block the view from what I was doing. I wondered if they could smell the poop? I could! But they came in anyway, so it must not have been terrible. I'm sure the bathroom is pretty rank by now!

I just talked with Mom and David about it. We're all kind of in awe and shock about it. Mom thinks it might have been the apple juice. I guess that's possible, but it seems too fast. Not sure what else it could have been. And Lilly isn't acting sick at all, which of course is great.

Ah, the adventures we have. Not just for living in Germany, but for being a family with four little kids. It's a blast and then some, I'll tell you that!

Perfect timing for this lighting in front of the kurhaus

Moments prior to the disaster. Little did I know.

Mom is leaving.

My time with Mom is winding down. She leaves Thursday. Even as I write that, I get tears in my eyes. I'm going to miss her very much. It's been so nice having her here. So nice for me and the kids. She's a big helper and a pleasant person. I love her so much.

We didn't do quite as much as I had hoped we would, namely because I got intimidated by the crowds that first day she was here. But today (Tuesday), Dave watched the kids all day so that we could go to Frankfurt together. The plan had been to go with the whole family, but the twins got woken up by Alex and his nightmare at 4:00 a.m., and didn't go back to sleep. That would have made for an awful day. Not to mention, it was cold and rainy and dreary and the twins both have colds. So I'm glad we were able to go alone in spite of the plan. (Thank you, honey.)

A new museum opened up in the church in Römerburg. It was really nice. Small but inexpensive, and their artifacts were so impressive. Church artifacts from the 1300s. Amazing! I enjoy the religious history much more than any other history. It was a nice day for Mom and me.

We also visited the archaeological museum of Frankfurt. Their exhibits were impressive, but the permanent exhibit had no English explanations. It was still very interesting as it revealed artifacts excavated near Frankfurt. I found it interesting because when I think of Europe, I think of the Medieval and Renaissance periods, but they had found artifacts from much further back than that. Of course. If I think of the caves in France, I would remember that humans on this continent go much further back than the Medieval period.

The temporary exhibit had English translations and was very interesting. It depicted Etruscan culture and the gods of Old Italy, where there were many different gods similar to Greek mythology, but it seemed they had a greater fascination with death and the afterlife. I would even go so far as to say it was a little bit creepy. The museum overall was very interesting, and much bigger than it looked. I didn't take pictures today but will attempt to next time I go.

I always get a little bit sad after Christmas. Factor in Mom leaving on Thursday and the gloomy weather. It's not a good outlook. I know I have such a great opportunity here, and I'm grateful for it, but can I just be human for a bit? I'm sad because Christmas is over, Mom's leaving, and January and February are going to be tough months for us. I have to travel about 2.5 weeks total in January. I'm looking forward to the sunshine that I'll get when I go to Israel again, but right before that, I have to travel to Grafenwohr, and right after that, I might be going to Romania (neat, right?!). All this travel is hard on all of us. Hard for Dave for obvious reasons, hard for the kids since I'm not around to be with them, and hard for me because I'm not around Dave and the kids. That's January. February is going to be tough because Alex is scheduled to have his adenoids removed. In the meantime, the poor kid can hardly hear at all. But have you ever taken your kids willingly into surgery? That's a hard thing to do! Thank God it isn't worse. I know that. It's still hard, though. I'm taking him in knowing that he will suffer. I hope he's old enough to understand. I hope it's the right decision.

Pray for us, okay?

St. Bartholomew

This is nearly 600 years old

Mom and I in Romerburg 

Mom is here!!!!!

I'm so happy that my mom is here!! We met up in the airport without incident, even though we had no way of communicating and it took a little while for us to connect, but the reunion was so sweet!

I had the great idea to take Mom and the family to the Wiesbaden Christmas market the day Mom arrived in order to help her stay awake until later and get on our schedule. I also had the bright idea to take the train so I didn't have to fight for parking in town. That train was crowded! It was challenging on the way there to navigate the train with the stroller (David), Griff (Mom), and the other three kids (me), but we did it okay. 

When we got to Wiesbaden, two stops only which is so convenient, we ate at McDonald's. Was it gluttony? We ordered 60 chicken nuggets and three large fries. You should have seen the look on the lady's face when I said "sechszig"! But the cashier was pleasant enough and the kids tore into them. I think Lilly wasted half of one and that was it!

As soon as we left McDonald's, I realized it was colder than I had expected, so I thought we'd make our trip short. It wasn't easy, since we still had about .8 km to walk to get to the Christmas market. I let the kids ride the merry-go-round and bought them some candy. Neither Mom nor David got to look around much, and the kids were ready to go home. I thought about the bus since the train was so crowded, but David wanted to take the train again anyway so we didn't have to switch.

It was even more crowded on the way home! Same arrangement, but this time I got separated from Mom and David inside the train car. I signaled to Mom "two stops", and got off when it was time. I didn't see Mom's door opening, so I hurriedly gave Livvy and Alex to David and ran to the door while carrying baby Lilly. I didn't have enough time to shuffle her over to David! When I pressed the button to open the door, it was so full that people almost fell out backwards! I yelled "Mom!" in a near-panicked voice, and fortunately she heard and answered. She and Griffy pushed through the people. They no sooner got off and the train started moving. Whew! I thank God that wasn't the disaster it could have been!!!

I thought we might take the train to the Rudesheim Christmas market the next day, but her luggage hadn't shown up, and they were going to deliver it, so we stuck around the house. I was glad for the excuse because I wasn't prepared to fight a crowd like that again so soon! Maybe we'll just stick to weekdays while she's here, instead. (We eventually made it to Rudesheim. See? And we visited the Mainz Christmas Market. Lovely!)

Update: Mom's luggage showed up, and we spent the entire day shopping in Wiesbaden, including a nice visit to the Christmas market on a weekday without the kids and with a much smaller crowd. Saturday we had a small birthday party for Alex. However, Lilly had been sick again with a fever. She's all better!

I had planned to work four days this week. I changed my mind! I need to take Mom to a couple more cities in Germany, and I'm already running out of daylight! It's been so wonderful having her. I'm so happy she's here.

On the way to Burg Rheinstein

Mistletoe and a view

Burg Rheinstein

Inside the Chapel

View from a window

Mainz Christmas Market

Quite a crowd!

A brief update

Sitting in the doctor's office with Alex. We're at the ENT because Alex can't hear and in Germany, the pediatricians don't mess around with ears, apparently. So the ENT took one look and said we need to remove his adenoids. That was last week. Today we are getting the surgeon's opinion. I am sure it will be the same. I had mine removed when I was nine, and Dave and I both had a lot of ear problems as children. Poor little buddy! He's such a trooper, even as described by the kindergarten teacher and by the school nurse. He takes it well. I'm not going to be taking it well, putting my poor little buddy into surgery at six years old!

I remember when I was getting prepared for surgery when I was nine. They were giving me a shot in the bum and doing a very poor job of it. They kept sticking me and I cried and cried. I remember my mom telling me that if she could bear the pain for me, she would. Those weren't her words, probably, but that was the message. And it was at that point that I started realizing really for real how much Mom does for me and would do for me. And in general, the same for most of the moms out there.

This will be a challenge, though. My work schedule is loading up like crazy, and I really don't want to do this over December. I may be gone for 2.5 weeks in January, so it would be February more likely. I don't think the surgeon will like that at all. (Neither do I.) But it is what it is!

We missed the opening ceremony of the Christmas market this week. But Alex and I just walked through it on our way to the doctor, and unbeknownst to Dave, we're coming this Saturday. That will be so nice!

I'm going to Bavaria for work on Sunday. It will be another rough week for Dave, but he's doing pretty well holding down the fort while I'm gone. I'm very glad that Mom will be able to come out while I'm away in March for 3 weeks. After that, I'm expecting things to slow down.

... Yep. Surgeon agreed with the ENT. But it will be done in early February, so that is good.

So excited for Christmas! Getting more excited as time passes, with Mom coming and the Christmas markets opening up. St Michaelmas is coming. What is that when the kids put their boots out? And we just had the twins' fourth birthday! Woo hoo. It's my favorite time of year.

Merry Christmas and God bless you all!!

Snowing at the Casino

Wiesbaden Christmas Market

Alex enjoyed the fries

Getting so big!

MMM. birthday cake

Trier, Germany

Trier, Germany was every bit as awesome as I expected it to be. It rained the entire day but was still incredible. We saw the Porta Nigra, a coliseum, and a good part of town since we walked to the coliseum. There was a march or protest, which I pulled the family away from for our safety, thanks to the training I get as an Army civilian.

We were all pretty tired by the end of the day, but it was a good day for sure. Some stores were already decorated for Christmas, so that sparked my Christmas spirit. And the windows were pleasant to see. I am really starting to get excited for the Christmas markets here, and most of all for my mom's visit. It's going to be great to have her here for three whole weeks! I have a lot to look forward to. This is my favorite season.

...Alex sometimes has a hard time waking up in the morning, and I still feel so bad for him about it. This morning was one of those mornings, but I told him we're putting up the tree this weekend. Then a little bit later I told him I'll bet he's looking forward to summer, and he said no, he was looking forward to Christmas. I know he's okay, but in a way this will be a rough two years for him.

I had a good experience last week at the grocery store. A man came up to me and started talking to me in German, and I understood him! Woo hoo! I didn't converse but I was happy to actually understand him. Other things are still lost in translation, though. I'm building up that list! I had been a little bit discouraged about it, but I think I'm back on for trying. In fact, I think I'll open up Duolingo right now!

I love and miss my friends and family! Just thought you should know.

Outside of Porta Nigra

Porta Nigra

Coliseum

Inside Jail Cell at Coliseum

Imagine a prisoner looking out at a crowd

Coliseum: green represents where the crowd would be

Around Trier, Germany