A fungus among us

So I promised myself that I would show the ugly when it came around. To be truthful, we've had a good dose of easy and pretty since we've been here. (Well, for those of you who saw Alex's bug video in my last post, I wouldn't call that pretty by any means.)

But some difficulty has arisen, as you can see by the first couple of pictures. Alex got a rash first on his head under his hair. It was hard for me to tell what it was, and I admit that at first I thought we had cockroaches in the hotel room. That was Alex's fault! He told me he caught a "fast, brown grasshopper" in the bathroom. And they had just changed out our couch because the old one had a tear in the back which we had not been aware of. Dave suggested that the cockroaches came in with the couch, and in my head, that decided it. Fortunately, I didn't make a huge ugly stink with the hotel service but called them and quietly discussed the situation over the phone. They handled it very well and I continue to be impressed by the hotel staff. The poor boys have been suffering with it for a week, and it wasn't until yesterday that I realized it is probably fungal. We're heading to the doctor's office shortly.

At another point over the weekend, Lilly decided to fall into the coffee table, with her EYE. Great. Thank God, she didn't damage her eye but certainly got a pretty shiner. And Livvy spilled her juice and broke the coffee cup she was using (better alternative to juice glass for her). And Lilly is waking up every hour (literally) of the night. I am not sleeping. I do not handle being tired all that well. It makes me depressed and grumpy. To top it off, it's been raining for 3 days straight.

So that's the ugly. Mostly just complainy stuff that could happen if we were at home in PA, but in PA, we have a lot more help AND a vehicle with which to go to the doctor's office! (For example.)

My van is in Germany! (Can't remember if I said that before.) And I'm planning our first vacation up to the Baltic Sea for 2 nights by way of Hanover, Germany for one night. That is exciting! I am very ready to get out of this lodge. I am not normally the type of person who wants to fast forward a part of life, but I'm pretty sure I could do without these next three weeks. I'm still so thankful for Dave and his excellence in the Lodge, but it's wearing on me. If it's wearing on me, it's probably wearing on everyone else. So keep us in your prayers, please! And thank you for it!

...UPDATE (since I didn't get to post this before I left this morning): We got some medicine for the boys. Alex had, essentially, chiggers in his head, and Griffin has impetigo, which for those of you who don't know is a bacterial infection that can easily be picked up through bug bites or playing in the dirt. So we're nixing the bug hunting for a while.

And we had a nice dinner at Die Hutte again, and this time I got something different and was so happy about it. I'm always so eager to eat that I forget to take food pictures! But that's okay, because what I had tonight was just like a chicken schnitzel dish. It was yummy, but not very pretty.  We had a good break in the weather today and so had a nice walk down to the restaurant. I found another playground when I took the boys to the doctor, so we stopped there on the way home.  And, quite honestly, work is going pretty great and is likely to just keep getting better. God willing.

I miss my friends and family, though. Just thought you should know.

Poor little thing

Kids can be quite gross sometimes. (Sorry, Griffy, if you ever read this later)

Waiting for the doctor

Waiting for the food

First baby swing we've seen since we've been here. Think she likes it?

This is how we're doing

This is an email I received from Dave during work earlier this week:

Had an incident with pickles. Got back and as I was unloading...Lilly leaned back and tipped the stroller over breaking a big jar of pickles that Alex wanted.  Juice everywhere.  Mopped up with a towel and guys are to send house keeping up...That sort of fell into disaster quickly.

And that's about what we can expect with 6 people living in 3 rooms plus two small bathrooms. I'll tell you, it wouldn't work at all if it weren't for Dave. He is the king of no chaos and all order, and because of that, I'm not actually losing my mind living in the Wiesbaden Army Lodge.

We haven't been going out as much as I would like, but yesterday we did find a lovely restaurant called Die Hütte. It was pretty much our very first German meal since we've been here, and it was lovely on all accounts! Well, except when Alex knocked over Daddy's beverage and not only wasted the precious contents but also broke the glass. I told the waiter that we really wanted to come back! He was very gracious and said of course we should come back. Dave and I were both thinking, Tomorrow? But of course we did not go back today. Maybe Wednesday.

We have been spending a lot of time at the playground(s) and also going out bug hunting. Ever since we ran across so many snails on one walk home, we've had to satisfy the bug man's desire to bug hunt by walking around catching milkweed bugs (a relative of the boxelder bug?) and handling slugs. Well, Alex handles the slugs. I certainly do not. It's a ton of fun, let me tell you! And then there's the rock chair outside of the bowling alley that the kids have to sit in. Maybe this week we'll try a new adventure at the playground on the post where I work. All kinds of excitement!

I'm eager to get my van, but in spite of my sarcasm, I'm quite content. My colleague, who is one of my predecessors on this rotation and who is leaving next month, said that she's a little bit sad to be leaving because of the novelty of living in Europe. And yes, I confirmed, she meant novelty even after being here for 25 months. So that's pretty exciting and I'm fairly certain we have a lot to look forward to!

All in all, we're doing quite well. Lots to enjoy today and lots to look forward to tomorrow.

Wiesbaden Army Lodge is a great place to stay

Getting ready for a great meal at Die Hutte

These slugs look a lot like poop

That rock the kids have to sit on every single time

Finding our rhythm

I walked 19 miles yesterday. I hadn't set out to do that, but one thing led to another and there I was, walking and walking and walking and...

I'm very happy to report that the kids and Dave are doing well. They did NOT walk 19 miles yesterday, fortunately. I continue to be impressed with Dave and the kids. They're adapting to this change so well, I'm surprised by it. I dare say that getting out into the sunshine and walking around has been helping out a lot. I hope it continues!

Here, when we do something off-post (like grocery shop at a Rewe instead of the commissary, for example), they refer to it as "doing something on the economy." I have been without a functioning phone since we've been here because I wanted to get a phone plan on the economy instead of signing up for something at the Post Exchange. Yesterday, as I was almost halfway into town, I realized that I forgot to bring my tax exemption form (VAT) for my phone purchase. I desperately needed a new one, and I'm not even exaggerating. So I turned around to go back to the Lodge to get the VAT form. It would be a 19% savings, so it would be worth the trip.

I had to use a new gate, so I wasn't exactly sure how to get back in. It was okay, though, because we were going to take the kids into town later, and I needed to figure out how to get back in the new way (the old way was broken), which I did. Got the VAT form and went back into town. I was told about a great shopping area in Wiesbaden that nobody had bothered to mention to me before. (Why not?!) So I went there and it was indeed pretty great. I spent about 40 minutes getting a new phone from O2, and I got a GREAT deal on a Samsung S7. That was a good thing, because they didn't accept VAT forms, after all, which meant that my 2 mile roundtrip walk for the form was for naught. Oh well. I have once again joined the smartphone era. Woo hoo!

I walked back to the lodge. I rested for a little while and then we all went back to that shopping area. We had a less-than-mediocre dinner because we keep messing up our timing with the restaurants that close early here, and we took what we could get. We got the kids ice cream, and got to see the outside of the New Town Hall.  Mind you, the New Town Hall was built in the 1880s. Pretty incredible! I guess I'll have to figure out where the Old Town Hall is and see if it's standing or not.

We walked back to the gate I had used earlier. The sentry would not let us through, and was an absolute jerk. (I'm filing a complaint, which will do me no good.) He had us go through the main gate, which I didn't know where it was, and he told us to go down the hill and turn left. (He was very rude about it, though. VERY rude.) So we did that and ended up Where the Sidewalk Ends. Not in a nice Shel way, though, even though I referenced it. The briers and brambles clued me in that we were not where we needed to be. So I downloaded the Uber app, which I am pretty much against. No Uber service where we were. So we walked back, and thanks to God, I recognized some buildings from my bus rides that I've been taking to and from work, and we found the gate. It was 11:20 p.m. We had been turned away a little bit before 10:00, which was already late enough!

Do I say this too often? The kids were SOOOO good! I got really mad, like blowing a gasket mad, when that man turned us away. I was so mad I was afraid I would yell at the kids when they didn't deserve it, so I just told them Mommy's really mad at that man and I need some quiet time to cool down, so I needed them not to talk. Well, they did their best, but they definitely didn't complain at all about it taking too long or about not having enough energy. (Livvy, poor thing, REALLY misses the van!)

And of course we made it back. I gave the kids a nice cool bath (for about 2 minutes), and got their jammies on, and they were asleep in 30 seconds. I figure they had walked about 7 miles, which was not the first time they did that, because they did it last Saturday too! All of them earned gold stars, which in our family means that they earned a new toy. However, in order to get said toy, guess what they will have to do? Yes, walk 7 miles.

Unless I figure out the bus system, which I've been trying to do and am getting closer and closer to doing. The kids ride for free. The stroller can come along, but some Germans will probably yell at us and tell us the right way to do the stroller the first time or two. (It's their way.) My difficulty is how to pay for it. I'll get there.

I've looked at two houses so far, and I don't think we can move into either of them. I have another house to look at Tuesday, but there's a different one which I'm hoping my housing office will give me the good news that the landlady is willing to come down in rent (by an enormous amount). It's possible, because the house has been vacant for 7 months, but I'm not holding my breath. Chances are that the house I look at on Tuesday will be it. Keep us in your prayers, please.

Other than that, Dave has a pretty good routine for him and the kids, and I am happy with my work so far. It's mostly reading and getting familiar with things, but it seems like it's going to be interesting. I'm so thankful that we're here!

Now for the pictures:

No more cones for her. Dishes only!

The kids cooled down with some ice cream

This girl loves her fries

The worst wienerschnitzel I've had, yet

I've been craving eggs, and this was a yummy sandwich that I enjoyed all by myself

A collage of New Town Hall, Wiesbaden

Whew! That was tough (Part III) and a festival

There was a big line to get to the baggage claim, but fortunately an airline person directed us to the elevator, and told Dave to go up one level. But what does that imply? Of course, that one knows what level one's on, which Dave didn't, nor did he ask. So we road the elevator up and down a couple of times while Griffy complained that he had to use the bathroom urgently. Of course we figured it out and made it to the baggage claim where, blessedly, all of our suitcases were waiting for us. Dave pulled them off the carousel while I took Griffy and the others. When I came back, an airline person informed me that the car seats were in a different location, and when Dave came back, he got 3 luggage carriers and loaded everything up on them. Meanwhile, we were waiting for our ride. Dan, my sponsor, and one person currently on rotation, Megan, were picking us up in two big vans. I had a feeling we would have to go through the "Nothing to Declare" door before seeing them, but I was still working on figuring out how two adults would push three luggage carts. I just about enlisted Alex when the same airline person offered to push it through for us.

Dan and Megan were waiting for us and it worked out well. The twins were still pretty grumpy but they were walking while whining and crying. Hey, at least they were moving. Alex was doing quite well and being a big boy. We made a fuss over him. It took a while to load the suitcases and the car seats up, but we got Lilly, Livvy and Griffy in and buckled, and then called Alex and got him buckled, too. At last, we were ready to go to the Army Lodge in Wiesbaden to check in. Hallelujah!

When we started driving away, Alex said to me, "Mommy, I'm so sad." I asked him why, and as he answered, the tears starting coming, and then came harder and faster. "I saw my first German caterpillar and I don't think he's going to live because the cars are too close by." And then, once the flood gates had opened, he lost control and he just couldn't get it back. I tried to reason with him that the caterpillar was in its natural habitat and God always takes care of all his creatures including us, but it didn't matter. He was too tired and simply couldn't get a grip. My poor sponsor just drove patiently and was very good about the situation. I finally told Alex, "This isn't my big boy. Where is my big boy? Try to lock it down, honey." And by the time we made it to the Lodge (about 20 minutes), Alex had it under control pretty well.

But by the time we checked in to the hotel at 0930 German time (only the small room was ready), Alex and Livvy both lost control again. I had to carry them separately. I was helped by a friendly family who waited with Alex until I came back to get him. It was the whole length of a very long hallway, but we're on post and as a result, are pretty safe here.

So we got into the small room, and I made the 3 big kids lie down on the floor with their pillows from Grandmaw and their blankets from Aunt Michelle. Did it take them 10 seconds to fall asleep? Well, yes, but only because Lilly was climbing on them because she was all giddy from her exhaustion. But I lay on the floor and barricaded her from reaching the kids and let Dave take a snooze. We had to be up in about 2 hours for the i.d. card appointment, so I watched Lilly while everyone else got some shut-eye.

It was kind of nice, really. The travel is hard on my bad neck, so I lay flat and let Lilly play up / down. She was, it seemed, happy for the peace and quiet, as was I. Next to sleep, I really needed some quiet time. And although I haven't seen it often since, I watched Lilly take her first 3 steps. Boy, was she proud of herself.

It was a long road. The first two nights the kids (all 4 of them) woke up in the middle of the night and stayed awake for several hours. Tuesday night I got one hour of sleep, and then my sponsor called me Wednesday morning and told me I had training to go to in an hour. It was supposed to be a day off. I was not happy about that. But what could I do? So I went with my one hour of sleep and listened to the training. At least it was relatively mindless. In the early part of the week, things were so unorganized and the small room we had first checked in was a complete disaster. You can see for yourself how ugly it was. Every bedtime the kids were utterly exhausted, but they took all of this change in stride and seemed happy just to have their Legos to play with.

Now that it's Sunday and we've been here 6 days, we are getting things together. Yesterday and Friday we went to the German-American Friendship Festival that was just off post. Friday was family day and the rides were cheap! I hadn't brought my camera so my pictures are from yesterday, but the rides were crazy expensive yesterday. I let them ride one ride but it cost about $11. Whew! On Friday I rode a ride called The Starlight with Alex. I have ridden similar rides at fairs in the U.S., but I have NEVER ridden any that have gone as fast as this one. It was so much fun! But at the same time, I was acting as Alex's seatbelt because it was concerning me a little bit. He was probably fine, but I wanted it to be a little bit safer. The other thing about the rides was that there were no ins and outs under control like we're used to. The kids could walk right up to it at any time. Not hazardous as long as the kids know enough. So they figured it out.

Airing out the ugliness

Downright exhausted

Master Lego Builder

She's happy to have some pizza

Enjoying the festival

Doesn't take much to make this guy happy

Birthday girl likes being out and about

"Momma, watch this!"

"I can do it, too!"

On the tables at the festival

Mandatory ride shots

And again

Somebody was enjoying himself!

I had a blast on this ride

Never saw a water ride at a festival before

The kids rode this one, too

German police officer gave the kids balloons

Whew! That was tough (Part II) and a birthday.

We had brought 7 suitcases that we checked, 4 which were between 50-70 lbs (I believe I packed 6 of them), 3 5-point harness car seats (checked), a booster seat (checked), 1 pull-along carry-on, a stroller, and 5 over-the-shoulder carry-ons. That was tough! Not to mention that Lilly herself is a carry-on since she still isn't walking!

I have to say that the kids were very good on the airplane, although I think I saw the airplane bathroom on that one flight more than in all my previous flights combined. But that's okay, because the kids were enjoying the flight, and getting up and down like that was most likely good for my circulation, anyway. United actually got us there an hour earlier than scheduled. That was nice. And then, I don't know why exactly, but Livvy and Griffy started melting down.

Livvy locked it down pretty quickly and followed Daddy, Lilly and Alex off the plane and down the steps to the bus. Griffy refused to walk from the aft end of the plane forward, and I first tried to encourage him to go and then simply resorted to threats. But when he saw the top of the steps of the airplane (diamond deck), he was terrified, and would go no further. I had 5 bags on my shoulders already, but I had to carry him down. I talked to him on the way down and by the bottom of the steps, he was prepared to walk to the bus by himself (just barely). Unfortunately, Daddy yelled at him for holding everyone up, and the meltdown returned. He was too tired to deal with, well, anything.

His meltdown quickly escalated from about a level 1 right before boarding the bus to a level 4 (on a 10-pt scale). And when the flight attendants caught up with us at an escalator (no elevator available) while I was taking Alex and my mule bags up it to next come back down for Griffy and Livvy, they "helped" Griffy onto the escalator before I could come back down. Dave, by the way, and some helpful stranger were handcarrying Lilly IN her stroller up the steps nearby. It was a tall flight of steps, too.

Poor Griffin was scared shitless by the time he reached me at the top of the escalator. (Sorry. I usually don't use profanity but that is the appropriate word in this case.) He was trembling and got to a level 9 (10 being self-injury) on the meltdown scale. I started putting him on the floor because he was throwing back so hard, and I could barely hold him. (Everyone who knows him knows how solid he is.) But then he came down to about a 7 and repeatedly blamed me for leaving him and making him scared.

Ouch. My little buddy.

It was a long walk to the baggage claim. Long enough for Griffy to calm down and for Livvy to start her meltdown. I was ready to get to the baggage claim, and she is about 7 pounds lighter than her twin brother, so I picked her up (along with my 5 other shoulder bags, including my purse) and carried her. About 10 yards of that and I dumped 2 bags onto the stroller that Dave was pushing. He had it so easy!

Excepting the meltdowns, Alex and Griffin were very impressive. Alex maneuvered the wheeled carry-on that was almost as tall as he is. And Griffin carried a backpack that probably weighed 15 pounds for his 40. He's pretty tough! And yes, I did say meltdowns in reference to Griffy AND Alex, but I'll get to Alex's later.

In the meantime, we celebrated Lilly's first birthday today! We couldn't do much for her birthday. We are staying in the lodge and have no means of making a cake. We have no car at the moment, so we could only buy what was available at the bakery in the commissary, which was absolutely nothing for birthdays. So I got some Hostess mini muffins and we all sang happy birthday to her. Oh yes, I also didn't have a match or a lighter, so I didn't actually LIGHT the candle, either. And I'll have to owe her a present. But Lilly liked hearing the kids singing. And she took steps by herself today two times that I saw. She is such a sweetie and a happy baby!

Happy birthday, Lilly, my love.

Lilly's first birthday with mini muffins

Awwww