Alexander Family's Big Adventure: So much sausage!

We returned to the apartment we were renting and got everybody to bed. It was called Ferienpark am Darss, inside the Nationalpark Vorpommersche Boddenlandschaft (Western Pomerania Lagoon Area National Park). I thought it would be right up my alley, and in some ways, it was. It was a nice little area that had a playground for the kids. We were renting a two-bedroom townhouse for two nights. It was a good price, more than affordable considering how big it was. Only 20 minutes away from the beach.

I have to say it felt very much like camping. I don't understand this at all, but Germans don't put screens on their windows. Nor do they use air conditioning. So you have to sleep with the windows open, and let the bugs come right in. In Fuhlendorf, I'm pretty sure there were more bugs per square inch inside than there were outside. Spiders as big as tennis balls (okay, golf balls, but still). Numerous giant crane-fly like bugs. Too many creepy crawlers to make it a pleasant stay. Not to mention, the floor was plywood with 20 layers of varnish on it. The rail to the loft was loose and unsafe. (Fortunately the obedient children did not lean on it at all.) The wifi worked well, and considering we are still not set up for internet in our house, that was pleasant for us for a change. (Alex got to play slither.io a little bit.) It was okay for the price, but it is not a place to which I will return.

Regardless, the kids had fun at the playground. Alex took his time to find a lot of bugs. So far no diseases have shown up on his skin, either. And the drive to the beach was easy. So we had a nice morning, David slept in a little bit, and then we went to the beach.

So, many of you might have read the title and thought that we found an all-you-can-eat German-style restaurant. But, some of you may know Europe a little better, and you might have figured out that the beach that we took the kids to on day 2 (Zingst) was actually (yes) a nude beach. And there was so much sausage there! I think the average age of the people who actually chose to go nude was about 60. (This is my estimate based on how low their jingle bells hung. And oh by the way, I'm cracking myself up about this right now.) I said to David when we walked up, "Oh. It's a nude beach. I was afraid of that." He said, "Well you didn't mention it to me!"

It didn't bother me, though. I mean, whatever. It wasn't TOO difficult not to look where I shouldn't. Overall it just kind of seemed like a natural thing. I was a little trepidatious about what the children would say or do. But can you believe that we were there for HOURS, and not one of them even seemed to notice. They were just having fun at the beach. And a lot of fun they had.

All in all, it was a long trip for a short vacation. I picked that location because of the warmer weather and August is the best month to go up there. Our next trip (I'm hoping it will be to Garmisch) will be closer and easier. Maybe it will not be as enjoyable for the children as going to the beach, but Dave and I might enjoy it. I hope that next year we will go to the North Sea and spend 3 nights at the beach instead of just two. I disliked sleeping with the bugs so much that I decided we would leave at 4:00 a.m. to come home. It was going to be a rough week and I didn't want to make it worse than it needed to be. So home we went, and the drive was all right because the kids were sleeping and I drove for 6 hours without stopping. Then I only had 2 hours to go after that. The kids were tired when we got home and I ended up being glad I left the Baltic region when I did.

I'm very glad we went. But now I've been there and done that and am ready to go to another place with the family! Or without. I'm not sure which will happen first, depending on how work goes.

I'm a little bit behind on my blogs. I still have to write about the move. My Facebook friends already know how terribly it has gone. But without internet set up, it isn't quite as convenient to write. So I'm keeping track and tethering to my phone in the meantime.

Please keep us in your prayers! We certainly still need them! I am grateful for our adventure (the big one here in Germany), and even the bad stuff is part of the adventure. What I'm saying is, "Thank you, Jesus."