We're moved in!

I wrote this a couple of days ago. ... I sat in line for 5.5 hours. Lovely!

We got moved in last week. There are some things about the house I really like (it's more than big enough, for example), and there are some things I don't really like (the yard is not very good for us). Dave hasn't said much about the house, so I'm guessing it is adequate. I was a little nervous since he hadn't seen it at all. Talk about trust! We were all quite disappointed to learn that the pool was empty. Dave and I decided that we will fill it next year. It will be expensive but I'm sure we'll get our money's worth!

We haven't received our big shipment yet, and we're sleeping and eating and sitting on loaner furniture and loaner dishes. Our shipment is being delivered on September 1st. What a weird way to live. It has made me appreciate the military people more for doing this on a regular basis. I find it difficult even though the process for getting loaner furniture and whatnot is so streamlined.

I think the kids have been happier. Their toys came and they've been riding their bikes a lot. They do miss having all those playgrounds so close by, though! Yesterday we all went to the commissary and Dave shopped while I watched the kids play. This weekend, I'm looking forward to going to the Baltic Sea. I hope the kids do well in the travel, and I think they will. I kind of wish we had one more night there, though! We'll see how it goes.

Right now I am sitting in line to get my van inspected. I'm pretty sure I will be here for 4 hours. They don't take appointments and the line is very long. But I can't delay any longer because I only have 30 days total to get the permanent registration, and I've already taken up 9 of them! It will be okay, even if the van needs some work. My (and your) tax dollars at work. This is my third time trying, by the way. I haven't been procrastinating, just put off by the long lines every time.

Did I ever mention that I made reservations for the family for a week in Tuscany in May of next year? I'm already excited about that! I don't know where else to prioritize. Obviously, I'm going to ask Michelle to take me to Paris since she's fluent in French and knows the city pretty well. That's high on the list but won't happen until next summer. I would like to go to Garmisch and take the kids to Neuschwanstein. Austria? Spain? Poland? I don't know and it's so hard to choose! Dave and I agree that we run the risk of blinking and our two years will be up and we won't have everything checked off our list. The problem is, when so many things are a possibility, what becomes the priority? Please help me by commenting on this post!

Thank you all for your prayers. Please keep them up for us. I know they make a difference!

I was feeling brave!

My first experience of driving in Germany resulted from me having to drive for work-related travel. So I got a car from work and drove about 3 hours away to Grafenwohr for a couple of nights. I left Sunday and had a decently easy drive. On the way back, I had some challenges. First, just driving out of town, a parked work truck pulled out in front of me and left me sitting in the road while I was trying to turn left. Several cars had to move around me, but they must have seen it because nobody yelled at or corrected me. A few hours into my drive back, I missed that the right lane was closing and had to stop to avoid side-swiping another car. I'm still not sure how I missed that, but the two cars behind me also did not see that it was closing and ended up in the same situation as me. Then a little while after that, probably just after my adrenaline slowed down, there was a truck dead in the right lane on the autobahn where there were only two lanes because of construction to begin with. I got home Tuesday night, and that was stressful enough that I was happy to be done driving for a while.

But the next day, I found out that my van was here! I suddenly forgot how difficult my drive home had been, even in that little car I'd had. I was able to pick up the van on Friday, and took the family to Globus about 4km away. Globus is like the Wal-Mart of Germany. Better, of course, but still. We ate there and got the kids some toys and came home without incident.

I was feeling brave and adventurous, so Dave and I decided that I would drive us to Heidelberg (since Dave doesn't have his license yet, a situation I hope to rectify tomorrow). No sweat! Except, uhh, that I am and always have been spatially challenged, and we got to a garage that I'm PRETTY SURE was intended only for Smart cars. (Which came first, really?) I made Dave take the wheel and closed my eyes, sang "Jesus Loves Me", and sucked my thumb until it was all over.

No, really.

Dave is quite good at that kind of thing and for him it was no sweat. And we parked close enough to the castle (on the second try) that we were able to walk right up to it. Steep hill! It was a good little walk and the kids did great. Must have been all that conditioning we've been doing for the past six weeks! After we walked the gartens, we went down to the Altstadt and had dinner. I wouldn't necessarily say that we enjoyed dinner, although the food was great. I had goulash and it was the best I've ever had.

But in my opinion, the kids have been acting a bit weird lately. I think it's because they've been too confined in this lodge for the past 6 weeks. At dinner, and of late, they've kind of been acting like bumbleheads, so it was hard to really enjoy the dinner. And by the time we got home, Dave and I were both pretty tired and stressed out. 

Today I took Alex and Griffy to church while Dave stayed home with the girls. Lilly is sick with a cold and I didn't want her to share it with the other nursery babies. Livvy was content to stay, and I didn't argue because 2 against 1 is easier than 3 against 1. I looked at Alex today and thought he looked quite tired. I guess I would be, too, if 2 three-year-olds had been kicking my legs every night for the past 6 weeks. He is looking forward to having his own space again, I think.

Tuesday we move in! It is long overdue. And not to complain, but it cost $8400 in order to move in. I will get that reimbursed one way or another, but goodness. That's a lot up front. And, because my home station messed up my paperwork so badly, I will have to pay my October rent out of pocket as well. That will be reimbursed much more quickly, though. I hope.

I am not demoralized! I'm just trying to paint an accurate picture. It's very costly to move here and if it weren't for my job, we wouldn't be able to afford it. 

I am really looking forward to our trip to the Baltic Sea in two weekends. I hope that will be fun!

Please keep us in your prayers! I don't want Lilly to get an earache, so please pray about that. And of course, for me especially, driving will be a learning curve, so I can always use prayers for that. Before too much longer, we'll be wanting visitors!

Heidelberg Castle ruins

View from the walk down

Also from the walk

The Alexanders (minus one) at the Heidelberg Castle

Sometimes Griffy smiles a little bit too hard

At first I was going to call this "A rare photo--me and all four kids." But now
I can't help but wonder if it looks like some of us are peeing here?

Ten Days Left!

Ten days left in the Lodge, and although it's been cramped, I have to say that it has been very good to us.

And our van is en route to Wiesbaden, which means I might actually get it this week. Can't wait for that. In the meantime, I have a 2-night temporary duty (TDY) to Grafenwohr tomorrow. I got a government car and drove for my very first time in Germany. I was pretty nervous but it wasn't so bad. If you think about it, send up a prayer for me tomorrow since I'm driving 3 hours by myself. I'm still nervous about that even though it's basically a straight shot.

Griffin's skin issue is pretty much all cleared up, fortunately. I think we're getting Alex's skin funk under control, but not without some small ordeal. At our second visit, the pediatrician said there was too much going on and made us an appointment for the dermatologist. The nurse wrote what looked to me like 1630, but it was actually 1430. So I missed the first appointment and they rescheduled for the next day. Fortunately it was just Alex and me who walked down to the doctor that time. At the playground, he met a new friend from Kenya who spoke English. She was a sweetheart! They played together for a long time. And then Alex fell with his face onto the wall. But I went into the pharmacy in the same building as the doctor's office. This pharmacy is incredible! I've been very pleased with them because they help me more than what I would expect every time, and have no desire to play the game that they don't speak English.

So we went back to the dermatologist the next morning and she totally gave us the hookup for antibiotic ointment. Prescription strength, I think. Alex and I went to the cafe across from the pharmacy. Mine was an Eiskaffee (not at all what I was expecting but totally delicious!), and Alex's was an Americano. He loved it!

We've been to a church a couple of times, now. It's a lovely building that is "only" about 120 years old. This church has a ministry where they pick up people from the Lodge and bring them to church and back. What a great idea! I'm not sure if it is our long-term solution because it doesn't fit Dave's theology and it's not that close to where we'll be living. BUT, it is in English, so it might be worth the compromise. We have time to decide that! The people are certainly friendly and welcoming, same as we've been used to in our Christian and Missionary Alliance churches. That is refreshing.

And of course, we've found yet another awesome playground. Actually, I've seen this since my first day on the bus. It is the playground on Clay Kaserne. Pretty challenging for 3-year-olds, but it was right up Alex's alley!  Here is a link to a short clip of Alex playing at the Clay playground:  https://photos.google.com/photo/AF1QipM13qZl4s2fTnHuDIXTiKJUqeE6HYx4LKqEzRSg

(Hope it works.)

Busted up his grill

This pastry is called an Americano

I was expecting ice in some coffee and I got this. Oh my!

Playground on Clay Kaserne

Peek a boo!

Aww, sisters. I sure do miss mine!

The church we attended

Inside the church

I always love the stained glass

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