Off we go…

After only 48 hours in our new house, and without even fully unpacking, we decided it was time for a trip.  On Thursday morning we woke up, picked a few outfits, repacked (this time with only 4 suitcases instead of 15), loaded up on our travel treats and hit the road.  Our friends from Washington had booked a vacation at the Edelweiss Lodge in Garmisch, Germany and were unable to use it.  Actually we had talked a year ago about going with them and of course had no idea that we would be living in Germany instead.  We changed their reservation from a 10 day to a 3 day, typed the location in our GPS and were on our way by noon.

Things we learned on our first road trip: 

• Cheese baked pretzels are the perfect thing to munch on while driving.
• The Autobahn is very fun to drive on.  130km is just a recommendation. 
• A lot of nice cars cruise by on the Autobahn going speeds our minivan could only dream of.   …and make sure you are in the right lane (that is a strict rule here) because when they come, they come fast.
• There is road construction in Germany also.  … our GPS altered our arrival time multiple times as it received info on construction and if there was a stau (traffic jam).  So interesting.
• Do not stop at the WC’s (water closets: restrooms) on the side of the autobahn.   … oh my gosh, awful, awful. 
• Make sure to have toilet paper and hand sanitizer in your vehicle at all times. 
• The drive through Bavaria is incredible.
• The Sound of Music is the perfect movie to watch through such gorgeous scenery.

 

We travelled south east to the bottom of Germany, dipped into Austria and then curled back around to get to Garmisch.  Driving towards the Alps was exciting.  We just couldn’t help be in awe of the massive stone mountains jetting upward all around us.      We loved driving through the little Bavarian towns.  We saw onion shaped steeple’s and multiple churches in each town.   Almost every house, bakery and cafe  was decorated with elaborate paintings around the windows and murals across the sides.  Flowers lined almost every window sill and balcony.  Most houses also had the family name painted across it in perfect script.  “Haus Johnson” (House Johnson).  I love the idea.  Maybe we’d stick to the same house for longer than three years if our name was painted on the outside in fancy scrolled letters.

Backerei is Bakery.

We got to the Edelweiss Lodge, so named for a white flower found high in the alps, at about 5:00 to check in.  When we were pulling in through the gates and showed the guards our ID’s, Captain von Trapp was singing his finale of Edelweiss in our Sound of Music movie.  After we got through we laughed at the timing.

Must buy hair clippers.

Matthew  .  14 months old  .  Loves the bathtub  .  Loves to stand up in the bathtub  .  Doesn’t like to sit in the bathtub  .  Likes to put his whole face in the water over and over again to make Luke giggle  .  Loves to turn on the water  .  Likes to find his you know what in the bathtub  .  Cries when taken out of the bathtub  .

Katie’s 10th birthday

 

We told Katie that she could have her presents on her birthday with no wrapping paper… or that she could wait until the day AFTER ‘move in day’ for some wrapped birthday presents and she picked ‘LATE BUT WRAPPED’.  Good choice because when Chris and I went out to do errands we came home with something a little more exciting than wrapping paper. In the Recycle Center Chris overheard a man and son arguing about golf clubs.  “You can’t have them because they are left handed clubs!”  Chris’ ears perked up.  As soon as they left Chris walked right over and grabbed them.  Katie has been bugging Chris to special order her some left handed golf clubs forever.  These are gently used but, by golly, they are lefties and they were FREE.  When Chris and I walked in from our errands Chris said,  “Ok, Kates, sit on the couch and close your eyes.”  The kids could hardly contain their excitement for the beginning of birthday party fun.  Katie closed her eyes while Chris brought them in.  When she opened her eyes she stared at them for a minute, until she finally registered what they were.  She looked up at Dad’s face to see his big smile which confirmed that they indeed were ‘lefties’… then she squealed.  Without another second delay Chris said, “Ok, Kates, get your shoes on, we’re going golfing.” and off they went.  When they got back Katie found a pile of WRAPPED presents ready to open…

  

In the last six months Katie has become a real soccer girl.  She started out the year practicing with Ryan’s soccer team since Chris was one of the coaches.  With her two best friends, Brianna and Austin on that team, and with her Dad and brother’s love of the sport, it is no surprise that she has caught the soccer bug.  She and Ryan are already signed up for a week long summer soccer camp in August and will play on the same team this fall with Dad as the head coach.  Now she’s definitely ready to play!

 

 

 

 

Move in Day (and Katie's uncelebrated birthday)

Chris and Ryan were showered and out of the guest house by 7:00am.  They drove down to the house and emptied the van of it's first load of suitcases.  After waiting around for awhile with nothing to do Chris decided to come back to the guest house to help me check out and left Ryan with instructions for the movers if they came while he was gone. 

When we arrived in St. Leon there were two big moving trucks blocking our way.  Apparently the 'temporary furniture' movers had been there for quite a while with Ryan giving instructions and pointing them in the right direction.  The other truck with our 'unaccompanied baggage' (first 1200 pounds) had just arrived.

It was so exciting to see our stuff coming in.  Usually the movers unpack the boxes for you (if you ask) but we decided against it because of an inspection for the house later at 2:00pm.

The temporary furniture movers gave us a double bed, and five single beds, 7 night stands, 9 wardrobes, 9 dressers, 1 couch and 2 chairs, 1 coffee table and 2 end tables, 1 dining room table and 6 chairs, 1 'american sized' fridge and an 'american style washer and dryer'.  (The fridge, 9 wardrobes, and the washer and dryer are here to stay for the entire 3 years -- courtesy  of the army.) When the German movers pulled the fridge into the house and Chris pointed them to the downstairs they shook their heads and said no it wouldn't fit.  Chris told them it had to fit, there was no other place it could go.  They suggested a place in the dining room or the hall and Chris tried to suppress an irritated laugh.  Ya, right.  "Let's just try to tak it downstairs."  The two movers spoke angrily to each other in German and then tried to move it down.  The curvy marble stairs did prove to be difficult but with Chris' expert skills he told them which way to move it to get it down.  Boy, they were ticked, but it was worth the 15 minutes of pain for the three years of NOT having a fridge in my hallway.  My husband has great 'moving' skills.

Both movers were gone by 1:00 and we sat down to eat lunch.  We haven't sat down to eat lunch as a family around a table for I don't know how long... and the best part?  the highchair for Matthew!  Hallelujah!  We ate a quick lunch and were ready for the inspection at 2:00.  A representative from the housing office came as well as our landlord's daughter who is acting as manager.  We went through the house room by room to assess damages and ask how things work.  Small differences... how the dishwasher needs salt in it... the extensive recycling program... how the small oven works... what kind of lightbulbs... where the TV cables are... etc.

At 3:00 we  finally had the place to ourselves.  We tackled Ryan's room first (one of the small rooms on the second floor) and then Luke and Matthew's room.  Yes, they are sharing a room.  When we found our linen box and began making everyone's beds, Chris pulled Luke into the room and said, "Luke, who's bed is this?"  "Um, Ry-ry's?"  No.  "Katie's?"  No.  "Emily's?"  No.  "Began's?"  No.   ... by this time Chris is actually pointing to Luke's chest but he is still not getting it.  "Um, daddy's?"  No...  "Mommy's?"   No...  "Lukey's?"   When we all shouted 'YES!' his eyes got all big.  Chris told him he was a big boy and got a big boy bed and he was so excited.  He tells us all the time that he is a big boy.  "I am big and I am tall like this!" standing as tall as he can and smiling cute as can be.

Right now the three girls are in the basement because it's cooler but as soon as our real furniture comes they'll be in the attic.  Katie, Emily and Megan spent most of the afternoon building a massive tunnel fort in the attic.  Every time we unpacked a box, they excitedly took it away.  I suppose it's one of the best parts about moving. 

Ryan and Chris took off for scouts at 6:30 and while they were gone I tackled the kitchen and got almost everything unpacked, washed, dried and put away in the newly cleaned cupboards and drawers.  Feels so good to have an organized kitchen.  More stuff will be coming in the second shipment but most of it is here now.  I love that my kitchen window is right above my sink and looks out onto our street where the kids will play.  It's going to be a good kitchen.

It feels good to be home.  As Emily was getting ready for bed she said, "Mom, you said we were going to have a small house but this house is HUGE!!"  It made me laugh.  It is bigger than we expected to find.  We feel very blessed and SOOO excited to be living here! 

Playmobil Fun Park

Monday, another military training holiday, we caravanned with the Jones Family from our new ward to the Playmobil Fun Park.  It's about two hours east of us near a city called Nurnberg.  I was excited to go because I played with Playmobil as a kid and love it.  The fun park was divided into life size playmobil activity centers... a construction site, a castle with knights, a pirate ship with pirates, a farm, a house, a western town.  It was ADORABLE and we had so much fun!  Totally going back here.

      

The castle section was one of my favorites... actually, I don't think I can pick a favorite.  The castle was set at the highest part of the park so from the top of the castle you could see everything.  There were drawbridges and slides, and dungeons, and stalks, and Kings and Queens and knights.  It was great fun.

    

They had a little water section to play in so we came prepared with bathing suits.

I added this picture just to show you the stark contrast between my fully swim outfitted toddler and lots of other little girl and boy toddlers… and kids.   Either this or they were wearing speedos that didn’t quite fit them anymore.

 

 

I think the kids favorite part was the pirate ship area.

 

And while we’re here let me just point out the LACK of a few safety features… The plank to get on the ship had no railings.  So funny.  Chris wanted to see if little Matthew could walk the plank… and grabbed him quickly before he got wobbly and fell into the two feet of water below.  While our attention was focused elsewhere Luke managed to climb to the top of the mast using mostly the rope sides. He could get up, but getting down was a bit trickier and Ryan had to rescue him.  All over the lake were rafts that the kids could push around, or ferries where the kids could pull themselves across.  Very fun little play area.

  

After great German sandwiches (we have loved every German sandwich we’ve tried) and lunch we headed in to the big Playmobil toy area.  Every Playmobil Castle toy in the castle, tons of playmobil houses and people and furniture and cars and campers and everything you could think of inside the house, the Viking toys by a Viking ship.  Really, the whole thing was pretty cool.  Katie and friends settled in the top floor of the house with the pool/beach collection.  Emily and Megan settled in the pink princess castle to play there.  Ryan and Luke settled in on the floor by the Viking ship to play with the Safari collection.  Matthew toddled around picking up pieces and taking them to other locations.  I saw later that they had workers who’s entire job was picking up pieces and taking them back to the right collection.  (Sounds a lot like my job at home.)

     

Ryan loved the life-size soccer playmobil... a special exhibit because of the world cup going on right now.  The toy playmobil soccer game set up was amazing.  Ryan and I thought that setting up Playmobil sets would be an awesome job.

This display was right by the Playmobil store which of course had every Playmobil imaginable... and which you had to exit through in order to get out of the park.  Nice thinking Playmobil Fun Park.  We escaped without a purchase this time... but not because my kids didn't ask for one of everything.   I fear my defenses are weakening... if we go back, we're toast.

Tripsdrill

 

Saturday we followed the Dawsons through gorgeous German countryside to Tripsdrill, an amusement park about an hour away.  I think we're used to amusement parks being generally by a big freeway or major road.  Not this one... we wandered our way through the main cobblestone streets of maybe 7 quaint towns along the way.  We passed vineyards and rolling hills with churches in the distance.  I know someday we will get used to seeing this everywhere we drive... but right now it's still very surreal... and makes driving anywhere a pleasure. The Dawsons are our 'two week' friends.  Unfortunately, we moved in to the ward two weeks before they moved out.  We were in-processing and they were out-processing... and for most of the two weeks we were in the guest house together  -- with a whole lot of free time.  The boys golfed, the girls shopped, the kids played at the park,  (we enjoyed the 4th together) ... and when they invited us to Tripsdrill for the day and we were game.

The park was gorgeous. When they picked 'quaint German' for their amusement park theme they nailed it.  Everything was beautifully decorated with flowers everywhere.  They even had authentic German speaking workers and not a stitch of English anywhere.   Here's Megan checking out our park map (in German).

We spent the morning doing the kids rides... and they loved them.

 

Matthew being his delightful self, even in this 'out of the ordinary' 100 degree weather.

The animal rides above were a hit for the kids.  There was practically no line so the kids used up almost an hour just riding them over and over again.  Amazing how an animal ride through the gardens could be so exciting.  Luke was in heaven. In a nearby section they had an open area for you to ride bikes... only these bikes were a bit unusual.  If you look closely at the wheels you can see that the center isn't quite in the center, and this makes riding a round a little bit difficult and a lot bumpy. It was pretty funny to watch. Below Katie has climbed a ladder to watch the German man pop out from the window and speak to her.  What?  Ladders that you are supposed to climb?    Amusement parks (and parks in general)  have one major difference from those in the States.  SAFETY is NOT a concern here... One person was working each ride.  It was your job to make sure your bar was down, or that your kid was tall enough for the ride.  Only at the biggest roller coaster did they have another employee.  It made us laugh.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For lunch we got curry bratwurst which (Chris and Emily liked) and bread and pomme frites (French fries) which the rest of us liked.  And of course Fanta orange without ice since they just don't do ice here. The Germans are big into Recycling.  I thought this Cup Recycle center was quite extensive.  Just put your used cup into the appropriate slot.

 

After lunch we walked over to the bigger rides.  The kids walked over a large suspension bridge while I took the stroller on a covered bridge.  The bridge, like several other places around the park, was decorated with hanging socks.  It was actually quite adorable.  Splash Castle is off in the distance. This Splash Castle ride was hysterical.  It was like Splash Mountain but instead of the 'briar rabbit' part they had a European bathhouse with naked women mannequins.   Nice young topless mannequins and big fat sagging older women mannequins.   The kids said 'ewwww!' and closed their eyes.  We could not stop laughing.  What kind of ride is this? The brand new big roller coaster was fabulous too.  We had a great day.

     The splash was very refreshing on a day like this.