Double Digits in Deutschland!

Where has the last decade gone? Yesterday, I was holding you in the hospital, and today, you're holding our dinner you made! Ever since we got here, you've been extra helpful in the kitchen. Daddy says, "Maybe because it's just her size."

This is our courtyard, one of your fav. places.

Here you are with Carly. It has been fun living across the street from the palace.

Although, you're happy as a queen at the children's library! Your only complaint? The English section is too small. I'm sure you'll be able to read that German Harry Potter before you know it!

We love you. We're so glad you're in our family.

Thanks for being such a good sport, and Happy Birthday!

love, Mom

Our First Month

It's hard to believe we've been here for over a month now. Some of the days, especially at the beginning, seemed really long, but now the weeks seem to be zipping by.

We're starting to feel more comfortable, especially as we've started making some friends. At first, I'd get a stomachache whenever we went out in public because I had no idea what people were saying to me, and I was super hypersensitive about the kids being too loud or in other people's way. There are few children here, especially in the downtown area. Even though the grocery store is very crowded, you could still hear a pin drop. We're getting used to going shopping every day, where things are, etc.

People at Myles' work, as well as people at church have been really friendly and helpful. Thanks to their suggestions and help, along with scouring the Internet for months, and much prayer, we finally sealed the deal on an apartment! It ended up being a bit more expensive and farther away from Myles' work than we'd hoped, but we love everything else about it, especially the location. It is in a nice neighborhood just steps away from a park and the train stop, a few blocks from Macy and Carly's schools, a short bike ride on a bike path away from Robyn's school and a lake, and within walking distance of shopping. We feel really blessed that it worked out in time.

Now, we get to start shopping for a kitchen (not included), beds, etc.

Talk about a Welcoming Party!

We arrived in Germany just in time for one of the biggest concerts of the year, right in our own front yard!

Fans and bands came from all over the world, including Ricky Martin (not our fav.) and Foreigner (fun to sing along with).

We liked this band called Sunshine Ave. from Finland the best.

The 8-hour concert ended with phenomenal acapella singers on the balcony of the palace, timed to an amazing fireworks show, right out our window. Myles and I were so pleased to have such a fun date right off the bat, and we didn't even have to get a babysitter!

The Best "Eis" around!

This famous Italian ice-cream is mm...mm...good! I love hearing the Italian families' accents and trying new flavors like apricot lavender, walnut fig, cinnamon, etc. We like getting different flavors, trying each other's, and voting on the best.

German Playgrounds

There is a lot of playground equipment here that we've never seen before. Someone told us, "In The States, there are lawsuits. Here, people are just expected to watch their kids."

This mentality provides much more free entertainment! This is a teeter totter merry-go-round all in one was fun for Myles and I as well.

Although the girls have not been super excited about apartment hunting ever since we got here, they have had fun exploring new parks at each new area we visit. They know the towns better by "the park with the..." than their names.

Good old-fashioned merry-go-round

A "spider web," as the girls like to call it. Unfortunately, Macy got stung by a wasp here, so she doesn't want to go back. We had no ice or baking powder and were really grateful for a neighbor who shared some baking powder/water paste with us, along with the chocolate cake she'd bought the baking powder for.

They seem really big into balancing things here. There's usually some kind of balance beam at most parks we've been to. This school playground has several balance beams and even tighropes several feet off the ground!

This is a lower one without handrails.

"P" is for Pretzel!

One of our favorite lunches is freshly baked soft pretzels from a street vendor and yogurt from the grocery store. Since Myles and I were here in Feb., the price of pretzels has gone up twice. We're not sure if this is a sign of inflation, just tourist season, or both.

few toys + few friends = extra creativity

When we bought these cute little sunflowers at a farmers' market, Carly transformed the paper they were wrapped in into this...

The pocket was not only cute, it was a good idea. "I put it there to cover a hole."

Another day, she transformed a box, a little disposable washcloth hanger, and some string into a guitar/violin.

From another box, she made a baby wheelchair/backpack. This girl is definitely creative and resourceful.

Be Careful What You Wish For!

Every time we told someone we were flying out of NYC on the 4th of July, we'd say, "It's too bad we weren't leaving later so we could see all the fireworks." Well, because of our whole fiasco of trying to leave the airport for good (see ? post), we got to know this Big Apple pretty well, and ended up seeing several firework shows!

Teddy Roosevelt's (Summer) Home

This was such a fun, relaxing, and patriotic way to get to spend our 4th of July before leaving the country! Teddy's house was filled with lots of stuffed animals and fun stories to go along with them. Most everything was the original.

We had fun watching the horses...

making arts and crafts...

and eating those gourmet cupcakes!

Long Island

We enjoyed seeing how different various parts of NY were. This was a cute, little fishing village we got to play at with our friends.

This is one of my favorite family pics. from our whole road trip. It's hard to get everyone looking and smiling at the same time! And, such a nice, scenic backdrop, don't ya think?

It was fun seeing Jonas so grown up since we'd last seen him. He was so talkative and nice about sharing his toys with the girls.

Eli and Carly.

I thought this was a pretty fun action shot.

Jill and Gerry stayed up late making gourmet cupcakes for the 4th while we did our final packing. We were so glad we could re-connect with them!

Central Park

We thought the birds were pretty fun on the statue. The girls said it was like a giant bird bath for them. This park is so big that you could spend multiple days exploring it.

This park made me feel like I was at a United Nations meeting. While sitting on a bench watching the kids, a Chinese family was sitting to the left of me, a Polish family was sitting to the right of me, and people from all over the world were running in front of me. I loved hearing all the different languages and just observing.

Times Square

This part of New York was unbelievable. It really felt surreal. There was so much to see, hear, and do, it was hard to take it all in!

One of the coolest things we saw was a huge Ferris wheel you could ride on inside of a toy store. It had other fun characters from Toy Story, My Little Pony, etc. It also had the cute Fisher Price Cozy Coupe car.

This "Silver Man" was one of the girls favorite parts. They couldn't believe he was real since he looked so much like a statue. When we put money in his bucket, then he'd make a fun sound and change poses.

Carly wanted me to say that she's only on getting a shoulder ride because she'd already walked "a lot a lot."

Staten Island

If you ever want to see the Statue of Liberty, take the free Staten Island Commuter Ferry! Our friends gave us this tip, and it was a great idea. You don't have to pay a cent or wait in long lines for hours, and you still get a good enough view, in our opinion.

When we told Macy we were going to see the Statue of Liberty, she thought we were going to see one of those people who dresses up as Lady Liberty during tax season on the street corners to get your business. We tried to explain that we were seeing the real Statue of Liberty.

We loved trying the NY food and hearing the NY accent. Myles thought one food vendor's tattoo was pretty funny: Made in NY.

Princeton, NJ

Back in the 80's, my brother, Brian, went to this boarding school for a few years. It was fun to visit it again, and show Myles and the girls. I wish Brian could've been there with us. It was even his B-day weekend!

It brought back memories of how proud I always was of my big brother, and how much I missed him while he was gone. He is very talented in many ways.