Monday, May 31, 2010

Bike Tour



In northern Germany there is a lovely town on the Rhine river called Klon. Maggie and I drove up on a Tuesday and had quite an adventure. Maggie found a place to do Bike tours so we hopped on a bike and away we went.




Having never done a tour on bike I was a little apprehensive. I couldn't even remember the last time I was on a bike! At first I was a little rusty and out of breath, but by the end was riding like a pro through the busy streets. That's not to say that I'm graceful or didn't have any mishaps..... Thanks Maggie for retrieving my shoe out of the middle of the street!


We biked about 10 miles and saw much of the city which is imposable to see from the Suburban. Just say'n'. Klon has the most visited Cathedral, which sees about 1900 visitors a day. We stopped on the bridge, at a park, and most of the monuments. At an old fire house we stopped and had a Coke with lemon. Yuuummm. One really cute thing we saw was on the bridge there were locks that had been locked to the fence by couples in love that then threw the key into the river below. It is said that their love will be locked forever because the key will never be found.

Monday, May 24, 2010

Maggie's In Town

We are honoured to have our first guest in Germany: Maggie Hauer! She just finished her degree in Engineering and as a present to herself booked a flight to see us! And Germany. While she is here with us we have gone to the Flee Market, walked the trails near the house, gone to a few of the Castle ruins in our area and taken a Rhine River Cruise. She has gotten to experience not only the amazing sights, but the amazing sights with 4 kids and the Indiana Jones theme song courtesy of Silus! He has rekindled his love with a whip that plays the theme song and insists on bringing it with on all of our adventures.

Monday, May 10, 2010

Pulling Teeth

Eyan has decided that every tooth that comes out must not just simply be pulled, but must come out with the most creative method possible. His first tooth was pulled out by wrapping string around the tooth and then attaching the string to the KithchenAid, then by the switch of a button the tooth is extracted with extreme speed and no pain. What a kid. He was so eager to get that first tooth out that I wasn't even summonsed. Hence the no picture.

And so for tooth number two...... (drum roll please)




Eyan tied a string around the loose tooth. Next with the help from his trusted assistant Naomi they tied the string to a long branch, which was then pulled all the way down to the ground, and then let go of. The branch along with the tooth went flying and Eyan was relieved that yet another tooth was gone.




Friday, May 7, 2010

Snails


Here in Germany it seems like certain things are "Super Sized" and snails are no exception. Eyan went on a Snail hunt and found over 30. In one afternoon. Some are a normal size, but there are others. That are HUGE! Our neighbors were happy that he was collecting them since they are a menace to the vegetable gardens. They eat all the good stuff, and just think about it... these slimy super sized snails slugging across your crisp green lettuce. Gives me chills just typing it. Yuck!

Monday, May 3, 2010

Playmobil Land




For those of you who don't know I am a HUGE fan of Playmobil. So naturally I was thrilled when I found a Playmobil land only a few hours from us. It was great place to explore, with activities for all of us.




One of the first adventures was on a boat, I opted to be the photographer. Martin and the 4 kids maneuvered this high speed water raft with the utmost procession. And no one fell in, which I found to be amazing. In the background is a huge pirate ship that is a Playmobil toy.







Another play area was with loads and loads of sand. The object was to find "gems". We were not so successful at this station, but had fun none the less. There were jiant Playmobil men, a small mine to go in and toys to dig and sift with. For a small fee you could perchase a treasure chest, but I thought my hand worked just the same.




The weather was a bit on the chilly side so we did enjoy the indoor play area filled with every set of Playmobil imaginable. AND multiple sets. I could have stayed in this area for the whole day. It was so fun seeing all the different sets and toys and how all the kids set up everything.

Saturday, May 1, 2010

The Good Bad and Ugly



I'm happy that it's May. This means spring is here and there are leaves on the trees again. It means flip flops, short sleeved shirts, and ice tea. And maybe I can finally put away the winter coats. It's been 7 months that we have been living here and I thought I'd reflect on that.


  • The Good: The kids can speak German, and I am also learning, very slowly, but learning. Couldn't be happier with putting them in school here, I hope that they look back on this time with fond memories. It's amazing to see Europe. It's not like we have travelled that much, but it is so beautiful and amazing to see. We love the village we live in and the slower pace of life. The kids can walk down to the corner store alone, or the park and I don't worry about them. Our house is awesome, and I have my sewing room. It's pretty great, especially considering our old house.

  • The Bad: Our family is so far away. I obviously knew this would be an issue, but it's still hard. We miss them at birthday's holidays and just seeing them on a regular basis. Miss the option to fly down for a quick weekend. Plus it's so hard to plan tips here because of every ones different schedule and the price of a flight. Having to convert dollars into Euro, it's hard to explain all the whys on this one, but if you live here you know what I'm taking about.

  • The Ugly: The trash is annoying. I do like to recycle, but sometimes I just want to throw something away without thinking so much about it. The language. We are learning, but it's hard. Can't read a menu. Can't ask for directions. Can't talk to someone as they are passing by. Can't ask someone who fell if they are ok. WOW that's not so fun. And car sickness. I don't think there is a straight road in all of Germany. At lease we haven't found them. Which means car sick kids and barf bags ready.


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