Saturday, August 30, 2008






Steven's work had an event for the kids called a "Spur Ride". It's a chance for them to have fun, and play at Daddy's job while"Earning their Spurs".
It was a hot afternoon, but they had a great time! They got put in the wrong squadron but the teams were competing with each other, so in the end that was a good thing.
They got to do Land Nav, Camo application,First Aid ( Kailey got a prize for knowing the answers!). Small PT skills test ( Bryan jumped the furthest!), a Maneuver course ( the rifle was too heavy for Kailey and Bryan got his hung up on the line they had to crawl under), a "grenade" course, and the Litter carry.

They were hot, tired, and hungry - but had a blast! Being on the wrong Squad team also paid off - their smaller team had the fastest time on Land Nav, so they got an extra certificate.

Daddy is SO proud!!!

Friday, August 29, 2008

First Day of School!






Yea! 3rd Grade at last!!!

Things are going really well. Both kids got the perfect teacher for them.
Kailey is happy that she gets a desk , and structure, and set times for subjects...She has even made a new friend - Hannah. I doubt Hannah will ever replace Mia, but she's a nice friend to have for now. I got to meet Hannah's Mother at Open House and she is trying to get a playdate together, which Kailey hasn't had since we moved here...

Colby has a desk and structure, too. But more importantly - he has a teacher with rules and expectations for him and he seems to be thriving on the challenge. He's also not "Colby" this year - he has decided he wants to be just "Bryan" and since neither his teacher nor his new classmates have ever heard differently - it's working out pretty well for him. I noticed last year - whenever he needed to write a story with a main character - the character was always 'Bryan'. It was like an alter-ego for him...'Bryan's' love interest/best friend was always 'Kayla' as well...Poor kid! He misses her so much!
So far,though, BRYAN'S getting along OK with the kids in his class.

Even though they are in regular classes this year - the work is still behind the level they were at. For example, Bryan's teacher is starting "fast math" - timed simple addition and subtraction skills. Bryan, on the other hand, had been doing "Rocket Math" at Oak Mtn ( an AMSTI school) since 1st grade. The spelling words are too easy, and the books are boring, but after reading assessment in a few weeks - they should have harder book choices.

I'm not stressing so much about the school curriculum this year - if Steven ends up getting what he wants to do - we won't be going back to the States anytime soon. THEN, hopefully,education -wise they'll get back to where they need to be.

Saturday, August 23, 2008

Portable Happiness...


I have two addictions - reading and shopping/gadgets. Shopping/gadgets get combined as one addiction because mostly what I shop for is electronic gadgets.
Reading has been my primary addiction since the summer after my 2nd grade year when I read my first novel, Leon Uris' "Exodus". It also requires shopping, so all is well in my world...

The problem with this addiction is I have WAY too many books. And I move...a lot. Now, Steven is a book addict as well, but he trades or gets rid of his books. I. Can't. Do. That...
When you have as many books as I do - you go a few months or years without reading them, get bored, and go back and read them again - it's like you have new book. I don't remember all of their plots...

Anyway. Books + Moving = bad. Bad, as in, we have a weight allowance and books are heavy and put us over that allowance. Also, space is ALWAYS a problem - never enough room for the bookshelves we need.

Last year, the brilliant people at Amazon. com developed a new type of media along the lines of an eBook. Only better. Slim, portable, wireless...By itself it holds over 200 titles. With the additional memory card - it can hold almost 2,000! Anything Amazon has in it's stock - you can get downloaded to the Kindle - books, magazines, newspapers.... and nothing over $10. Not one single, new -release best seller....

I HAD to have it! So, this summer, it went on sale and I bought it. Before it ever even arrived, I had bought 32 books and had them waiting in my account. The downside was that Amazon won't ship here and so I had to have it shipped to Mom...who held it hostage for almost a month...but that ended up being a good thing. I was able to have her open it , charge it, and just in the time it took her to flick the wireless switch - all of my books had downloaded!

The design is so comfortable. I like to lie in bed when I read at home, and since I hurt my shoulder - I can't ever get comfortable. The Kindle took care of that. And I can take it with me EVERYWHERE! It fits in my purse, but usually, I just hand carry it.

Now, obviously the wireless- instant- download function doesn't work over here in Europe. It's no problem, though. I just connect the USB port to my laptop, go to Amazon, and within seconds of logging on to my account - it downloads directly to the Kindle.

Right now, I have about 75 novels on it. I have read about 12 of them in the past 3 weeks and I have 3 of them that I have partially read...

This makes me happy. Very, very happy. I had been frustrated here in Germany because my local AAFES Bookmark doesn't get much stock and I had already bought or previously read everything they had. I HAD also placed an order from Books A Million, but it got lost in shipping for a month and then took over 6 WEEKS to get here.

Nope. The Amazon Kindle is just what I needed - affordable, instant book shopping - and a gadget 'toy'.

Life is good.

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Mallorca!

Subtitle:
"Planes, Trains,and Automobiles...and buses and tractors?!"

The 18 months we lived in Alabama, Twinz and Mom got very used to going down to the beach every chance we got. Our first summer break here in Germany was kind of lonely and boring, therefore, it wasn't long before Kay and Cole were asking " SO, when are we going to the beach?" Good question...

The possibilities were endless, and a bit daunting for me, so I put it off WAY too long until pretty soon - it was time for school to start. My children were NOT happy with me and I was disappointed in myself - SO, called the travel agency to see what was available. We had many exotic choices, but in the end - I decided on Mallorca. One of the Balearic Islands, in the Mediterranean, off the coast of Spain.

We had an AMAZING time, full of many firsts, and to date is the biggest adventure the 3 of us have ever had together.


Our trip started with a very early morning train trip from Pegnitz to Nurnberg ( 1st train trip!). Then it was on to the subway (Ubahn) in Nurnberg to get to the airport (Flughafen). ( 1st subway trip!) And then a short Air Berlin flight to Palma , the Capital city of Mallorca.

Steven has always said ' If we can ever move the Rocky Mountains to the Gulf of Mexico - THAT is where we will retire'... Well, Baby - I found it! That IS Mallorca...

I was very surprised at the landscape. For the most part, the interior of the Island looks just like New Mexico. I found myself thinking about the Spanish explorers who set out to find the new and exotic world and to prove the world was round. I wonder, really, if any of them thought they had just gotten lost and gone in a circle? I was blown away by how much this Island of Spain looked just like the Southern United States and Mexico...

So, outside Palma, you have flat farmland, full of livestock, scrub, and barrio towns, surrounded by mountains, and then edged in tropical paradise...

The other surpise for me was the German influence. There are 3 languages spoken in Mallorca - Mallorqui ( like a Catalan Spanish), English, and German. Mostly? I just heard German - in the airport, in the buses, the shops, signs on the road, and even my favorite German store was there - Mueller's. Steven insists I share my "language experience" here and I might as well- at the end.

Anyway, Our bus ride was twice as long as our flight over , but SO worth the wait! Our hotel was situated on the sand in a cove called a "Cala". It was called Cala Romantica and it was breathtaking! Now, the main body of the hotel was right on the beach, but the rest of the small guest villas were situated from the beach up to the hill. Naturally - ours was at the top! It was kind of neat, though - there was, literally, a large farm tractor that transported us up the hill when we needed it ( Another first!). Our view of the Mediterranean was well worth it!

We spent the whole week just swimming in one of the 3 different pools, lying in the sun, eating too much (all inclusive) of the local foods, resting, enjoying the scenery, playing - the hotel had 3 playgrounds, shuffleboard, mini-golf, archery, a Kids club! - and hanging out at the beach...

For the first time, the kids got to go snorkeling and body boarding. They got to have fresh pineapple and coconuts from a guy with a wheelbarrow on the beach.(Colby and Kailey both have ALWAYS wanted to drink coconut milk from a coconut - Colby liked it, Kailey, not so much...). They also got to see a lot more nudity than they are used to. I had warned Colby about the topless women and mostly - he didn't even notice. However, neither Kailey nor I, were prepared for the rather large German men to take their Speedos off right there in the open and put on pants...

The Cala was unlike anything I have ever seen - from the beach out to the open Sea - it never got deeper than my chin, except for when a wave came in, which was rare. The water? Oh, my! SO clear you could see my nail polish from 4ft. + up - NO fish, NO seaweed,NO shells, No debris...Sometimes the sand would kick up when you walked, but would quickly settle down. I normally don't like to swim in the ocean, but we never wanted to get out.
It was very easy to see why the pirates loved these Cala's - one of the best parts for Pirate-loving us was the fact that the REAL Pirate CPT Barbossa called Mallorca "home" back in his day!

Unfortunately, the days passed all too quickly in paradise and it was time to go home. Of course, in order to GET home we had to go thru check-out ( at 0400) and then repeat the bus, plane, subway,train, and automobile routine...

Some of our more memorable highlights from the trip:

The gecko. And I don't mean that tiny little green one with the precious Aussie accent that works for Geico either. I'm talking, palm-sized, brown -striped, UGLY , climbs all over, local species that was our roommate all week. He would not leave - we would not sleep for fear of waking up with him on top of us. I don't *think* he came home with us, but just so we'd never forget - we bought a local handmade pottery one...

The food. Colby ate about 20 beef empanadas one night - he just couldn't help himself. Kailey and I were addicted to the local olives, cheese and fruit. I tried a local tuna one night, but then left the seafood alone after that - all of the dishes had a card on them in the 3 languages - on one fish dish it said "NOT a poison fish". That led me to believe that if there needed to be an identifier on THAT fish - better leave the others alone...

Marine biology. Not the ocean life kind, but rather the kind that takes place between a human male and female standing up having full-out relations in the 5 ft of water, RIGHT where myself and the 8 yr olds happen to be snorkeling...

Gerardo - the flirtatious bartender who called me "Senorita" every evening,kept the kids high on sugary concoctions with fruit, and made me his 'Colada Especials' ( I don't ever want to know what those shots were really made of...). Thanks for boosting my ego from the geographically- single Mom!

My new favorite language - Steven insists that I share my experience in conversing with the locals. So, here it is verbatim from the email I sent him:

"Baby? FYI - "Spanglishman" = language, not noun. Span (ish) + (En)glish + (Ger)man It's complicated... For example:

Juan Carlos - Buenos Dias, Frau Griffin!

Myself - Buenos Dias! Como esta?

JC - Ser Gut, Danke. Going swimming today?

Myself - Ja! Unless die wasser is muy frio

JC -( laughing at me, again....) Si, si! Do you need anything ?

Me - No, ser gut. Gracias..

JC - OK, Adios!

Me - Tschuss!


I actually much prefer it - communication was much easier with the staff ( who all speak it) than the Germans..."

Sunday, August 10, 2008

German-American Volksfest






These Germans like to party! They call them "Fests" and they happen all the time. No matter how small a town it is - if there is a square foot of empty space to be found - at some point they will throw up a tent, offer food,beer, and music and have a great time.

In Schweinfurt, we had MANY of these fests, several times a year, on a bigger scale - they included rides and games. Coincidentally, the day we took Kailey and Colby to Schweinfurt to see where they came from - there was a Fest going on. They LOVED it! and it helped to convince them that maybe Germany might not be so bad after all...

Down here in Grafenwoehr - they have a very large, yearly, German-American Volksfest ( in addition to the many, smaller,local ones). It is the very best food, great music, tons of beer, and all of our most favorite rides, games, and snacks. Throw local craft vendors in there - and a great time is had by all! The only thing missing was Daddy.....
But he's looking forward to next year!!

Thursday, August 7, 2008

Lazy days...

This is where we spend our warm days ( and not so warm ones when I give in to the whining!) We are so lucky to have such a great place to swim out here. Weekends are mildly crowded until about 4:30 pM and then we usually have the whole place to ourselves until closing at 8PM.
During school hours for the Germans ( 9AM - 1PM)- it's also pretty deserted. We have an indoor Winter pool as well...
Our favorite parts are the slide and the main pool. The main pool has several water features that they rotate turning on throughout the day...there's a spout that shoots continuous water for a bit, then a strong current that flows around the outer edge. The box in the back has a waterfall that comes down. Off to the side near the building is a curve of seats that has jets, so it's like a whirlpool.
The baby pool area has water spouts as well...
All of this is surrounded by a very large meadow where we ,usually, claim the nearest tree and put down a blanket to relax and picnic. There's also a lake with swans, a playground with sandy area, and an outdoor cafe.
Inside is also a section of the main pool, bathrooms and changing area...


Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Garmisch Retreat

In a word - wonderful !!!

The Edelweiss Resort is cozy and has amazing views near the base of the Bavarian Alps. Not as impressive as the Rocky Mtn's ( THESE Alps are smaller), but beautiful, nevertheless. My favorite thing was all the people in the bright colored parachutes paragliding from the top all the way down to the trees. Paragliding is basically where you just strap on a 'chute turn into the wind and let it carry you off the mountain. You have to go to a school first, but I SO want to do that before we leave here!!!

Anyway...back to the story....

I followed April down on Friday morning and we arrived early enough to hit the town area before we had to be checked in. There was a great little Markt going on , but I decided to save the shopping for Saturday. 5 kids + road trip = bad timing...

Once we arrived and got checked in - The kids went off to swim a bit while the Moms unpacked and got settled. Friday night we got a bit of a break from the kids and a brief get -together with the Group . Unfortunately, April's baby became ill and ended up in the local German ER. Twinz and Mom were tired, so we stayed in our room and watched movies.

Morning came all too soon, and it was off to breakfast to get everyone fed before sending the big kids off to Kids Club, and Owen to childcare. Then it was off to an interesting 2 hr Group session. Didn't learn anything new - of all the women there, Steven has apparently been gone the most....Wish that meant that he could just stay home now, but unfortunately talk has already turned to the next *potential* vacation... Just ONCE - I'd like to have him home from one vacation before getting notice of another. Just... once....

Anyway, Our plan for a Mom's only afternoon hit the bricks when April decided to go back home - Baby Jack was sick and she was stressing ,instead of relaxing. Soooo....I had all that time to myself and conditions were PERFECT for an afternoon nap (cool, drizzly,quiet) - but I HAD to sleep that night if I was going to make the drive back on Sunday, so started my favorite iTunes list on my laptop, grabbed my magazines and sat on the patio enjoying the incredible view...And if you know me at all, you know that cool and rainy + cloud covered mountains is just about heaven for me. I started missing Kailey and Colby, though...

The kids had a good time at the theme park ( Grimm's Fairytaleland) - 1st time to go somewhere like that without Mommy and Daddy, and - Oh yeah - the Club chaperons put them in groups and let them be by themselves....Did NOT know that ahead of time, but all's well that ends well, I guess. April and her crew hit the road, which was sad for us, but I think she was glad to be going. Something was definitely wrong with Jack...

That evening the three of us had an early, quiet dinner and then went back to our room to rest a bit. Then we went downstairs so the kids could swim. EVERYONE was down there, so the Twinz had a great time! I even had a good time - some of the other wives introduced themselves and talked me into the hot pool outside and we had a blast - even when it started pouring down rain! Nearing 11PM, Colby actually dozed off as I was gliding around the pool with him so we stopped off at the snack bar for a late snack and then it was off to bed.

AND.....I.....SLEPT!!!! aaahhhhh...wow.... I can't ,honestly, remember the last time I slept thru the night.

Sunday morning was warm, if overcast, so the kids and I checked out and decided to go for it - A trip to the Zugspitze. The highest Alpine point in Germany... It was just a short trip from our hotel to the bahnhof that would take us up to the Zugspitzeplatte ( the base camp, of sorts)...

But that story is for the next blog. :D

*Blog Update* Since I mentioned he was sick... April's baby, Jack? Poor angel - he ended up being that 1% of kids that actually GOT the measles from his MMR shot. Also , it turns out April's nephew had died in an accident on Thursday night ,as well....It was just meant to be that April went home early.



Pics from Garmisch






Here's some photos taken from the front of the hotel. The sunset ones are my favorite!!!

Friday, August 1, 2008

Zugspitze

So the Twinz and Mom decided to end our weekend retreat with a little adventure. The gift shop at Edelweiss had the tickets we needed for the journey up and down at discount - so off we went.

I decided we were better off taking the Zugspitzbahn up to the base camp versus the aerial tram. Kailey has a thing about heights due to an earlier, somewhat traumatic, experience at Airborne school when she was 5 yrs old. ( My fault - YES, Honey.) Just couldn't talk her into it...

We had to wait a really loooong time for the train and Colby was impatient and thirsty. I had packed water in my backpack, but not enough for him to start THEN. So, he got himself into trouble and spent most of the day pouting as you will see in the photos...We're going to need to start him a map - "Places in the world where I have gotten in trouble".

The train ride up was really cool - they show you a movie about how the line was built going thru the surrounding mountains to get to the Base. Halfway up , we stopped and got out for 5 minutes to enjoy the view of the surrounding area and The Eibsee ( an Alpine lake) below us. Twinz had a great time.

Got to the Base and went outside to see it all. I was surprised at how desolate it was. I have been up in the Rockies many times, to include the top of Pike's Peak, and since this area was at a much lower elevation - I didn't expect it. Just brown and rocky with patches of snow. Some restaurants, a chapel, ski /snowboard slopes, and trails....The trails looked like fun, but we were NOT outfitted for that, so we just hung around.

( OK, it was summer,and I have lived here, and in mountainous areas enough to know how to prep for high altitude weather. HOWEVER - in my defense - this wasn't on the agenda. Kids wore tennis shoes and I had packed their rain jackets. I also had a jacket - just not any sensible shoes...)

Anyway, It was very overcast and we were up above a layer of clouds. We had clear visibility around us - just not up or down. Every so often we'd get a break in the clouds, and could see - but it only happened a few times. Colby LOVED it !!! He has always wanted to be "in the clouds". He also LOVED climbing the surrounding rocks - drove me nuts! He was like a mountain goat, scrambling up and down... Kailey wanted to climb ,too, and she did a bit - but the combination of her leg muscle problem and the dress she was wearing didn't make it easy for her.

After getting some sodas, falling in the snow pile, and buying the Twinz new, grossly overpriced, fleece pullovers ( Colby the mountain goat managed to rip his jacket somehow) - It was time to force Kailey onto the aerial tram for the ascent to the actual top of Zugspitze. Kailey handled it really well - better than most of the people on it with us ,in fact. Probably the 15 minutes that we were delayed while they worked on a cable issue in front of us - didn't help.

The top of Zugspitze is probably spectacular - on a clear day. Colby got his wish and was actually IN the clouds.

Colby - "Look Mom! I'm eating cloud!!!" ( as he ran around the platform with his mouth open). His other favorite activity was fighting with Kailey over the binoculars we brought, and waiting until my back was turned so he could spit over the side...boys! :D

Kailey pretended to enjoy it,venturing to the railing WAY more than I thought she would. I think it helped that because of the lack of visibility - she couldn't see down. Or anywhere else, for that matter...

The building at the top is 3 stories tall and is gift shops and restaurants. Meeting facilities and a museum of sorts. The ACTUAL highest point is marked by a golden cross which has a trail you can take to it. We WILL take that short trail before we leave here - I promise!

There is also a former Alpine checkpoint on the peak where Germany meets Austria. It used to be passport control, but now it is open and is a terrace restaurant and mini visitor center. I HAD to take a picture of the kids standing in the middle of 2 countries, much to their frustration...

Kailey - "Uh,Mom? is this ANOTHER one of those things I'm going to wish I remembered when I'm old?"

"Yes, Honey!"

Kailey ( under her breath and gritting her teeth) "She ALWAYS says that!!!"

Twinz got hungry and there was a cafe right there in the open ,so we sat down and had the BEST sauerkraut and wurst with mashed potatoes I have ever had here in Germany. It started to get darker ...and quieter... and I realized that the only people up there with us seemed to be the handful of climbers who had made the trek up on foot.....uh oh.

I had forgotten to look at the board to see what time the last tram down was, and I also had YET to pick up a watch since we moved here. I grabbed the Twinz and we quickly made our way 3 flights down to the tram platform....where it was crowded ! Praise the Lord! Not gonna be left behind TODAY...

Now, I had decided on the tram up from the base camp - that we would skip the doing the tram back down and then the train. There was another aerial tram that went STRAIGHT up and down from the peak to the bahnhof, where we were parked . And by straight - I mean zzzzzzippp down. HERE is where Kailey REALLY panicked ! I gotta say - My butterflies in the tummy were airborne themselves...

What gooses we were! Between the smoothness of the tram and the cloud cover - we were, literally, halfway down before we even realized we had left the platform. We had to break through the clouds to even see that we were moving. The views were INCREDIBLE! I had a wonderful non-conversation with this little old German guy on the way down. He was so sweet! I don't know if he realized I understood nothing of what he was saying, 'cause he just kept talking - but when we "landed" and got out - he went and got me a brochure, in English, of the Zugspitze.

So, that was the end of our weekend in Garmisch. Hungry, again, and tired - it was time to go home!

But, we'll be back in December...With Daddy!!! :D

Zugspitze Slideshow

Newer Posts Older Posts Home