The new normal

Breakfast for dinner, that's the new normal.  Matt has begun to travel for work and we are a family of three for some of the week.  Let's see how long it takes to exhaust this genre of meals :)

Isn't she lovely

M has been begging, begging, and begging to get her ears pierced.  For a while we always told her that she had to be 12, which was a completely arbitrary number, in order to get them pierced.  Then over the summer one of my friends had her daughter's ears pierced.  She felt that if the kid was ready then go for it.  Why wait, what's going to change in 6 years?

Saturday was the day.  We got a sitter to watch G so we didn't have to deal with The Beast while punching a hole in our daughter's ears.  Questions in the car centered around if it would hurt.  We did not lie to her, but we could not quite explain how it would hurt.  All I could think of was that it felt like a shot in the arm - once you start to feel the pain it's already over.  I hoped.  She knew exactly where to go once we got into the mall.  She was all smiles while Matt filled out the paperwork.  She was even all smiles while the lady cleaned her earlobes and used the purple marker for the holes.  Now that I think about it, I think Claire's used a purple marker when I got mine pierced many years ago.

Before

When the girl pierced the first ear, I thought we were going to lose her.  Her face when slack and her grip on Matt's hand was non-existent.  She whispered that she didn't want to get the second one done.  I thought I was going to cry hearing her say this.  The crowd of people watching, all at the same time, said, "Oh no, you have to get the other one."  The girl quickly pierced the second ear before she slid off the chair.

Poor kid!

Matt quickly changed the topic by having her pick out some earrings for when she can take the studs out.  She was a different girl when we got out into the mall.  She would not stop prattling about how it hurt but now it doesn't, hey that store sells earrings, when can I wear my new peace sign earrings.  I think adrenaline has a funny effect on her.  Some cake and hot chocolate took her mind off the whole thing :)

Too cute, huh?!

 Since Saturday, we've been religiously cleaning her ears 2-3 times a day.  Her lobes are still a bit sore, but she pushes through it.  The only question I have is, how long should they be sore?  The good news is that she looks super cute!

Drowning

Just when did I think that case managing students in three grade levels was a good idea.  Now, to toot my own horn (insert horn sound here), I can handle a lot of students and know what's happening at all times.  Not this year.  Two intermediate grades and one primary grade is not working.  They all need such varied support and I am only one person.  The other question is, why do all of the kids need support from 9:15-10:15 in the morning?  How about spreading the love across the day?  Just a thought.


I am trying to talk with my principal to see if he has any suggestions, such as hiring another teacher (insert hysterical laugh here).  It seems that the district motto is do more with less so I can't see that happening, unless I have a nervous breakdown.  I suspect that will happen by this time next week.


Stay tuned.

Can spiders live in vacuum bags?

Today was clean the house if it kills us day.  Our return from Germany was so close to the start of the school year that we didn't have the time to get the house in working order before working was in order.  There was no way I had the energy last weekend to even attempt anything more than the dishes.

Matt started the day off with the basement.  Oh, the basement.  It has been severely neglected for some time.  Not that it was gross, but the original organization of the toys was a distant memory.  I heard the vacuum running while I occupied Gavin upstairs.  When Matt came upstairs for a break, I thanked him for dealing with the abyss.  He said, "Oh I'm not done, that was just half the basement."  Apparently he decided to move the couches and evict the spiders living in all the dark spots (and that really gross spider web that spilled out over of the window sill for the whole family to see the victims of its owner).  One estimate tops 30 spiders.  Once his blood sugar was back up, he finished up the basement by lunchtime.   

There really is carpet down here

It is so beautiful to walk through the house and not step on bits of whoknowswhat that the kids dropped along the way.  The worst was over by the highchair.  I hate eating on a carpeted surface, but it's all the space we've got in our house.  Upon close inspection I could make out rice, bits of Veggie Straws, a Cheerio, a Lucky Charms marshmallow, and a really dried up green bean.  When the vacuum rolls over G's spot it sounds like the coin machine counting our spare change at the bank.  How long will it last?  I don't know, but for now it's a beautiful thing.

No buisness

There are many things that I should be doing this week, there are many things that I have no business doing, and several things I wish I was doing this week.


What I should be doing
School schedules - Come on the kids have been in class for a week and a half.  I just can't bring myself to work on them once I get home.

Working out - I was on a great schedule before vacation, but I can only seem to make it to the gym once a week

Cleaning the house - oh my goodness is my house a disaster.  Thankfully Matt and I have been able to at least keep up with the dinner dishes.  I can't stand waking up to the smell of last night's dinner festering in the sink.

What I have no business doing
Catching up on my guilty pleasure, Big Brother.  While the drama is so stupid I can't stop watching human beings being impressionable upon each other.  Plus Julie Chen's outfits are usually something to laugh at.


Facebook - the time abyss that is Facebook - 'nuff said.


What I want to be doing
Sleeping in - Oh 5:45 is such an evil time of the morning.  I was especially upset on Wednesday morning when I thought it was Saturday.  Evil.


Buying school clothes and shoes - going on vacation so late in August prevented the usual back to school shopping.  I was really unhappy with my warm weather work clothes at the end of last year, and I am more unhappy with them at the beginning of the year. 


Playing with my kids - homework, dinner, dishes, baths, bed - there is no time for playing in there.  I suppose weekends will become sacred at the homestead. 

Back to the routine.

We've been back to the work routine for a week now, and I am really missing summer.  M, however, could not be happier.  She LOVES 1st grade!  She never really talked much about kindergarten, but she doesn't stop talking about what she does at school.  She especially loves eating lunch at school.  I'm all for hot lunch since it makes the morning much easier for everyone.  Tomorrow is pizza day and she could not be more elated :)

At least someone is happy to go to school :)

The Schuletüte

The time has finally come, the saddest time of the year.  Back to school.  However for one member of my family, M, it's the best day of the year.  She starts first grade tomorrow!  I don't know if there is a kid happier to start school.  I'm starting the year off with a little brown nosing.  What teacher wouldn't love this from a cute brown-eyed girl on the first day of school?!

I think M's going to be really excited when we give her a Schuletüte tomorrow.  A Schuletüte is a German tradition for first graders and is a cone that contains candy, toys, and school supplies.  My friend Ann shared pictures of this tradition when her daughter was in first grade, and I immediately loved the idea.  Photos of kids in Germany shows that the cones are almost as tall as the kid receiving it.  We saw these for sale in many of the shops in Germany, but attempting to carry on a pointy cardboard cone probably would not go over so well with the flight attendants.  Luckily I have a basket with a leather loop to hook it on her door.  It will be a great surprise for her in the morning.

Off for a good night's sleep, it's a school night after all.

What I learned in Europe

1.  There are a lot of stairs.  a.lot.  Many of those stairs are skinny and curvy or the treads are very worn and treacherous.  My thighs hurt a.lot.

2.  People love their dogs. They take their dogs everywhere, even to castles which the dogs cannot enter. I'm not sure what happens to those dogs when it's time for their tour. Maybe the dogs go to the dungeon.  They even take them to IKEA and the mall.  Seeing them everywhere reminded me that I really am not a fan of dogs. 

3.  When you see a WC that looks clean, use it.  You don't know when another WC will come along.  Free ones are great but in a pinch they are worth the 50 cents.
 
4.  Gelato (aka Eis) is amazing.  It is never too early in the day for gelato.  There are never too many times to have gelato in one day.

5.  Driving on the Auto Bahn is a lot of fun for Matt and slightly scary for Holly.  Passing the police doing 200km/h is my breaking point. 

6.  The cliff is really close when driving in the mountains.

7.  The Alps.  I can't explain in words, or in a bazillion photos this impressive and amazing landform.  Clearly the people that live by them are used to them, but it seemed that around every corner we were saying some superlative to describe it.  Waterfalls and twisty roads everywhere.  I think we have a few hundred pictures of the Alps.

8.  Germans are really nice people.  Except for the guy at Schloss Linderhof who yelled at us for parking in the wrong spot.  At least we think he yelled at us, we don't speak German so we're not quite sure.  The only thing we understood was, "believable," which I think meant, "unbelievable."  One guy out of millions isn't bad.

9.  Clocks in hotel rooms are not guaranteed.  I don't know about you, but I need to know the time when I wake up in the middle of the night.

10.  Pink and Nickelback have amazing publicists because their music was on the radio all the time.  Along with some Phil Collins & Queen.  We also saw a David Hasselhoff video on MTV. 

11.  Dubbed versions of our favorite shows get easier to understand after two weeks.  Although they did have QVC; I was close to ordering something :)

12.  Acid washed jeans are not dead and apparently the "wrinkled" acid wash are quite popular.  It is also socially acceptable for men to wear capris.

13.  We'd go back in a heartbeat, preferably when we have enough frequent flier miles for airfare.

15 hours in London

Our flight from Munich was quick and we were out on the streets of London in no time.  A quick stop at the Underground ticket booth and we had our Oyster transportation card in hand.  The Piccadilly line took us from Heathrow to Central London and a few more transfers to the Kensington & Chelsea neighborhood.

Our first order of business was dinner at Wagamama and the mall across the street from our hotel had just what we were looking for.

By this time it was almost 8:00 and we were losing daylight.  A few more tube transfers and we were facing Big Ben, Parliament, (Name the movie - "Look kids, it's Big Ben and Parliament") River Thames, and the London Eye.  The night was so clear that we decided to take a ride.  The 30 minute journey atop London was a perfect ending to the vacation.  A few blurry photos and we were spent for the night.

I set the alarm for 5:20 so we could be out the door of the hotel by 6:30.  I came to an interesting realization, 5:20 London time was 11:20 Chicago time.  Crazy.  We went a few tube stops to Notting Hill Gate for an amazing breakfast at Pret A Manger.  I had "proper" porridge with honey, a yogurt pot, and orange juice.  Matt had a pain au raisin, British berries, and coffee.  I will remember this breakfast for a long time.

We thought the remainder of the morning would be smooth sailing to Heathrow. Just take the Circle line to the Piccadilly.  Well, the Piccadilly had a problem this morning as there was a "fire alert" a few stops away.  Great.  Matt's quick thinking figured out a work around for the delay and we made it to Heathrow in plenty of time.

The ride home is always longer than you remember.  The eight hour flight took forever.  We watched Tina Fey's Date Night and Shrek Forever After along with a CSI and How I Met Your Mother.  I took two short naps.  We flew over Greenland and saw some amazing views of the landform and glaciers.  Hopefully the photos below relay how amazing it looks. 

Yeah, that's a glacier in Greenland

We had no issues with customs or the taxi ride home.  Half of the laundry is done, and as of 5:30 we are dragging.  I think it's PB&J for dinner and then off to bed.

The kiddos come home tomorrow!  We.can't.wait.

MUC -> LHR -> ORD-> Home!

We are in the home stretch of our vacation, literally.  As of now we're in the Munich airport waiting for our flight to London.  We'll be there for all of about 15 hours.  The early closing times will prohibit us from touring anything, but an Underground pass will keep us busy "window shopping" our favorite sites. 

We will also partake in our two favorite London restaurants - Wagamama & Pret A Manger. 

We made the most of our half day in Germany; we took the long way around Munich and stopped at the Concentration Camp in Dachau.  I snapped a few photos, but there was no way I could take any of the major sections like the barracks and crematorium.  They are forever imprinted in my mind and that's all I need.  Overall, the presentation was tasteful and a proper memorial.

The wealth of information provided through the different rooms of one of the main SS houses was overwhelming.  The long and short was that the SS picked and chose who they didn't like and found ways to make life miserable.  We did not realize the number of main and secondary camps scattered through Germany, Austria, and beyond.  Thankfully for my kleenex supply there was not an installation showing the personal possessions of the camp prisoners, like I've heard is at Auschwitz.  

I suppose we left Munich on a down note, but it was certainly a powerful farewell.

On our way to the airport, Matt had to open it up one more time on the Autobahn.  We even passed a Police car along the way. 

Yes, that's just before he hit 200 km/h

We're off to London for a few hours!  Ta-Ta!

Final day is Salzburg

As our two week vacation comes to a close, we are pooped!  We've seen all the churches, palaces, and gardens we can see.  With no particular destination in mind we turned off the Sat Nav and drove back toward Salzburg this morning.  The funniest signs of today, and I certainly have a lot of funny sign photos, were these along the road during road construction.  It's a novel way to let you know how long the construction will last.  How do you think these would go over in Chicago?

Grrr, construction

Ugh, the construction is still happening

Eh, it's not so bad

Hey!  It's over in 1 km.  I can handle that.

Last night I realized that we neglected to seek out the Sound of Music gazebo and get a full front shot of the palace while at Schloss Hellbrunn.  It was on our way to our undetermined destination so we snapped a few photos. 

The Sound of Music was a huge flop in Austrian theatres.  Some reports say it only played in theatres for a week!  Its current location at Schloss Hellbrunn is not the orignal location.  The gazebo was used in the movie for Lisel & Rolf and Maria & Captain Von Trapp.  It was origninally located at the private Schloss Leopoldskron but too many tourists wanted to see it; Schloss Hellbrunn is its new home.  I suppose becuase the move is not a part of Salzburg pop culture, but the gazebo seems to be unceremoniously shoved in a corner of the gardens.  We enjoyed the sunshine of the gardens for a while before the rain started to roll in.  We took advantage of Kaffee & Kuchen at our hotel and watched the downpour from our balcony. 

Tonight brings packing and an early bedtime.  If we can make it work, we are going to attempt to visit Dachau tomorrow before going to the airport in the afternoon.  Tomorrow afternoon brings a flight to London for a quick overnight stop before an early Wednesday morning flight home.

I sure miss my kids, Sonic, and Coke with ice and bubbles.

Whatcha talkin' 'bout Weatherman?

Like many days before rain and cool temperatures were in the forecast for today.  I was quite concerned when I got up because the wind was whipping the trees and the rain was coming down.  After breakfast the clouds parted and we saw blue skies and sunshine.  Weatherman, you lie because by the end of the day it was clear blue skies and almost 80 degrees. 

We took advantage of the weather while it was presented to us and jumped in the car for Salzburg.  We needed to stock up on car provisions and pulled into the market.  That's when we remembered that today was Sunday and just about everything is closed.  The gas station is the place for snacks and provisions. 

The drive from Berchtesgaden to Salzburg was only about 20 minutes.  Salzburg is a compact city that is very walkable.  The signs hanging outside the shops are made of ornate iron.

We wanted to tour Schloss Mirabelle but it's closed on the weekends so we explored the Mirabelle gardens instead.  We saw Mozart's birthplace and some pretty swanky closed shops. 

Salzburg from the Mirabelle Gardens

Maria's fountain from the Sound of Music

Wouldn't the kids look sooo cute?!

The next spot on the list for today was Schloss Hellbrunn at the outskirts of Salzburg. 

This palace was originally meant to be a day palace for the Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg so no bedrooms were constructed.  The gardens of Hellbrunn are filled with trick fountains.  We got smart as to where they were along the paths and stayed out of the way.  Hellbrunn was an ingenious invention back in the day as no electricity was available to run the trick fountains.  They are supplied with "source water," water from its source, and water wheels help make the things move.  The funniest fountain was the marble table...

 
The chairs (except for the boy in green at the head of the table) and the perimeter of the chairs are rigged with a sprayer.  The Prince-Archbishop would give the signal and a servant would set off the sprayers.  The story goes that it was impolite for anyone to stand up while the Prince-Archbishop was still seated, so they had to sit and endure water being sprayed up their tushes.  The kids did a great job demonstrating it for the crowd.

Even the game is a fountain!

Our final excursion of the day was to Hallstatt. This lake is surrounded by the mountains and is one of the places that will reflect the mountains in the still water. There was a little bit of wind and boat traffic on the lake today so we could not see the perfect reflection but it was pretty darn good. The town was a bit busy and we really didn't want to pay for parking so a short drive to the other end of the lake paid off with free parking and and an empty beach.

 
Hallstatt was about two hours from Berchtesgaden, and we've trusted our Sat Nav up to this point.  Tonight was a bit questionable.  She told us to turn right then an immediate left, which was not out of the ordinary.  However, the immediate left looked to be a one lane road up a very steep hill.  The difference thus far is that we've taken mostly major highways and the AutoBahn  We figured, what the heck, go for it.  This little road gave us the greatest perspective of the German countryside without hotels and guesthouses - kids playing in the yards and guys in Lederhosen raking the grass.   

After dinner we got to Skype with the kids.  I think M was more excited than us.  She sat with us for about 15 minutes.  G was in and out, but we think he was happy to see us.  One more day in the Salzburg region before we start our journey home via London.