Postings from Germany

USA January 2010

The blog certainly deserves its name - it has been very occasional lately.  Now that we're back home, now that the schedule is more or less under control and more or less back to normal, I'll put the fingertips to the keyboard and see what I remember.

9AM the day before we left.  See the sun?  The little round pale thing? This is not an atypical Bremen winter sky (here driving down the street in front of the main train station with the flyover to the left).The sun is low, there are often hazy clouds, it just isn't bright. We were so looking forward to Florida sunshine. 

And we found it!  The very first day!  It wasn't all that warm, but warm enough by our usual standards.  Hayden is in school during the week; either Dylan has a great memory or got a little coaching from mom and dad, but she was quick to ask "Take a walk?"  After Werner reads the paper, of course!  

We put the baby in the stroller and very conscientiously (this is serious business) took the baby for a walk to the playground and checked out the slide and then headed back home.  Dylan is still a pretty easy kid.  And I still don't understand why she is so modest in front of a camera because she smiles and laughs like a crazy girl!

Hayden has discovered the computer big time since we were last here.  There are all kinds of sites where he can practice spelling and matching - he loves it and he is so good at it!  Dylan doesn't always love to just watch, but she can be pretty patient. 

After a week of playing with the little kids, we went to Atlanta to play with the big kids.  We had dinners with Ginny and Barry and Julia and Larry, of course, and did some shopping, of course.  Saturday morning EVERYONE got together at Julia's for breakfast, and Mother made her yummy crispy waffles - of course!  We were lucky to have Carla there since she is on the road so much this time of year.  The new kid on the block, Will, was a bit taken aback by all the goings-on, but he was a trooper.  Later, Keith, Liz and and their crew arrived and we got to play Scrabble. I forgot who won, but hey it was fun!

OFF TO FLORIDA AGAIN!  It was Super Bowl Party time which means getting the table ready for all the food, the jumpy house up for the kids and football for everyone.  It's a treat to see Michelle and Joey's neighbors and friends  - it's almost like we live there!

We made a side trip to Tallahasse to see Nancy and meet her new puppy Minnie.  She's a one-eyed wonder, full of energy and personality.  It might be a tug-of-war for a while between the two of them.  I'm not betting on who wins.  

There weren't many other goings-on - the kids had school, we cooked and talked and watched a couple of movies (Akeela and the Bee, Nanny McPhee - both on the must-see list for a year or more - and worth the wait!).  Werner painted decorations for Hannah's room re-do, I did a bit of sewing.  Fun, all of it.

We left Monday for Orlando so we could have an overnight there before heading out on Tuesday.  The only problem with that plan was that our flight didn't leave until Wednesday.  That wouldn't have been a bad thing except that we didn't realize our mistake until we tried to check in at the airport!  How old-geezerish!  How embarrassing!  Oh well, better than one day too late!!  We were welcomed back for an extra night with Lee, Crissy and kids and enjoyed one more day of sunshine before returning to cold, gray, snowy Bremen. 

Next time, the adventure will be lots more adventurous.  In the meantime, I'll post some of the more ordinary goings on around here. 

Au revoir.  Auf Wiedersehen.  See ya.