Catching Up
Wait, have I already used that title?
School got out on June 16th and we were on the road to Austria. We teamed up with the Mlacks for this journey and drove 4 hours to Salzburg for our first stop on the 1600km adventure. We spent the night and the next day in Salzburg and then continued on to Vienna. Both of the cities were just places to roam about with not too many "must-see's". We did spend some time in the Hofburg Palace in Vienna and caught a hour of the opera "The Magic Flute" at the Vienna opera house. Vienna is quite possibly the prettiest, cleanest city I have visited. I didn't love it, and don't feel the need to go back, but it was really quite nice.
Upon our return from Austria we had a busy week with local activities, the RitterSport Chocolate Factory visit, a trip to the pool with friends, and Matt and I and our friends Marty and Angela enjoyed a lovely evening with Sir Elton John. He was in concert right here in Mannheim and we couldn't resist. I must say, it was a great show. He is old but he can still jam!
The following week the boys started summer school. Every time I say "summer school" I get corrected with "summer enrichment". I'm not sure what the difference is, but basically the boys went to class for 3 hours each day to learn a little and mainly just keep busy.
The first days of July were filled with mixed emotions. I had to say goodbye my good friend Darlene and my "up and coming" friend Rebecca. Darlene was the first friend I had here in Germany and is definitely a dear one. She is one of the ladies whom I met with each week for bible study. She lived right around the corner from me and we saw each other and chatted almost every single day of the last 2 years. Rebecca and I just recently became friends but she is a special lady and I wish we had more time together. To make the sad goodbye even worse, these two ladies each had a son Eli's age. Eli had to say goodbye to his two very best friends in the history of all time and say farewell to a special circumstance. We live in a compound of 100 houses. It is gated, and the only way in is past two sets of guards. The boys were safe. And because of this compound lifestyle, they were free to play for hours between all three of the houses. During the last few months the other boys' toys were packed and shipped so our house became very popular. I must say, even though it got crazy in here with all the boys running around, they are the most respectful, wonderful boys and I am also going to miss them.
Hours after saying goodbye to our friends, our family jumped on a flight to Croatia. Yeah a country not using the Euro! We stayed in Pula and took a day trip to Rovinj. We spent half of our days in the city roaming around and the rest of the day enjoying the cool waters of the Adriatic. I loved Rovinj and have placed it way up there on my favorite places list!
July has flown by. We got back on the 5th, had a pool day a day later, and had a fancy schmancy ball on the 9th. It was fun to get all fancy and go dancing. I finally realized that I just don't really have fancy in me. You can put me in a fancy dress and shoes and even do my nails but the up-do and glam make-up just looks odd on me so I just look like plain old me in a fancy dress. That being said, we had a good time.
The boys started playing summer baseball this month as well. It is German baseball. If that sounds weird, it should. Germans don't really play baseball so this is a fun opportunity for Eli and Gabe to play. The coach is the American coach that has worked with Eli the last two seasons of little league. He speaks impeccable German, so he decided to teach German kids how to play and use the American kids to help show them how it is done. Not a lot of games going on but good practice and a good opportunity.
Matt left of Italy last week doing some thing official, however, he did go to Venice on a completely unofficial trip. I guess it is the perk of being forced to hang out in Italy for a week. You work a lot and get to sight-see a little. Not to bad if you ask me.
Since this installation is closing down, our resources here are diminishing and the "friend" population is as well. Mika and I decided to sign the kids up for swim lessons...in Ramstein which is an hour away. The lessons are two days a week for just 4 weeks, so we make a day of it and head up the hill. Their first lessons were today, and I was pleased with the organization and teaching. Only 7 more trips to go.
The kids finish summer enrichment this week and then comes that long stretch of summer where we don't have much planned. Matt and I are going to Crete the first few days of August, without the kids! We are excited for a kid-free venture. Eli also has a great opportunity coming up in August. He will be attending a Christian Evangelism Fellowship camp in Switzerland. I can't believe we are sending him off, alone, to the Swiss Alps for a week. OK, so he isn't alone, but it will be his first time ever going somewhere without a member of at least his extended family. I'm praying that it is a great time for him.
That's it. Nothing fancy, nothing funny, not even anything thought provoking. Do I dare say that I'll try and blog again soon? I don't know. We'll see.
School got out on June 16th and we were on the road to Austria. We teamed up with the Mlacks for this journey and drove 4 hours to Salzburg for our first stop on the 1600km adventure. We spent the night and the next day in Salzburg and then continued on to Vienna. Both of the cities were just places to roam about with not too many "must-see's". We did spend some time in the Hofburg Palace in Vienna and caught a hour of the opera "The Magic Flute" at the Vienna opera house. Vienna is quite possibly the prettiest, cleanest city I have visited. I didn't love it, and don't feel the need to go back, but it was really quite nice.
Upon our return from Austria we had a busy week with local activities, the RitterSport Chocolate Factory visit, a trip to the pool with friends, and Matt and I and our friends Marty and Angela enjoyed a lovely evening with Sir Elton John. He was in concert right here in Mannheim and we couldn't resist. I must say, it was a great show. He is old but he can still jam!
The following week the boys started summer school. Every time I say "summer school" I get corrected with "summer enrichment". I'm not sure what the difference is, but basically the boys went to class for 3 hours each day to learn a little and mainly just keep busy.
The first days of July were filled with mixed emotions. I had to say goodbye my good friend Darlene and my "up and coming" friend Rebecca. Darlene was the first friend I had here in Germany and is definitely a dear one. She is one of the ladies whom I met with each week for bible study. She lived right around the corner from me and we saw each other and chatted almost every single day of the last 2 years. Rebecca and I just recently became friends but she is a special lady and I wish we had more time together. To make the sad goodbye even worse, these two ladies each had a son Eli's age. Eli had to say goodbye to his two very best friends in the history of all time and say farewell to a special circumstance. We live in a compound of 100 houses. It is gated, and the only way in is past two sets of guards. The boys were safe. And because of this compound lifestyle, they were free to play for hours between all three of the houses. During the last few months the other boys' toys were packed and shipped so our house became very popular. I must say, even though it got crazy in here with all the boys running around, they are the most respectful, wonderful boys and I am also going to miss them.
Hours after saying goodbye to our friends, our family jumped on a flight to Croatia. Yeah a country not using the Euro! We stayed in Pula and took a day trip to Rovinj. We spent half of our days in the city roaming around and the rest of the day enjoying the cool waters of the Adriatic. I loved Rovinj and have placed it way up there on my favorite places list!
July has flown by. We got back on the 5th, had a pool day a day later, and had a fancy schmancy ball on the 9th. It was fun to get all fancy and go dancing. I finally realized that I just don't really have fancy in me. You can put me in a fancy dress and shoes and even do my nails but the up-do and glam make-up just looks odd on me so I just look like plain old me in a fancy dress. That being said, we had a good time.
The boys started playing summer baseball this month as well. It is German baseball. If that sounds weird, it should. Germans don't really play baseball so this is a fun opportunity for Eli and Gabe to play. The coach is the American coach that has worked with Eli the last two seasons of little league. He speaks impeccable German, so he decided to teach German kids how to play and use the American kids to help show them how it is done. Not a lot of games going on but good practice and a good opportunity.
Matt left of Italy last week doing some thing official, however, he did go to Venice on a completely unofficial trip. I guess it is the perk of being forced to hang out in Italy for a week. You work a lot and get to sight-see a little. Not to bad if you ask me.
Since this installation is closing down, our resources here are diminishing and the "friend" population is as well. Mika and I decided to sign the kids up for swim lessons...in Ramstein which is an hour away. The lessons are two days a week for just 4 weeks, so we make a day of it and head up the hill. Their first lessons were today, and I was pleased with the organization and teaching. Only 7 more trips to go.
The kids finish summer enrichment this week and then comes that long stretch of summer where we don't have much planned. Matt and I are going to Crete the first few days of August, without the kids! We are excited for a kid-free venture. Eli also has a great opportunity coming up in August. He will be attending a Christian Evangelism Fellowship camp in Switzerland. I can't believe we are sending him off, alone, to the Swiss Alps for a week. OK, so he isn't alone, but it will be his first time ever going somewhere without a member of at least his extended family. I'm praying that it is a great time for him.
That's it. Nothing fancy, nothing funny, not even anything thought provoking. Do I dare say that I'll try and blog again soon? I don't know. We'll see.
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