Having a little fun...

Here is a video of Landon playing at the Rhein Park back in July. We had a great day. It was hot and sunny! Landon just loved being able to run around and go up the hills and down the hills.

This past weekend we visited a castle along the Rhein. I will hopefully download some video of that soon. We have a usually busy week ahead of us. We are all enrolled in language instruction now so between our classes and studying and we don't seem to have much free time. Alianna of course is learning much faster then Larry and I. Even Landon has a few German words. I also now have a babysitter twice a week for language lessons. She is really sweet and very helpful in explaining so many things! In one day we covered how to really work the dishwasher (she had to call her mom to ask!), we went to the electronic store and bought an audio cable to hook the computer up to the TV and we went to Toys R Us to find a birthday present for a new friend of Landon's.

I am still in the process of deciding which car to order. I love the Galaxy mini van I have right now, but it is not very practical for parking. It is really large and long. This week I am trying out a Ford C-Max. It's great for parking, but not to much storage space once the stroller is in the trunk. And Landon keeps kicking the back of my seat! I am hopefully going to test out a Ford Focus wagon next. I think it might be a nice in between.

That's it for now. Landon and I are off for an adventure and to go chase the ducks! The ducks dread Hurricane Landon. He is a fast blowing storm that comes in out of nowhere and creates mass chaos in seconds. The poor ducks. Since we've been here they are on raised alert. Have you ever seen a nervous duck? I'll have to get video of that too.

Tshoos!

We are settling in...

It's been a busy couple of weeks, but we have emptied 90% of the boxes. Most things made it, but there were a few damaged items. Nothing that cannot be fixed. We have successfully setup internet and phone connections and now we are gearing up to attack TV. I have a feeling this might be quite difficult.

Alianna started school the past week and she is loving it! She had a hard time in the mornings, but by Friday she was tear free! It's only been a week and she has already learned so much German! It is very cute hearing her, especially when she mixes German and English. Landon is missing his big sister terribly. He walks around the house looking for her and goes to the window and calls out "Alya, Alya". It is so sweet and sad. He loves his big sister so much!

Larry is enjoying his work. Ford had a big celebration this weekend to celebrate 40 years in Cologne. We had a very nice time. The kids had the chance to see where dad works and Alianna verified that he really does hang up her artwork on his walls. I had a chance to check out all of the cars because I still haven't picked one out yet. I am torn between picking a car with passagener space or picking a car that I can actually park in the tiny parking spaces and tight parking structures.

As for me I haven't jumped in the moat yet... I start language instruction this week so that is a step in the right direction. I have also starting meeting people and making friends. I'm sure things will continue to get easier...

We have moved in!

So on Friday, July 25, exactly one month after we left the USA, our container arrived and we moved into the castle! The crane showed up, boxes were brought in and uh oh... I guess we didn't think about a few measurements. Our bed didn't make it in our guest room and our bedroom dresser is in our garage, but all in all it went well. Only a few damaged items, but nothing that can't be fixed.

Over the weekend we built furniture and began to unpack 310 boxes! Who knew we had so much stuff! It is one week later and we still have loads to unpack. Our place is beginning to look like home. Landon's bedroom is the most complete and Alianna has the best room in the house. I do like our kitchen even though we don't have much storage space. The hardest part of the house is the stairs. It takes about 52 stairs to reach our bedroom from the front door. It is 10 stairs to the front door, 14 stairs to the living room, 14 stairs to the kid's room and another 14 to our room! But we have a great view!

So it is late and I am off to climb the stairs to my bed. I am going to try to load a short video. Larry just finished hooking up the new TV. We don't have a connection to satellite yet, but now we can watch DVD's. Yeah! Alianna got a German Hanna Montana video. She'll be excited to see it!