What's been going on

We have been here 4 months now. I think as a family we are feeling settled and comfortable in our surroundings. One of the fun things about being some place new is that there is always something new to discover! A street we have never been on, a neighboring village we haven't made it to yet. So each weekend we look forward to a new experience.


This weekend we finally made the short road trip to Bonn. It's only 30 minutes away and we had a great time. It had a huge pedestrian shopping area (of course the shops were closed as we went on Sunday) so it was great not to have to worry about cars while walking around. It also had a wonderful park. The kids had much fun on the play structures and Landon had a great time on a set of stairs.

Language classes are moving along. I'm still a deer in headlights everytime someone says something to me, but my germantoddlerese is improving. Today I learned how to tell time! Landon is really starting to say some words. Alianna is his favorite teacher! He loves repeating her. They play so nice together. I know everyone says it won't last long, but I'll take we have right now. It is great to sit back and watch them chase each other. They have all sorts of little made up games they play. They laugh their hardest when they are together!

Ali's Birthday Cycle

For Alianna's birthday, a neighbor named Mattias, fixed up a little motorbike as a present. He painted it red and fixed the battery. It was very sweet. So here is a little video of her receiving her present.

It's been a busy, fun time

So it's been awhile since my last post. Landon and Alianna have both had their birthdays! Frau Schumacher had a wonderful party for the kids. Grandma Jan came to visit and surprise Alianna for her birthday. While she was here both Larry and Alianna were on holiday from school and work. The first week we spent in Belgium at a resort called Center Parcs. It was so much fun! Think of the Homestead meets Great Wolf Lodge. We had a great apartment with 3 bedrooms and a kitchen. Center Parcs had an indoor waterpark and a spa! It also had an indoor pirate play area called Discovery Bay. We all had a wonderful time. We even spent one day walking the streets of Antwerp. After we returned home to regroup, we went to Movie Park in Germany. It's owned my Warner Bros. and looks like a movie set. The kids enjoyed Nick Jr. land and they had rides for both Alianna and Landon. Landon was so excited to ride Diego's Jeep and Ali loved Jimmy Neutron's roller coaster. Once we returned home from that adventure, Ali and Larry spent the next day skiing on an indoor ski hill! They had a 4 person chairlift, real snow, 25 degrees and it was all indoors. And since Larry doesn't know how to stay in once place, we repacked a third time and head for a drive down the Mosel River to Eltz Castle and the city of Bernkastel-Kues. This was Jan's favorite part of her stay! However, we all loved it. So that sums up quickly the past few weeks. I will add some pictures soon.

Now back to routine. Landon will start nursery in November and our next holiday break is over Christmas. We will be spending it here in Germany. I am excited about the upcoming Christmas markets. We are also hoping to go skiing in the Alps over Christmas. Bis bald...

Alarm Clock

I'm told that people who live next to train tracks don't even hear the train passing by after they've lived there a while. We thought that maybe that would be the case with our "Church Bells", however, we've yet to tune them out. Now, the tunes they play are not offensive, in fact, its rather nice to the casual listener. However, when its Saturday morning and there's a chance your kids are gonna sleep-in (till 8am), you not very interested in the local church bell concert at 6:30am. But alas, we can't escape it, they wake us daily at 6:30am, and on the odd chance we fall back asleep at say, 6:50am, they get us again at 7:00 and 7:3o, etc... So, we thought we'd share the melodies of our mornings with our readers. Sit back for the 2 plus minutes and experience it for yourself.

Fun in Konigsdorf

As promised here are some videos from our Konigsdorf castle day. You will notice there is no video of the actual castle, but hopefully you will enjoy watching the kids having some fun. In the first video, Alianna is pretending to be a fountain and in the second, Landon is just being Landon and exploring an alley.
I hope everyone has a great week! For those of you who keep us in your prayer circles, I would like to request a special prayer for the next two weeks. Our new friend, Frau Schumacher, is with her adult daughter in Dusseldorf and then Munich. Her daughter is undergoing some special cancer treatment that has been brought in from the states. She hasn't given me much detail, but it sounds experimental. Frau Schumacher is Catholic and has been lighting a candle everyday. Please keep them in your prayers that the treatment is successful and that her doctors are able to help her in her battle. (Her name is Angela).

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...