Brecon's PLAYMOBIL birthday

We asked Brecon what he wanted to do for his birthday. Obviously it needed to be something with low hassle (or EASY as I like to say). I was so happy when he chose to take the family and 1 friend to PLAYMOBIL land for the day. So we packed up the van and everyone for a perfect day at the huge play land.

The boys with the "guys" they personally made piece by piece.

The kids could spend all day in this place. No crazy lines or roller coaster... just imaginative playgrounds and marketing for playmobil toys. I can definitely handle that!

Ben had fun messing with Brielle's hair. She has got this crazy 'mullet' going on and it was emphasized with a little water up-down- and back! Plus her belly rash guard goes pretty great with her crazy hair :)

On the pedal car race track Brecon thought he was pretty great-- LOOK at that birthday boy!

 

Brecon and his friend Dominic

These awesome paddle boats were from kids 4 years and up. Connor was pretty disappointed and we saw some questionable children who were just as small as him get into a boat. They got stranded out in the middle of the lake and were rescued by the workers... I was actually surprised there were restrictions in the first place (that just doesn't happen here in Germany) I mean check out the crazy climbing web below... No warnings or labels there...

AND just because we didn't have a big party, Brecon got to pick out a present from the gift shop they let you walk through on the way out of the park... very convenient... HE really does talk about his birthday all the time. I'm so happy he had a great one! HAPPY 6th BIRTHDAY MY BOY!

4th of JULY

I got this wild idea that I wanted to host a neighborhood pancake breakfast. I convinced my neighbor to co-host and then I went on with the invitations. I made a cute little flyer and walked around to every house on our street, knocking on the doors and talking to about 1/2 of the people I really hadn't talked to at all. Most people seemed interested, others were "busy". The night before Ben was really concerned... "How many people are going to be here in the morning?" I actually had no clue. There could potentially be over 200 people. I had invited everyone but I really didn't know if they were going to be there or not. The funny thing was this: we were moving the next week! It was so fun to get everyone out there eating red, white, and blue pancakes, the neighbors brought fruit or breakfast meat... OH the breakfast tacos were so good! The morning was perfect and so nice to get to know some of our neighbors better! ***(better for the next week)***

I also told the kids we would have a bike rodeo and a 3 loop run. They got so excited and raced around the loop as fast as they could go. For the run Connor was out there like a champion- pumping his arms and making it the whole way with cheerleaders (young and old)

 We had everyone lined up and kept telling the kids "This is not a race" and Alejandro said "Pftt.. YEAH RIGHT! This IS a race!!" HE is funny and loud and made the delicious tacos and hot sauce.

It was a great morning and a fun time. WE loved this neighborhood and the safe place for our kids to run with their friends at the playgrounds and riding their bikes around the loop. So happy I have such great co-hosts and fun neighbors. We actually noticed a big difference after this morning. Not that people were rude before, just that we were busy with our lives and talking to the neighbors was few and far between. This morning seemed to "break the ice" and we had so many more chances to talk and share time with our community. These pictures all bring smiles to our faces, full of the memories of that morning. HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA! We salute you!

Swimmin' and pickin'

We love going to the schwimmbad when the price is 1/2 and there is usually no one there. The kids swim hard and have a great time, and we were the only ones racing up and down the slides and the whole pool was to ourselves. Of course it wouldn't be fun without our great neighbors to tag along with us, the Ellsworths usually are the ones who invite us to go with them. Such a great and perfect evening at the pool.

CONNOR GABBY and JAMES racing down the yellow slide.

CAEL and BILLY (Brielle) in her hand-me-down swim trunks)

Cael liked this picture and how his friend looks like he has a hearing aid.

Just up the hill from the swimming pool is a great sand and water area. The boys dug a pit that was deeper and taller than Connor. Look at those boys work.

Seeing this swimming pool brings so many hot summer days to mind. From the very first time we went as a family ( which was a little "scary") taking the kids by myself when Ben was gone, to the last time we spent the evening all by ourselves. Love this place!

STRAWBERRY PICKING

I must admit this was one of my favorite things to do in the spring/summer. We really were living the dream in this beautiful land, the strawberries were incredibly sweet, and the whole family ate more than they put into their containers. The farmland and fields and forests.... love the landscape.

Running out of time...

 On a very specific drive out from our village we always would say "we should stop there". It was a neat little water log and we thought we could get fresh drinking water and enjoy a nice little pit stop. It was only 8 minutes away from our house... but we just could never stop there until one day we did! Ben bought a picnic lunch and we were off. It was raining hard but we were running out of days to do this fun activity. Connor and Brielle both fell asleep on the way (lucky kids) and the rest of us had a short picnic in the rain. So the bad news is this: posted on our fresh water log was a sign kinetrinkwasser -- DO NOT DRINK --- talk about raining on our parade/picnic! Figuratively and literally!

 Here are some of the greatest ladies I know at a fun yoga night at the church. Funniest moment at the end with a little "toot" from the Senior Missionary during rolling time. Not a laugh in the whole room-- I was dying from laughter inside!

 A cute friend is baptized! SO far we are 3 for 4 attending their baptisms. The Chatterley's were in our ward in Texas before we moved. They just like to follow us around the world... can't wait to see them soon here in New York (fingers crossed)

 At a farewell Bar-B-Q for Dr. Platt and all the other providers that were leaving that summer we enjoyed some custom face-painting. I was very surprised I was the only non-child to get a fantastic job done. I felt like I should wear it more often...

This is a fun reminder of our little street back in Germany. Our neighbors chasing after our kids as they ride their bikes or run down the street. We were lucky if they were wearing clothes this day. Most times we weren't so lucky!

St Martin Kindergarten

LAST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN

Here is Brecon with his teachers, Frau Mizer and Frau Ertl. We loved them and all their kindness for the children in the Regenbogen Gruppe (Rainbow Group) They were so sweet and gave Brecon special attention on this last day. He was able to share a small treat with the entire class and all the children drew a small picture in his friend book.


Frau Kraus also helped in the afternoons and made sure Brecon was using the German language whenever possible.

The fun classroom with toys, tables, puzzles, and games. Their artwork was displayed out in the hallway with their coats and shoes. I loved how they had to change into shoes for inside the classroom everyday. Brilliant for keeping the room clean from the outside dirt.

As we picked up Brecon  that afternoon the teachers all gave him big hugs and said good things to him. "We are going to miss you" "Safe travels in your journey" etc.. Frau Mizer was especially emotional when she gave Brecon her last hug goodbye. They really love their kindergarten children! And so do I!

I was so grateful for the kindness they showed to Brecon, and to me. They were very encouraging with my small attempts of German with them. I know I sounded pretty awful but they were smiling and excited when I would try to speak it. This opportunity helped our family in so many ways. Brecon was able to be in a place that was his own and not be overshadowed by Cael. When Ben was deployed it was a great way to get me going for the day. I was so exhausted with the pregnancy and running errands with Connor that it was a real blessing to have this wonderful place where Brecon was learning and interacting with other children. I love this place!

The movers are coming....

I had been avoiding this day, thinking that if I just ignored it (packing day) then we really wouldn't have to leave this wonderful place. It's not too big of a deal, the moving company does all the work, we just needed to do the preparatory business in each room. Such a mess, but also I had gone through most of the rooms and we had cleared out the things we didn't need.... we just needed to grab our personal items and a few essentials (kitchen, bedding, bathroom towels, etc...) before they arrived on the 11th of June.

We were all pretty exhausted from the birthday party the night before, so instead of doing our last check through the house before our movers were scheduled to arrive the next day we went to sleep with plans to get all the things gathered that we needed bright and early in the morning.

WELL..... bright and early came and we got a knock on the door! It was a furious dash to grab things as these guys came into our house like a whirlwind. I thought in my mind, surely they would pack up the basement before the bedrooms-- that would be a big fat NO--- This morning was seriously so crazy. Running kids who missed the bus off to school, grabbing clothes and other things before they were wrapped and taped up tight in boxes. I couldn't believe how quickly they moved. They had a job to do and they did it so fast! We probably were slowing them down due to our interference, but there were certain things we need to hold onto until the very end.

 We finally were able to set up a "corner" where we started throwing our bedding, towels,  paperwork, books, and journals, etc.. that we were holding onto. It filled up the room on the other side of the picture above. I've only just now begun to put things away where they can be used again.

It was crazy! But after the initial tornado... we started to feel like we could slow down and watch these guys really get to work. Somewhere in there Brielle took a nap (a really long one) and the sun even shone for us, then there was a slight drizzle... perfect moving/packing weather.

Day One- They completely boxed and loaded up the garage, shed, living room, and the bedrooms.
Day Two- 3 big rooms in the basement, kitchen, and leftovers from different spots

AND that is how fast our entire house was packed up and loaded onto the moving truck. Sixteen Thousand pounds later (we are only allowed to move 17K).... and this move is really happening!