Bad Wimpfen and Bird Show

A few Saturdays ago we day tripped it to Bad Wimpfen, a charming little village along the Neckar River, and Guttenberg Castle where we saw a bird show. 

Now that spring is in full force and everything is green and beautiful I've been wanting to get our family out more on the weekends.  There's still so much to explore and see not far from home…  but I'm amazed at how difficult it is.  It seems like there's always something going on.  Life with three kids is busy and it just gets busier and busier!

Nonetheless, we made it happen. We packed up a picnic basket and threw the scooters in the back of the van and headed out. Exploring the town was ok… The best part was this ice cream joint that gave you a generous serving for only 90 cents.  Score. 

We also climbed a tower that gave us cool views of the city.  

The Neckar River… it runs through Stuttgart and Heidelberg

This is how it's done

Then we headed up the road just a few kilometers to a castle that put on a very cool bird show.  Yes, it was in German, but still… the demonstrations were awesome.  The birds flew right over our heads.  As Ben put it, "I got slapped in the face like five times by the eagle's wing."

The bald eagle is catching a chick in its beak.  

The views were amazing too.

Ok, so we had to get back to Stuttgart so I could do a blasted 11 mile run.  I was all stressed out about that. I am soooo glad my training is over.  So, before leaving, we had a quick meal at a restaurant that had amazing views.  

As we were waiting for the food, James went off exploring with Ben close behind.  Soon I hear James screaming off in the distance.  I look down the huge hill and see that Ben is half way down it holding screaming James.  A few minutes later he comes up and James is just covered from head to toe in Stinging Nettle!  His face was red and swollen with white bumps all over it.  His hands, arms, and ankles were covered too.  My heart just melted for the poor, miserable guy. I guess he was running along and leaned against a dilapidated fence that broke and he just went tumbling head over heels down the hill.  Ben chased after him but James got a pretty good head start.  So, while Ben went to wash him off in the bathroom I called a nurse from church.  I was so glad she picked up her phone.  She told me we didn't need to take him to a hospital (I wasn't sure since he was so young and he was in such bad shape) but to just wash him real well, give him chamomile lotion, and it would all go away within 24 hours.  And she was right.  It was kind of a sad way to end a very nice day.  

Here's James in the carseat… his skin was already doing much better. 

And here's a pic of the doomed hill

A Strange Sunday and Em's B-day Bash

So, today is kind of unprecedented.  Due to a series of unfortunate events (Jamesy being sick, my husband stuck in church meetings, my little girls with him), I find myself with like five straight hours of being home by myself (except for sick little James who is sleeping soundly) without interruption to do whatever I want!  And since it's Sunday no housework allowed!  This is sheer craziness.  And bliss.  This like never happens. So, for part of that time I am going to catch up on my blog.  I already read my scriptures.  Check.  And made myself a quesadilla.  Check.  And have been reading… check.  I just finished this book called, "The Family Romanov… Murder, Rebellion, and the Fall of Imperial Russia" by Candace Fleming. 

 Ok, I didn't realize until a couple chapters in that the target audience is pretty much teenagers… the inside flap says ages 12 and up… so it's kind of a watered down history, but it was still so so good and so interesting to me since my knowledge of Imperial Russia and the Bolshevik Revolution was pretty limited. We are going on a Baltic cruise this summer which will include a two day stop to St. Petersburg, so now I'm all jazzed.  Man, kind of sad the entire Romanov family was violently murdered… but really, the parents were pretty idiotic and lousy stewards of their vast empire.  I guess they had it coming, but you do feel bad for the kids. 

Anyhow, we also watched American Sniper this weekend.

  We were going to see it in the theater, but didn't get the chance to, and I'm glad we didn't because it was a pretty strong movie and I found myself covering my eyes too often.  Yes, it was loaded with obscenities and disturbing violence, but I guess that's what war is, and, according to Ben, it portrayed pretty accurately the struggles that our soldiers have gone through and are continuing to go through these past ten or fifteen years… multiple deployments, PTSD, guilt complex, struggling on the home front, etc.  After this guy survived so many dangerous situations and was just finally working through his own PTSD problems, he met such a tragic end… such bitter irony to be killed by one of his own after he saved so many. 

I hate bitter irony.

Anyhow, let's catch up.  Emily's 7th birthday was over a month ago.  Do you recall Caroline's over the top birthday bash?  Yeah, I couldn't do it again.  Em was pretty bummed that we weren't inviting like the entire 1st grade, but I assured her that sometimes smaller is better.  More intimate, more personal.  Emily invited a handful of girls from school and they had a great time.  

My sweet neighbor Desiree found out I was throwing a party and wanted to do a "candy buffet" for Emily.  Isn't she sweet?  She did this all on her own. 

We played some "Minute to Win It" games I found online.  They had one minute to move the Oreo from their forehead to their mouth without using their hands.  Notice how everyone is breaking the rule except for Ellie up front?  She was awesome.  She won. 

And they had a minute to dig coins out of the bottom of pantyhose.  Too easy.

And one minute to transfer as many M&M's as possible from one plate to the next using a straw.  Awesome. 

And they had to keep two balloons afloat for one minute.  

Spin the bottle to open the presents.  My favorite quote from Caroline was when Em received a 10 euro bill she exclaimed, "Whoa!  That must have been expensive!"

Scavenger hunt to find the goody bags was a hit.  

Ok, that was fun, now please leave.  

When the kids arrived they were all kind of shy and in their shell.  By the time two hours was over they were swinging from the chandeliers and I was like, "Will you please go home now?"  I guess that's the way it goes.  

Spring has been so beautiful in Germany.  I'm enamored with the changing of the seasons here.  Everything has been turning so green the past month… and our base in particular has so many tall, well established chestnut and oak trees.  Watching their transformation throughout the seasons is really beautiful.  Spring is such a nice welcome after a long dark winter…. I forget how beautiful Germany can be!  

Rosenstein Park, where I often go running

I am training for a half marathon.  It's next Saturday!!  I've never run a half marathon so I'm pretty anxious about it.  My training has gone really well but I am ready to be done!  It's quite the commitment… usually I try to run first thing in the morning before Em gets up for school.  But, weeks when Ben is out of town, like last week, I have to arrange for a babysitter and sneak away during the day, which is just a pain. 

 Last Saturday I ran 11 miles… from home all the way to Esslingen.  I did it in 1:32, which I was really pleased about.  That averages out to be just under 8:30… which is my goal for the race.  The route was really pretty as it took me to the Neckar River.  As I crossed the bridge the fest came into full view (German fest is like a carnival on steroids).  I stopped to take a picture.   The skyline was so pretty… and of course the photo doesn't do it justice.  

 Can you see the gigantic ferris wheel?

I crossed that bridge and dropped down to a path that ran right along the Neckar river.  I had the beautiful water on my right and the action packed fest on my left.  As I ran along I saw three young men sitting by the river dressed in their lederhosen and gingham shirts drinking their beers.  They all turned around and looked up at me.  I wished so badly I could have taken a snapshot… it was a quintessential German moment.

We actually went to fest on Emily's birthday, which was April 29.  It was a blast. 

Toothless and 7 years old!!  Where does the time go?

So, back to running. Tonight I was supposed to run 12 miles… but something has been bothering my stomach all day long and it came to full fruition during my run… after just one mile I had to stop at a biergarten to use the bathroom.  I thought after that I'd be fine, but the cramps just came back and so I had a pretty disastrous run… I only did 7 miles and walked probably half of that.  It's never happened to me before and makes me nervous that something like that could actually happen on race day.  

So, Ben was in Israel for the entire week.  He left early Monday morning and came back Friday evening.  It's so hard to keep up with everything when he's gone.  There's no one else to do the dishes, take out the trash, change a dirty diaper, bathe the kids, or read to the kids in bed.  It all falls on me and it is exhausting.   So many military spouses do this for weeks or even months on end and I just don't know how they do it.  

So, Ben came home last night and we got to attend a Stake ball.  I guess spring balls are a tradition here in Germany.  



Em and C were especially excited about me getting all dolled up for the ball.  As I was getting dressed Caroline grabbed the stool and insisted she help zip up my dress.  She kept saying, "Oh, I love your dress!"  "Oh, I wish so bad I could go to the ball and watch you dance!"  And "Mom, are there going to be other princesses at the ball?  It was so cute.

I loved our evening out.  We sat next to our friends the Crucys and the Gillmans.  Ben nor I could remember the last time we had danced together.  It was fun, but I tell ya who can really bust out the dance moves are the Germans!  Holy Cow!  I wish I had taken some video, but they know how to dance!  They did the waltz, the tango, the rumba, you name it!  Old, young, skinny, plump, it didn't matter.  It seemed everyone participated.  Even the stake president was out there busting his moves.  It was fun to just sit and watch.  One young couple in particular just "sparkled" as my grandma would say, on the dance floor.  He was such a fantastic dancer.  I heard that learning to dance is part of their formal education.   I wish it was more engrained in our culture.  And I also wish I had taken some video.  

My cute friend Shannon.  She's going to run the half-marathon with me. Her husband is gone so she took her little nine year old as her date.  Super cute.   

Also, this past week was crazy as we've been waiting on pins and needles to hear whether Ben's brother and his family are going to be able to move to Stuttgart.  They were all set to come, and then had some setbacks thanks to the ridiculous bureaucracy of the Army.  We've been praying and hoping they can still come… it would be like a dream to have family nearby.