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.  

Day 4: Chianti Region

Monday was one of my favorite days of our trip… we left the chaotic, tourist packed streets of Florence and headed to the calm, scenic countryside… with a tour guide.  I've never booked a private tour guide, mostly because of the $$ involved,  but since my mom was traveling with us we were able to split the cost, and I'm really glad we did it.  Francesca was fabulous… super nice and awesome with the kids.  She has three kids of her own, similar in ages to mine.  She's a native of Florence, and knew a ton about the history, culture, and politics of the area.  It really enhanced our trip. 

She took us to the famous Chianti region.  Ok, I admit, I didn't know it was famous.  And I didn't know about Chianti wine, but according to Ben and my mom, it's common knowledge. Not the first time I've been enlightened by "common knowledge" as an adult.  I blame it on my upbringing in Price.  

We got smart this time and brought the scooters.  It made a world of difference!  The girls were happy to scoot along, no whining involved! I don't think we'll ever travel without the scooters again.  

The first place she took us was a town called Greve in Chianti.  We went to a bakery and butchery and picked out items for our "picnic" which the girls were all pumped up about.  

Caroline doesn't let a bad hair day deter from her sense of coolness.
Also, close-up of my terrible bang cutting job.  Sometimes I nail it, sometimes I totally screw it up.  

So, this was cool… I didn't know until I happened upon this statue in the town square that we were in the birthplace of the famous explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano. Do you remember him from history class??   I taught my 7th graders about this dude!  He was the first European since the Vikings to explore the Atlantic coast from Florida to Canada… including the New York bay. The bridge over the opening of the New York harbor is named after him.  And this tiny town is where he was born. Cool indeed.

Can you see how pleased I am to discover this statue?

 Then we went up to a "winery" where we picnicked on the property of Francesca's friend, and of course I can't remember his name now.  We didn't do any wine tasting, obviously, but after the picnic Francesca said, "That's the first time I've done that without drinking wine, and it was still very enjoyable!"  See, you CAN have fun without alcohol.  

She then took us to this tiny medieval town called Montefioralle.  It was so quiet… nobody around except for the postman, happily delivering his mail… I guess people really do live here!

Now, this was another very cool discovery.  Francesca is standing in front of the door where some claim (including Francesca, and she is very smart) Amerigo Vespucci was born.   

Now you know who he is, right??  America was named for him!  He was the explorer that realized America was a "New World" and not Asia.  See the coat of arms and the V above the door?  Francesca said that Leonardo da Vinci was friends with the Vespucci family and had visited this home.  

She then took us to an overlook of the surrounding area and pointed out the home of Mona Lisa!  We didn't get up close to it, but Ben pulled out his long lens and that home you see is where da Vinci painted the portrait of  Mona Lisa!  Yes, very cool. 
 Now I want to read more about the history of da Vinci and this painting.  I guess it took him years to paint and perfect, and he never sold it… he always kept it… maybe he was in love with her?  But in 1910 I guess it was stolen from the Louvre by a janitor who kept it under his bed for like two years before he was discovered trying to sell it to the Uffizi gallery in his native Florence.  And that's how the Mona Lisa gained its fame… headlines all over the world reported about the stolen piece of art and the subsequent search for it.  Where could the Mona Lisa be?? Under the janitor's bed, you fools. 

Our last stop of the day was a famous medieval town San Gimignano (difficult to prononuce and to spell)

This place was a pitstop for European pilgrims headed to Jerusalem.  It also had a ton of tall towering buildings.  There used to be 70 some… now there are only fourteen or fifteen.  Anyway, it's considered a medieval Manhattan.  

I guess the towers were actually private homes and it became a competition between rival families of who could have the tallest tower, even though they only lived on the first couple floors. 

We just hung out there… enjoyed amazing gelato, scooters, and beautiful scenery.  

Oh, also, I got pooped on by a bird while standing in line for the bathroom.  Like full on pooped on.  Somehow, it went straight down my back… under my shirt and garments and actually onto my bare skin… nastiest feeling ever.  I guess it's all part of the rich cultural experience.  I also got pooped on during my mission in France.  According to Ben, it's extremely rare.  But if it happens to you once, it's very likely it will happen again.  He's so smart that husband of mine.  

Too cool for gelato.  Doesn't this look like it could be an album cover or something?

I love this sequence of Nana and James pics… thanks to our amazing photographer, Ben, of course: