So today I will update in writing the MAJOR points for the past 2 years. Then I will follow up with posts about each kid individually, with pictures from birthdays and milestones. After that, I'll try to update once a month. That way- if I do it more, it's a bonus but if it's not every week, I'm not disappointing anyone.
So here we go with major news.
Spring 2010:
Brady's 4th birthday was super hero themed, at our local indoor playhouse. I made little "superhero training" passes with activities to do at the playground, and after they finished them, the kids got one more homemade part of a super hero outfit. By the end, they all had cuffs, belts, capes and masks. It was adorable!
Unfortunately, Aubrey wasn't able to come visit for Spring break- making the summer visit to America all the more important!
Summer of 2010:
We spent the summer in Virginia and at the beach with our family. I (Heather) finished and graduated with my Master's Degree in Education from George Mason University. My dear friend Adam came to the beach with us, and the kids had a great time spending every day with their cousins!
Brady and Keira went to farm camp, Vacation Bible school, and swimming classes during the day. Chris spent much needed time with Aubrey one on one. We got to see Granddaddy Sprague and the dogs, and visited Grandmommy's grave.
At the beach, the kids swam in the ocean and played in the sand. I preferred the swimming pool myself. We had a family reunion with my uncles and their wives, and enjoyed a night of feasting and fighting at Medieval Times.
We had a little family birthday party for Keira before we left, and she really enjoyed being able to celebrate with cousins and family.
At the end of the summer, Aubrey went to Granddaddy Sprague's house for a few days, and we flew back to Germany.
Fall 2010:
Keira started school. She went in to first grade ready to learn and excited to be there. Her German skills skyrocketed and she made a few more friends. Keira's 6th birthday was at our house, low key playtime with friends.
Brady was still in Kindergarten, the first year without his big sister by his side. He blossomed as a sweet, fun boy to hang out with! He charmed his teachers and the little girls, and loved to play with the little boys.
For Halloween, Keira was Ariel and Brady was Wolverine. We went to a halloween party at a pub in Duesseldorf. There were loads of expat parents with English speaking kids there. We spent Thanksgiving with friends (about 20), and Saint Martin's day this year consisted of 2 lantern parades (1 at each school).
Winter 2010:
We enjoyed the Christmas markets and "Kase Alm" raclette hut very much! There's something so special about walking around the little shops with a mug of warm punch, listening to Christmas music.
For Christmas eve, we spent the time at Stuart and Gabriele Wright's house again, with Julia and Thomas and their spouses and kids. So much changed just in the few years! We went from being the only ones with kids, to have the two oldest who would play with the babies. So FUN!
The story of our getting to Wegberg is a funny one. See, contrary to normal winter weather, That Christmas eve morning, we woke up to at least a foot of snow on the ground! We still packed up the presents, dressed our kids in their Christmas finest, covered by snowsuits, and trudged to the bus stop. Since the weather was so cruddy, the bus had stopped running! So we walked for an hour through the snow, carrying presents, to the train station. Luckily enough, the trains were still running. We took a train to Moenchengladbach, where then they STOPPED running, either to Wegberg or back to Neuss. Then Julia's husband braved the unplowed roads and drove to the nearby Mcdonald's to pick us up. (The only place open at 6pm on Christmas Eve). After our lovely dinner and opening presents, we ended up spending the night at the Wright's house, and Stuart drove us home the next day. When we walked in, Santa had already come and the kids were totally excited to see all that was under our tree.
We spent New Year's eve at home. It's a little crazy here on the night, because everyone has fireworks, and every shoots them off from their backyard! Everywhere we looked, there was another color lighting up the sky.
2011
Spring 2011
In March, my friend Peter came to visit us in Duesseldorf. We spent the time showing him the city and just hanging out.
In April, Aubrey and my parents came for Spring break! We went up to Keukenhof in the Netherlands with Mom and Dad, then spent the night nearby and picked Aubrey up from Schiphol airport the next morning. After a little nap and breakfast, we drove to the Haag to have a fun time at Madurodam, before driving back to Neuss. While Mom and Dad were here, we went to the climbing park (Ropes courses) at the Skihall in Neuss, and Phantasialand in Koln. The kids loved making those memories with Oma and Granddaddy! I also introduced Dad to a delicious beer, Kolsch, at the brewery in Koln near the Cathedral.
Oma got to dye easter eggs with the kids, and we celebrated with Easter dinner on the terrace, with lovely sun shining weather!
I took Aubrey and Keira to a nearby park for a little photo shoot. Before she left to go back to America, we had a birthday party for Aubrey's 12th birthday. She was sad to leave, and brought up the idea of moving to Germany. We told her we could talk about it, and she brought it up again a few weeks later.
Brady's 5th birthday was pretty cool- Star wars themed, at our house. Thanks to my mom who sent an awesome load of Star Wars party supplies, we had games and great party favors!
Summer 2011
Peter visited again, in June 2011. Actually, he met me in Prague. If you haven't been there, I suggest a visit. It is absolutely gorgeous! We toured the Astronomical clock and the town hall, even going down underground to see the original foundations and houses that stand under the current city. Peter is a trooper, because as soon as I saw a TGIFridays, I really wanted to go! Coming from the states, he had no need for "American food", but I craved their onion rings, and hadn't had American fare for a year. We also enjoyed a lovely jazz music river boat tour at sunset. I got some amazing photos of the city, and the lighting was fantastic!
After her school let out, Aubrey flew over to visit. In planning our summer vacation, we decided to take a trip to Amsterdam to see Anne Frank's house. Aubrey read the diary, and we watched the BBC production before going, so she had a good understanding of the historical meaning of the museum. We met up with friends Rob and Matt there, and toured the Museum together. Then we took the train and the guys drove their rented car back to Neuss.
Aubrey, Rob, Matt and I went down to Koln to show them the Cathedral, an accidentally came upon the Gay pride parade happening. We watched some floats and had lunch at the Kolsch brewery while we were there. The next day, they flew back to Seattle.
To earn some extra money, I taught summer school. The kids joined us for a couple weeks, and Chris took a business trip to Lebanon! During his time there, Aubrey spoke with her mother about wanting to stay in Germany with us, and her mother agreed. That lead to a busy time!
After Chris's return from Lebanon, we went on vacation to the south of France, in Perpignon. We took a train to Frankfurt and rented a car from there. The drive through the countryside, mountains and cities was pretty- but took about 14 hours. The kids were fantastic, watching videos and playing games. We camped again with Canvas Holidays. They had a kids club on site, where we could drop Brady and Keira off for games and fun while we took Aubrey swimming in the pool or to the beach. We signed Aubrey up for a sunset horseriding session, and she had a lot of fun with that. We stayed on the campsite for most of the week, doing family scavenger hunts and attending the talent show (Where Brady and Keira sang and danced!) along with swimming and relaxing. Spirit was with our friend Krista, having his own vacation in Germany.
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We did ventured away from the campsite to the local market, in search of a cool purse that Aubrey liked. We didn't find it, but the girls got some adorable dresses. We also drive down to Barcelona, Spain, for a day. That is another gorgeous city! The architecture is so neat, a mixture of old and modern. We enjoyed a meal at Mussol, and used a double decker bus to see the city. Driving back, we left the highway and took the very scenic country roads that run along the coast. It is an amazing drive.
After France, we stayed in Frankfurt for a couple of days. Chris had work, and we needed to get paperwork signed with the consulate for Aubrey to stay in Germany. We had it signed and fedex'd to America, where it was filed. When we got back to Neuss, we had to sign Aubrey up for school! she started an integration course where she had to learn German. After doing that for 6 months, she was enrolled in the local public high school.
Fall 2011:
For Saint Martin's day, we had 2 different parades again for the kids, and one pretty neat city parade that I got to watch from the Town Hall balcony with the Mayor, thanks for a good friend's generosity.
I took a weekend trip during October break with my friend Bethany to Brugges and Ghent, Belgium. We enjoyed visiting churches and climbing towers, and having a beer with her cousin. We even toured a beer brewery! It was a nice little get-away, and the cities are very pretty.
For halloween, Keira was Snow white, Brady was Thor and Aubrey was a witch. We celebrated again at the local pub with expats. I also took Aubrey to her first concert: Evanescence!
We hosted Thanksgiving at our house! Our living/Dining room was literally wall to wall with people. We had all the food you can think of for Thanksgiving, including 2 turkeys, stuffing, potatoes and cranberry sauce (Plus SOOOOO much more!) I'd like to do it again this year, it was good fun.
We hosted Thanksgiving at our house! Our living/Dining room was literally wall to wall with people. We had all the food you can think of for Thanksgiving, including 2 turkeys, stuffing, potatoes and cranberry sauce (Plus SOOOOO much more!) I'd like to do it again this year, it was good fun.
Winter 2011:
Yet again we visited the Christmas markets. We found out that Keira had a knack and love for ice skating, when she spent 2 hours skating while we ate cheesy bread and drank punch with friends. Brady and Aubrey also gave it a go around, but after 30 minutes they stopped. We practically had to drag Keira off the ice!
We spent Christmas eve with our good friend Sindi. She and her daughter made a nice Christmas dinner, we talked and the kids played. We went home by taxi super late, and had the kids in pajamas already, luckily, before we left. We woke up and opened presents on Christmas morning, then waited until our family in the states was awake, and set up skype to open their presents and watch them open ours. It's pretty cool to be able to connect our living rooms into one giant room via internet, webcams and tvs!
We did the same setup again for New years eve, and our relatives in VA got to see the craziness that happens in our neighborhood at midnight!
2012
Spring 2012:
After thinking she wouldn't be able to see her dying Grandmother, we arranged a "nothing short of a miracle" trip for Aubrey. My dear friend Rob works for the airlines, and his fiance Matt flew from Seattle to Amsterdam, got Aubrey and took her to Virginia as a standby. Aubrey got to have one week with her Grandma before she passed, which was a great gift to both of them. Aubrey also attended the funeral before returning to Germany.
Brady's 6th birthday was a good time. Cars themed and at our house, we hosted about 14 kindergarten aged kids! Aubrey was an awesome helper. There's one moment I won't forget, with her standing in the yard, surrounded by all these kids running around, trying to get them to play "red light, Green light"- it was like herding cats!
Summer 2012
My school let out before the kids, so I took a couple of days to visit with Peter and explore Vienna, Austria. We were there for the finals of the European Cup, and saw Spain making their first goals on a large screen in the city park. We visited the House of Music, a pretty cool music museum. We toured the Schonnbrunn Castle and gardens, walking up to the Panoramic Terrace was a hike! One night, we went to a karaoke bar, where I sang about 6 songs, including a duet with the DJ. It was so fun!
We spent the summer exploring Germany. After hanging around Neuss and enjoying the fairs here, we got a train ticket, good for one month on any train to anywhere within the border. We also purchased backpacks and some camping gear, and headed out.
After that, we went down to Heidelberg for the weekend, to watch the Castle lighting and Fireworks show. The camera was giving me a hard time there, so I don't have as many photos as I'd like. Still, the show was cool, and the rain held out until the last firework burst.
The day after the show, we went to the Castle and took a tour. It's got so much history, it was very interesting. The largest wine barrel in Europe is there, 7 meters high!We also got a great deal at Movie Park, near Essen. We went on a Friday to the park and only had to pay 1 euro per year of age for each kid. Then we even got to go the next day for free! The lines were nothing on Friday, and though they were longer on Saturday, we had done almost everything the day before so we could focus our attention on the shows and re-riding the super fun stuff.
A few days later, we went to Berlin. We spent a couple days camping there. Aubrey fell in love with the city, and asked to move there. Maybe someday! We took photos at the remnant of the wall, and read a lot about the history of the city. We enjoyed a meal at Hard Rock Cafe (Chris's favorite), and saw the city by double decker bus.
Once Chris started German course again, our travel time was cut down. Still, I took the kids to the beach in the Haag. It was a fun day trip, taking the train up and back. We hung out on the sand and dared to enter the chilly water. It was a little rough, so we didn't go out deep. I'd brought an inflatable boat, so Aubrey and I took turns pulling the little ones around in it. We also walked to the end of the long pier and watched some bungee jumpers. I'd definitely like to go back up to Scheveningen for a day or two, and take my husband this time!
Fall 2012:
Finally getting up to date! The kids started school again. Aubrey's in 7th grade. Most of her classes are in German, but English and Geography are in English. She's still struggling to learn French, because she's learning it from German! Still, her German skills are fantastic, and she's more open to speaking than before.
Keira started 3rd grade. We had a rough finish at her last school, so we switched the kids into a school closer to our house. Now we get up at 7 instead of leaving the house then, and we're all riding our bikes together. I've already met with her teacher, and K is doing very well. Her handwriting is good, and while she needs to practice multiplication facts, she still is trying and not demotivated.
The girls have started horseback riding as an extracurricular activity. The ride their bikes about 5 minutes down the road to the stables together, and then ride horses together. What a fun bonding activity.
Brady started 1st grade this year. He is so proud and happy to be there. He told Chris last week that he "never wants to miss a day of school!" This is great news to us. Brady's extracurricular activity of the moment is swimming lessons, twice a week. We'll probably keep him enrolled in this until he's in 2nd grade, then it's part of the P.E. curriculum.
Keira's 8th birthday is coming up in 2 weeks. We're holding it at the stables where the girls ride, and everyone gets to ride ponies! Keira is very excited about this.
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