A funny story to tell the Grandkids...

 Before I start my story. I have to clarify two things...

#1. I worry about EVERYTHING. I worry about kids teeth brushing and flossing, I worry about being on time, I worry about clean rooms, I worry that everyone's needs are met, I worry about forgetting something important. I am a self declared (and family appointed) bag of stress :-) with regard to the LITTLE things. The funny thing though is that I don't worry so much about the BIG things - Secretly, I think my brain shuts down knowing that with as much worry that I have about the little things, there is no way my heart could take the worry of the big things too :-). With certain big things, I am very laid back.

#2. Bailey has always been one to not want any attention (in the negative sense) brought to her. She shuts down, she gets mad, and up until about a year ago takes it very personally. My how she has grown!!!!

O.K., now I am ready for my story :-). For Bailey's 15th birthday, she received a trip to London to stay with my (our) friend. She had a direct flight into London, and I really had no worries about her flying alone. She has flown a ton and knows how everything works. She knew she would have to fill out the customs form and knew how to go through customs (to go through the non EU  line), what to say etc. She had flown once alone before in the U.S. (there though, we were required to pay the extra fee for her to be accompanied by an airline employee because she had to change planes). At 15, here, you don't have to pay the extra fee to fly internationally. We had already printed her ticket, and she only had carry on luggage, so when we got to the airport, we said our goodbyes and she walked through the automatic doors to go through security. No one was there to ask if it was OK if I went with her, and the automatic doors wouldn't have let me out if I had gone any further. No big deal. So I waved goodbye, telling her to please text me as soon as she makes it through security (I would wait in the parking lot until I got her text). Mia and I then walked to the car, we waited about 10 minutes and the phone rang (I could see that it was Bailey calling). I answered the phone, and on the other end is a Man speaking in German, explaining that he is a German Polizei (policeman)!!! As my heart is panicking, he explains that he just wanted to make sure that we were aware that my daughter was leaving the country and that she had permission to do so.  I quickly said, "oh yes!!! I am sitting in the parking lot, I will be right there to sort it out". He then said nicely, "oh no, that is not necessary, I just needed to check that it was O.K." Now, I am feeling like a horrible parent. I should have gone to see if I could walk with her at least until security. Up until about a couple years ago, that incident would have ruined Bailey's trip. A few minutes later, Bailey texted me with a big smile - I knew right away the old saying "what doesn't kill you (or your confidence) makes you stronger" was indeed working :-).  She texted me again after taking the bus to the airplane, and I knew it would be a couple hours before I would hear from her again. Everything was good!!!

Mia and I had run to Ikea real quick, and made a really dumb mistake.... We waited until rush hour on a Friday night to head back to Bamberg. It took us 2 1/2 hours to get home (they were doing construction and had the autobahn closed down into one lane). It usually only takes 45 minutes to get home from the airport. As I was sitting in a ridiculous "Stau" (traffic jam) for 1 1/2 hours in the dark and pouring rain, my phone rings. Again, it was Bailey - but it is illegal to talk on the phone or text when you are driving here. Of course I answered (much to the dismay of Mia in the back lecturing me on the German rules :-). It was also 15 minutes before her flight was supposed to land, so my heart especially panicked. I answered the phone, and it was NOT Bailey, but a lady calling from the Customs Department at London airport - UGHH!!!!! Luckily, it was in English, but I again  had to explain that yes, Bailey had my permission to fly to England. She said, please next time write a note. A NOTE!!!! That would have been a smart idea. If this was a little thing, I would have written 15 notes!!!!, but because sending your child to a huge city in a foreign country is a big deal, of course I forgot to write a note!!! I also forgot to give her an insurance card (on a side note...luckily, you don't need an insurance card in England - because everything is free :-)) After a while, Bailey texted me with a smile, and a note that she is there safe, just waiting for my friend to meet her.  My friend then texted me (again, as I am driving in the dark in the pouring rain in a traffic jam), stating that she and Bailey met up and all is good!

So now as I write this, I am wondering how this is going to work on her return to come home. She doesn't have her tickets printed yet. They always give us a hard time anyway crossing customs to come back into Germany because they wonder why we have been here so long without an EU passport. Oh no...maybe I need to worry about the big things too :-)

***As a funny side note too, I am glad that the security was so consciences. We were shocked last summer to realize that Camden had flown the entire trip to the U.S. with a Swiss army knife in his carry on bag by mistake - it had been left in his bag by accident (no one even stopped him)

There she is --all packed and ready to go. Guess what is NOT in that suitcase???? A NOTE!!!!!

Bailey going through the automatic doors of no return :-)

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

Mia signing our annual Thanksgiving Tablecloth...

Bailey's Potato Gratin (it is funny, because she made this the first time in her class at school, but doesn't even like potatoes :-))

Happy Thanksgiving 2013 :-)

Always have to share what is on Camden's plate (or lack there of). Don't let the corn fool ya - he was just passing it to Mia. What you see is what he ate - he is officially the worlds worst eater :-)

Camden's Mint Chocolate / Oreo Ice Cream pie that he made

Mia's Rice Pilaf

And so the Thanksgiving dinner is over and back to reality - Is it just my house that looks like this???

We had a really nice Thanksgiving celebration. I asked the kids what they wanted to do this year, and they said that they just wanted a simple family Thanksgiving - just the 5 of us. It was really nice. The requirement was that everyone had to contribute (cook) a special dish to share at the dinner, so it was really fun running around the kitchen with my family getting ready for the yummy dinner. We had our tablecloth to sign, the special place tags that Mia made several years ago, a delicious meal, and good conversation. Our last Thanksgiving in Bamberg was a special one - so much to be thankful for! I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!!!!

Educating and Licenses

Some of the fresh ingredients.. (notice they even use fresh herbs)

Learning to properly fold a kitchen towel (an then tuck it into the apron)

Peeling and then shredding up the carrots

They even use a compost for all of the organic waste

Making the dressing from scratch too...

Notice the sharp knives (with the 15 cm blade) that the kids had to bring in :-) Everyone knew how to behave, there were no accidents and it was no big deal (even with 20 kids carrying knives to school :-))

shaking up the salad dressing

All of the ingredients for the noodle salad

mixing it all up weel

This weeks finished product (they cooked different things each week - I was just there to observe on "noodle salad day :-))

Recipe for homemade dressing

Sometimes I ask how a culture can be so "good." They follow the rules, they know what to expect, and how to do things. The kids are taught to do things thoroughly at an early age and so they all really learn the rules.  I've mentioned the bike course, the cooking class, and the bus training, but I'm not sure if I have mentioned the "Licenses." Mia just completed her cooking course, and received her "license" with her photo on it that proves that she has been trained to cook. The license isn't some little prop/reward, but a valued item that actually means something in the society. Later this year, she will train for the swimming "license" (4-5 months of training in fact). The swimming license ensures that she knows the rules, is a properly trained swimmer, and go to the pool and swim by herself. Next year, she will receive her bike license, which gives her the legal right to ride by herself on the main road (for ex. this year, she can walk or ride a scooter to school by herself legally, but she cannot ride her bike to school alone yet, without a parent).   After the bike course (4th grade), she could legally ride her bike to the pool and swim by herself without an an adult nearby - because at that point she would have her licenses for both things. Because this has been done forever in their society, the rules are followed by most everyone (the adults received the same training when they were kids). They don't really have many problems with people not observing the rules.  The courses are given by certified professionals (so for example, the police give the bike and bus course, a special cooking professional who is specially trained for 3 grade instruction, gives the cooking course (not just the normal teacher). This is the important part... EVERY student in EVERY school receives the same special training at the same age. It isn't the whim of a teacher to teach this course in their own class - it is the standard of the country. The instructors are extremely thorough and teach even many of the common sense aspects (just because it can't be assumed that everyone has common sense :-) The kids want their license, and so they really pay attention and learn. This way of doing things in a society makes so much sense to me!!! (The photos above were from one of the cooking class days - parents were invited to attend - there were about 6 in all, finishing with a buffet cooked alone by the class - including fancy napkins, place settings and all :-))

Bryan's Geburtstag Geschenk

Things have been quite busy around here. I have started substitute teaching at Bailey and Camden's School and it makes for a lot less "time" :-) I wanted to post this fun photo though of one of Bryan's 40th Birthday gifts. In our area, there are over 300 breweries (Bamberg city itself has 9 breweries, but the region of Franconia, has over 300!). Our friends surprised Bryan with an array of 40 (for 40 years) of those 300 varieties. For Bryan - it was a perfect gift. It is funny, because at this point in life, 40 doesn't seem so old, but when looking at 40 beers - it seems like a lot of years!!! I guess we are getting up there! Prost Bryan!

Interesting Fact...

I've mentioned before how there is no open container law here. You can walk freely around with alcohol of any kind. It is found on the train, on buses, in cars (not by the driver of course), and on the streets.  You can go to the park and have a picnic with a bottle of wine, a bottle of Prosecco or a crate of beer. I've never seen any problems at all - it is just a way of life - it is no big deal.

One of the funny things that happens every month or so, is that people will walk by in the middle of the night and leave an empty bottle of beer or champagne or something on our window sill. (The bottle is empty, but there is no where to put it, so they put it on a window sill). The first time this happened to us, I was a little annoyed, but then I thought about it and is certainly better than breaking the glass or throwing it in the woods or river. The home owner has to remove the bottle, but they DO get a deposit back for the bottle - so really it is no big deal. 

The purpose of my story, was with regard to the bottle that was left outside our window this weekend. It was a Budweiser Bottle - but not the Budweiser that you are probably thinking about. Not many people know that the ORIGINAL Budweiser is actually Czech, and there has been a huge dispute with regard to brand name rights of this beer. Here is a quick article about it...  http://www.brandchannel.com/features_effect.asp?pf_id=191 
Nobody would drink American Budweiser here (I don't even know if you could find it - possibly in a bigger city), but of course the original Czech Budweiser Beer is made just a few hours away...  I am not a huge beer fan, but I think the origin of this beer name is kind of interesting. I smiled when I was picking up the beer to recycle and saw the name Budweiser (Bryan drinks mostly Bamberg Beer, so it was something we don't see so often). Kind of funny...

Poland

Heading to Poland - we drove through the longest tunnel in Germany...

Republic of Poland - we made it!!!

Mia outside one of the pottery shops

This is the sign at one of the shops. If you happen to have any of this style pottery from TJ Maxx or another store and you look at the bottom of it, more than likely, a stamp similar to this is what you might find....

Pottery EVERYWHERE!

Lots of the architecture looked quite run down - here you can see an old telephone booth

This was weird.. we saw this old "fort" type place in the middle of a field as we drove by - wasn't quite sure what it was - it almost looked like a prison???

More old architecture

Our purchases - yikes - maybe a little overboard - but I guess we did drive 4 hours to buy pottery :-). They did have incredible deals though (you can see what I mean about mismatched stuff!)

OK - it is really funny how you change when you know your time is limited in a location.  5 years ago, I drove to Poland with some friends with the sole purpose in mind of purchasing "Polish Pottery."  It was a convenient trip back then (one of my friends was driving anyway and she knew all of the right places to go). I bought a few cute pieces and that was it. I admit, I scoffed a little at the American Women purchasing up car loads of items. Did I mention that this town in Poland caters to American Women that come in droves to purchase up this pottery? Did I mention that you probably have seen lots of this pottery at your local TJ Maxx? Once again, not knowing where we will be next year has left us scrambling to make sure we have absolutely no regrets (for 5 1/2 years, we've really tried to take advantage of every single opportunity, so hopefully this won't be the case, but I guess you never know).

So....this trip was a bit different than the last. We (my less than enthusiastic husband and my less than enthusiastic 3 kids) headed off to Poland at the merciless hour of 4:15 am, so we could arrive at 8:30am when everything opened. Once again (kind of like dragging them to Oktoberfest) I felt like if you have the opportunity to go to Poland - you should go. Period. It is a once in a life time opportunity and that is it! There are about 15 or so Pottery shops in the Polish town of Bolesławiec. They are swarmed with Americans (it is really quite comical) looking for those bargains and treasures. Some people purchase all matching pieces, but I of course was looking for the best deals, which meant a ton of mismatched stuff - when all put together though, I think it looks really cool. As we arrived at the early hour of 8:30, the kids were awake (after the 4 hour car ride), and shockingly even perked up a bit with a tad of enthusiasm. The Polish currency is called the Zloty, and we all scoured the isles converting various pieces that we liked, to figure out how much things actually cost (in Euro). They definitely have some bargains. By the end of our shopping, I had become one of those crazy women that had a car load full. Bryan was even getting into the fun of it, and kept reminding me that WE HAD JUST DRIVEN 4 HOURS to Poland to BUY POTTERY, so we should indeed, buy some pottery :-) 

By Noon, we had several big boxes of pottery packed up and the kids were starving, and Polish food was not going to cut it. I remember eating at an adorable Polish Restaurant on our last visit, but found the food not so great (so I knew my kids would be less than thrilled). We headed back over the German border to Dresden, and had a nice McDonald's lunch (being a little sarcastic) and  then enjoyed walking around a Mall, which is something we don't do so often here. We were home by 6:30pm, and unloaded the boxes. It ended up being a really fun day for everyone. Bailey said it felt like we had just come back from vacation (which is always a nice feeling). Mia and Camden had a great time in the far back playing their electronics together (on a normal day, I would be nagging them to go outside and play, so it was a joy for them :-). Bryan said he was pleasantly surprised at what a nice day it turned out to be. And... I have lots and lots and lots of Pottery to remind me of the day - and hopefully no regrets :-) (Although, my friend invited me to another upcoming "girls trip" to Poland which sounds a little tempting... (yes, I am officially one of the crazy ladies :-))

Happy 40th Birthday Bryan!!!!

Happy Birthday Bryan!!!! A beer....

....and Schnitzel mit Bratkartoffel, make a great Celebration :-)

Bryan's favorite Restaurant (Brewing beer since a mere 1308!!!!)

So cozy on a cool Autumn evening :-). They even have a wood burning stove inside...

Happy 40th Birthday Bryan!!!!

On Thursday night we celebrated Bryan's 40th Birthday. He did not want to host a big party (as is the German tradition), so opted instead for a "family party." We surprised him, by picking him up at the train station after work, and taking him to his favorite "Gasthaus", where we had secretly made a reservation. Just a very simple, yet nice family celebration. Bailey had made a delicious Brownie cake and the kids had gone downtown together earlier in the week to go shopping for gifts. After dinner, we came home and ate yummy cake. Bryan - we love you so much and I can't believe you (ok. "we" if we are being honest :-)) are 40 years old. Sometimes, I still feel as though we are still 18 years old, back in school :-). You make us laugh every day and I can't imagine my life without you!

Happy 15th Birthday Bailey!!!

So hard to believe that my oldest is 15 years old!!!! Bailey, you make me so happy. You are kind, thoughtful, smart, capable, wise, and pretty. I have so much trust in you, and know that you will do great things with your life. As much as I can't wait to see what those great things are, I am so glad you will be with me a little while longer (even if I drive you crazy sometimes :-) 

Love you to the moon and back!!!

Wales (plus a few other photos)

We traveled to Wales for a day, and almost the entire drive was filled with sheep farms off the highway. I didn't get any good photos (because I was driving), but Sheep are one of my favorite animals, so I loved it! We hiked up to a castle called the Ewloe Castle and had a picnic lunch. Then we drove to the Seaside town of Llandudno (a very Welsh name). The town is a Victorian Town, and reminded me of Main Street Disney (I didn't know something like it existed in real life :-). The Hurricane was coming though, and the wind was quite strong. We found an Arcade for the kids to play in (which we usually try to avoid). The great thing about it, was almost all of the games were between 2 and 10 pence (pence is like cents). The kids had a blast, because like I said, they aren't usually privy to it, because it is usually so expensive. It reminded me of an old fashioned boardwalk type place. It was a great day! I also threw in a few other photos of our trip at the bottom :-)

Over the river..

and through the woods...

across a bridge...

to the Ewloe Castle (Bailey and Camden at the top)

Bailey found a great spot

One of our daily rainbows...

The sea side town of Llandudno

Gorgeous views

For some reason, it reminded me of Disney's Main Street

Our new Gambling addicts :-) The 2 pence arcade was a huge hit!!!

Manchester United

Bryan and Mia in front of the Stadium (the famous Old Trafford)

I thought this was really cool... As we were flying back over the water  (between England and France), we looked down and could see these wind mills in the water. I've seen it on the Discovery channel, but never in real life.