A few revelations...

Here are a few things I've come to realize...

I can understand German better than Scottish-accented English.

A Wal-Mart by any other name is still a Wal-Mart.  Just being in Europe and having a different name doesn't make it any better.

Free water out of the tap in my sink tastes much better than the 4 Euro bottled water they force me to drink at restaurants.

I know more people who work for the biggest of the Big 3 here in Europe than I do back in Michigan.

My children sound more English than American and are assumed to be British by most of the people at our new (more American-ish) school.

98% of TV shows on British TV are about finding a new  house or cooking.  The other 2% are really bad American sitcoms like "My Name is Earl" or cheesy 1970's-style melodramas.

When it comes to volunteering at schools, I'm certain I have a glowing neon sign on my forehead that flashes "sucker" over and over.

As much as I love school supplies, teaching, and organizing, reading Facebook posts from my other teacher friends during this week of professional development makes me happy to not be working right now.

It's 9.02.10 day (thanks to a FB friend for pointing that out!), and I miss that show. I hate reality shows and wish there were more pointless sitcoms and such on TV.  Jason is watching "Southland" on English TV right now, but I still wish that actor was Ryan on "The O.C".

Europe would be a better place with a Target and Pottery Barn.

amazon.de does not equal amazon.com

Mystery bruising apparently runs in my family.

And lastly, kids are very observant and honest.  Delainey's "personal story" on the wall at her school: "My daddy goes to work and sometimes brings me an apple from his cafeteria.  Mommy does way more work at home than Daddy.  Aidan is just happy to play "sword".  I like to do ballet.  My mommy will find me somewhere to do ballet this week."

Back to School

Last Monday, the kids went back to school.  Aidan started 2nd grade and Delainey is in Pre-Primary (4-year-old pre-school).  They are both in school full days this year!  So far, they love school and have adjusted quickly to the new school and have made new friends. 

Walking in on the first day

Delainey's Class

Aidan's Locker and Cubby

Another new thing for them is riding the bus!  They were so excited to ride that we started on Thursday.  I was planning to drive them for a while, but they wanted to ride.  The stop is down the street a bit, so I walk them there and pick them up there.  I was hoping for door-to-door service, like in Zurich, but no luck.

Waiting for the bus for the first time.  (It is FREEZING here right now!)

Boarding

Happy to see friends, Zoe and Jack, already on.

Pretty nice bus, huh?  Not your average yellow school bus.  This is like a tour bus, complete with seat belts.

We made it!

We made it back to Frankfurt on Wednesday.  All 4 of us, even though we ended up having to be on different flights.  We are happy to be back in our house, but it will be a while before I deal with going back to the USA.  It is such an ordeal to get there.  Even though we had a great time, it's tough dealing with 2 kids and time changes and incompetent airlines.

Let me just start by saying how much I hate Delta airlines.  Ever since the merger with Northwest, things have gone seriously downhill.  On the way to the US, the kids didn't get the children's meal we ordered, our overhead lights didn't work, and the children's shows on the TV were all inappropriate.  Not to mention that now they've cut the number of bags per person from 2 to 1.  On the way back, I checked 4 times regarding the kids' meals.  All 4 times I was assured they'd get them.  Even at check in, I was told they were getting kids' meals.  Imagine then, my surprise when dinner was served on the plane and I was told that there were no kids' meals.  Apparently, none of the special meals (i.e. kids, kosher, vegetarian, low salt) were delivered by the caterer.  I got a bit upset considering 2 hours earlier I was assured we'd have something for the kids to eat.  When I mentioned this to the flight attendant he responded "What do you want me to do about it?  We are 30,000 feet up in the air?"  Seriously, I did not pay $3000 for that kind of attitude.  I then asked, why did you not tell us this before boarding?  Obviously, the food is boarded first.  I was then told they told people with special diets before boarding but figured that kids could just eat anything.  I responded that had I known there weren't any kids meals I would have gone down the terminal to McDonald's and bought my kids something they'd eat.  At least then, Aidan would have had something to eat!  The best they did was get him a cheese plate from first class.  Then, the kids started watching TV shows.  I gave up and let them watch shows that are better meant for pre-teens, but that was all that was offered.  I figured it couldn't be that bad for once. I was shocked though, when at the beginning of each show was a trailer for another show (not a cartoon) that had people shooting guns at each other!  Really, Delta, that is your idea of appropriate children's viwing??  Later after all the incidents, they offered me a $50 voucher for the next time we fly.  I told them to save it, I'll be doing my best to avoid flying Delta ever again.

But, crap flights aside, we made it.  We spent the remainder of this week unpacking and trying to finish organizing the house.  On Thursday, I took the kids to the Opel Zoo (a later blog on that), then Friday was Open House at their school, and Saturday involved yet another trip to IKEA (with a big delivery on Wed. to look forward to) and a wine festival in the heart of Wiesbaden.  Today we went to a BBQ sponsored by our relocation company.  The kids had a blast and we met lots of other ex-pats, many originally from MI, from the area.  The only downside to this weekend is that we couldn't take Jason's convertible anywhere.  The stupid car's roof is broken.  Jason has driven the car 3 days.  When he got home from work on Thursday the roof got stuck, it wouldn't go up or down.  We ended up having to have it towed!  So another beautiful weekend goes by without the fun car we were supposed to have all summer. 

But, things are looking up.  Tomorrow the kids start school.  Both of them for full days!  Delainey is so excited and Aidan is happy to have 2 friends in his class.  Delainey wants to ride the bus tomorrow,  but I told her she is stuck with Mommy and Daddy dropping her off on the first day.  Little miss independent herself.  I'm looking forward to having some time to get the house in order and catch up after being gone for 5 weeks.  Plus, our first guests arrive on Friday!  Our friends, the Scarcellos, whom we met in Zurich but have since gone back to Detroit, are coming in this weekend.  Now, all I have to do is find a baby-sitter!

Lions Practice

While the girls were having tea, Jason and Aidan went to watch an open Lions' football practice.  Aidan wore the new jersey he got for his birthday and was hoping for autographs.  He got lucky and scored a mini-football and lots of signatures!

Drew Stanton-a Michigan State Alum!!

Panama City Beach Weekend

We spent last weekend in Panama City Beach, FL at Jason's sister's friends' beach house.  We had an absolutely fabulous time speed- and sailboating, swimming, collecting seashells, catching sand crabs, and just hanging out on the beach.  Here are some pics of the weekend:

Family picture on the deck overlooking the Gulf

View of the beach house from the water

Lainey going for a dipGoing crab catching on Sunday nightCaught a few, but no big ones like this dead one that we found on the beach and put on Chris's head while he slept!Building sandcastles...Lainey said "this is the biggest best sandbox ever!"

Taking the Hobie Cat outAidan helping Chris get the sails setAidan jumping off the speedboat-Cannonball!

Having a screaming good time with Aunt Missy^

Hands up like a roller coaster!!

We are meant for the boating life!

The whole crew at Bayou Joe's restaurant.  We drove the boat right up to the restaurant!

Captain Chris and First Mate Aidan.  Aidan got to talk on the walkie-talkie to ask for the drawbridge to be opened!

Lainey waiting for her ride after docking the boat

Breakfast on the deck with Mamaw

Thank you so much, Patti, Chris, and Missy for a fantastically fun weekend!!!

Tea Party

Tea Party Princess

While Jason took Aidan to see the Lions practice, Grandma, Aunt Toni, Delainey and I went to a Victorian tea room to have tea and lunch.  Lainey LOVES tea parties, so this was the best day ever for her. She had to wear her fanciest dress and even a crown in her hair.  We all had tea in our very own teapots and we shared a selection of tea sandwiches and scones.  Delainey loved the cucumber sandwiches sans crust and the scones with clotted cream.  She had such fun pouring the tea for us all and adding the sugar cubes.  What a perfect day for a tea party princess!

Grandma, Lainey and Mommy

Scones are yummy!

Mommy, Lainey, Aunt Toni, and Grandma

Return to the Homeland!

We are in the US seeing mostly everyone who follows this blog, so I haven't had much to type about!  But, just for getting a blog on the log here goes...


We left Frankfurt on July 13th, just the kids and me.   The flight was one minor problem after another: no kids meals for the kids (which I ordered months ago), broken reading lights (only in our row of seats), no children's movies that in my mind are actually appropriate for children under 12 to watch.  But, even so, the kids were fantastic on the flight.  Thankfully, I had a laptop to play a movie on and I brought lots of snacks and other activities.

We arrived mid-day into Detroit Metro.  Customs took forever, and me with no cell phone.  We had to use a pay phone to call my mom to pick us up!  Who has used a pay phone in the last 10 years??  Luckily, she lives near the airport, so she came to get us quickly.  First stop: TACO BELL!  We drove thru as soon as my mom and aunt picked us up from the airport, before going to their house.  YUM.  Nothing tastes as good as something you haven't had in 1 1/2 years!

After catching up and oodles of cuddles from kids to Grandma and Aunt Toni and back, we all crashed into bed around 9pm (3am Germany time!).  We all woke up, bright eyed and bushy tailed, at 4:30am Michigan time.  There was no going to sleep again.  So we woke my mom and aunt up and we all went out to breakfast as soon as the restaurants opened.  I then realized why I miss America: $2.99 for a full breakfast of eggs, bacon, hash browns, toast and unlimited coffee!  Last time we had breakfast out, I paid 26chf for less food and coffee at Bohemia!

Since the first day, we have been going, going, going!  We've hit waterparks, the Detroit Zoo, the Henry Ford Museum, Greenfield Village, and every shopping mall within an hours radius!  I've gotten to see lots of friends, which is SO nice.  You know friends are real friends when you haven't seen them in 18 months, but it feels like you never left.  I got to see the 2 newest Twilight movies too!!!  Plus, 2 others.  No reserving seats or anything.  Just walked up when I felt like it and bought tickets.  $5 tickets at that.  Refreshing.

Today, Jason finally arrives.  He should have been here by now, but my dear husband truly needs me.  Getting to the airport on time is a challenge, and he lost the game.  Luckily, he was able to get re-ticketed and will arrive in the D 10 hours later than planned.  Only instead of going direct Frankfurt to Detroit, he had to go Frankfurt to Warsaw (Poland) to Chicago to Detroit.  What a difference 5 minutes of tardiness makes.

The kids have adjusted to being back, although they definitely have some accents.  German, English, Swiss, we don't exactly know but people are commenting on how they talk!  They are also noticing things that are different here.  For example, it took Delainey 2 days to figure out how to flush toilets here!  She kept asking "where are the big and little buttons?". 

Next week we are off to Florida, so hopefully the oil hasn't spoiled Panama City!  We are loving our time with our family and friends here.  As Dorothy once said "there's no place like home!"