Germany wrap-up: Playmobile, Nuremberg, Vilseck & Hotel,

There is so much to write about from the last few months (and wow, it's already November!) that I decided to throw everything "Germany-related" into one last post and call it good.

[When I was going through old pictures, I realized that Hyrum took a long trip through Brussels, Bucharest, and Budapest, that never got documented.  Technically none of the events happened in Germany, so I might sneak them in some other time.]

I wasn't sure how far back to go, but I found some old pictures of the girls, who look so tiny compared to their current size.  (By the way, that's Mila screaming on the left.  Also, now that I look back, I realize how much they looked/look alike.  Today, I think they're identical.)

Hyrum went to Cologne (I think it was a 5 hour drive) with two guys from work to watch a soccer game.  USA was playing Germany.  I don't remember any other details of the trip, besides the fact that I thought he was crazy (they arrived home around 4 in the morning, just enough time to catch an hour or two of sleep on the office floor and then report for 6:30 PT) and that he outfited all three of them in USA soccer apparel.  

We celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary! [June 26]  We talked about doing something huge... and I squashed that idea in about 2 seconds.  With three tiny kids, that just wasn't in the stars.  So instead we did something really crazy:  we hired a babysitter!  It was the first time we hired a young woman to watch the kids, so it was a pretty big deal.  It's not because I'm an attached mother that doesn't want to leave her kids.  There are two main reasons.  First, I know how much work all three are at once, and didn't want to be the reason that someone stopped wanting kids.  (Three kids crying and wanting to be fed/changed simultaneously can be overwhelming if you don't have an emotional "off" switch.)  Second, the closest young women in our ward that babysit lived a full 30 minutes away.  That's just too far to drive to pick-up and drop-off.  (Teens in Germany can't get licenses....)

We ended up dropping off the kids at the girl's house to babysit them there, while we walked around the town they live in: Weiden.  It's a decent-sized town with a lot of restaurants and pedestrian streets.  We had delicious italian food (bruscetta and pizza and pasta... yum) and window shopped.

I can't say for sure what was going on with this picture, but I can say that after five years of marriage I know that Hyrum is quite unpredictable, and sometimes unexplainable.  It's strange to celebrate a big anniversary in a normal way and still feel like you did it justice.  Hawaii would've been great, but maybe another year.

Here are some more pictures of the girls.  The second one is particularly memorable, because Germany had a few really hot months and without air conditioning the kids spent the majority of their time in just diapers.  So much for cute summery baby clothes!  (Kidding, I did dress them when we went out in public... which probably wasn't often.)  Even though SC was hotter than Germany, it wouldn't cross my mind here to leave them naked because I can just flip on the AC.

In the middle of July our packers came and shipped away all of our stuff on a boat.  That was the beginning of a whirlwind of 'moving' events.  In my mind it's a big blur, and it's crazy to think that it's been almost four months!  I'm so happy to finally be settled and into a normal routine.

A few weeks before moving out of our apartment (in August) we went to Nuremberg to the Playmobile Park.  It's kind of like lego-land, I guess, but without rides.  It was perfect for Tiago because there was plenty to see and do, without feeling like he was too little.  Stuff like this really makes me happy to be a parent and live such fun experiences through their little eyes.

How often do you find stuff that's just the right size for a 2-year old??

And just a couple of DAYS before moving out of our apartment we made the crazy decision to put off last-minute packing and cleaning to explore more of Nuremberg.  Really, I just wanted to get out of the house.  I feel like we'd seen a lot of stuff in Nuremberg (Zoo, Palace of Justice, Nazi Party Grounds, Christmas Market) but hadn't spent much time walking the streets.  We walked around looking for Weissbergergasse, and eventually found it after some really steep cobblestone.  I'm so happy in situations like that to have Hyrum around--he just calls it his exercise and starts running up the incline.

As far as food was concerned, we did Nuremberg right.  I don't remember if we ate any real food, but in our wanderings we found: pistachio macarons, a lot of gelato, and a nutella-filled Dunkin Donut.  YUM.  Who needs real lunch?

Then we moved out of our apartment into the hotel on-post in Grafenwohr.  Was it sad?  No.

There was soooo much build up that once we were out it felt like it was about time. I was so happy to be done with movers, cleaning, selling stuff (all of our 220 volt appliances!), etc.  We had a lot of good experiences there.  We loved our view of our little town, including the church whose bells rang regularly to tell us the time.  We loved our landlords, who spoke very little English but really loved seeing our kids.  We started out with just the two of us, and left as 5.  To say we outgrew it would be a big understatement, but I'm glad for the time we had there.  (Also, I'm glad the landlords didn't inspect the apartment too carefully.  They basically walked in, handed us the 900 euro deposit, and chitchatted.  With final inspections you really never know what you'll get.)

This collage will hold no value to anyone but me, I'm sure, but I want to remember the apartment's patterns and textures.  Top: kids bedrooms, our bedroom, bathroom laminate flooring.  Middle: family room flooring, bathroom tub/sink, bathroom wall tile.  Bottom: lace curtains (everywhere), kitchen laminate flooring, and kitchen wall tile.  It was certainly interesting decor choices, but that's the life for renters.

This picture below makes me miss Vilseck!

After we were in the hotel (an awesome 12 day stay!)  Hyrum was finishing up work.  He packed up his stuff and was busy with loose ends and training his replacement.  This is probably the nicest office he'll ever have.  (It's only about 1/4 of the room that's visible in the picture.)

The hotel stay was interesting.  They had no suites available, so we had two rooms that were next to each other.  No, not adjoining, just side by side.  In the back of my head was the constant fear of locking the babies inside a room and forgetting my key, but I don't think it happened (fortunately.)  We worked out a system of having Tiago sleep in one room, and the girls in the other.  When they were all sleeping, we would hang out in the girls' room because they sleep more deeply.  But basically, it was lights out every night by 7:30, and a lot of running back and forth between the two rooms.  Every night Hyrum and I traded off who slept in which room.  Generally, sleeping in Tiago's room was preferable because he didn't wake up in the middle of the night to eat, but he was waking up around 5:30 am. 

I was happy to find out Tiago would still sleep in a pack and play.  He'd been sleeping on a mattress for a few months before the move, but didn't seem to mind the confined space.

Admittedly, there was a lot of TV watching.  Tiago discovered a ton of new American shows (the hotel has normal American TV) like Doc McStuffins and Clifford.  

I feel like I've written about a lot of this stuff before, but can't remember exactly what, so here we go again.  We needed to get rid of Hyrum's car before we moved, because we could only ship one car back to the States.  It didn't pass inspection, because it needed the rear breaks replaced.  We didn't have a lot of time to order parts from the states, so we were trying to sell it to someone who wanted to fix it themselves.  It would've been a great deal for anyone (we lowered the price a ton!) but most people are looking for ready-to-drive cars.  Plus... the trunk doesn't open.  We ended up telling ourselves it probably wasn't going to sell and to accept the loss of just dropping it at a junk yard.  Honestly, I was kind of okay with it because there were so many other things to deal with that I just wanted the problem gone.  We parked it in a lot with a "for sale" sign, and ended up selling at the very last minute possible.  (Ironically, just a few days before flying, we went for a walk around the base, and ended up seeing our car parked along the road.  The person who bought it had somehow already made the fixes and got the vehicle registered--something that can be a one or two month process.  We were glad it found a new home to someone who is more mechanically inclined than we are.)  Regardless, Hyrum was sad to see his first car go.  Here he is driving the Chevy Malibu for the last time (as seen from our hotel window.) 

The hotel was really well-located.  I could easily walk to the grocery store or PX, or several grocery stores.  Speaking of food, we ate out quite a bit during those 12 days because we were in a hotel and after the previously mentioned packing, cleaning, moving, etc, I wanted a break! It was nice to eat at all of our favorite places one last time.  But like I was saying, lots of good stuff in the area.  There was a huge field across the street where Tiago loved to run around.  It was right in the shadow of the big tower.  At the base of the tower is a history of the Army base, which was fascinating to read about.  This tower was built back in 1910!  

We also found this piece of the Berlin Wall on  a path I'd never walked down before.

The Friday before we moved, there was a ward camp out.  A friend was nice enough to pick us all up in her van.  We loved having one more opportunity to socialize with all our friends.  It is a really unique ward because it's almost all military, and everyone lives far from family.  Admittedly, I felt I fit in a lot better once I had kids, but I think that's probably true of anywhere.  After good food, some s'mores, and socializing, we went back to the hotel for a good night's sleep. (Kind of.  The girls were still waking up to eat at that point.)

On Sunday I got released from my Relief Society calling.  Just in time!  Again, I think because we knew for so long that we'd be moving (like the entire past 3 years) it wasn't too emotional for me.  But I do have a lot of good memories and learning experiences I'll take with me. 

Monday was last minute stuff and packing, and hurrying to get a few hours of sleep before our midnight departure... and thus began the worst 30-hour adventure of my life.  

The End!