Call me Beatrix

The big third grade history project at Charlotte's school is a living history museum. The children spent a month working on writing papers (requiring three sources,) creating costumes, writing and memorizing two minute speeches, and preparing visual presentations on historical figures of their choosing.  Charlotte chose Beatrix Potter because "she was an author and illustrator, and I want to be an author and illustrator." 

I took the little ones to visit the "museum" yesterday and it was so cute.  Charlotte did a great job and we all learned much about this neat lady and her love of nature, her work to preserve it in the Lake District, her study of mycology, and even her prize-winning sheep breeding.

On the way home from school yesterday Charltote was sad and I asked her why. She said she was sad that it was over and that she wouldn't get to teach people about Beatrix Potter anymore. Now that is a sign of a great educational experience!  When the children are sad when it ends.  

(Sidenote: This is Amelie's "cheese" face right now. Hilarious grimace. And Jake was not taking his eyes off of Christopher Columbus in his papier mache boat for anything. Also, every classroom had an Albert Einstein, and my most favorite costume was Frieda Kahlo.) 

Easter 2016

Sooo excited to dye Easter eggs she can hardly contain herself!

   

Last year we celebrated a simplified Easter on vacation in Northern France.  That was fantastic. But this year we returned to a few traditions we ignored last year and the kiddos were happy.

We did this egg dying kit where you put a few drops of dye on the egg and then rub it around and let them air dry.  That's why the kids have baggies on their hands.  The eggs turned out looking sort of marbled and it was fun for a change from our usual egg dipping mess.

The boys tired of it fairly quickly, but Charlotte stayed until every last egg met her standards.

Then it was off to bed so the Easter Bunny could come.

Easter Sunday was a serious sugar fest!  We sure do like chocolate around here.

After sugar rush number one, we went to church and enjoyed hearing the children sing When He Comes Again (here is a HOOT of a version performed by little Jimmy Osmond for your enjoyment) and focused on the Savior's atoning sacrifice for us. After church I made a traditional Easter dinner and we had some company over to feast and play a board game with us.  Then it was finally time for sugar rush number two, as we decorated the carrot cake/ bunny cake.  Why is the bunny in a box?  Because I didn't have a tray large enough, and it was the simplest solution.

They do seem to be getting better at this cake decorating thing!

All in all, it was a simple Easter at home, with a little something for everyone in our family to enjoy, and we had a lovely day together. 

Swiss temple trip and Black Forest hike

The Frankfurt temple is currently closed for renovations, so in the meantime one of our nearest temples is in Bern, Switzerland. What a great excuse for a road trip! I looked at the map and thought it made sense to make a pit stop in the Black Forest and go for a little Spring hike to a waterfall.

 

But I was not expecting THIS! This is how much snow greeted us in the Black Forest.  We were not prepared for snow- no gloves, no boots, and I was even wearing my Keens with no socks.

 

We reached the Todtnauer Wasserfall trail head and weren't sure if we dared take the kids down the slippery, snowy slope.

 

It was a sunny, gorgeous day though, and we had time to take it slow, so we decided to give it a try.

 

Rob blazed the trail and kicked in big foot prints for the rest of us to follow.  (While carrying Amelie nearly the whole way.) And there were handrails part of the way which were extremely helpful.

 

The falls were really pretty with all of the melting snow and ice.

 

The kids did slip and slide on their bums sometimes, but they seemed to enjoy it.

 

We had the whole place to ourselves which is an added bonus of hiking in the snow I suppose.

 

We're glad we took on the challenge, even though it really was a challenge. We rewarded the kiddos for being such troopers with lunch at McDonalds. It has become a bit of a tradition of ours to get the kids a meal at McDonalds when we travel. They love it and it is a low stress meal when traveling with four little ones.

 

In the evening Friday we arrived at the Bern temple. Rob and I were both able to attend the temple on Saturday morning while the kiddos played in the neighboring chapel with their friends from church.  Some helpful teens from our church babysat the rowdy crew.

 

After the temple we drove into downtown Bern to get some lunch and enjoy the city a bit.  We tried to go to a traditional Swiss restaurant to have raclette for lunch... but the place was packed, expensive, and our kids were tired and cranky.  It would have taken hours to get through lunch, so we bailed and went to the Indian buffet next door. Yes, our children preferred Indian food to melted cheese, and the buffet made it a much faster meal.  It turned out to be an incredibly expensive meal (welcome to Switzerland!) but the food was also really, really delicious, so that was some comfort.

 

It was market day in front of the restaurant so we browsed and bought some Swiss cheese and chocolate to bring home with our remaining Swiss francs.

 

Swiss-style busking?  

Jake was impressed and gave the man some coins. All in all, it was a quick weekend getaway and we feel we have a love/hate relationship with Switzerland. We spent a long weekend skiing in Switzerland about 5 years ago and came home from that trip feeling the same way.  It is a GORGEOUS country, and who doesn't love a diet so heavy in cheese and chocolate? But the cost of everything is incredible. We are happy to be back home in Germany!

I hope they call me on a mission

Last weekend we held a Primary activity for the children at our church. It was a Mini MTC.  MTC stands for Missionary Training Center, which is where Mormon missionaries go to learn the ropes, and their language if required at the start of their missions.  They spend up to eight weeks there and then are sent out around the world by pairs, as you know.

 

At our Mini- MTC experience we had five missions.  The children received mission calls, just like the real deal, and missionary tags.

 

Each group of mini-missionaries attended classes on the culture of their country, nutrition (talking about the Word of Wisdom and having a snack,) life skills (ironing, sewing on buttons, taking care of their belongings,) missionaries in action (practicing knocking on doors and talking with people about their beliefs,) and P-Day (the one day a week missionaries get to do laundry, write home, get some exercise or be tourists or shop- our minis wrote letters and played red light, green light.)

 

There were so many adults involved to make this activity a success and they seriously did awesome. I was able to just move around and check-in on the classes and I was so impressed by what all of the teachers had prepared for their groups.

 

The kids were engaged and changed classes every 20 minutes which helped to keep them interested and focused.

 

I love getting to be in Primary with my kiddos and trying to help them develop their faith and have opportunities to learn and have fun too.

 

Someone I know recently insinuated that we "brainwash" kids in Primary.  I disagree. I thought about that comment a lot with this activity because I can see how from the outside someone would say we are brainwashing them into going on missions.  But I was there. These kids had a blast learning practical things for every day life.  We talked about the hard parts of being a missionary as well as the highlights. They asked great questions! They expressed their own beliefs.  They had respectful conversations about religion!!! Frankly, I'd kind of like to send a few Presidential candidates through our mini-MTC experience.

 

I love Primary. I love getting to learn from these children and to teach them a thing or two as well. They are smart. They are strong. And they will be fantastic at whatever they choose to do.

back blog

Time keeps on slippin', slippin' slippin' into the future.... and suddenly it has been more than a month since I sat down to blog. I'd like to say that my life has been so awesomely busy as to prevent me from sitting down at the computer, but while we have been doing some fun stuff (pictures below,) mostly I have just been a bit apathetic about it. The blog, that is. I do value the family history side of this endeavor though, so I am back at it and will try to get back into the groove of regular posting.  Here's what we have been up to the past month.

 

We made a weekend trip to Garmisch in search of snow fun.  Our families have enjoyed lots of snow this winter in the US, but here in Germany we have had like, one day of flurries, and that is it. We like staying at the American Lodge in Garmisch because it is easy.  I am sure I have said this in past posts, but the family room, pool, buffet meals... it just makes for a very laid back holiday.

 

 

We went sledding, swam, and Rob took the big kids to a skiing lesson. The last day we were there we were graced with some fresh snowfall and we ran out to build snowmen, make snow angels, and throw snowballs.  Fun family time.

 

I didn't go to the mountain for skiing day, but Rob took just a couple of photos for me with his kindle.  Toby and Charlotte really like skiing so far. Charlotte says she is "really good at it."

 

Miss Amelie got her first haircut!

I love her cute little bob so much... I might cut mine the same way.  I am very tempted.  This is pretty much the haircut I had most of my childhood and I HATED it.  And now I love it.

 

Toby had his first viola recital. If you are familiar with Suzuki method, this was his Twinkle recital, where he played six variations of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. We had it at home and invited his school music teacher from last year. (She lives near us.) At Toby's request we had ice cream and popcorn for refreshments. He did a great job.

 

Charlotte started going to ballet again!

I am sooo happy. We were looking at the offerings for Spring sports, and when I read about ballet she said that she really misses doing it.  I told her that ballet is year round, and she can't do ballet and cheerleading, so she should think about it.  And she chose ballet!  Hurrah!!!  There are just four little girls in her ballet II class and they have a male teacher, which Charlotte finds very novel.  Three weeks in, she is loving it so far.

 

And finally we are up to last night.  I gave Rob concert tickets for Christmas to see Andy McKee play in Frankfurt. Yeah, I know this is a terrible selfie but it was just a quick one while we were waiting for the doors to open at Batschkapp.

 

The venue was smallish, and the performance was very down to earth and I guess you would call it intimate- with minimal effects and such.  Just a guy and his guitars. He told a few personal stories while he tuned between songs, and I loved his description of where he grew up in Kansas for the Germans, "it's the kind of place where you can watch your dog run away for a week." Rob first came across Andy McKee on youtube nearly 10 years ago when his song Drifting went viral.  Rob and I have VERY different musical tastes, but we both enjoy this artist, so I was ecstatic when I came across these tickets back in December. 

  

We had a super fun, rare for us, grown-ups only date night out on the town.  You can see us in this shot from Andy's facebook page- we are about 6-7 rows back, center left.

Super fun girls' trip to Paris!

Let me first just say that I totally recognize how crazy my life is... it is certainly not how I imagined my life would go, and the nomadic thing has its ups and downs, but the travel is FOR SURE one of the best parts in my opinion. This past weekend Charlotte and I took the train to Paris. We rented an apartment with a few other women from our church, but then we mostly all did our own thing while we were there.

 

After dropping off our stuff, we headed directly to the Eiffel Tower.

 

It was a beautiful and super cold day.

 

The very top floor was closed for maintenance, but the second floor was plenty high up, and windy.

 

On the first floor there was an ice rink set up.  And most shockingly, it was free to rent skates and skate. It was a small rink, and crowded, but Charlotte and I both loved skating to the music as the sun set.

 

We rode down the elevator just in time to see the Eiffel Tower start to twinkle at us. (It lights up every hour for about five minutes.) Then we took the metro back to our apartment by way of Chipotle where Charlotte and I got a burrito bowl to share for dinner. It is an odd thrill to find American (or Mexican) food from some of our favorite places when we travel in Europe.

 

Saturday morning we made a beeline for The Orangerie art museum. We were there pretty early and actually got to sit alone with Monet's waterlilies. There are two oval shaped rooms filled with his huge paintings. 

 

We sat in the middle of the room and just looked.  Charlotte said, "It's like we are in a boat on a lake." I loved it.

 

After the Orangerie we went to the Musee d'Orsay. The building used to be a train station and has these fabulous clocks.

 

But the real treasure is the Impressionist collection. We spent hours there and I loved hearing Charlotte's awesome observations and getting to share with her why some of the works are considered so significant.  My little dancer with Degas' little dancer.

 

 Next stop was Shakespeare & Co. I love this funky English bookstore.  I know it is as much a tourist stop as anything these days, but I love the bohemian history of this place. 

 

I sat and read some poetry, Charlotte read in the children's corner, and we both listened to a guy play the piano upstairs for a little while. It was a great rest stop in our day.

 

Right across the bridge from Shakespeare & Co. lies the beautiful Notre Dame.

 

I always love sitting in these awesome cathedrals. Notre Dame was built over nearly 150 years, beginning in the 1100s. There was an exhibit of an artist's works focused on the beauty of the creation. It was lovely.

 

Our next stop was another cathedral.  I had never been inside Sainte Chapelle before because of the simple reason that you have to pay an admission and there is so much that you can see in Paris for free. The chapel is to the rear left in the picture.  Unlike Notre Dame, Sainte Chapelle was built in about 10 years in the 1200s. It is quite a bit smaller, but still hugely impressive.

 

Above the doors is this beautiful Madonna with Child. I love that the baby Jesus is holding a bunch of daisies and looks about to pull Mary's hair. That is a little kid I recognize!

 

We walked in the chapel and were impressed by the beautiful ceiling and windows.  But honestly, it was like, "huh... what's all the fuss about?"

 

Then we saw a stairway and thought we'd check out the upstairs.  At the top of the stairs I said, "oh WOW!" and Charlotte said, "Now this is what I'm talking about!" The stained glass in the upper chapel is truly breathtaking. And the sun shining through it is spectacular. I took many, many pictures and walked in circles staring at the windows.  Charlotte quickly became bored with this and told me that there was nothing to do but look at the windows.  To which I responded, yeah, but LOOK AT THE WINDOWS!!! So glad we went there.

 

To finish off the night we went to Hard Rock Cafe for a big meal and a milkshake. Most of our meals were speedy crepes, pastries, or splitting takeout. We are not gourmands, and Paris is expensive y'all. 

 

The next morning was Sunday and we found the local congregation of our church and attended Sacrament meeting. They were clearly used to visitors and provided headsets with live translation of the service. I was delighted to run into a family that we knew from last time we lived in Germany as well! It is a small Mormon world.

 

After church we returned to sightseeing. We took the metro to Pigalle and saw the infamous Moulin Rouge before walking up to Sacre Coeur.

 

Sacre Coeur was built right around 1900, so it isn't nearly as old as many of the cathedrals in Paris, but the history of the location is really interesting. And obviously, the place is gorgeous.

 

We grabbed a bite and got on the metro to the Arc de Triomphe.

 

We had fun taking some photos and crossed under the ginormous traffic circle to get an up close look.

 

It is a beautiful monument.  The French sure do know how to do fancy! After the Arc de Triomphe we strolled down the Champs Elysee and popped in a few stores to window shop.  Of course there is Tiffany's, Cartier, Louis Vitton... but we spent the most time in H&M and the Disney Store.

 

Monday morning we had to check out but had most of the day to wander the Rues and Avenues.  We started in the Latin Quarter and headed toward St. Sulpice. We couldn't go in because we had a carry-on with us, but it just reminds me how much more I could still go see in Paris.

 

 

After that we walked to the Jardin du Luxembourg. This park was established in the 1600s as a royal garden but is now a public park run by the French Senate that meets in the Palace.  The playground there was awesome- but not free- we actually had to pay to play. Paris you guys. But, that is also probably why it was so nice. Charlotte played with two very gentlemanly French boys. I was impressed by how kindly and cooperatively they played. I also spoke with a family from Atlanta, GA... the mom was from New Jersey originally and we had a nice chat.  Have I mentioned the smallness of the world lately?

 

On our way back to the train station I thought we'd hunt down this cafe.  The Le Procope opened in 1686 and has run continuously since then. I wanted to go have a hot cocoa where Voltaire enjoyed his coffee and Thomas Jefferson and Ben Franklin would dine (as well as a ton of other famous characters.) But sadly, they were only open for dinner, and we didn't have the time.

 

We arrived at the train station fairly early because it was so cold and we were pretty worn out.  On the upside we were finally able to get a couple of cups of hot cocoa and find a table to sit, read, draw, and talk and just be very Parisian about it. I loved traveling with Charlotte.  We had some good talks. We read our novels. We made a lot of memories, and I am thankful we had the opportunity.