It has been a boring week around here, but the weather continues to be amazing. We packed up and headed to the lake early today and had a great time. Elliott is fearless ... he was running into the fountain, wanting to go deep in the lake, and even sliding down a slide into the water! He definitely didn't want to leave, but naptime was calling and he barely made it home without falling asleep. We love the lake ... it's cheap, close to our house, and a beautiful area!
I love the look of concentration on Elliott's face ...
The elephant in the background is the slide that E was going down ... I'll have to get pictures next time!
We love to get there early before it gets too crowded ...
Elliott is in this stage where he likes to help - mainly with feeding the dogs ... it's going well ... such a big helper ...
E had his 18 month shots and check-up this week. The check-up went great and he is right on track with everything ... still a little small, but I think we'll be hearing that for several more years! He was really pissed about the shots and screamed and cried for a few minutes. I took him out in the hallway until he calmed down, and when the nurse came out he put his finger up and told her, "no, no, no" ... haha!! Luckily these are the last shots for awhile!
His ears are great - he is talking so much more and sleeping better than ever!
We have a week and some days until our big Spain trip!!! It really crept up on us, so we will be very busy around here. We're so excited to see my dad and Reagan ... and get away from Army life for a few days!!
The past two weeks have been some of the best weather we have seen in Germany so far. Nice and sunny, but not too hot! We spent most of this weekend outside, and it was fantastic.
On Friday night we tested out our new babysitter. We drove about 45 minutes to a steakhouse in Amberg called Kupferpfandl (Americans call it Frenchys), and it was well worth the drive. For the first time we were not given the option of an English menu (we have been spoiled), so ordering was a little tough. We probably got a few stares, but I busted out the iPhone and did some table-side translating. We both ended up with steaks of some sort and it was delicious!
On Saturday we got up bright and early and headed to the market in Weiden. This is one my my new favorite activities. The market area has tons of fresh meat, produce, cheese, wine, etc ... and everyone is just sitting outside and loving life. I have been buying strawberries every week because they are much better in price and quality than the crap at the Commissary!
We took the top off the Jeep ... Elliott loves it!! We're hoping for another week of no rain before we have to go through the hassle of getting the thing back on ...
Little walkway in Weiden that leades to the market ...
Vic and I are trying to eat healthy since we have our big trip to Spain coming up, but I accidentally ate this ...
We have been spending a lot of our time in the back yard ... Elliott is easily entertained with bubbles and the dogs.
On Saturday night we met up with a some other couples and went to Steak on a Stone in Pottenstein. This is the place where you cook your own meet on this slab of rock. This was one of our friend's T-Bone steak ... it was enormous. Again, I was too chicken to try this cooking technique, so I stuck to my breaded chicken. Vic ordered an appetizer of smoked salmon and Elliott loved it ... so weird.
On Sunday we headed to a nearby lake with the same friends from dinner and it was awesome. They had a great area for kids and we just relaxed and got some sun. It's safe to say that we will be headed back next weekend ... and all future nice weekends ...
Vic is on to hobbling at this point ... he still needs his crutches most of the time, but he's making big progress.
I think if the water was warmer he would have gladly gone in, but he is, obviously, having a great time ...
Elliott had his ear surgery and tonsil removal this week. The surgery was quick, but he had a lot of trouble coming out of the anesthesia. He is doing great though ... I have noticed a huge difference in his behavior, sleeping, and talking in just a week!
I am finished with classes for the summer and i have a whole month until Fall semester starts. I am so excited and I don't even know what to do with myself. Elliott naps for three hours during the day, so I am going to attempt to be constructive during that time.
Keeps your fingers crossed for us that this weather hangs around ... Germany is a much more enjoyable place when the sun is out!
So we have officially slipped into the realm of toddlerhood, and it's everything that nightmares are made of ... tantrums, screaming, attitude, and some severe clingy-ness. I don't think he's doing anything out of the ordinary from the expected toddler behavior, but holy crap ... he's a handful. My favorite is when we ask him to do something he doesn't want to do - he will cross his arms and do an exaggerated, "humph," and then give us the evilest little evil eye (nooo idea where he got that). He is very bossy and stubborn (again, noooo idea where this came from), and has such a sense of humor. As infuriating as he can be at moments - it is also very interesting to see his little personality developing. With all of that being said - Vic and I are in the process of interviewing some babysitters ... I think the occasional date night will be the saving grace of our sanity in the coming months ... and years. We're still waiting for a family member to offer to stay with him for two weeks while we go gallivanting around Europe ... I just can't understand why nobody has offered to watch this little angel :)
He loves to feed the dogs their food ... piece by piece ... by piece ... they are good sports ...
Look at our little basketball player!!! If only he had height genes on his side ...
Love these German swings ... he would lay in here for hours if we continued to push him ...
So weird ... this is a normal breakfast routine ...
We got a care package of much needed summer clothes from Nana Jen ... but he liked the box better ..
Eating dinner in the nearby center of Eschenbach ... so pretty ...
Molly came for a visit this past week, and in the midst of toddler-hell, probably saved me from shipping Elliott to America in the care of the closest relative. She only stayed for three full days, so we had our work cut out for us in the traveling department.
We had an effortless airport pick-up and spent her first day relaxing and then headed off for a dinner nearby. Elliott loved the empty beer garden while we enjoyed the beer - sans the garden. We did a lot of eating on this trip!!
The next day we headed to Nuremberg with some typical Germany weather. The rain put a damper on the day, but I managed to show her a couple of the sights and we ate some traditional Nuremberg sausages. That night we took her to a nearby doner spot, so she could experience the excellency that is a doner kebop.
On the fourth of July we headed to Regensburg for the day while Vic watched Elliott. I had never been to this city, so we were going in blind. It will definitely be one that Vic and I return to - there seems to be some good shopping restaurants, and a neat little boat tour down the Danube. Molly and I did the quick tour complete with a lunch in the main square, and some ice cream on our way out. We saw the amazing cathedral and took some pictures in front of the stone bridge (built in the 12th century). The cathedral was just massive ... very gothic with a ton of detail. I wish I would have taken better pictures, but for some reason I took very few pictures during all of our day trips. After we returned to Grafenwoehr we headed out to celebrate America by eating some Greek food. It was an early night for all of us, as we were headed to Munich in the morning.
A year makes a big difference!
Our trip to Munich started off a little hairy with an intense stau (traffic jam in German) on the Autobahn ... which turned our two hour drive into almost 3.5. We did arrive into the city with no issues and quickly found a fantastic parking spot. Our hotel was a cute little family owned joint ... very quaint, but the staff couldn't have been more friendly. Vic came along for the ride because he really wanted a pork knuckle from the restaurant we had visited during our Munich trip this past winter. We prepared to take public transportation as walking was not an option with Vic's foot. This turned out to be our biggest adventure of the trip. Once we got it down it was pretty simple, but Vic probably exerted more energy between changing trains and escalators than if we would have just walked. By the time we got to the restaurant he was ready for a pork knuckle and several beers.
After lunch we left Vic at a pub and headed out to see the sights. We were able to catch the glockenspiel show at the town hall in the main square. There was a huge crowd and the crowd was going wild ... I guess some people really appreciate a good glockenspiel? Again, I gave Molly the quick and dirty tour of some of the biggest sights and we stopped for some ice cream before picking Vic up for our trek back to the hotel. That night Molly and I went out for some drinks at a nearby restaurant while Vic stayed home with Elliott.
The next morning we headed out so Molly could catch her insanely long plane ride back to Dallas. It was such a whirlwind little trip, but so nice to have my best friend in town, and just have a normal, adult person to interact with!
Now it's back to real life ... I'm catching up on school work, and Vic is back to work. Elliott and I are going to try out a couple of playgroups this week, so we'll see how that goes. We are only a month away from meeting up with my dad and Reagan in Mallorca, so we are definitely looking forward to that! It's crazy to think that after we get back from Spain I will be gearing up to go back to work ... our time here is flying by!!
This cracked me up when I opened this letter in the post office. That is Vic speeding ... caught on camera somewhere on the German economy.
Luckily it was only 30 euro!
Our newest video of this crazy boy. This one is from a particularly grouchy breakfast ... or happy breakfast? He's kind of all over the place, but he definitely wasn't happy with me ...
Some of his daredevil behavior. Before I started to video tape he was saying, "I jump, I jump", but of course held back for the video. He is also saying, "one" ... he'll count "1, 2" if you give him objects ... I don't think he knows that he's actually counting - just more mimicking us, but it's still pretty cool!
