Merry Christmas

Every time I turned around, the nativity set's figures had been rearranged to the configuration above. When I brought this up, I was told "Everyone needs to see Baby Jesus!!"

This Concludes the First Half of Our Holiday Program

Emily in yellow and Madeleine in green. The family in front of the National Christmas Tree and White House. When it was pointed out who lived in the "big house", Madeleine suggested "go see him and say hi!"

This year our Christmas flight left from D.C instead of an airport closer to the house (it was cheaper). We had not planned on incorporating a visit to D.C., but when I realized the National Tree would be lit, etc. we decided to go up. So, we headed up Tuesday after picking up the girls at preschool, saw the National Christmas Tree as well as the menorah and Santa's Workshop that are also on the ellipse. Once again, Madeleine and Emily's favorite part of Washington was riding the metro. Thank you to my friend Laura, who not only agreed to meet us when the forecast still called for snow and/or freezing rain, but braved the public transit system to eat dinner with us at the Union Station food court!

Before leaving for Spokane we had many (many, many) Christmas-related activities at home. Sadly, the Annual Williamsburg Christmas Parade was canceled due to weather (or more accurately the forecast of a little rain and temps as low as the 40s!!). However, Emily and Madeleine were able to make their theatrical debuts as angels in the "Christmas Play" at preschool and we attended Breakfast with Santa. We also visited the "tree maze", otherwise known as a Christmas tree lot and made graham cracker nativity scenes at preschool. Overall, it seems Christmas traditions were at least a partial success on the east coast.

Angel Madeleine

Angel Emily


Saying "Merry Christmas" to the real Christmas trees. Emily in yellow and Madeleine in green.

We of course celebrated Nikolaustag - he brought Pez!!! Emily on the left and Madeleine on the right.

The girls also opened their gifts from each other (as opposed to dragging them back and forth across the country) and some things Oma and Opa sent.

Emily (red) and Madeleine (purple) with their edible nativity scenes.

Emily and Madeleine "helping Santa stand-up so he can look out the window". The suitcases on the coffee table have broken zippers and the cats lounge on them while sunbathing - nothing is too classy for our house!


Madeleine, Santa, Emily

Santa's Workshop's mailroom at the National Tree.

Santa and Madeleine at Santa's Workshop.

Santa and Emily.

Anyone who has traveled with me (a small group of brave souls) knows I am compulsively early and rather uptight (more so than usual). I also prefer at least a two hour connection when traveling with two four-year-olds. This year I had to book a 90 minute connection and was not at all pleased when Delta later emailed to say that the itinerary had changed and the connection was now one hour.

Wednesday morning dawned and we left the hotel at 5AM. We arrived at Dulles, parked the car and began walking...and walking...and walking (I think the distance from the garage to the counter is where we lost time). By the time we got to the Delta counter and found a representative who would deign to put the checked luggage tag on our two suitcases (We had checked in online and paid for the bags in advance and online...literally all they had to do was put on a big sticker - lost more time.) and made it to security I was about 70% convinced we'd miss our 7AM flight...However, I have to hand it to TSA at Dulles. That line moved and we were through in no time (They were great in October when we flew to Germany as well). Had it been Spokane's TSA folks with a line that long - we'd still be standing there. We got on the plane, were taxiing to the runway and were told we were number three in line for take-off.

Then we stopped. Then the flight attendants all clustered around one row of passengers. Then we flipped a U-turn. The captain came on and announced we were heading back to the gate because of a "medical emergency". Madeleine burst into tears and I thought about joining her. Big picture - it wasn't any of us who were being taken to the waiting ambulance. Self-serving perspective....we just missed our one hour connection and what are the odds of actually being seated together when/if we get on the next flight.

The passenger was taken off the plane, paperwork was filled out, we headed to the runway again and off we went. Thankfully, Delta padded their schedule enough, that even with an hour delay, we landed only 15 minutes late. We were looking at the map of the Salt Lake City airport and knew if we would be in the same gate area, we'd be okay...if not - we'd be stuck. So, we checked www.delta.com while in flight (free on Delta flights FYI) and I guess our guardian angels were working overtime because we not only had perfect weather all the way across the country (so, no additional delays), we landed at gate D10 and the connecting flight left from D12.

It was a "fast" travel day for us - 10 hours after leaving the hotel we were touching down in Spokane. While it is much nicer than the usual 16 hour travel days we encounter (extra time from getting to the airport super-early and having long connections), I'm not sure it was worth the increase in blood pressure.

Grand Illumination - Not a Success

A picture is worth a thousand words - Madeleine (green) and Emily (yellow) express their opinions of the fireworks (specifically the noise) at Grand Illumination.

A photographer, I am NOT, but it was impressive....I have videos where I tried to capture the pleas to go home, but they are a bit difficult to hear over the explosions!

Tis the Season

Emily, Santa and Madeleine

Before I get going - NORAD launched on Deceember 1st. I spend all Christmas Eve glued to this site and suffering the mocking of every other adult in the house.

I honestly think this Christmas is going to be a lot of fun with the girls...if we make it! They are that age where magic is everywhere and they are old enough to comprehend it.

We did have some serious anxiety while watching "Christmas Eve on Sesame Street" this year. The point of concern was not how "big fat Santa gets down all those skinny little chimneys", but the Gift of the Magi allusion. Ernie trades Rubber Duckie to get a cigar box for Bert's paperclip collection. Meanwhile, Bert has traded in his paperclip collection to get a soap dish for Ernie's Rubber Duckie. Madeleine was in tears because both characters had given away their favorite possessions. Thankfully, the kind store owner, Mr. Hooper, comes to the rescue and returns both treasures. We are enjoying other Christmas classics on DVD, which is great as I have subjected Emily and Madeleine to the shows since they were 9 months old...nice they can follow along now.

Our lists for Santa this year are rather short. Both girls would like a camera. "The real kind that takes real pictures and is silver." Madeleine also requested "a purse like yours and full of money." Um, how do I request the same item? We had to have a chat about Santa bringing kids things that are for kids....not purses full of money.

Emily in pink and Madeleine in blue.

Madeleine in blue and Emily in pink.

The girls helped me put up our tree this year. We have an artificial tree - which I hate, but with traveling, I don't feel safe having lights on a real tree when we aren't there. Anyhow, this poor thing has been drenched in Bitter Apple Spray for three years running - the cats view the tree as a salad bar and the spray discourages this thought process. (We also have to seriously coat the stable from the nativity set and it always feels a bit sacrilegious...but so is letting your cat nibble on Jesus's place of birth.)

The tree came with lights on it and I added more over the years. I don't know why, but we have an entire layer of branches that are not lighting. So, with the "help" of two four-year-olds I went in search of the lighting problem. The end result was my erratic use of wire clippers to yank out an old string or two, two bawling preschoolers sent to their room (NOT the best time to be getting into everything in the house) and a 7 month-old kitten launching himself at my head as I rummaged through the branches which now have a funny smell (when your nose is right against them) because of all the apple spray. I sent out an email with an inappropriate title regarding Christmas and retrieved the screaming children from their room. Ho, ho, ho. Yep, the stuff of happy childhood memories!

Madeleine with her Salvation Army stocking from preschool. We did the shopping during alone time and Madeleine filled a stocking for a 15-16 year old girl.

Emily with her Salvation Army stocking. Emily filled her stocking for a 15-16 year old boy.

We do not usually have gifts under our tree because Santa knows we travel. However, this year the girls picked out ginormous bucket-o-games to give each other (There was no secret keeping and of course the first one to shop for a gift told her sister what was purchased....so the second bought the same thing, just with different characters.) So we are going to do a small gift exchange on Sunday in conjunction with Nikolaustag instead of lugging the games back and forth across the country - twice. Madeleine had alone time with me yesterday and Emily had it today. Part of alone time for each girl, was to buy her sister's gift and wrap it. Madeleine put Emily's gift under the tree about 11:30, Emily came home from school at about 12:30 and immediately the unwrapping began. Excuse me!!

Last night we drove through the Celebration in Lights in Newport News, which Madeleine and Emily thoroughly enjoyed. The Annual Williamsburg Christmas Parade was scheduled for tomorrow, but has been canceled due to the weather forecast (Sure, the year I buy chairs on clearance at the end of summer and they cancel the parade! I won't even mention the rain ponchos I bought at the Dollar Store today.) Thankfully, we have a friend's birthday party to attend tomorrow afternoon and our fingers crossed for a Grand Illumination party on Sunday evening. We have never braved the crowds to actually see the fireworks - but might try this year...

I finally have allies in my camp regarding Peeps. Emily and Madeleine have discovered the Christmas tree and snowman Peeps and think they are pretty groovy. While I am a Peep purist and believe there should only be chicks and bunnies at Easter and not these knockoff Peeps, I am happy to have the support.

On a couple of non-holiday notes...When my parents were visiting we went to a local museum and the girls were convinced they needed tickets. I told them they didn't as they were under 6. Madeleine looked up and said, "Yeah, and all of you are on top of it."

Emily has an extremely mild case of Brown's Syndrome that I discovered about one-and-a-half years ago when I noticed one eye was "funny" if she looked a specific direction. She sees a specialist in Richmond and the only implication is she does not have depth perception if she looks in an upper-diagonal direction to the right, while moving only her eyes and not her head. The doctor said this means she can't be a fighter pilot, but that is about it (Shockingly we are okay with this). Anyhow, if she looks in just the right direction she sees double. So, for light entertainment we went through a phase, a couple of weeks ago, where she entertained herself by giving me two heads on a fairly routine basis. At first I was worried the condition had changed, but then she informed me she could give me five heads (she can not) and I noticed she seemed to be enjoying my angst....another button to push.

Theodore's Triumphant Return

Pilgrim Madeleine and Theodore.


You may remember Theodore. The "Teddy Bear Class" mascot from preschool who visits a different family each weekend. Theodore came home with Emily in October. Emily walked into a sweet deal. We switched from the Froggy Class to the Teddy Bear class right at the end of October (Resulting in me becoming that parent - something I foolishly vowed would not happen). Anyhow, when we moved, the stars were aligned in such a matter that Emily "got all the exciting stuff", such as bringing Theodore home, being Star Student, getting multiple book bags, etc.

Meanwhile, Madeleine got two book bags and justifiably upset. To her credit, she handled it really well and lasted about three weeks before bursting into tears one day while we were getting ready for naps. (I think she inherited her stoicism from my grandfather and grandmother. These people were so stoic that when I shattered an ankle in high school and they came to see me in the hospital before I was taken into surgery, I assumed it was much more serious than I had been told because Grandfather and Grandmother had come and were acting like it was a big deal.)

Well, folks, good things come to those who wait!! Not only did Madeleine's turn with Theodore finally arrive...she got him for all of Thanksgiving Break! Theodore came home on Tuesday afternoon and did not have to go back until the following Monday morning. Bliss.

Theodore and Madeleine.

Late Tuesday afternoon the girls' friend, Emerson, came over for a sleepover - the "all night" variety. All four parents were betting that sooner or later, someone would be transporting a pajama-clad Emerson home. Nope she made it all night! (Four parents and at least two grandparents were rather surprised by this). All three girls did a great job going to sleep and the only issue was a wake-up event at 3:30 in the morning. I think two of us would have happily gone back to sleep, but my youngest was leading the charge. Madeleine was begging to go back to sleep and Emerson was sufficiently intimidated by being in a house other than her own; so, I got in bed with Emily and all of us went back to sleep. Funny how having an adult in the room cuts down on chatting.

Emerson is an excellent eater and eats all variety of "grown-up food". I was hoping some of this might rub off on our two, who are becoming more and more difficult regarding food. Sadly, this was not only not the case, but we ended up corrupting Emerson by introducing her to Scooby Doo mac n' cheese.


Lucy in her chosen location as 3 four-year-olds raced around the house....the cupboard over the fridge.

Thanksgiving was a rather low-key affair in our house. We spent the weekend visiting various playgrounds and making Christmas crafts to give to people. The crafts looked faster to make than they were (duh) and I believe it was at about handprint 22, of 30, I started muttering non-craft related things under my breath.

The Teddy Bear Class as pilgrims. On the far left is Emerson, Emily is the third in and Madeleine is second from the right.

Pilgrim Emily.

Below are a few videos from the Thanksgiving Program....sorry for the background static. Emily is in red sleeves and Madeleine is in purple sleeves.

Trick or Treat!

Madeleine (left) and Emily...Both of our Sleeping Beauties (I begged for Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella, or Snow White, or Minnie Mouse, or...) wish you a Happy Halloween!


Hard at work!

Introducing "Skeeter"

Skeeter, soon to be Leo?

One tired little kitty.

Just in case Halloween with two four-year-olds does not present enough excitement, add a new pet!

Skeeter is the newest member of our family. We selected him yesterday and he came home today (our humane society has a 24 hour waiting period).

We had planned on waiting until after the holidays. However, Lucy was rather lonely when we were in Germany and that was only half of the time of an upcoming trip. So, we went to the humane society and found Skeeter. Now, Lucy is rather ticked! We are hoping for improvement in the feline relations.

I had hoped for a kitten who was about four months, because I had been told two of us wanted a "baby cat". However, Emily and Madeleine were happy with Skeeter. He is six months old and already sterilized (something I wanted). He was born at the shelter so he is very good with other cats and was shockingly accepting of the girls' advances.

There were some really sweet eight-week-old kittens. However, I am not really up for the extra work right now. And....coming into a house with two preschoolers - I think Skeeter's size gives him a better shot than a critter who fits in the palm of my hand!

When the issue of a kitten first came up I was told that the kitten was to be named Princess Sparkle Sleeping Bleauty (sic). Skeeter is a neutered male...this has not necessarily changed our name preference. The collar we selected has a significant amount of pink and a pink bell. HE was also referred to as Sleeping Bleauty in the car for part of the ride home. And, in the photos above he has happily curled up on a Sleeping Beauty Halloween costume left on the dining room table. However, two of us also like the suggestion of Leo.....we will see.

And should someone think Lincoln has been forgotten....Today when we picked up a few things for Skeeter I pointed out toys Lincoln had really liked and suggested we get a few for Skeeter. Madeleine informed me she will hold one of those toys in her hand when she dies and that way she can take it up to Heaven and give it Lincoln.

Theodore Visits

Madeleine's jack-o-lantern, Theodore, Emily's jack-o-lantern

Theodore and Emily

Since our return from Germany, life has been busy. Madeleine and Emily switched preschool classes, from Froggies to Teddy Bears, and are now going to school five mornings a week. Theodore is the Teddy Bear class mascot and each weekend he goes home with a different student. He arrives with his suitcase full of clothing and a journal to document each visit.

Theodore came home with me on Friday morning and he and Lucy spent the morning sleeping in the sun and watching birds out the window. Then the girls came home from preschool and Lator Gators (A six week after school program where the children eat their lunch at school and come home at 2 instead of 12:15. We opted to participate on Fridays when we learn about the James River.) After Theodore's clothing was changed a lot, we decided to leave the house. Madeleine and Emily don't nap on Fridays because of Lator Gators, but they are so tired by the end of the week, they are rather inclined to be less-than-friendly toward each other. Sitting around the family room only exacerbates this condition.

We took some books back to the library and checked out some new books, including one for Theodore (it had to be about a bear). Then we walked over to Baskin Robbins and had ice cream (Theodore said no thank you). We went on a walk and then went home. Friday was "shampoo night" and after Emily and Madeleine had dry hair, they used the dryer on Theodore so he would be warm. Then it was bedtime for everyone and all three members of the Teddy Bear Class crashed.

Emily and Theodore

Saturday we took Theodore with us to Costco and then the park playground in the morning. In the afternoon we made jack-o-lanterns and Theodore was very helpful. As opposed to Emily and Madeleine who ran from the kitchen stating "Ewwwwwwwwwww, gross!" as soon as I started scooping the pumpkins (as if I'm delighted pulling all that stuff out). Saturday night Erica our loyal babysitter and friend came over. We would like to apologize for our bedtime conduct, apparently Theodore is not always a good influence.

Monday Theodore went back to preschool. At nap time Emily was sobbing she could not sleep without him, and yet, she managed.

Emily and a jack-o-lantern of her design

The jack-o-lantern Madeleine designed.

Madeleine (L) and Emily with their suckers.

Two weekends ago we went to the county park and rec dept. "Havest Festival". It was less than amazing, but they did have a hay maze (and it was nice and short so we could easily manage it) and at the end there was a bowl full of suckers! We didn't spot the treats until about our third time through, so the sugar overload was postponed until its inevitable arrival on Halloween.

A note on Lator Gators: I know nothing about Virginia and have been very impressed with what the girls have learned about its geography. The first week they came home knowing what a river eddy is. The second week they came home knowing the name of some of the smaller rivers that feed into the James (which is huge!) and that at least one of the smaller rivers comes from the Allegheny Mountains. However, when this was first explained to me, I was told the rivers came from the "Alligator" Mountains. Sounds good to me.

Deutschland

Madeleine and Emily (in red) with their new friend in Fulda, Germany!

Emily (pink) and Madeleine (purple) "cooking" at the castle.

Our international travels behind us, we are approaching this entry in chapter format (much like traveling with small children - one step at a time)!

Are We There Yet?

Madeleine and Emily go to "music school" every Tuesday morning. So, the brilliant plan was to have Till take them to music school (Oct. 6) while I finished throwing the last minute things in suitcases, Till would come home, we'd load the car, pick-up the girls and hit the road. We flew out of Dulles so we had a direct flight - very nice while flying, but it meant we had a three hour drive just to get to the airport!!

In reality - we were all ready to go before music school (high five) so we loaded the car and headed to music school with the intention we'd let the girls play on the playground a few minutes, go to class, and then head out. However....Miss Madeleine did not follow the "Do NOT go down the slide!" directions and ended up with soaking pants and underwear because of the dew on the slide. Granted, we had a car full of clothing in the parking lot, but these were comfy stretchy pants, intentionally selected for the plane ride - and God only knew which suitcase held what at that point.

So, Madeleine and I went to the postage stamp-sized bathroom where I squeezed water out of her pants and underwear (Yes, I literally stripped her down and had her sit her naked little bottom on a paper towel on the floor.) with paper towels and lectured to the extent two other mothers volunteered to lend us the change of clothing they carry for their children. Good parenting on my part....but come on, NOT today!

The girls wrapped up class (Madeleine's pants were now dry thanks to body heat) and we headed out.

We are not even 15 miles up I-64 and Till and I are being inundated with "Are we there yet?" Oh God. We tried answering. We tried explaining. We tried distraction. I tried sarcasm and said "Yes! There is the airplane waiting for us right there!" while pointing at trees as we zoomed by - this only resulted in the backseat asking "Where?" with great enthusiasm.

Finally, I remembered on Valentine's Day I stashed a bunch of suckers the girls had gotten at school in the car's glovebox for "emergencies". I whipped out two suckers, passed them back and Till and I enjoyed 3 solid minutes of peace and quiet.

Taking Flight

We arrive at Dulles, unload the car, check-in the luggage, both of us contemplate divorcing and child abandonment, and then we head through security. It was a breeze!! They could not have been more polite or easier to work with if they had tried (Completely reinforces my opinion that Spokane has the most moronic TSA agents in the country as there is always an "issue" there and NEVER anywhere else - even big airports when flying internationally.).

We get on the plane and the girls and I have 3 of the 5 center seats at the bulkhead with Till across the aisle. This was fantastic! Granted, we couldn't shove carry-on under the seat in front of us, but I am constantly in and out of carry-on when traveling with the girls and it was great to just have it on the floor and not be trying to work around the passenger in front of me having their head in my lap! We also had room to stretch legs and change the girls into jammies.

The girls, being the Southwest Airlines veterans that they are, were shocked to find out some airplanes have TVs and don't have pleather seats! They also thought the bathrooms were "much nicer". Tip - when on a big plane (in our case Boeing 777 - 4 bathrooms next to each other at the bulkhead) look for the one that has a different "door knob" (a lever that literally pushes down). It is the handicap stall and HUGE, which is greatly appreciated when one is hanging out in airplane restrooms with four-year-olds for 15 minutes at a time.

We had hoped they girls would sleep on this flight as it was a red-eye, but we knew hoping wouldn't cut it. These kids don't sleep on planes. I can't complain as they fuss minimally, don't cry, don't fight, etc....but we knew we needed help in the sleep department. A friend graciously suggested melatonin and I ran it by the pediatrician who gave the green light under these circumstances. Emily and Madeleine slept for three hours!!! Not all night, but better than nothing. I didn't really sleep at all because I couldn't believe the girls were actually sleeping and kept checking to see if they were awake (not too bright!).
Emily.
Madeleine, between her pillow and Emily's - which had flopped over, her neck pillow around her neck and United Airline's pillow on her stomach!

Arrival

We arrived Wednesday (10/7) morning and all of our luggage arrived with us, for which we were thankful. Oma and Opa were waiting for us at the airport, which was nice as they watched the girls while we picked-up the rental car (A 20 minute process that would not have been improved by dealing with two small children!). We picked up the car and headed off. Unfortunately, we were separated from Oma and Opa on the autobahn, so we just went to our hotel.

The people at the hotel were very nice. Even though we were hours earlier than we thought we'd be, they let us eat breakfast there and got our room ready as fast as possible. We unloaded the car, hung out in our room, and then Oma and Opa caught up.


Madeleine (L) and Emily (R) on the hotel's front entrance balcony.

Two geese and a duck (who seemed to think he was a goose) who lived on the farm next door to the hotel. They were very territorial about the hotel's driveway and would voice their opinion to any car that drove by.

Madeleine and the cat in the basement. The cat has a label that says "Made in West Germany" just to give you an indication of its age. We got it to work ONE time and it went on and on and on....we finally gave up and put Emily on in the middle of the one turn (It played Home On The Range six-and-a-half times), which is good as the cat never turned on again. Sadly, Madeleine got to ride the cat through 5 songs and Emily only got to ride it for 1.5 times...we didn't know when/if it would turn off, so we stuck her on and were glad we did as she at least got part of a turn.

Emily

At Oma and Opa's house Emily and Madeleine got to play with bubbles, color pictures, use safety scissors and put together puzzles. Melissa and Till were more than happy to turn the girls' entertainment over to non-jet-lagged adults.

Opa and Emily fly a kite.

Opa, Madeleine, Emily, Oma in the yard getting some jet-lag fighting fresh air.

Oma and Madeleine with another kite.

Opa, Madeleine, Emily.

Emily, Oma, Madeleine.

Later, we went from the grandparents' house to the train station (checked the schedule for the next day) and then to Globus (a huge grocery store) to pick up a few things and have a snack in the cafeteria. The girls who had been wide awake for the entire day, crashed in the car on the 3 minute drive from the train station to Globus.

Three minute drive from train station to Globus and the jet-lag gets you! Emily (L) and Madeleine.

Potatoes in the "normal" store. Till was offended I took the photo, but it just amazed me...
Emily (L) and Madeleine - both clutching candy they had picked out.

Madeleine (pink) and Emily are taller than the grocery store counters in Germany!!

Riding the Globus conveyor belt to get down from the second floor...when you take a cart on - it locks the wheels (at least in theory) so you don't even really have to hold on. Madeleine in pink and Emily in blue.

We were all sound asleep by 5:30 PM, awake about 9, asleep again about midnight and then up around 7 or so.

Fulda

Emily and Madeleine had a German agenda consisting of two highlights: 1. go on a train ride and 2. eat a pretzel as big as their faces. We had planned on riding the train to Frankfurt, but with terror threats and the State Department warning, we decided to go the other direction.

Our first full day in Germany we hopped on the 9:10 train and went from Wachtersbach to Fulda, which took a little less than an hour. There are now new "fancy trains" for the regional routes in Germany. We even got to sit upstairs to watch the beautiful scenery go by.


Emily waiting at the Wachtersbach train station.

Madeleine waiting in Wachtersbach.

Emily (L) and Madeleine on the train to Fulda.

It was a little drizzly in Wachtersbach and we rode the train through some rain, but it appeared the rain and the train were going in opposite directions. So, when we arrived in Fulda, it was wet, but not currently raining.

Madeleine and Emily had also wanted to go shopping for clothing and hair accessories. So that is what we did in Fulda. We scoped out three different department stores before deciding what we would purchase where. This not only gave us a complete view of our options - it also made little legs walk around quite a bit in the fresh air as a remedy for jet-lag.

We also quickly popped into a very pretty Catholic church (I am not going to let them think department stores are the only things in Germany) where we sat in a pew, looked at the art and attempted to light two candles (Two of us were not inclined to hold the match, so I did it.)

German department stores are nice and remind me of what we had when I was a child; "real" department stores. The German stores also often have a restaurant on the top floor. The girls had boycotted approximately 13 possible breakfast options that morning and were by now starving; especially Emily, Madeleine had surrendered at breakfast and managed to nibble a cocoa crispy or two. So, we decided we would eat lunch in one of the stores, use the restroom and hit the road.

Then disaster struck.

Till and I purposely ordered schnitzel because it comes with fries and we thought if we could entice the girls to eat something...perhaps they'd be willing to move on to options of more sustenance. Nope! The fries were crinkle-cut which not only strengthened the resolve of those on a hunger strike, it reduced them to tears!! Seriously, give me a break. So Till and I ate our lunch at record speed and then I took the girls to the restroom before heading to the train station.

The "nicer" restrooms in Germany have attendants. I came in with the girls and the woman attendant asked if they were twins. I said yes and was told "how nice/beautiful" I whipped out "danke" (thank you) one of the 10 German words I know. We went to a stall while the attendant said something about princesses (the German word sounds very similar to English). Madeleine finishes up and I have her standing right at the stall door while Emily is using the facilities. We are the only ones left in the restroom and the attendant comes over and starts speaking to Madeleine. We are way beyond my grasp of German so I asked if she spoke English and she said no, patted my cheek, stroked my hair and said Madeleine was beautiful and had pretty blue eyes. Then sang a little song for Madeleine. Emily finishes and then we go to wash hands.

The attendant is now sitting on her chair and has lured Madeleine over while I lift and hold Emily so she can wash her hands. First the woman hugged and kissed Madeleine and then put her in her lap and kissed her back all over. Keep in mind there is a HUGE language barrier here and I have no idea what I would do even if there isn't and I'm busy with Emily's hands. Madeleine looks rather caught off guard, has huge eyes and is looking to me. I just told her "you're okay, you're okay" while finishing Emily. Then the girls traded places. However, Emily was blinking back tears at the point some strange old lady (who was honestly very genuine and meant no harm) kissed her back and I was glad we were on our way out the door - where Emily promptly started crying - again!

In a last effort to raise blood sugar levels we went to the basement of the department store where there is a grocery section and bought sunflower and pumpkin seeds, bananas, apples, grapes and milk for our picky eaters and headed for the train. Emily ate her banana as if she hadn't seen food in a week (in fairness she hadn't really eaten much since Tue. AM at home - which is in part her own fault) dramatically improving her mood.

Emily (L) and Madeleine at a fountain in Fulda

Emily and Madeleine with pretzels as big as their faces!!

The morning after arrival, you can see a bit of jet-lag around the eyes of our pretzel girls.


Uncle Bodo

Uncle Bodo is very interested in music and has been for years. He has a veritable recording studio in part of his apartment. The first few days we were there he had to work, but then he had a day off and let us use his equipment!!

Emily and Madeleine had a great time playing keyboard, singing into microphones, playing with a synthesizer (I think - I'm not up on all of the equipment and wasn't in the room the whole time). There was even a gizmo that made lights light up when you sang!

Bodo was very generous and let the girls use all kinds of expensive things (Had it been my stuff, each child would have been handed two drumsticks and told to drum on the floor.) and even burned a CD of our "record". He aptly titled it "Pure Noise". It is 20 minutes long and you may all expect a copy for Christmas!

Madeleine, Bodo, Emily

Emily in red and Madeleine in pink begin their music careers under Uncle Bodo's supervision.

Bodo and Madeleine

Emily and Bodo

Goats, a Playground, and a Castle

One day we went with Opa and Oma to a wildlife park. We were able to buy food pellets out of a vending machine and feed the animals there...most of them. The donkeys, deer and goats were all interested in a snack. However, there were signs discouraging the feeding of the buffalo - go figure.

The goats and deer (some very small variety) were particularly interested. But, they had the sense to be interested in adults. I was alone at a vending machine buying some pellets, turned around and had nine new best friends. The critters and I are happily chatting as they snacked and then the girls spotted my entourage. The abrupt arrival of two preschoolers immediately scattered the animals!

Finally, the goats realized that the girls not only had boxes of pellets, they are short and could be bullied! One goat in particular was after both children and a bit aggressive. Shockingly, he did not respond as desired to the "Go away goat!!" command he was given. Till lured said goat away while the girls had a chance to feed (which involved dumping the entire box of food in one pile on the ground) the rest of them.Deer in the background...Madeleine on the left and Emily on the right

We also went to a playground pretty close to Opa and Oma's. It is in the shadow of castle ruins and had a "carousel" which we deemed "lots of fun".

Emily (left) and Madeleine ride the "carousel" at the park.

The Eis Cafe where we had fancy ice cream (looked like Mickey Mouse) very close to the playground.

We also got to go to a castle! Sadly, Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella were not spotted (we kept looking), but we had fun walking in their footsteps none-the-less.

We got to see the VERY deep well and pour a bucket of water down it. You count to see how long it takes the water to hit the bottom - 15! We also saw dining halls, a chapel, the apothecary's room, and some toys. We purposely climbed every twisting narrow staircase we could find (always prepping for nap time) and even spotted Oma waiting for us in the courtyard below.
Oma, Emily, Madeleine and Opa at the castle.

Queen Emily

Queen MadeleineDid we lose someone? Emily (L) and Madeleine

Jo, Ramin and Oli

Saturday night Emily and Madeleine met some of Till's friends. Turns out parents had lives prior to the arrival of children - shocking! Madeleine and Emily were getting rather hyper at this point (we wind "up", not "down" when tired around here) and it was getting a little late, so the girls did not display their best behavior. Particularly when they were escorted by their mother to the car (we left Till to hang out while we went to the hotel to go to bed) and howled all the way out of the house and down the sidewalk.

However, Jo's mother sent bouncy balls as a gift - which the girls greatly appreciate. And we found out we have a previously unknown dedicated blog reader in Jo (Hi Jo!), who generously showed us pictures of his pet mice!


Departure

All good things must come to an end. Tuesday (10/13) morning we loaded the car and hit the road. Thankfully, we were on the autobahn the whole way - the rental car's heater only worked when driving at least 80 km/hour and it was a bit chilly at 6AM.

Our flight home was thankfully as uneventful as our flight over. However, this time we flew all day and had to be entertained. On the way over the girls discovered headphones, music and the TVs. On the way back they found out the TVs can show more than the plane's progress on a map (the only thing I let them see so we would have a prayer of them sleeping on the way over - and even then they only saw it after waking up) - you can watch movies! We made it through Ice Age III about two and a half times. Then we found The Simpsons. Of course a family of yellow cartoon characters was very visually appealing. However, I was fit to be tied over the content of The Simpsons in general, and this episode in particular, being viewed by four-year-olds. The plane episode featured Lisa as a ballerina who smokes. She not only demonstrates great health choices, but goes on and on about ballet being sexist and limiting. Look Lisa, I have two sets of ballet clothing waiting upstairs at home and if there is an issue with going to class next Monday - you and I will be chatting.

We finally got the TVs turned off and went back to our standby plane activities of stickers and making necklaces and bracelets.

Back in the car on the way home Miss Emily announced "I think I'm going to take a little nap." Um, okay, great idea!! I think Madeleine would have agreed but she was too busy sucking her thumb and trying to keep her eyes open. We had the joy of driving in evening rush hour, so when the express lanes ended and we had to go back into the crawling traffic, we decided to wait it out by pulling over and eating dinner.

Driving home.

After waking the girls from their "naps" (more like comas) we staggered into IHOP where two of us cried over most options presented to us and ate very little. I changed the girls into jammies in the car in the IHOP parking lot and back on the road. We got home about 9 and it was the best "Go to Bed After Traveling" night to date. The girls complained a little about having to go to bed (after sleeping soundly in the car for three hours) and then went right to sleep.

We were all awake about 3AM the next morning. We waited for daylight (seemed to take forever to come) and then headed to the park's playground for fresh air and physical activity. We came home, ate "lunch", and were all napping at 10:30 in the morning.

That afternoon we went to the "downtown" area (a total joke - consists of the library, post office and fire station). We walked over to the Colonial area and as we were walking we noticed both girls were literally skipping along. Till asked if they were happy to be home and they said yes and listed many reasons, culminating in "I'm glad to be back where people speak English!"

Ah, yes, the birth of a yet another ugly American tourist.