taking one for the team....

This post is just to say that all you folks who've told us you're coming over sometime while we're here,both to see us and to see all the sights that are nearby..... we're expecting you.

We've got a guest room in the basement ready, but not without casualty. While we maneuvered the queen size boxspring into the basement with lots of muscle and the help of gravity (after removing the hand rails and sacrificing some paint in the stairwell), we're not getting it out without a chain saw. It would be a real shame to go through the motions of setting up a guestroom and yet not have any actual guests to put in it.

We'll leave a light on for you!

(Now I'm off to check on D who's in our room putting togethter our bed, which we were smart enough to leave boxed from the store so it could ship unassembled; there's NO way a kingwould've made it up the stairs. But if it can be put together now, it can be taken apart again when its time to pull up stakes.)

looks like we'll all have a place to sleep tonight :)

An Acquired Taste?

Ate lunch recently at the local subway. (Subway and Mcdonalds are the only two places I've found with fountain sodas or coffee in to-go cups). The menu is pretty much the same as in the states. However, the chip choices were interesting.

ever tried a prawn-flavored potato chip? Did you ever imagine such a chip existed? D ate the whole bag, so he must have liked them. Me, not so much.

Tonight is our last night in our guesthouse, which means this will likely be my last post until our internet gets up and running (two weeks if we're lucky, a month if we're not.)

Merry Christmas one and all. We're still undescided where we're headed for the holiday, so be sure to check back after the new year to see where we ended up!

Aachen and the Autobahn; Cereal and Sausages

We made it Aachen this past Saturday-- a really old German city (yeah think Charlemagne's time, so really yreally old). But this time of year it's claim to fame is that it hosts the largest Christmas market that's kind of close to us and has a fabulous toy store.


The weather Saturday was cold and drizzly, but if we waited for a sunny day to go anywhere we'd never get out.

The toy store is three levels and has a slide that the kids can slide on to get from the main floor to the basement. Saturday, St. Nikolaus was out giving presents to the kids. (St Nikolaus was also outside every store we walked pass giving out chocolate, so much so that when C was ready for more candy he'd say to me, "Where's Nikolaus")

The Market itself was super crowded, but it was still good fun to meander.

I started B on some cereal this week and as you can see from the picture he's already progressed from cereal to sausages.



To get to Aachen we took our first spin on the Autobahn. I didn't drive, but I did pass my driver's test last week and took the car out for the first time on Sunday. ("the car" would be the 1997 BMW Dan bought this week for our second car-- our orange box is still in transit.) Local lore has it that when you come to GK, you leave with either a baby or a BMW. BMW: check!

Christmas Markets here and there

We went to the Geilenkirchen christmas market this weekend and had a good time walking a bit of the city (it was the first time we had really walked around GK proper.) After being here for nearly two weeks scored our first currywurst for lunch.

we tried to go to another local market today, but by the time we got there, both kids had fallen asleep in the car, it was raining and we would have had to park rather far away and slog through the rain-- didn't seem like it was worth waking them up for it.

we have decided that b/c we will either have no stuff or very discombobulated stuff for Christmas that we'll spend Christmas week in Nurnberg at the mother of all Christmas markets, seems like a good year to do it

Both GK and Heinsberg have children's play equipment on random street corners (see above). C likes to go exploring now 'cause he never knows what he's going to find!

Heinsberg-- flying solo

Our guesthouse is in the town of Heinsberg. Earlier this week a friend and I walked down town for lunch. However with three kids in tow, two of whom were sick and all of whom alternated between fits of whining, kvetching, and general complaining, what I saw of Heinsberg that day remains a bit of a blur. Until my stroller stash gets here, walking outings with both kids are less than ideal. I have to carry B, which is no big deal, really, 'cause he's still such a lightweight. My garagantuan preschooler, on the other hand, presents a problem. C still would rather ride than walk -- and the 20 minute walk downtown is too much for him anyway-- but the only stroller I have with me simply isn't designed to hold my 50lb monster, especially over curbs and cobblestones.

However, D came home after lunch yesterday and after feeding both kiddos and getting them tucked into bed for their naps, I went back to Heinsberg, this time flying solo.

'Twas the first solo time I'd had since we landed and had a lovely time in and out of the children boutique, the toy store, the stationary store, and a second hand shop or two. I found the German version of the dollar store (which really and truly looks very much like the American version of a dollar store), stopped to try on some shoes, and lingered to sip some Gluvein at one of the booths in the market.On one hand I do wish C was with me because he would have like the pseudo-puppetshow thing I happened accross in the market, but we can take him back one day, just for that.

The wee bit of solo exploring makes me feel a bit more human and not quite the bumbling, incompetent American.

This morning, I ventured out with both kiddos. We grabbed a snack at the local bakery and then came back to a playground right around the corner from our guesthouse. C has a very interesting playground ethic. When he's at the playground with other kids he *always always always* convinces the other kids to get on the equipment first; that way it's their bottoms that dry of the morning dew. Today there were no other kids and C gets to the top of the slide, pauses at the platform, sees the water, and looks at me and asks, "where's W?". (W is our 2.5 year old friend in town). Disappointed he was when he realized he'd have to dry the slide himself today!

Happy American Thanksgiving!

Today is just another ol Thursday over here. Yet, it's still a good time to stop and count some of our many blessings, including all of our family and friends. We've been invited to thanksgiving dinner at friends on Saturday, but today D had to go to some meetings and the boys and I made banana bread. I had to open a temperature converter on the computer to know what tto set the oven at. (Note: 350 F is 176 C). I couldn't find any measuring devices, so it was really guess-a-bread on the proportions... we'll see how it turns out. I think I got pretty close using a 5oz baby bottle I'm carrying around.

This week has been a wee bit crazy. The boys have been to the Doctor both with bacteiral bronchitis. I was at the dentist with what I thought was a root canal, but thankfully turned out to only be an uneven filling.

The Christmas markets start here in earnest this weekend, so will try to get to one in the next couple of days.

It snowed here this week (from what I hear an unusual occurence, especially this early in the year) so C had fun frolicking in it. I can post some pictures as soon as I find the camera cord.


D is looking for a used car this week. Here's something you don't normally think to check out before buying. Achtung Automarder! - Local Pests

Have an extra helping of Turkey todayy for us!

To Sittard

Today we wandered over to Sittard in the Netherlands. From what I hear we'll be there a great deal, seems like folks around here are always saying, "When I was over at Sittard..."

Todays destination was the open air market and then lunch at bagels and beans. If you go, C highly recommends the double chocolate muffin.


After lunch we went a little further to Shinnen so D could look at TVs and C could play on the indoor playplace as it 'twas mighty cold here today (a few snow flurries even). The indoor playplace, however, ajoins the bowling alley and C had more fun watching the bowling. He cheered each person on as they stepped to the line and then offered the heartiest of congratulations whether they threw a strike or a gutter ball. Me thinks that we might have a bowling birthday this year, hmmmm?

The Mcs have landed

What day is it? The boys seem to have adjusted ok and slept full nights last night with normal naps today, D and I, however, are still operating on EST and are two mighty tired travelers.

The trip itself went really well, a couple of seating snafus on the plane and a really long wait to clear customs, but otherwise uneventful. C has earned the preschooler of the year award; he's just been an angel (and angel isn't typically the word I use to describe the boy)

Didn't see anything of brussels other than what you see along the interstate, namely brief glimpse of the Atomium, but it's not a far drive and might be one of our first day trips once the car arrives.

Our guest house is lovely and the owner's a dear.
http://www.gaestehauscosima.de./

more ramblin....

It was just about this time last year that we were rambling around Britain, Germany and the Czech Republic. A year later: we've added one more wee one to the Mcs and just found out we are moving to Germany this fall, so there will be lots more ramblin' in our future.

tulips in Amsterdam, the Scottish highlands, the City of Lights, and the Sound of Music tour in Austria are just some of the trips we're already planning, not to mention German castles and Belgian Chocolate shops

stay tuned!