February 21, 2009

Amsterdam

Last Saturday we took a day trip to Amsterdam (without the kids). We went with our friends Sara and Matt and left all 4 of our kids with another friend, a brave soul who somehow managed to exhaust our kids and still look sane when we arrived home to relieve her. Matt insisted we bring our bikes, but I was skeptical. If I can avoid exercising I will, and I was thinking it would be too cold and too annoying to ride around Amsterdam all day. How wrong I was! It was the best idea. That city is all bikers and trolleys, hardly saw a car all day. It is built around a bunch of canals and they are full of houseboats if you can believe it. I never knew that about Amsterdam. While we didn't go into any museums, we did see the Van Gogh and Anne Frank house and there is tons of shopping. It is very easy to get around on the bikes and we were able to take in all of the scenery. I desperately tried to get a photo of a red light lady (Lady? No, not the right word) but someone walked in front of the camera. From what I hear she started yelling at me and we took off on the bikes. Oh well. Maybe she should get a new profession if she doesn't want naked photos of herself being taken. Anyway, we had a great time and the day flew by. We will definitely go back when the weather is warmer and whenever someone comes out to visit.













The kids have been amusing this week. We all ventured out to Snowworld again for Rhi's ski lesson. This time Brad went over to the boot rental counter and yanked the flourescent light bulb that's twice his length out of the socket. I also thought maybe I should wash my kitchen floor last week. After a mere 15 hours of having a nice clean floor, I walked into the kitchen and saw the following scene:


There are churches in all of our villages aroud here. Usually on every street corner there is what looks like a mini church with candles lit and various statues inside. They are just part of the scenery but Rhiannon asked me the other day when we walked past one, "Why is Germany all about Jesus?" The picture of her with the puppy is our friends Marita and Christian's new family addition, a West Highland Terrier name Feenchin (phonetic spelling). It means Josephine in German.


Today we are going to the Karnival parade and party in our village. There are floats and candy and I am sure lots of drinking! It looks like the sun is cracking its way into the sky so at least we won't have to endure the rain. It should be another great time for us here in Germany.

February 10, 2009

From Danielle & Jim, to The Wilkinsons... 6 Years Ago

So we celebrated 6 years of marriage on Sunday and took a road trip to Monchau, Germany. It is a town about an hour south of here in a little valley that was untouched by the war as you can see in its architecture. They have a beer museum, a really cool model train store, and a bunch of little shops and cafes. After that, we dropped the kids off with Matt and Sara and went to dinner at a place called Meds. It's a Mediterranean tapas bar and restaurant and it was delicious. We opted to get the surprise 3 course meals, mainly because we couldn't read the menu but also because it was a little risky. I ended up with a fish I have never heard of and Jim got beef in a sauce that is literally translated as squirrel mushroom sauce but I don't think it actually included squirrel. Now I am all about having a tapas party with fancy little finger foods and mysterious ingredients. Who wants to come?





Today Rhiannon took the Bath and Body Works spray that I keep in the bathroom and sprayed Brad in the face with it. I heard screaming coming from the bathroom and when I went in there it was all I could smell and his face was all red with tears coming out of his red eyes. I rinsed them with water but it took a few hours for them to look normal again. To top it off, she flat out lied and said she didn't spray anything! Like Japanese Cherry Blossoms are really growing in my bathroom.


On a positive note, she is doing really well with ski lessons and is advancing to the "big" hill next week along with half of her class. She is already better than me!

Last week, still hovering over Brad stumbling through life, I observed him right in front of me jump from the center console of the couch, bounce on his knees on the cushion, and then fly up and smack his head on the marble corner of the top of the heater. I can't tell you how long those 2 seconds were that it took him to turn around and I was just waiting for the gush of blood, but thank god this time his head stayed intact. He jumps all over the place lately. Jump, jump, jump.

I still can't get him to sleep like a normal human being. I have found him sleeping with Rhiannon and heard him playing for hours in the middle of the night. He just refuses to stay in his room at bedtime but I will not give up the fight even though it frustrates me to no end. I have found yet another baby gate ( I think we have 4 different ones now for various dangerous situations) that can only be described as a prison door. It is my chest high and made of wrought iron bars. There's no way he is climbing that sucker! Still toying with the idea of ordering it. I am going to give it another week of probable torture before I break down and do it.
Honestly, can I ever get a break?

Off to Amsterdam this weekend...

February 2, 2009

The Dom in Cologne

Snowworld Take 2

This week, Rhiannon had a great ski lesson sans Bradley and Mom. Jim got a few great shots of her. She learned the "Pizza Slice" which is when you point your skis inward to slow yourself down. Maybe next week we will all venture back for the lesson. I wouldn't mind trying out the skis myself since I've never been.





Sunday we went with some friends to Koln. It was freezing and windy but they have some great shops and an amazing Gothic cathedral that I think was built from around 1200-1900. My favorite part of the day was the Dunkin Donuts that we were told about and then subsequently found. There are only about a handful of them in Germany and we happen to live within an hour of 4 of them. I know it's a little out of the way but hey, it's better than nothing!

Tyler, Rhi and Brad

Brad's head is getting better but he still tells everyone he sees that he has a bump. I have been watching him like a hawk this week and all I've realized is that he is a maniac. He runs into walls, hops down the stairs, trips over himself, and while he likes to sit on the potty, he still isn't quite ready to use it for its normal purpose preferring instead to pee on the floor and spread feces to his bed linens and my socks. (long story) I know he will calm down and become civilized someday but I rather enjoy him just the way he is for now.

Rhi has been doing real homework assignments this semester that have to be turned in the next day. She has also started doing one class each week in computers. How the times have changed. Last week she told me her "brain was on fire" that day because she kept sounding out correctly a lot of J-words.

Jim started his masters program tonight in Military Studies. He is going to be very busy for awhile. Some of his books look rather interesting though and I might peruse them when he's finished. As for me, still looking for online work. I am also trying to muster up the courage to become a dance teacher for the child and youth services program. Sometimes I think I may have lost it, but I definitely need to get out and do something and I have always loved dancing. We'll see what happens. Keepin ya posted...