Day 2 - Sommerhausen

The second day of our trip we spent the day with an old friend of mine named Jan Schimmer. He took us to a little village called Sommerhausen where they have a Wildepark (petting zoo/playground) for Jasmine to have a good time. Well, no question, she had an amazing time. She gathered fall leaves, petted and fed goats, pigs, donkeys and sheep and played on a massive playground. We spent the greater part of the day here and my favorite part was Jasmine running after the roosters with her little arms outstretched again telling them she would hold them. She showed absolutely no fear for any of the animals and really enjoyed feeding them (See the video at the bottom!).

Afterwards, we took a stroll in the village of Sommerhausen and looked in some shops, they had some antique and gift shops, and tried to find a cafe to have a little something to eat. We weren't successful in finding the cafe. Jan then took us to his mother's house so we could meet her and his stepfather and we had a nice, short visit there. Afterwards, we were hungry so Jan went to dinner with us to a nice little Italian restaurant and the food was great.

The night ended after another LONG dinner and Jan took us back to Omi's house for bedtime.Jasmine shows no fear in feeding the sheep!

Me in the village of Sommerhausen

Day 1 - Jet Lag

So we left Sunday the 16th after church from National Airport - and had a connection in Philly. We arrived in Philly on time and then waited 45 minutes on the tarmac because they didn't have a gate for us. The problem was we landed at 3 PM and my connection was at 4:05 PM - so the extra 45 minutes was NOT a good thing for us to be sitting on the plane. We barely made our connection but I was so happy that we got on the plane because I did not want to be stranded in Philly and not get to Germany at our appointed time.

We arrived at Frankfurt am Main airport at 6 am (German time) which would have been midnight our time. The mission was to stay awake as much as possible to reduce our jet lag. This was easier for Jasmine than for me as she slept about 6 hours on the flight and despite all my efforts, I could not fall asleep.

Rainer (Ute's dad who I call Papa) was there to pick us up but much to my frustration, the car seat made it to Germany but not the luggage (you all must know that this was my third time in Germany and my luggage never has arrived at the same time as me!). They promised they would deliver it to us later on that evening (which thankfully, at 8 PM that night they did). We drove the 1.5 hours to Wurzburg and I was in Paradise - the thing I love about Europe is that it rarely changes and Wurzburg hadn't changed in the nine years I had been away.

We settled into Omi's house (Ute's grandma) and took some well-deserved naps. After the nap, we had lunch and then went out for some fresh air. Papa took us to the riverside so Jasmine could play on a playground and get out some energy and run around. She absolutely loved it. She saw ducks in the river and almost ran directly into the river (she would have if I had not run after her and caught her) screaming, "Ducks, Patos, I'll hold you, I'll hold you" with her arms outstretched! It was the cutest thing you ever saw.

After the jaunt in the park we headed back to get ready for dinner - Papa had planned to take us to the Waldhaus (a restaurant I have been to many times - family favorite) where Ute's wedding dinner would be taking place that Friday night. Ute wanted to discuss the plans with the owners and so this was a great opportunity for us to have a nice meal and get things done. It was really nice but the one thing I realized about Germany this time that I had not thought about before was that a meal in a restaurant takes a long time. Germans enjoy and savor their food and the company of those they dine with. A dinner typically runs 2 hours or more. There is no rushing to churn and burn tables like there is here. It is nice for adults but can be difficult when a child is hungry and when they are done, they don't want to sit around waiting for everyone else. Many restaurants we went to had toys and other activities to entertain children with. I thought that was great and so did Jasmine. It was great to meet Reg that first day and see my long lost sister Ute - it seemed we had been seeing each other more often than every 4-5 years. It just reminded me how special our friendship is and she genuinely seemed happy that we were there. I even began a scary effort to speak my German - which everyone said wasn't bad despite the fact it had been 9 years since I seriously spoke it with anyone. As the week went on however, there were drastic improvements and I even amazed myself at how much of the language was buried in my brain and I was able to retrieve it!

After a good meal, and even better conversation it was time to go back to Omi's house for bedtime. I was grateful as by this time Jasmine and I were VERY tired! We slept well and dreamt about Day 2 of our European adventure!

We're Home!!

At Last - we are home. After a grueling trip home we are settled and trying to get over our jet lag. We had a fantastic trip - the only negative was that Lorne wasn't with us to share in all of the fun things we did. We were treated and welcomed to well by Ute and her family and couldn't have been happier or more content with the way everything went. The wedding was beautiful and having my mom join us mid-trip was also so very nice. I will do a post on each day of our trip with pictures so you can see and hopefully have a part of our experience!

Mommy & Jasmine at Festung Marienburg in Wurzburg, Germany!

Nach Deutschland Gehen Wir!

Tomorrow we fly in the friendly skies (Jasmine and I) to Wurzburg, Germany. We are so very excited! I have been looking forward to this trip for some time. Many of you may not know that when I was 17 years old, I did an exchange program where I spent my summer in Germany going to school and learning more about the language and culture. I became very close with my host sister - Ute Hartmann - and we have remained close ever since. I returned to Germany for a visit when I was 20 and haven't been back since, although Ute and I last saw each other about 5 years ago. Ute is getting married and as she currently lives in Shanghai China, it is very difficult for us to travel there - not to mention expensive. But she is getting married in Germany and so we are attending. I will be singing at the reception (it is a surprise-she doesn't know) and have contributed to a wedding cookbook and a wedding newspaper. So, if I don't get a chance to blog for the next week, be on the lookout for a log of our adventures upon our return! We will be gone a week!

Ute and I about 5 years ago!

Teasing Mr. Alligator

Here is a cute video clip of Jasmine singing 3 little monkeys - These are the words, in case you can't understand them - She begins with 3 little monkeys!

Three Little Monkeys, Swinging in a Tree
Teasing Mr. Alligator, you can't catch me, you can't catch me
Along comes Mr. Alligator swimming quietly
And SNAPS that monkey right out of the tree

At the end you hear her say, poor monkey! Too cute! I adore this little precious girl!

First Bee Sting

I had hoped to never have to write a post like this but yes, you read it right, Jasmine had her first bee sting - well, we think it was a bee, could very well have been another type of flying stinging bug since she got 3 stings. We were walking back from the playground when her body went rigid and she lifted her hips from the stroller. I thought she was spooked because I ran my hands around the seat of the stroller and nothing was there. She seemed to calm down so we continued the walk home. As we got to our driveway, she did it again, and this time she began screaming a little louder. She wouldn't sit right in the stroller so I had a hard time getting the belt off of her. Luckily, Kelleen was there with me and we quickly saw we had to check in the diaper. Now, she was wearing a onesie and a skort (skirt with attached shorts underneath). as we pulled the diaper away, there was the black varmint - and it flew away (that is why I think it might not have been a bee - since they usually sting and then die). Kelleen told me to give her Benadryl and then Tylenol and an ice pack on the wound, so I did that right away after we got inside and she was still screaming. It was cute though because after I started all the first aid, she got into it and wanted to see what I was doing and held the little ice pack to her stings on the side of her little bum. As she drank the medicine out of the syringe, she exclaimed, "Mmmmm Delicioso!" I knew then everything would be OK -

Jasmine's First Day of Preschool

I can't believe my little girl went to preschool today. She looked amazingly grown-up and was so excited to go to la escuela! When I woke her up today she knew it was a special day and she was so chatty as I got her ready. Last night we went school shopping amd I bought her a new dress for the first day and also we got her a cute backpack that she calls her "go-bag". I am not sure where she learned that but it is so cute! She even let me take pictures before we left. When we got to school she didn't want to put her "go-bag" in her cubby (incidentally, her cubbie is labeled with her name in an apple). The teacher said she could keep it on for a while and I assume she eventually let it go as she didn't have it on when I came to pick her up. She immediately went and played with the toys. She didn't even bat an eye when I left. She was amazing - but then again I dind't think she would have a problem since she likes nursery so much. I picked her up afterwards and also took Marin Trauger home. Since it was their first day I got them each a happy meal and they really enjoyed it and after the meal they both had a red freezer pop since red is the color of the month at school! She is growing up too fast - I got a bit teary as I left her there today but I knew she would love it!