November happenings

Here I am still trying to get caught up on this blog. Since I discovered Blog2print last year and made yearly books from the blog, I'm trying to keep all the posts from a particular year within that timeframe. So, I'll be backdating a couple of posts so that they can be within the 2011 year. I love getting this blog made into books. I hope someday Elly enjoys them. I would have loved reading about Mom and Dad's early days, so I really enjoy having the last 5 1/2 years of our lives in print.

This post is just a catch all for various November happenings. We went to Berlin in mid-November, but there were a few things before and after that I wanted to get in the blog.

Going to the post office has become one of Elly's favorite things to do lately. I don't have to wonder why because it seems like every time we went (leading up to the holidays) there was another package. I do a lot of online ordering since we don't have as many shopping options here. Elly thinks we've missed something if we go and happen to not get a package that day. Anyhow, at the beginning of the month she received a package from Oma and Opa. That was a happy day for her :)









I LOVE how carefree Elly is at this age. How fun to be at an age where she's so unaware of how she should dress or act. She just "is" with no thought of what other's think. I love it! I really should take some lessons from her on not caring what other people think. Anyhow...she loves to go outside and doesn't care what she has on. She has quite the fashion sense :) These pictures are obviously from two different days of her playing outside, but her stylish attire (on both days) struck me as funny.











This little girl LOVES to help me in the kitchen. She loves it when we're both in there doing something. She gets the happiest look on her little face and says "Mama and Elly are busy!" So often I tell her I'm busy if I'm in there working, so she loves it when she's part of that "busyness". Here she was helping me make the dressing for Thanksgiving. She feels so important when she's able to help us.





It seems we always wait until the last minute to invite people over for the holidays. The one family we ended up inviting had already been asked by another family. God knew what he was doing though because the two families we ended up having over were a true delight. I don't think I've ever had people over for dinner that were more comfortable and fun to cook for. I love it when people come for dinner and really eat. I know that sounds kind of ridiculous, but sometimes people come and just pick or take a small plate then say they are full. Well, the friends we had over on Thanksgiving really ate and seemed to thoroughly enjoy the meal, which made me happy.

Jay and Elaine we met because she works in CYS with Sam, then they started going to our church. We really like them and have had them over before. Eugene and Regina are also from our church. They are Russian (I think), but have lived in Germany most of their lives. They have two sweet little girls and we really like their family. Since Thanksgiving is an American holiday I wondered about having them over for dinner, but they really seemed to enjoy the experience and to see what this holiday is all about. Usually after having company I feel completely drained. I'm not a people person and it's a lot of work for me to interact with them all evening, but at the end of our Thanksgiving evening I was so happy to have had these particular friends over. We really had an enjoyable evening together.









Toward the end of November Elly got another package from Oma and Opa. They sent her a couple of cute Christmas ornaments and she got her very first Advent calendar this year...thanks to Oma. I've been planning to get her one, but until this year it wouldn't have meant much to her. Oma made up a special calendar for her and we got it in time to start the countdown on December 1st. Thank you, Oma! Elly LOVED her calendar. Daddy wouldn't even get in the door in the evening before he heard her yell "Calendar Time!!!" Now that it's done for the year she keeps asking me where it went. I'm looking forward to filling it again next year!






Elly's night time routine seems to be getting longer and longer....and longer. It goes something like this...change into her pajamas, braid her hair (so it's not a mass of tangles in the mornings), brush her teeth, have Daddy read a book (or two), hugs and kisses for Daddy then off to her room for round two with Mama which includes 2-3 books, then off to the bathroom to go potty once again before going to bed (alot of times this is when she decides she needs to go poopy which buys her another 15 minutes of reading and singing to herself on the potty), then off to give Daddy more hugs and kisses, then to her room again where she turns on her music and turns off the light, then I rock her for awhile and we say our prayers and sing a couple of songs. Finally, I put her in her crib and I head to bed. As much as I love our little routine it gets to be a little much sometimes and her bedtime is getting later and later. I'm working at reigning it in a bit.

One thing that Sam and Elly do while we're getting ready for bed is to play around on the bed. Elly loves jumping on the bed then at some point they stop and look in the mirror and show their muscles. It's so cute seeing her mimic Sam.





Decorating the Christmas tree was fun this year. Sam doesn't really enjoy the process so we waiting until the Monday after Thanksgiving when he went back to work to put the tree up. Elly was really into it and wanted to help with everything. She just loves to be involved in every little detail. I let her put up most of the bulbs and ornaments. Of course, that resulted in LOTS of bulbs in clusters about two feet off the ground. I rearranged them when she went down for her nap, but it was so cute watching her have fun with it. And she only broke about 4 bulbs. That's the price you pay when a toddler is helping, but it was a pretty sweet experience and I can always get more bulbs. Those that mean alot to me I placed way up on the tree, so they wouldn't be within her reach throughout the season.


















Well, that wraps up November. I love the whole holiday season and look forward to it all year long. I want to pass the wonderful memories and traditions on to Elly. As a mama I've learned that it takes a lot of effort to give our kids wonderful experiences sometimes. Honestly, it would have been a lot easier for me to not let Elly help with the tree and do it all myself, but I would have missed out on making a wonderful memory with my little girl. I would have missed out on seeing the pure joy in her beautiful little face as she searched for the perfect spot for those bulbs and the twinkle in her eyes as she said with such pride "I helping Mama!". Sometimes I have to stop and remind myself that even though it would be easier to do something by myself, I need to take a step back and let Elly be involved. It means so much to her. I need to slow down and let her feel important by helping me. I really try to do that, but at times I find myself being in a rush and just wanting to get the job done. At those times I feel chastised and vow to quit being so self centered because I have a precious little girl watching my every move and the last thing I want is for her to feel like I don't value her input. I never realized how important it was for a child to feel like they are truly contributing, but I see the disappointment on Elly's face when I don't accept her willingness to help. It's something that I work at alot, because it doesn't necessarily come natural to me.

Well, I better close for now. I still have all of December to do before I can get this years posts into a book. I really look forward to seeing it in a book, so it encourages me to get it done. Until next time...

Our visit to Berlin

Somewhere around the beginning of November we got it in our heads that we wanted to take a trip somewhere. Living in Europe, we truly have so many options of places we can visit that we have a hard time narrowing it down to one place. We thought about going to see Sam's cousin in Serbia, but when we called them up to see if they would be around on the weekend they already had plans. It's kind of a flaw in us that we never plan out very far. I would actually like to, but we just never get around to it. Anyhow, we went back and forth on a couple of places with no decision. Finally, Sam mentioned "blind booking" on German Wings. And that's what we did.

Blind booking is where you go to the German Wings website and, for a very resonable price, have them pick a destination for you. There are several groups of cities to choose from and for a small fee you can take one of the cities off the group. The only thing is that you don't know where you are going until the payment goes through and you get an email confirmation. We got Vienna with blind booking a couple of years ago so we checked that one off the list. I think we both were secretly hoping for London this time (out of those we had to choose from), but after paying we got the email saying it was Berlin. Even though it is a city in Germany we both were really ok with going there. It's been on our list of places to go, but it's a 5-6 hour drive for us. Elly's still not the greatest long distance traveler, so long trips have been put on hold. Now that we didn't have to drive that distance and could be there in about an hour flight we were both looking forward to our weekend in Berlin.

Without knowing locations in the city we just picked a hotel, but it turned out to be in a great location. We had a hard time finding it when we got there, but it's amazing how well you start to know a city after being there just a few days.

Elly's really such a great little traveler (as long as she doesn't have to sit in that car seat for more than a couple of hours). She's such a joy to be with and we always get comments from other travelers about how good she is.

I still get the wrinkled nose and squinty eyes when I ask for a smile....silly girl.

Elly LOVED this helicopter ride in the Berlin airport. It kept her entertained for quite awhile.

We arrived in Berlin on a Friday afternoon. By the time we took the train to the main bahnhof, found the right bus to the stop closest to our hotel and then stood on the road for awhile trying to figure out where the hotel was...well, we didn't get to do much that first evening. After Elly got her nap at the hotel, we went out in search of a place to eat. We found a Hard Rock Cafe just down the street from us and loved it so much that we went back there to eat every day we were there :) Seriously. It was real American food and the service was awsome.

The next morning we got up and at it early. We had a lot to see this day. We started out by going to Checkpoint Charlie. For those of you who are as ignorant about Germany's history as I was, here is a little history from Widipedia. Checkpoint Charlie was the name given by the Western Allies to the most well known Berlin Wall crossing point between West and East Berlin during the Cold War. It was designated as the single crossing point (by foot or car) for foreigners and Allied forces. It is now one of the biggest tourist attractions in the city. There are souvenirs for sale at every little shop along the street. The picture below is looking from West Berlin into what was East Berlin.

A replica of the sign that was up at Checkpoint Charlie. The original sign is in a museum, which we saw later in the day.

We had to get our pictures with the guards at Checkpoint Charlie.

The line dividing East and West Berlin.

A picture of the Soviet and American standoff at Checkpoint Charlie back in October 1961.

It was very cold and windy while we were there. We tried our best to keep Elly all bundled up.

I have no idea what this is supposed to represent, but it was interesting.



We stopped at a McDonald's at Checkpoint Charlie for a little break and to warm up. Elly enjoyed a milkshake :)



Off to see a part of the Berlin wall.











This is one of those pictures that would be titled "Only in Germany". A beer bike. All these guys were peddling to make their "bike" go...all while drinking their beer. We actually saw a couple of these around town.

There were pieces of the Berlin wall displayed on a lot of the buildings.

Near Checkpoint Charlie there were a couple of museums. We went to one that had a lot of displays showing how people from East Berlin tried to escape to West Berlin. It was really interesting and sad to hear the stories and see what people went through to escape. There were several cars on display that showed the tiny spaces some would squeeze into in order to try to get across the border.

Looking down on Checkpoint Charlie from the museum

After the museum, we made our way to the Brandenburg Gate. This was another HUGE tourist attraction. All along the path toward the gate there were people dressed in different military garb that you could pay to get a picture with. We didn't bother as I really didn't see the relation to the gate...I guess I'm ignorant in that regard. You could also pay to get an old East Germany passport stamp. It was kind of crazy how many people were out selling something.









After a long day out around town we were heading back to our hotel. The Berlin Hauptbahnhof (main train station) is huge. It had several levels with lots of train stops on each level. We do pretty good getting around by way of the trains, but we have gotten on the wrong one occasionally :)

Back at the room we were getting ready for bed. Elly loves books and loves having Daddy read to here before she goes to sleep.

Sam's cousin, Sabine, lives in Berlin, so on Sunday we took a train to meet up with her. She met us at the train station and we walked to her apartment. We hung out there for awhile. Elly didn't get all her sleep the night before and was fussy, so she fell asleep for a little while. After she woke up we walked to a restaurant for lunch. On the way there we stopped by a playground so Elly could play. She was such a little trooper the day before going all over the city that it was nice for her to have the opportunity to do something she liked for awhile. It was windy and cold though, so it didn't last as long as she would have liked.









At our favorite place to eat in Berlin ~ Hard Rock Cafe. This guitar was carved out of a piece of the Berlin wall.

The next day was our last day in Berlin. Our flight didn't leave until the evening though so we were able to do some more site seeing. We wanted to go see the Berlin Cathedral (Berliner Dom) and another museum that we heard was really nice (can't remember the name of it though).

We were a little lost when we got off the train, so we just started walking and eventually found what we were looking for. It was a beautiful, chilly morning and we really enjoyed our walk.

This little green figure (above & below) has a history. It is called the Ampelmann and a green walking one and a red standing figure, in the form of a traffic light, are used to let people know when to walk or stop. They are uniquely East German and have become very famous. There are entire stores dedicated to Ampelmann souvenirs. I was reading some of the history and this is one of the few features of communist East Germany that has survived (and thrived!) the end of the Iron Curtain. He is a beloved little guy :)



Berliner Dome ~ It's shameful to say, but I have no idea what is special about the Berliner Dome. Since we do trips last minute, we never really have the time to research the area to know the history. BUT...we saw it and I have pictures to prove it :)







Right across the river from the Berliner Dome was this interactive museum that we wanted to go to. I can't remember the name of it, but it was really nice for Elly. Everything in there was meant for kids to touch and interact with. Cars you could climb into, cabinets to open and explore, etc. The only thing I could have done without was the display about public nudity. Really!? Did they really need to include that in a children's museum? Overall, the rest of the museum was very nicely done and most importantly, Elly had a lot of fun.


Elly and Mama sitting in an East German Trabi. I had no idea about these before our visit to Berlin. East Germans often had to wait years to get a vehicle after ordering it. Sam has an uncle (or cousin?) who is from East Germany and I've heard the story about how he ordered a vehicle and years later finally received it. I can't imagine that.






Getting a picture with the little Ampelmann light signal. Cute, isn't it?

Well, after our museum visit we headed back to the hotel to pack up. We left our luggage in storage there and went to eat lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe one last time. Then we picked up our luggage and headed to the airport. It's so nice to have only an hour flight to get back home. Our neighbor picked us up at the airport. We love them. They are just the best neighbors and Elly can't get enough of them.

Elly loves being a big girl and pulling her own little suitcase. Sam found this one in Berlin and we had to get it for her. She loves it :)




Well, that is our trip to Berlin in a nutshell. We really enjoyed the city and would definitely go back. So much history and so much we still didn't get to see. Until next time...