A Georgia Girl in Germany

Well, I survived my second trip to Iceland in as many months. It's definitely interesting to sit in a room with ambassadors, government ministers and advisors, and top DOD/State people! I was hoping to have a little free time during this visit, but alas, it wasn't to be this time either. C'est la vie. But, I did manage to get a few photos of Icelandic outdoor "art." Apparently the rock structures once were used to mark the walking routes between towns, but now are used to either mark where off-road vehicles are allowed to drive in the lava fields...or as local art. The last photo is of a "family" just outside the NAS Keflavik gate.

I returned late Friday afternoon, and was able to pick up MacKenzie and Benjamin that night (Zachary was on a two-night Webeloes campout, so I didn't see him until this morning when I went out to the campsite to gather him and his stuff). They were both glad to see me, and while they enjoyed staying with the Stonemarks, they were glad to head home. Unfortunately, within two hours of getting home, Benjamin was sick...and not just the simple not feeling well sick. I changed sheets and laid towels over his clean sheets and on the floor in his room so I wouldn't have quite as much laundry to do in the morning. But, with six rounds over six hours, there was still quite a bit! The good news is he's feeling better now and has a portion of his appetite back. But, I sure was tired yesterday!

Last night, MacKenzie also had a scouting campout. Hers wasn't a true campout, but rather an indoor sleepover at the Scout Hut. They went for a nature walk--including Snipe Hunting--and stayed up late, so naturally she had a blast! When the boys and I arrived to pick her up this morning (Zachary smelling quite strongly of campfire, mind you), she and her troop were just finishing up breakfast. The scrambled eggs were gone, and they were still working on the S'Mores. What a breakfast! The photo below is proof that she and her best friend Emma enjoyed the morning menu!!
Back to Zachary: He worked on whittling four walking sticks this weekend...because the first three broke, and even earned another Polar Bear patch. He earned his first one in San Antonio a couple years ago, of all places, and now earned his second in spring--the last day of April! I was surprised he didn't earn it during his October campout...that one was definitely cold!! He's about to run out of room on his Cub Scout vest for all his patches, but I suppose that's good because it means he's been busy enjoying scouting.

MacKenzie's troop sleepover was her last scouting event with her troop for the year since her troop leader is moving back to the states in a couple weeks. So, MacKenzie's already pulled out her Try-It book so she can work on earning more patches. She received her five new ones for this past year, and completed another one tonight. She's almost done with a second one!! Kinda reminds me of this past summer when she had Nana and Grandma working with her almost constantly on nine Try-Its! At least she enjoys it...although she told me she wants to earn all of the rest of them in the book this summer (24 down, 32 to go!). Talk about a slave-driver!!

Labels: Iceland, MacKenzie, Travel

After learning this past August that my cousin Hannah was expecting her first child, we have all been anxiously awaiting the newest addition to the family. After a slight delay of the news getting to me (I'll need to remind my dad of which email account I regularly use vs my "junk" account that I only check every two to three months!), I finally learned the details after playing phone tag with my mom.

Ava Christine Murray was born Thursday evening at 5:16 to Hannah and Kelly Murray. She weighed 6 lbs, 15 oz, was about 20" long and has "long dark hair." Mom and baby are both doing fine...and all 17 (at least) people in the waiting room were excited to greet her. As I understand it, everyone's now fighting over when they get their own turn to hold her! Being the first grandchild on both sides of the family, that's to be expected. Guess I'll have to wait until July for my turn since Germany is soooo far away from South Georgia!

No photo yet...waiting for my Aunt Gail to send some out.

Next new addition should arrive in September when Hannah's sister Lealane and her husband Brian are expecting their first.

Labels: Birthdays

The Easter Bunny visited us, and left goodies on Easter morning--books, movies and chocolates (of course!). The kids were excited, and all dove into their chocolate before attempting breakfast. Surprisingly, Benjamin only took one bite out of his chocolate bunny and set the rest aside.

After church, we had to snap a few photos of Nana & Papa with their three oldest grandkids. Benjamin was a bit uncertain about sitting in either of their laps to pose though. The kids have really enjoyed having Nana and Papa visit, and knew they were going to miss them when they left the next day. Even Benjamin’s been asking why they had to go home. While we would have loved to have kept them longer, I know Dad’s been antsy to start moving into their almost-complete new home.

We didn’t do our Easter Egg hunts until after supper, but the kids still had fun. It was a great incentive to get them into their pajamas and ready for bed relatively quickly! Ah, the power of bribery!! After the egg hunts, it was funny to watch them wheel-and-deal to get their favorite color eggs back into their baskets. MacKenzie ended up with all the pink and purple eggs (and a lot of yellow since Benjamin noticed that she had a “special” yellow egg, so he gave her all of his yellows as well). Zachary naturally gathered all the blues. And, yes, even Benjamin has a favorite color: green (which also works well with his new green "frog"--or as he calls them "hop"--pajamas...his favorite animals are frogs and dogs). By default he also had most of the orange eggs as well. The speckled and striped eggs were fairly evenly distributed among the three of them. At least they were civil about their bartering…and Benjamin was rather gracious in giving eggs to Zachary and MacKenzie--what a kind-hearted kid!










P.S. Happy 38th Anniversary Nana & Papa!!

Labels: Benjamin, MacKenzie, Nana and Papa, Zachary

After a fairly close-to-home day on Thursday, we decided to venture a little further out on Friday…this time to Triberg--in the Black Forest. It’s best known for its waterfalls, which are the highest in Germany, at 535 feet. During the summer, you can hike to the top of the Gutacher Wasserfall, but since there was still too much ice and snow on the paths they were closed. We were only able to go up about five minutes worth, where the path was not terribly steep…but we still saw one of the seven beautiful cascades and the roaring stream (no doubt from all the melting snow) surrounded by moss-covered rocks below that led into the town. The kids wanted to climb higher (by going around the barricades), so hopefully I can take them back during the summer and do the complete hour-long trek.

We stopped in the House of 1,000 Clocks to look at original Black Forest Cuckoo Clocks. Benjamin was completely enamored by them, and kept saying “more cuckoo, more cuckoo,” hoping the clocks would chime again at his request. Too cute! We didn’t get a clock this time, but perhaps one of these days we will. Just have to wait for the right one to jump out at me.

We didn't do much more than window shop, except for an afternoon dessert...Dad wanted Black Forest Cake in the Black Forest, so we all stopped for dessert. MacKenzie still hasn’t figured out that German chocolate isn’t as sweet as what she likes, so continues to be disappointed when she gets something chocolaty, but I got the same pie and enjoyed it. Nana got a red currant pie, Zachary got a strawberry pie, and Benjamin got a tiny almond dessert with decorated almonds on top in the shape of the Easter Bunny--too cute! We all enjoyed our afternoon snacks (considering that MacKenzie picked at the more chocolaty parts of her pie)!

Labels: Benjamin, Germany, MacKenzie, Travel, Zachary

I had been told that we live fairly close to the Ritter-Sport chocolate factory, and since I have a sweet tooth for the delectable confection, I knew I needed to make a trek to see it for myself. On Thursday, we finally decided to do so.

The museum itself was relatively small, but very informative. Zachary and MacKenzie had a 12-page quiz to work on but only managed to complete about a fourth of it. They would have had to stop and read every exhibit to find all the answers (and as Zachary said, he didn’t want to do work while on Spring Break). They did, however, enjoy the miniature factory model that included a miniature truck that delivered miniature chocolate bars to kids in line. There was one variety that really surprised Zachary and me--it was a firecracker variety that actually seemed to pop inside your head about 30 seconds or so after you finished eating the chocolate. Very interesting!

But, the best part of the day was shopping in the gift shop. Being a chocolate factory, I’m sure you can guess what items we had available to select from. They even had some new flavors and varieties that I haven’t seen before. I don’t think I’ve ever spent as much on chocolate at a single time as I did yesterday! But, the prices couldn’t be beat…so I’ll hold onto them and ration them out. Mom bought even more than me, but is planning to give some away as gifts when she returns home. I’d definitely appreciate being on the receiving end of that arrangement!!

Very delicious day!

Labels: Germany, Nana and Papa, Travel

Consider yourself forewarned…this is a long and photo-laden post. Even with culling down my photos to what you see here, I did not include many other good ones…simply because I didn’t have time to upload them all, and figured some of them--while good--could be considered redundant. Sigh. That said, please enjoy!

We knew we were heading somewhere today, we just weren’t sure until just before we left…en route to Rothenburg ob der Tauber. This town is more than 1,000 years old and, according to guidebooks, went to sleep after the Thirty Years War (1618-1648) and didn’t wake up until the late 19th century. Its antiquity is still preserved and today looks just as it did in the Middle Ages.

Our timing worked out well, and we had enough time to eat lunch at the Ratsstube Restaurant & Cafe before joining a tour of the town. Benjamin was in a kind-hearted mood while waiting for our food…then MacKenzie joined in to complete the sibling hug. Fortunately, Zachary was in an accommodating mood.

Our tour began in the Marketplatz at 2pm where a clock with mechanical figures act out the story of the Meistertrunk legend. Legend has it that during the Thirty Years War the Protestant town was captured by a Catholic general who ordered widespread destruction and executions. The general decided to spare the town only if one of its counsilors could drink an entire 3.25-liter glass of local wine in one gulp. An ex-mayor named Nusch performed the feat, thus saving the town, then slept for three days and nights…and lived another 37 years. Our tour guide also told us the other more plausible reasons the town was saved, but the story of Nusch is a good legend.

We also saw Saint Jacob’s Church, which took nearly two centuries to build. Rothenburg was at a crossroads and many people made pilgrimages to the town in the Middle Ages. These pilgrims left gold coins as offerings--more than what was spent on building the church. So, the townspeople decided to continue building. The only problem was that there was a street in the way…so they built an overpass over the road so they could continue extending the church, thus creating a literal drive-through church! Our guide said that on days when the townspeople can't seem to get to church on time, they can simply drive there, stop their cars underneath the unique archway, and claim that they went to church. Granted, there's no way to hear the sermon or see inside the church from there...

We then walked just outside the city walls to the Burggarten (Castle Gardens) and had a magnificent view of the Tauber Valley. I’m sure it would have been an even more grand view had it not been such an overcast and dreary day. There used to be a castle on the hilltop in the 12th century, but an earthquake destroyed it in 1356. The remains of the castle were used as building material for the town’s defense wall, which is still fully intact today.

The remainder of the tour took us past Hell--a restaurant (notice the sign over the door with a silhouette of the devil) and the name of a street where it was slightly warmer because the wind is blocked...and which housed the jail (just across the street from the Catholic church--also the oldest church in Rothenburg). Apparently, acceptable punishments for returning home late (inflicted by wives for staying out past midnight), staying outside the city walls late, selling less than quality produce or even for children turning in homework late were sufficient to prevent the need for a jail. As a result, the jail was closed and sold to someone as a residence.
After we finished the official tour, we stopped by a bakery...primarily because we were getting chilled and wanted to step inside and warm up a bit. But, the snowballs and chocolate-filled croissants were absolutely delicious! After Zachary and MacKenzie ordered seconds (what a treat!), we headed back out into the cold. It didn’t seem quite as cold then...not sure if it was from the short warming up period or if the wind had actually died down a bit.

MacKenzie was interested in climbing to the top of the Town Hall Tower. It’s neat in that it doesn’t have a foundation of its own, but instead rests atop a gable. In former times, it accommodated sentries who were supposed to warn the town of fires and approaching enemies. Our guide shared the story of two sentries who failed to warn the town of a fire that destroyed part of the Town Hall (which was pretty darn near the tower itself) and were beheaded the next day. After that, there were no significant fires that got out of hand in the town--the sentries were on top of their jobs!

Zachary, MacKenzie and I made the trek up the progressively narrow and steep steps--more than 200 of them--to the top. The view from the top was spectacular, even for such an overcast and dreary German Spring day. The kids even saw Papa and Benjamin from way up there and called down to them. Surprisingly, Papa heard them!
Our last stop before departing the town was the wall itself. MacKenzie wanted to walk up the wall and look around a while. Of course, by this time, Benjamin was tired of watching most everything from the confines of his stroller and begged to come with us. So, the four of us climbed up and enjoyed the view from a little lower altitude than what the Watch Tower gave us. Once up there, Benjamin was actually shivering and chattering his teeth. But, he was too stubborn to keep his hands under the blanket we brought to cover him with while in the stroller, and he didn’t want to be left behind on this adventure, so I figured it would be OK to bring him with us for a short while. Considering how cold he was getting though, we didn’t stay up there too long before calling it a day and heading home.

Labels: Benjamin, Germany, MacKenzie, Nana and Papa, Travel, Zachary

We had planned on beginning our sightseeing (with Nana & Papa) in earnest today, but during breakfast, a peek out the window revealed snow! We hadn’t planned on that! It was more of a rain-snow mix, although within an hour there was a very slight white tint to the ground. We had Schloss Hohenzollern on today’s agenda, but when I called them, I was told that they didn’t recommend we go because of the snow on the mountain up to the castle.

Enter Plan B: Schloss Ludwigsburg. I went there a couple weeks ago, but the castle itself was closed so was only able to walk around the grounds. This time, we called ahead and asked for the time of the English tour…and planned to be there for it. Of course, the GPS took us a different way, and we immediately got stuck in a stau on the Autobahn. Fortunately, it was short-lived, and we made pretty good time getting to the castle. By the time we figured out where to go to get tickets and get inside, we had missed the first 10 minutes of the tour. But, considering the tour included 65 rooms and covered one kilometer, that really wasn’t much at all. Plus, we were inside, out of the rain, so that worked well. The castle was gorgeous. I think MacKenzie’s favorite part (other than the portraits of the queen with a puppy dog) was seeing Rapunzel’s tower from the “game room” (see below).

When the tour was over, we thought about walking through the grounds…until we discovered there was a separate charge for that. Plus, the rain had picked up and the wind was blowing a little stronger, so we opted to forgo traipsing through the grounds in lieu of heading directly back to the van for a little warmth and dryness. Besides, I snapped the photo below of part of the grounds as seem from the second floor. Kinda reminds me of Versailles, or at least a scaled-down section of the palace grounds there.

Zachary’s best friend (Angeline) had invited us to join her and her parents at a local bowling alley tonight. Since Zachary’s been on my case about doing so for the past three weeks (her father’s on a league, so they go just about every Monday night), we had decided to go tonight (during Spring Break, so not as concerned about staying up late). I even talked to Angeline's mom about the possibility of doing so since they both seemed very interested in getting together outside of school and/or SAS. Unfortunately, we didn’t find them there, and Zachary was disappointed to say the least. Since all the lanes there were all full, we opted to go to the Panzer bowling alley for supper and bowled a game there.

Benjamin was quite the little bowler! He was acting like he's been bowling for years (all two of his years, at least!). He had a blast!! He’d set his ball down at the edge of the lane, give it a push, run back to me with a huge grin on his face to give me a high-five, walk over to his seat, take a bite of his pizza, then walk back to the lane in time to watch his ball knock down a few pins. No, he wasn’t Dash from “The Incredibles,” but instead had mastered the consistent ability of throwing/rolling the slowest ball in all the lanes. In fact, the guard would come down before all the pins were knocked over because of how slow the ball was moving. But, he enjoyed playing with the “ball-ball” and rolling it down the lane all by himself! To top it off, Nana & Papa got a big kick out of simply watching him!

Zachary and MacKenzie had fun as well. Zachary managed to bowl a strike (with the help of the gutter-guards to prevent a complete gutter-ball), and MacKenzie had a few good frames as well. As for me, I bowled within two points of my college average, so consider it a reasonably good game (yes, I was on the college bowling team--the token female on my 4-person team). We stayed out way past bedtime at the bowling alley, but, again, it’s Spring Break so I figure we can bend the rules a little as long as we’re having fun.

Labels: Benjamin, Germany, MacKenzie, Nana and Papa, Travel, Zachary

Benjamin finally had his first haircut today, and he is actually younger than Zachary was on his big day (approx 2 years & 9 months vs. 3 years & 3 months). Last night we mentioned that he needed a haircut, and he got upset when I didn't cut his hair before bed. So today, after returning from the Vaihingen market, we swung by the barber shop for the big event. At first he didn't want to get in the chair, so Zachary went first. Then the chair beside Zachary opened up for him, but he still didn't want to sit in it...until we suggested that he sit in my lap. But he still didn't want to wear the apron, so we pressed on without...and he ended up with quite a bit of hair on the back of his shirt (good thing it was bath night!).









It was probably a little scary for him since the barber didn't speak English and kept trying to come at him with the electric clippers. He did better when the barber worked with scissors, but still squirmed when he used the clippers on his neck. He doesn't look like a "little boy" any more...no more curls or long wavy hair in the back. He was excited about his reward for getting his haircut--a lollipop, which he chose for dessert tonight instead of ice cream (I was surprised)!

Zachary had also been asking Nana about trying an artichoke. Fortunately, we found some at the market this morning, so we brought three home, and Zachary & MacKenzie helped Nana prep them for cooking. (Zachary was multi-tasking and talking to his dad on the phone while working with the garlic cloves, as is evident in the photo). MacKenzie wasn't interested in trying one, but surprisingly, Zachary enjoyed it and ate the entire thing while carefully listening to Papa's instructions on how to avoid the "dangerous" thorn-looking barrier to get to the best part (the "treasure" according to Nana)--the artichoke heart! When he got to the heart, he didn't waste any time...he plucked the entire thing out and ate it in a single bite. Add that to the list of foods he likes!

Labels: Benjamin, Cooking, MacKenzie, Nana and Papa, Zachary

Benjamin is really getting closer to turning three…his favorite phrase of late has become “Why Mommy?” I don’t remember Zachary and MacKenzie going through the “Why” phase until they were much older. And Benjamin doesn’t just ask once, but instead repeatedly asks “Why?”…sometimes as many as five and six times consecutively. Boy, does he tire me out at times!!

He’s only faintly interested in potty-training, but with that in mind he gave me a good laugh tonight after his bath. He got out of the tub and walked down the hallway to his room, carefully holding his towel around himself. Before I could join him to help him get his pj’s on, he came streaking back (sans towel) into the bathroom, saying “Me poopy.” So, I helped him sit on the potty. Once he got settled, he let out a single fart, then promptly got down and ran back to his room. He was done.

As we finished getting his pj’s on, he noticed that MacKenzie had a “towel hat” on her head, and decided that he had to have one for himself. So, I had to wrap his hair up in his Pooh towel.


He gave me a good laugh this past weekend too. We were at a party at my boss’ house, and I needed to change his diaper. I had put one of his blankies on the bathroom floor and, trying to get him to lay down, I asked him to put his head on it. He promptly leaned over, put his hands on either side of the blankie, and placed the top of his head on the blankie--just as I had asked. However, since he had his bottom in the air, I couldn’t change his diaper. Fortunately, after a good laugh, he cooperated and laid down for me. Mission accomplished. :-)

OK, that makes it official...this is definitely a Mom blog. Who else would tell family and friends about kid bathroom antics... Oh well...sigh. At least my life isn't boring with this kid!!

Labels: Benjamin

Well, I certainly did not mean to have this long of a lapse in updating my posts…my goal was to update at least every weekend instead of every month, but we’ve been kinda busy of late. Matt came to visit the kids for just over a week, then I figured I’d get something posted during this past week...until I had a short-notice TDY to Iceland. So, in the spirit of keeping everyone updated, I figured I should start somewhere…again.
I found out late Monday afternoon that EUCOM was sending a delegation to Iceland on Wednesday for discussions with the Iceland government about how the US would provide for the defense of their country per our 1951 agreement with them while still closing NAS Keflavik by September. Since we were expecting hostile and ambush media after the talks, we wanted a PA to be part of our delegation to handle the situation and keep our general off-camera (Big-State and DOD needed to take the lead on talking with the media). The good news is that the discussions went as well as and better than expected, and the media wasn’t hostile or hounding us. After working with the embassy PA and the ambassador, we actually managed to keep our general away from the cameras other than the photo sprays before the discussions and filming/photos as we left. Plus, all the Icelandic media coverage has been neutral-to-positive about the talks, so that makes it a success in my book.

The downside is that I didn’t have much free time at all. A couple of us managed a quick stop by “The Pearl” after our embassy meetings on Thursday for some delicious ice cream (I couldn’t refuse that suggestion) and wonderful photos of Reykjavik. The Pearl sits atop a hill and overlooks the city. It’s part museum, part restaurant and part hot-water holding tanks. And it was definitely COLD and WINDY up there--the high that day was 36, with a wind chill of 18! Just as I was getting ready to welcome spring in Germany, I get thrown back into the bitter cold. This photo is taken from the observation platform there, with Mount Esja in the background--the name translates literally to "Easy Mountain" because it's less than a 1,000m hike (not climb) to the top…not that I’d aspire to hike it, especially in this weather!
The other thing I found interesting was all the lava fields. There were even houses built in the middle of them, right along the shoreline. Talk about beach-front property! No grass to mow, and no sand to sunbathe on. We also passed a golf course in the lava fields--definitely wouldn’t want to get off the green on that one!! Here's a glimpse of this golf course (greens are on the right)...
After the discussions Friday, we had to book it back to Keflavik to check out and hop aboard our sardine-can-sized C-21 for our return trip. Fortunately, we made good time and made it back to the Army Air Field before quiet hours began (aka when the airport closes) so we didn’t have to divert overnight. The kids were definitely glad to see me. Zachary and MacKenzie had made a sign welcoming me home and taped it on the wall just outside our door. Even though I was tired, it brought a huge grin to my face. When I went to pick up Benjamin Saturday morning, he was looking out the rooftop window calling out to me. When I got inside, he ran to me and gave me a huge, long hug...I don’t think he’s given me quite that big of a hug in a long time!

So, now we get back into our routine for one more week before taking off for Spring Break. Nana and Papa are coming to visit, and the kids are very excited about getting to see them. We’re not sure yet what exactly we’ll do while they’re here, but we’re looking forward to their visit nonetheless.

Labels: Iceland, Travel