A Georgia Girl in Germany

My how the time flies! It seems like I just finished writing last year’s quiz, and here it’s already time to summarize 2007! We’re still enjoying living in Europe and all the travel opportunities it provides. I’m hoping to be allowed to stay in Germany an extra year (until summer of 2009), but won’t know definitively until February. So, we’re prioritizing our travel schedule in case our remaining time here is a matter of months instead of a year and a half. That also means that anyone wanting to visit us before we depart needs to start planning to do so soon. That said, whether we stay or go this upcoming year, it’s time once again for our annual holiday quiz. As a reminder, there is more than one answer for each person (check back in a few days to see the answer key).

Benjamin is a very observant, singing, dancing and talkative 4½-year-old, attends part-day preschool, and:
a. can spell and type his name, and even read a few simple words (such as “off,” “on” and “zoo”)
b. is working on his baseball skills -- he slides everywhere he goes in the house, just like sliding into home plate...I expect he’ll be a natural when/if he ever decides to play baseball
c. enjoyed visiting “that stone place” -- Stonehenge, England -- and wandering around the perimeter of the huge, ancient sarsen stones and bluestones
d. played soccer for the first time, although he wasn’t thrilled about sharing his soccer ball with his teammates during practices
e. enjoyed selecting delectable treats when we visited Brussels, Belgium: Belgian waffles, Belgian chocolates, chocolate-covered waffles, ice cream and gourmet gummies
f. definitely knows what he likes, especially when he asks me most weekends whether we’re going to Legoland, the bowling alley or the chocolate factory -- his three favorite places to visit!

MacKenzie is a 9½-year-old Junior Girl Scout, a 4th-grader at Patch Elementary School, and:
a. especially enjoyed being allowed into the back room of the Ritter-Sport chocolate factory with her Brownie troop where she made her own chocolate bars with M&Ms, marshmallows and rice krispies
b. fought with a vexe during a Fasching parade in Esslingen when he tried stealing her candy
c. was in tears our last night in Rome last December...because she was going to miss all the delicious spaghetti she’d been eating all week
d. got back into playing soccer and enjoyed playing goalie...even when one of her friends on an opposing team scored a goal against her
e. got friendly with many ghosts, ghouls, monsters & vexes haunting Frankenstein’s Castle before Halloween -- she wasn’t scared a bit!
f. began her paleontology training at a Jurassic-era fossil site in Holzmaden where she found a plethora of ammonites and two sections of Mesozoic fish in the shale
g. after slight hesitance, warmed up to many of the 190 endangered Barbary Macaques monkeys at Affenberg Salem -- Monkey Mountain -- near Lake Constance

Zachary, 12, is a 6th-grader at Robinson Barracks Middle School, only a few inches shorter than Pam and:
a. was recognized as having the “Best Body Design” during his final Cub Scout Pinewood Derby with a blue and gold wide-body shark complete with dorsal and side fins
b. took the first step toward earning his private pilot license by flying a Cessna 172 over the Rhine River
c. after building his own computer last year, has begun a computer-repair business through word-of-mouth advertising, and uses his earnings to fund his gaming hobby
d. crossed up to Boy Scouts, and soon afterward found himself in the middle of a national disaster area when he went camping at Camp Baden-Powell near Sheffield, England, during massive flooding in the area (he still enjoyed the week though)...Lord Baden-Powell was the founder of the Scouting movement
e. enjoyed walking on the wing of a Lufthansa 747 that was suspended more than 65 feet in the air at the Speyer Technik Museum (Papa liked being allowed inside the Soviet Antonov 22 cargo plane)
f. wore a ship captain’s hat for the first time when at the helm of a tour boat on Lake Lucerne, Switzerland
g. really enjoys camping, especially the few unique camping opportunities he’s had this year: Intercamp in Gundershoffen, France (it was co-ed!) and winter camping near home shortly after a decent snowfall

Pam is now the chief of media relations for U.S. European Command’s Public Affairs office, helping tell the story of U.S. military involvement in 92 countries in Europe and Africa, and:
a. after 16 years with long hair, decided to cut it short and donate it to Locks of Love (MacKenzie did also)
b. was hit by the fitness bug and trained for -- and ran -- the Northern Black Forest Marathon in Egenhausen in April, finishing the 26.2 miles in 5:37:04...not bad for her first marathon!
c. finally traveled to a country that her dad never managed to get into during his Air Force career -- Russia -- when she spent a week and a half working at the Moscow International Air Show
d. is continuing her Girl Scouting skills as one of MacKenzie’s Junior leaders...still not the “cookie mom” though!
e. enjoyed spending Thanksgiving in London, and still wants to travel back again...England is such a wonderful place to visit (and they speak English, which is very helpful!)

We’re going to stick close to home for the holidays this year, and enjoy spending some down time together as a family. All three kids performed in the church Christmas Pageant, and Pam really enoyed the show! MacKenzie’s also in the school chorus, and enjoying those performances as well. We also welcomed a new nephew/cousin: Andrew Cooper Quarnaccio on Nov. 14 (born to Pam’s brother and sister-in-law), and are looking forward to meeting him and spending time with his big sister Rachel at the next opportunity!

We’ve added a few more countries to our repertoire since our last letter: the Vatican, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria and England as a family, plus Russia and Slovenia for Pam. We also made additional trips to new locales in Belgium, France and Italy...trying to fit in as much sightseeing as possible in case we’re heading back to the states in a few months for Pam’s next assignment. As we enter the New Year, remember that all of you are welcome in our home if you decide to make a trek this way, especially since this may be our last year in Germany. Our 2008 travel calendar is still fairly open, but it may not stay that way for long (Keukenhof Gardens in the Netherlands, Paris and Normandy are definitely on this year’s list).

We hope you’re all doing well and looking forward to 2008. Take care, and please keep in touch!!

Labels: Benjamin, Christmas, MacKenzie, Zachary