Eli: 5 Years in the Making

Eli had a fabulously frenetic 5th birthday weekend with four days of celebrating. Day 1: Zoo with friends. Great large bird / falconer show. Day 2: Party at our house with Deere expat families. On the street. Craziness. Two boys stayed overnight for a sleepover, which leads us to... Day 3: Indoor Playground party with church friends. Exhausting. Day 4: Treats and mini-party at school. Done. Much cake, cookies, cupcakes, brownies, and candy were consumed. Pictures can be found by clicking here.

Best Weekend Moments: Party streamers - not expensive toys - were the hit of the party with the kids wrapping them around each other and running up & down the street; Three exhausted boys telling 'scary' stories and then teaching each other their favorite bedtime prayer; Watching Eli ride his bike and finding out he can do it; Hearing Eli say "I had a great day, mom!" for four days in a row.

I couldn't speak through most of the weekend. But I did cough a lot. The second, stronger antibiotic seems to be working. Finally.

Suddenly a 5-year-old lives here. While he has a few faults (tattle-tales, bossy, argues), he is also perfect. At least to us. In the last year "Mr. E" has accomplished no less than bike-riding, swinging unassisted, buckling his own seatbelt, able to watch 'scary' Disney movies, early reading, near perfect writing, as well as adding/skip-counting/measuring in math. He is a physically more adventurous kid and, since yanking those tonsils last summer, a healthier one too. He also found time to travel heavily, socialize frantically, and get even cuter in the process.

Eli still primarily loves his cars and trains. This year we expanded into Legos and the Wii which has mixed things up a bit. A little pricey but with the added benefit that they are also fun for mom and dad. In his rare free time Eli can be found asking for volunteers to read to/with him, play a board game, or making up rhyming songs. He has his mother's gift for silly poetry, i'm afraid. He is a joy.

Permission slip (not) required.

Like some jaded expat i'd forgotten some intially startling characteristics of this culture until I found myself explaining them to friend, still new to Germany from the States. We have in the US a very protective (read: lawsuit fearing) culture. This blaming-faulting-madness has not yet reached Europe in force. Evidence our local Kindergarten, which we love without reservation.

Once a month the kids are walked about a third of a mile down the hill, along the traffic-heavy main street to the church for 'Kinder Kirche' (Kids Church). The parents are naturally notified so we can get our children to school early avoiding any delays. Permission needed? Nah.

A few weeks back Eli was selected for a special field trip to the Globus supermarket. Several 4-year-olds and a few teachers walked down the hill, boarded the public bus on the main street for the 1.5 mile trip, traversed an insanely busy parking lot, got toothbrushes engraved with their names and a hot lunch to eat at the in-store cafeteria. I was informed by note the day before to pick Eli up at the market. Signatures Required? None.

Each summer the 30-inch deep pool in the kindergarten's back yard (gated, but not guarded) is cleaned up and readied for special sessions of fun in the sun. Parents have a list: suit, arm-floaties, sunscreen, towel, sunhat. Please bring a backpack and leave it at the school as you never know when it will be your son or daughter's turn in the pool. Detailed Release Forms Declining Responsibility? Nope.

It's refreshing. A little alarming. Definitely different.

Bad Luck

Beware when in Germany that you don't stumble into bad luck. For instance....

Before taking a sip of wine / beer / beverage when you are out with friends, you must say "Prost" and - this is very important - look into everyones eyes. If you don't, you'll have seven years of bad sex.

If someone should gift you with pearls, they will bring you nothing but tears and sorrow unless you pay them for the gift - even if it is only a dollar - and therefore render it a non-gift and sidestep the curse.

This next one was strongly reiterated to me this week when making plans for Eli's birthday celebrations. His school is closed for a teacher training day on the 24th, his birthday and I wondered if I might bring in treats (standard) the day before to celebrate. A look of horror crossed his teacher's face and she said, very seriously: "No! Never celebrate a birthday beforehand. We will celebrate on the Monday after." Another friend had told me this but, alas, my American brain believes one should celebrate when it is convenient.

Not so here in Germany. Celebrating before your birthday (a special dinner, a gift, a party) will heap bad luck on the special person for the next year. Just. Don't. Do. It.

Ireland: Bring Your Rainboots

Back from the 'Emerald Isle' and I can say we definitely experienced Ireland's weather, culture, and beauty. The forecast said rain so I bought me some boots and packed the umbrellas and rain coats as well. Wonderful vacation, overall. See the pictures right.

Thursday: Flew in after a good flight and the biggest hassle was getting our rental car (with car seats). Eventually we folded ourselves into a small, backwards Toyota Yaris and crawled out of Dublin. Stopped at Cashel, a monastic site, for a few hours halfway across the country. During the second half of the drive Kevin had to scrape the bushes when other cars passed because the roads are so narrow and constantly turning... it was an experience. Also, they have only two real-ish freeways in the whole country so you spend a lot of time risking your life.

Friday: Saw an aquarium and then drove around the Dingle Peninsula. The sun came out as we neared the tip and we round a corner to an incredible rainbow over the islands just off the coast. Played on the beach - had a blast - and tried to dry Mary out the rest of the day. Ate at the museum for the Great Blasket Island all about the gaelic language and culture - very new and very nice. Then saw lots of beauty the rest of the day driving over a pass and back to our apartment.

Saturday: Our day in and around Killarney National Park was very cloudy, drizzly, and view-limiting. But we did hike to a waterfall, buy some lovely Irish scarves (Kev and I), see a stone circle, and visit an 'historical farm' which the kids enjoyed (especially the blacksmith at work) despite being soaking wet.

Sunday: Left our great apartment and boarded the ferry across the bay and onto the Burren - a barren land - and found the Cliffs of Moher. 600 feet from the top straight down to the sea - they are impressive - and the sun even showed its face so we could enjoy them properly. After a lunch and visit to one last beach Kevin endured one more harrowing drive to Dublin.

Monday: Our last day was cold and wet again but turned out great once we decided to start using taxis to get around and the first one we took brought us to the home of Guiness beer. Fun, modern, interactive showpiece and everyone got free drinks. Kevin got a t-shirt. Then back to Trinity College for a funny tour by a student with heavy Irish brogue. And their old, dark wood-panelled library with ancient books was awesome to see. Could've spent hours there but for a few hungry kids. Back to the hotel for naps. While the kids (and Kevin) were sleeping, I went and bought tickets for Disney on Ice's Nemo, playing a few blocks from our hotel! After some more exploring in the evening the kids got to stay up late and see the show. Loved it. A fun ending to a good family vacation.

Medieval style Asparagus anyone?

April brings 'spring cleaning' in the States. Here it brings asparagus. Huge, white, rated into 5 categories asparagus stalks everywhere you go. White because the stalks are deprived of sunlight (kept mounded in dirt) and therefore cannot create the chlorophyll to turn green. It's "spargel" season. Last year at the special spargel stand at the store I bought a handful of the middle-rated stalks - about the size of a very large carrot. Dutifully, I also purchased Hollandaise Sauce, as is traditional. After my purchase the clerk put my purchased stalks through a special maching (think classic, old-time popcorn maching but with a dozen blades through the middle). Fed through one at a time, the stalks were spit out the opposite end peeled and ready to boil. Had them that night. They were fine, almost tastless but for the mild sauce. More tender (less chewy) than the skinny greens, perhaps. But we decided this was one German obsession we just don't understand.

And this weekend we will probably end up, once again, at the "Middle Ages Market" as we did last April. And wonder anew at the uber-obsession the people here have with all things medieval, castle-like, and knight-ish. A few examples: more than half of the boys' costumes at Fasching were knights. Every major board game here has a 'medieval version.' Most Christmas markets (including the one we went to in Stuttgart last December) are actually two markets. Modern and - you guessed it - Medieval. In the medieval market the huts are tents. The sellers have period robes on. The handmade products are horns, leather ties, swords & knives, old style candles, and woolen clothing. You will usually also see a falcon or other large bird and more than one horse.

The market last year was a trip. Food was sold on sticks or eaten with hands. Visitors (excepting ourselves) were dressed as if it were 500 years ago and stopped to compare leather money purses and sword sheathes with their friends. We bought one small wooden frog for my collection and some sort of meat on a stick. After avoiding sharp swords swinging from strangers and large hounds that were thankfully tame, we (ran for the hills) went home. If you need roughly sown shawls or chainmail... let me know soon.