Disneyland Day 1

We left around 3am to drive to Disneyland. The kids were really excited to go, but soon fell asleep on the road. The trip took about 5 hours to get to the Davy Crockett Ranch where we stayed. We got there too early to check into the cabin, but we did get out park tickets and meal coupons. So off we went to the park. Our first attraction was the Phantom Manor. Probably not the best choice to start with. Our kids were scared of every dark place after going through this attraction.

So the next ride was a bit less traumatic. We took a ride on the Riverboat.

We passed Big Thunder Mountain roller coaster on our ride. Cassidy really wanted to try out the roller coaster. Thomas and Zachary just had fun watching the ducks in the river.

The rain went away as we traveled along.

Cassidy really liked Alice in Wonderland's maze. The boys found the water fountains fun to play with.

More of Alice's Maze

Painting the roses red.

We called it a day around 3pm. The boys were tired and we needed to check into our cabin still. So we took a leisurely ride on the train. Zachary couldn't make it to the car, luckily he found a place to fall asleep.

We ate our first meal at the Santa Fe Hotel's buffet. With our hotel and park ticket bundle, we also get a food voucher for each day we are here. So tonight we opted for Mexican. The kids posed in the street along Route 66. Though if it wasn't for the Cars movie, they would have no clue what Route 66 was.

Cassidy's 9th Birthday

Stewart and I planned a big surprise for Cassidy as one of her birthday gifts, so a party just wasn't in the finances. Not to mention I was trying to finish up some school work, so I did not have the time to plan, prepare and clean for a party. Not to mention it has been raining and is cold, so I couldn't just throw a bunch of kids outside. But Stewart did invite some of his coworkers for a BBQ. He took care of the food and cooking, which was great. I did a little cleaning. We do live in a small world and have become close friends with a few of his coworkers. So Cassidy sort of had her party. We ate dinner on the back patio, until it started to rain, then rain harder, then hail.


It ended up being just the right time to start opening presents. Cassidy has been teaching herself how to sew. She sewed some clothes from her stuffed animals, so Grandma Suzanne sent her a sewing kit and fabric.

The last gift was from Stewart and I, it started her off on a scavenger hunt. I thought I saved the clues, but can't find them. So I will add them later if I do find them. First they all ran upstairs to Cassidy's room, then back downstairs to the piano.

Running again outside, luckily it stopped raining. Then off to Thomas and Zachary's room.

Cassidy finally found the final clue among some travel books. This travel book was for France. And her big smile is because she discovered we are going to be spending 5 days and 4 nights at Disneyland Paris. And the best part was we were leaving in 9 hours (around 3am). Our friends the Petty's gave us their Paris with kids tour book and a map of Disneyland they had brought back from their trip. Frank is showing the kids all the cool stuff they are going to see.

Finally after all the excitement. We had cake and ice cream. I did make the cake, which didn't take as long as I thought it might once I got the pieces.


























HAPPY BIRTHDAY CASSIDY!!!

Playdate

When we got to the playground, Cassidy threw off her shoes and headed to the water. Thomas and Zachary ran to this rope maze. Before I could even sit down the boys were climbing to the top. They never did make it all the way to the top, but they climbed all around and jumped on the mini trampolines. We met some friends from church at this park in Sindelfingen. We packed lunch and had a great day enjoying the sun, that finally decided to come out for the first time this spring.

Zachary was fearless climbing on the ropes and even did it in bare feet. But when he got to the black trampoline areas, it was too hot, so he just climbed higher instead of getting down.

Zachary and Thomas both liked playing with the sand mover. But Zachary couldn't quite do it by himself. Though he had fun trying.


Cassidy had a great time playing with friends. She mostly played in the river and with the water, but finally got to the top of the ropes.

Just another day

Just wanted to update you on our everyday activities. Zachary started Kindergarten in January. Usually they take the children at age three, but since his big brother was going there they let him attend a month early. He loved it from the start. Last year when I would drop off Thomas, Zachary would cry when we left because he wanted to stay and play. It got so bad, I would usually leave him in the car or at home while I ran Thomas into school. This picture was taken for their Geburtstag Kalender (birthday calendar). Yes it took me five months to get it to them. Just when I got around to taking the picture and printing it, our printer was out of ink.

The kindergarten is very organized and has a place for everything. Every child has there own symbol that marks their stuff. Thomas has a pine tree (Tannenbaum) and Zachary has a Jack-in-the-box (Kind in Kasten). They each have a bag (Tasche) with their names on it as well as their symbol. The bag holds their rain pants and jacket. They also have a cubbie that holds their house shoes.

During the day the kids each snacks of lunches that have been brought from home. My kids stay for two snack times. In fact that is how Thomas knows how long he is going to stay. If I pick him up early, he stays for one snack. If he is there a full day he gets two snacks. So when I drop him off he asks "Mom, did you give me one snack or two snacks?" The boys get to draw pictures and they have some preschool work they during school. When they are finished they put all their papers in their drawer. Zachary is pulling out all his paper airplanes (Flugzeug) from today. Every day the boys come home with at least one paper airplane, but usually two or three. The other day, they emptied their drawers and came home with 22 airplanes. So the airplanes stick around until bedtime, then they get recycled.

Bridging Ceremony

The Stuttgart Girl Scout Council hosted a community bridging ceremony. It was a fun event and we were able to see two girls receive their Gold Award. The Gold Award is the highest award given to the Girl Scouts, it is similar to the Eagle for Boy Scouts.

Cassidy and her leader, Miss Mara waiting for the program to start. There were only four girls in Cassidy's troop that were bridging into Juniors. Cassidy was the only one there on time. The bridge was decorated with many paper flowers. Cassidy was very excited and couldn't wait to be a Junior Girl Scout.
















As Cassidy crossed over the bridge she was given her crossing over badge and wings for her Junior's vest. She was also greeted by a Junior Girl Scout who welcomed her into her new Junior troop. Just before the program started, one of her troop members showed up for the ceremony.

Our days with the plumber

The plumber was in our downstairs neighbor's house doing some work. We talked to him to come by and look at our hot water. Our hot water has not been very efficient and will work for awhile, then go out. So the plumber and our landlord came over and said they saw the problem and would come back the next day to fix our problem. So the next day he came back and had to replace some pipes. He showed my the sediment build up inside the pipes, and no wonder we didn't have very much hot water. He was here for a good 4 hours after being downstairs all morning. He left and said he would be back the next day to finish.



The next day he came by around 11am. I went down to check on him and there was water everywhere. Next thing I know his son came by to help. They had to clean out our boiler. The plumber said this area has a lot of sediment in its water. So he flushed out our boiler, while his son pushed the water down the drain in the floor of our basement. Stewart and I took off, and had lunch at a restaurant while the kids were in school. We picked up the kids from school and they were fascinated by the plumbers' activities and kept going downstairs to check on them. Finally when they were done, they removed a 5 gallon bucket full of sediment from our boiler. They also put in some chemical to help clean out the pipes. So now we have way too much hot water and the kids have all complained that their baths are too hot. I started Cassidy's shower the next day and she said I put it too cold (too far to the right). I turned it off and let her set it. She knows exactly where she likes it, but it was way too hot. And I have to be very careful when the boys are in the tub, because now the water is hot enough to burn them and German's don't have the the temperature control.

Let's Go Fly A Kite

Thomas was racing through the field, excited to his kite in the air. Stewart took Thomas' kite and tried to get it in the air. The wind came in gusts, for a few moments of hope. I told Thomas to run over to his dad and help him with the kite.

I got Zachary's kite up, but he had to keep moving down the hill. He had fun.

Cassidy and her kite.


Cassidy was on her own getting the kite in the air. There just wasn't enough wind. But she tried. She got pretty tired, running to keep her kite in the air. After running through the field we all got back home with yellow spots on our pants from the dandelions.

Piano Recital

Cassidy had her second piano performance. She played Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and A Riddle (Tumbalalaike) unaccompanied. She did awesome. Especially since we raced from her baseball practice to get the recital, changing her clothes and doing her hair in the bathroom.

Cassidy practiced her curtsy. She had it down perfectly at home. But after her performance she did her curtsy so fast, it was like she was running and curtsying at the same time.

Emily teaches piano and voice lessons. These are here students.