Legoland

We obviously went to Legoland this past weekend. To our pleasure, our kids are now hooked on Legos!!
First of all we lucked out and had a beautiful day. It has been raining for about 3 weeks straight, had some sun this day and today it's back to rain. Beautiful.
The rides were fun, but the play areas throughout the park were pretty impressive too. These people know how to design playgrounds! Amazing.
For some unknown reason the kids wanted to do the boat rides first (must be in their blood). Gracie drove Michael, Molly drove solo and Jack attempted to drive me. If it was possible and needed I would have taken insurance out on the boat they gave us. The kid does not have a very long attention span. He would be doing fine and then see a bird fly by and totally forget to avoid the wall infront of us. But luckily, the boats didn't go fast.
The many lego creations at the park were amazing. There is one picture I included which is a snake in rocks. The thing looked real! It was wild.
The last four picrtures are of the miniture land. It was incredible. We saved it for the end of the day not thinking it would be a big deal. The kids loved it. The last picture is Molly infront of a replica of the stadium the professional team out of Munich plays in. It took over 4200 hours to do and over a million legos. I wish I zoomed in on the detail. It was amazing.

Munich

The weekend started off with an 8 am soccer game on Saturday morning. When the alarm went off Michael and I both looked at each other and questioned the idiot who plans soccer games or any movement for that matter at 8am on a Saturday!!! But it was good. We packed the car and headed to the soccer game with every intention of heading to Munich immediately after the game.

When we got to the hotel in Munich, much to Gracie's dismay, the room was not ready yet. Honestly, the child wanted to go up to the room and chill. Munich, Germany whatever, what's on TV??? God love her.

We headed to the shopping district via train which thank god was acceptable to Gracie. Now here is where I felt like a member of the Clampit family...Jack wants to take the escalator, but it's not moving so I assume it's broken...No, no, Sage...that is not the way of the Germans. Some guy walks past us to the escalator and as he goes to step on...it starts. So the hillbillies are ecstatic about this (obviously, because I took a picture). But wait it gets better...it goes both ways. If someone wants to come up you get a "do not enter" sign on top until the other people have cleared. I know some of you have probably seen that, but me and the kids were amazed. We could have stayed there and watched it all day!
As we enter the shopping district there are stores right and left that sell leiderhosen and dirndl. So we duck in a shop just to check it out for the kids with no intention of buying anything...yeah that didn't work. Jack and Gracie insisted on wearing their new German duds out of the shop. The salesladies were awesome to the kids and helped with sizes as well as little things such as pockets for Jack and which side the skirt bow should be tied on (the left).
We pass by a church with a sign of what is not allowed. No smoking (OK), no eating (OK), no cell phones (sure), no hands in your pockets (what???), no hats (I can do that). Hmmmm, any reaon you can think of why I can't put my hands in my pockets in church, please let me know:)
By this time there is still no sun. We have not seen the sun in over 2 weeks. Honestly, not even a stinkin' peep. The kids are whining because they want to find a toy store and we're thinking "why do we even leave the house with them???"
And then everything changes...we decide to stop for some food and a little drink. We head to the Ratskeller which is just below the Rathaus (town hall, which is as ornate as a church...beautiful). My German teacher told me during May and only May there is a beer brewed called Maibock. It's pretty strong, but good. It is only on draft. So we order 2 Maibocks. The waiter asks us what size and Michael orders a Liter. Of course not be outdone by my husband I too order a Liter. The waiter pulls a look at me as if to say "really, are you sure?" Now anyone who knows me knows that if someone gives me that look I will do that and more, I almost ordered two...dear god thank you that I didn't.
Maibock is like sunshine. First of all the beer is soooo good. Second of all, that beer makes you love your kids more. With each sip things that had once annoyed about the kids were hilarious. All of the sudden they were the greatest kids in the world. I love Maibock and I am sad to say the two of us may never see each other again...It's May 23rd and it's only on tap until May 31st! I will miss my new friend.
As we are finishing our beers we start to notice some very rambunctious gentlemen dressed in Leiderhosen. As they pass us they start to sing the Bayern Munchen song. Hello duh...we are in Munich and tonight is "the" game Bayern Munchen vs. AC Inter Milan. The game was in Madrid but you could equate the buzz to being in one of the cities of the teams playing in the Superbowl. It was crazy.
So we asked some of the gentlemen to get a picture and they said we'll take it with her...Now, I'm very shy and reserved, but I agreed. HELLO!!! (SEE PICTURE BELOW).
The most amazing thing happened after we left the Ratskeller...the sun was out. It was as if Maibock had given us a sense of humor about our crazy kids and the sun...what more can you ask for out of a beer? (By the way, yes it was strong...I was buzzed for the next 4 hours seriously).
We shop a little more and then decide to head back to the hotel. That night, after a wonderful Italian dinner (in which Molly had a 48 Euro steak...sure why not) we headed back to the room. The game was on and I tried my hardest to watch it. Much to my embarrassment, my 8 year old lasted longer than me. According to Michael and Molly I was snoring. I think they're lieing...there is no evidence. So dad and Molly stayed up for the game...Munich lost:(
We headed to the zoo the next day. On the way to the zoo the kids were whining because they're kids and Michael was upset because of the traffic and parking. I'm trying so hard to keep everything and everyone under control. Dammit we will have a good day, the sun is out and we will all smile. So we find a parking place and start to get out of the car and it happens...the camera falls out of the car and a little stinkin rock hits the center of the my lens and cracks it...$%#$%#$%^#. So every pic I took was a guess.
Highlights: Awesome park...huge! Biergartens everywhere! Jack insisted on climbing the big thing I took a picture of with the slide, Molly was too freaked out to go down it, Jack made it! Well worth the time!!
Ok, I'm tired of typing and if you have not quit reading by now you should have. Go do something with your day will ya???
Berlin next weekend...

A Simple Slip of the Tongue..

I have been seeking outside help to build my German vocabulary lately. I have one friend whose son goes to school with Jack who is German and fluent in English and a neighbor who is German and speaks English. Both are soo helpful.

So Katrin, my friend at school, has been helping me with some words for the kids. Such as "Die Kinder sind faul (The kids are lazy)...hee! So,I'm always calling my kids crazy or silly so I ask "how do I call them crazy?" Jack ist verruckt (you need two dots above the U, but I don't have a German keyboard) Pronounced "fair ru ct".

Later that day Jack and I were outside talking with my neighbor. They have two little kids and Jack was being goofy. So I looked at the 5 year old girl and said, "Jack ist verrucht". My neighbor smirked so I asked, "did I say it wrong" She said "well, verruckt means crazy, verrucht is like a woman who wears fish net pantyhose and tight shirts" So basically I called my four year old son a whore in front of my neighbors 5 year old daughter. Super!

Now I ask you...look at those two words...verruckt and verrucht. I'm telling you when the Germans pronounce them they hold the "o" on one for like a second longer than the other one, I don't hear the difference at all. So I think I'll stick with "Jack ist faul" for now.

Munich this weekend...we have not seen the sun in I don't know how many days. Pray for my liver that this weekend will be nice...

A Humbling Moment...

The day started off as every Wednesday does. The girls and Michael left for school and Jack and I were off to his school. Every morning now we both smile and say our "Morgen"s to his teachers and head over to change his shoes to his "house shoes" and start our goodbyes. As we sit to start our routine I see Jack's teacher, Judith, approaching. Judith speaks very little English. I am praying that she will just say Morgen and keep going, but no she's coming to me. I start to sweat and review all the words I know in German. Seriously, I was sweating. She comes over and starts in with German. Fast German. Whew, ok, Sage, just pick out the words you know and go from there. And the most unbelievable thing happened...I UNDERSTOOD HER!!! I was so excited I kept telling her in German I understand, I understand!!! She is a very sweet woman so she just smiled.
So I'm feeling good about myself. Yeah! I can do this German thing, piece of cake. And then it happened. I'm almost out the door and out of nowhere comes the spawn of Simon Cowell disguised as a cute little 4 year old German boy. He says one sentence to me and Jack and I have no idea what he is saying. I look at Jack and say, "hey, buddy, help me out on this one". He says, "I think he wants to know what time it is mom". Don't think so. So I try some German on him and he rolls his eyes at me. Damn! Every phrase I try to use I get nothin' but the same damn sentence back each time laced with more and more disgust in my lack of knowledge. Finally I come up with "what's your name" and he answers "Tim". Ahhh, now we are getting somewhere. I said, "Jack do you know what his name is?" He says, "yea, that's Tim. We have two Tim's but the other one is crazy". Of course I'm thinking to myself, if this is the "good one" I can't imagine what the "crazy one" is like.
And so I give up. I give Tim (who's last name I"m sure is Cowell) a half smile and a nod, hug Jack and run like a scared little girl out of there.
Tonight I will study so if I do encounter "Tim" again I will be ready. What has my life come to that my nemesis is a 4 year old???

mothers day

It has been raining and cold here for about 9 days. Finally we got a break on Saturday and Sunday. Michael let me pick where to go for Mother's Day, so I chose Neuschwanstein Castle.

Neuschwanstein Castle was built about 130 years ago by King Ludwig II. He only got to live in the castle for 172 days before he was told that the doctors had declared him crazy and he would no longer be able to rule. So a couple days later he and his doctor went out to some river and drown. Happy story huh? He was 40 years old.

The kids were great on the drive to the castle. It was a 2 hour drive but they did a good job of minimal complaining. I think it may have been partially due to Michael's threats. All in the name of Mother's Day.

When we got to the castle I really had to go to the bathroom...Molly got the pic of me paying to use the bathroom. That just never stops blowing my mind. It's so funny. They even had a sign that if you need change go ask the parking attendant. However, the bathrooms are very clean.


Michael went to buy tickets to go to the castle. There was a bus you can take up and down (which of course costs extra). So we got tickets, got the kids ice cream (to try and keep the whining to a minimal for at least 30 minutes) and scouted out a biergarten. Our tour started at 2:25 at the castle and the buses come every 20 minutes. After the bus drops you off it is supposedly a 15 min. walk to the castle. It was 1:25...so we find the nearest Biergarten and try to order a beer at the bar. To which the very nice man said "ONLY TABLE SERVICE". Ok, so we sit and wait, and wait, and wait. No one comes and they all ignore us. So reluctantly we have to leave to go get the bus tickets. Right next to the bus line is another biergarten. Hmmm, so Michael gets the tickets and the kids and I head over to try to order a beer. Meanwhile directly behind where Michael is buying the tickets the whole country of China is lining up for the bus 20 minutes early with their cameras.

We finally sit to enjoy a beer. However, I'm only midway through and the bus we need to catch to make it to the tour we already paid for is pulling up. So we pay, I leave my half drunken beer on the table and the hop into line. The first bus fills up quickly and we don't make it on. Being a good man Michael offers to stay in line and I can go back to our table and finish my beer. (Hence the picture of Michael standing alone in line).

We catch the next bus and make it to the top at 2:20. We make the mistake of following the crowd and end up on a VERY high and VERY scary bridge (Mary's bridge) that has an amazing view of the castle. So we are practically running across the bridge and Michael figures out we are going the wrong way. We stop for the photo op...look closely you can see how freaked out the kids are. I got a picture of the bridge from the castle so you can see just how high up it was. It is the 9th picture. If you look closely you can see the bridge in about the middle of the picture.

So we run and find the castle at 2:35. We are all sweating (especially Michael who had to carry Jack on his shoulders). Gracie is complaining of chest pains and Molly says her legs are going to fall off. No time to whine, we need to find the line. Ahhh we made it!

The tour was well worth it. You are not supposed to take pictures of the inside of the castle but I took a couple from inside the castle. Michael had what he called his most scenic pee of his life. The 11th picture is the view that he enjoyed at the urinal. Lovely huh?

After the tour we decided to save a couple Euro and walk down. It was a beautiful hike. The weather was great, view was gorgeous and the highlights for the kids was horse poop (which Jack accused Gracie of leaving on the path to which Gracie responded, "sorry guys, I had 6 pieces of bologna, I couldn't help myself") and a slug bigger than my thumb.

At the bottom we did some shopping. The girls picked out German dolls and Jack picked out a walking cane with a whistle attached. We tried so hard to sway his decision, but he stuck with the cane. God love him, he knows what he wants.

Great day and it was good to do some traveling again. We are still trying to come to grips with the Navy's new plans for us. So after a little recovery time we're back to traveling as much as we can!!
Love you all...and we will see you much sooner than we planned:)