Brightwood Lights

Thirty reasons Caleb is amazing:

1. Caleb is handy.

2. Caleb is a thoughtful man of God.

3. Caleb is a wonderful father.

4. Caleb was brave enough to come to my bridal shower (in Iowa, since many of the women there were his family’s friends).

5.Caleb can change the oil in our car.

6. Caleb has good aim.

7 & 8. Caleb can soothe a baby with his pinky finger AND can rock an umbrella-hat.

9. Caleb has a great smile.

10. Caleb has that Iowa charm.

11. Caleb takes his job as big brother seriously, never missing a chance to give baby bro a hard time.

12. Caleb is a sports fan and instills the same in his children.

13. Caleb supports me in my marathoning endeavors.

14. Caleb is a good pillow.

15. Caleb plays soccer.

16. Caleb is a bit of a redneck. :-)

17. Caleb looks good with a beard.

18. Caleb got us tickets to the opening game at Nationals Stadium!

19. Caleb is fun (and much better than me at croquet!).

20. Caleb can be a little boring. :-) (Actually, Caleb has the patience to read so many books that our kids can’t keep their eyes open anymore.)

21. Caleb has fully embraced raising our kids as German-speaking and has been learning the language himself. And he doesn’t believe it, but he is doing an amazing job of learning German.

22. Caleb was the only family member besides Mom who made it to Dad’s U.S. citizenship ceremony.

23. Caleb would make an excellent giraffe.

24. Caleb is a good dancer.

25. Caleb is a loyal friend.

26. Caleb loves the outdoors.

27. Caleb boldly lets me cut his hair. . . sometimes a bit too short!

28. Caleb is scholarly.

29. Caleb is a good sport.

30. Caleb is my best friend.

Happy birthday, Caleb! We love you!

A brief summary of our trip to Germany:
The only part of the trip that I anticipated with stress rather than with excitement was the travel.  Getting myself and the kiddos to and from Germany was a daunting task, despite knowing that many people have endured much, much more.  Thankfully, all worry was for naught.  The kids were superb through the 20+ hours of flying and the additional hours in the airport.  I even had Johnny Isakson, one of Georgia’s two senators (and one of the few US Senators I would even recognize!) compliment me on their behavior at the airport in DC.  (I thought it was Senator Isakson, but I wasn’t sure until I saw his name on his luggage as he walked away.)

We did have a few small “incidences” along the way.  Our flight from DC to Newark was delayed, and we were in danger of missing our connection to Hamburg.  So I was rebooked on a “just in case” itinerary that would have taken us from DC to Newark, Newark to MADRID, and Madrid to Hamburg.  Not only is Madrid NOT AT ALL on the way to Hamburg, but such a route also would have taken an extra 12 hours.  Now, I’ve always wanted to go to Spain, but definitely NOT by myself with two children and with a limited supply of diapers / food / Euros!  Thankfully, all went well and we caught our connection in Newark.  Still haven’t made it to Spain, but someday. . .

And on the way home, we missed our Newark-DC connection but were easily rebooked on the next flight out and made it home without further problems.  Again, the kids were amazing.

Our time in Deutschland was great.  We ate LOTS, trying to (literally) cram in all of our favorites in a limited amount of time.  We spent a few days traveling to Dresden, Leipzig, and Berlin, which were great.  Being there almost exactly 20 years after the fall of wall was great timing; unfortunately, two little kids are not all that interested in exploring the historical significance of these cities.  So, we took in what we could and focused on enjoying time together as a family.  We’d definitely take the chance to return to these cities to see some more, but we also think our next few years of family vacations will emphasize kid-friendly activities over touristy sight-seeing.

The time in Glueckstadt was fun but too short, as always.  It’s been amazing to see our children get to interact with their great grandparents, and we are trying hard to take advantage of that for as long as possible.  Simona got to attend a German preschool for a morning, which she loved.  Andreas sampled his first ice cream, and both of them got spoiled by family.  Caleb and I particularly enjoyed sitting with Nancy’s Dad and Oma in the evenings, telling stories, drinking beer (or water!), and eating Schwarzbrot.

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Other updates:  As mentioned we lost our camera in Germany.  We do have pictures to upload and hope to do that soon.  (These are from my dad’s camera and from our video camera.)  My parents generously gave us their old digital camera, but we need to figure out how to get pics off the camera and onto our computer, so post-Germany pictures may be a while in coming.  We’ll try to stay on top of it!

Our trip to Germany is over.  We have plenty of stories to tell, ranging from compliments on our children from a Georgia Senator to a near-miss with an unexpected trip to Madrid to a VERY abbreviated sight-seeing tour of Dresden.  And hopefully, we’ll get a chance to regale you with our adventures later.

But all of that is “fluff” for a later post.  This post is dedicated solely to the lessons we have learned while home (or home away from home) in Deutschland.  So, in no particular order:
1.  Patrick Swayze ist tot.  Swayze’s death was quite the news story in Germany.  The day we spent 6 hours in the car, we heard radio updates on his death every twenty minutes or so (along with LOTS of Dirty Dancing music).  Google the above phrase, and you will find YouTube videos commemorating his life, which was apparently VERY important to the Volk of the Vaterland.
2.  Double, triple, extra quadruple check that you have your camera before you get in the car to go somewhere else.  Losing it means losing not only the money spent on it, but also the memories from the pictures that were but not yet downloaded.  Very disappointing.  (However, we can take photos with our video camera, so hopefully some of those will be coming your way soon.)
3. Come to Germany on an empty stomach.  Or, better stated, come to Oma’s on an empty stomach.  She cooked with all her might, ensuring that we sampled each and every of our favorite German recipes at least once.  (And by sample, I mean ate an entire army’s worth of each dish.)

4.  Make sure you know which way the wind is blowing before going on a bike ride along the river.  Riding a bike on the dike into the wind is nearly impossible.  If you should choose to do such a thing for fun, you most assuredly want to ride INTO the wind first and have it at your back on the way home.

5.  It is never too cold, windy, or rainy to hang the laundry on the line.  Nancy knew this lesson, having spent many, many summers in Schleswig Holstein.  Caleb and the kids, however, had some lessons to learn about laundry and what constitutes “nice weather” in this region.

6.  Guidebooks take you to places like the local palace, filled with lore and history, but fail to include the truly important destination:  the playground.  Our independent, unstructured research project has confirmed that kids don’t care what city you’re viewing, how majestic or historically important its sights are, or when a church or castle was built.  They just want to check out the local jungle gym, swing set, or slides.

Finally:

7.   No matter how optimistic you are about recovering from jet lag, be sure to multiply its impact on your kids by at least 17.  A three-year-old and nine-month-old can tag team quite nicely to prevent you from getting much sleep for several days on end.

And since they are, in fact, both asleep at the moment, it is time for us to do the same.

Bis Spaeter!

In August of 1991, my grandparents celebrated 40 years of marriage with a family reunion in Maine.  My mom drove by herself with the 4 daughters, who were ages 12, 10, 6, and 4.  Her total round trip mileage was roughly 2, 565.

I, on the other hand, just returned from my own solo drive to Maine with my 2 children, ages 3 and 6 months.  My round trip mileage was about 1,482.  I suddenly have a profound understanding of what a challenge that must have been, and frankly, I have no idea how she survived.  My own trip nearly did me in.

Below are timelines of the drive TO Maine.  I know this may be tedious to read, but believe me- in some ways, that’s the whole point.  And please note, this was the GOOD part of the trip.  Stay tuned for tomorrow’s edition:  The nightmarish trip home.
THURSDAY:

7:30 AM- Depart home precisely on schedule.  Enter Maryland.

8:00 AM- Daughter throws up.  Stop for cleanup and a change of clothes.

8:25 AM- Back on the highway.  Start singing every children’s song you know.  Pass through Delaware and enter New Jersey.
9:15 AM- Run out of children’s songs.  Start telling stories.
10:10 AM-  Make first “short” pit stop to use the bathroom, change a diaper, and nurse the baby.

10:40 AM- Back on the highway.  Resume children’s stories.

11:20 AM- Both children fall asleep.  Rejoice.  Enter New York.
12:45 PM- Both kids are awake.  Stop for lunch, bathroom, nursing, and gas.

1:25 PM- Back on the highway.
2:40 PM-  Enter Connecticut.  Make another “short” stop at the Welcome Center.

3:15 PM- Back on the highway.  Follow GPS through endless turns.  Begin to second guess GPS.

4:07 PM- Wonder how you can be in such a small state for such a long time.

4:25 PM- Stop for another “quick” potty break.

4:42 PM- Back on highway.  Pass through Rhode Island and enter Massachusetts.
5:30 PM- Complete an 8 hour drive in 10 hours.  Congratulate yourself on an amazing trip.  Nurse starving but patient baby.

FRIDAY:

11:15 AM- Depart Plymouth, MA and head for Logan Airport.  Immediately get stuck in traffic jam.

12:45 PM- Pick up Opa at Logan, about 40 minutes later than planned.  Depart for Maine.

12:45 PM- Stop for gas.  Spend the next 20 minutes trying to find a fast food joint for lunch.

1:00 PM- Grab a “quick” lunch at a sit-down Italian restaurant.

2:10 PM- Back on the highway.  Pass through New Hampshire & enter Maine.

2:30 PM- Get stuck in massive traffic jam on the Maine Turnpike.  Count your blessings that Opa is in the car and on “entertainment” duty.
2:42 PM- Think about the fact that Caleb has just recenly boarded a plane to come to Maine.  Wonder if he will beat you to Aunt Nancy’s house.
3:55 PM- Finally pass accident causing traffic jam.

4:42 PM- Stop on the side of the Maine Turnpike for daughter to pee in grass.
5:03 PM- Arrive.  Say a prayer of gratitude.  Nurse starving baby.

5:58 PM- Caleb arrives.  Inwardly slightly resent how fresh and unfazed he seems by his trip to Maine.

Though a two year old is notoriously “terrible,” I have found that I actually like a lot about the age.  Two year olds are imaginative, funny, active, and cute.  (They also whine and fuss and are quite irrational and unreasonable, but that’s for another post.)  These days, Simona’s play is very creative, which leads to some interesting moments around the house. . .

Over the past few weeks, her latest game has been to get out ALL the pots, pans, and lids, some utensils, and her play food to “cook.”  I have found myself diligently checking the microwave, oven, toaster oven, and random pots sitting on the stove to make sure they don’t have any plastic food in them before I turn them on.  It creates a bit more work, but she enjoys it, and I enjoy our “picnics” with delicious “food” that I did not have to prepare.

So of course I thought nothing of it last week when she told me she was going to cook some eggs for breakfast.  I thought I’d have about 10 minutes to get a quick shower while she played with the pots, and when she came upstairs to tell me that she had spilled a bit, I still naively thought we were “playing.”  Until I made it downstairs and saw this:

Fortunately for all of us, I was in a good enough mood to laugh rather than scold, and she was in a good enough mood to play (something other than cooking) while I cleaned.  I was actually quite impressed with the three eggs she got into the pot with minimal shell pieces:

Out of 15 eggs in the fridge, we salvaged about 8, ate 3, and cleaned the rest up off the floor.  And the egg sandwiches we had for lunch were delicious.

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Other updates:  January photos are now up.  I’m working on February photos.  Simona is currently on her first vacation without Mama or Papa, as she is spending four days visiting Oma and Opa in Georgia.  (This explains why I have time to update the website.)  She is having a blast, but I miss her and am looking forward to her return on Wednesday!