Life: Idiotropic

Imagine, that you can make a list of as many friends as you'd like - all the people that you know and like - all the people that you'd like to spend time with, have coffee with, invite over for dinner, and don't have time to, the teachers, coworkers, kids' friends...

And then, you just hand that over to someone and they plan a party complete with dinner and a band. It's at a beautiful castle. You pay a little for your ticket and then just show up. No mess, no cleanup, no stress. Just food, friends, and a fabulous night at a castle.

That was our Saturday night.

I've never been to an AF Birthday Ball. They happen every year, but either it's been bad timing or we just didn't want to go. Sometimes they can fall under the "mandatory fun" category and we all know that if it's "mandatory," then it's not going to be very fun. And this year, despite my bemoaning the fact that I couldn't find a dress that I really was excited to wear, Kirk felt that he should go and I wasn't about to let him to to a ball at a castle without me.

Thankfully his cast (6 weeks for tendinitis) fit inside his pantleg and his little "shoe" was the right shade of AF blue.

We had a wonderfully relaxing evening at Kasteel Hoensbroek. The evening was running horribly behind schedule, so at one point, we started to worry that we might never eat, but the slow pace allowed us to walk around and mingle more than most AF gatherings. And there were so many people there than I honestly like and wanted to talk to - too many, really. Certainly more than I had time to see. All the ladies dressed very nicely - ball gowns of all sorts including one VERY LARGE hoop skirt and one VERY lowcut/revealing dress - both becoming the whispered talk of the night among the ladies. Some things don't change with age. Rivers would have had a great time at this one.

The obligatory guest speaker was kind enough to keep it short and by 10 (it started at 5:30), the dining hour was over and the band began - the AF band from Ramstein singing country, rock, and all sorts of upbeat tunes - not what you would picture when thinking of a military band. No marching music here, but they were all in their mess dress - I should have gotten a photo. It was funny.

A small group of Navy came - there are about 10 on this base. One stood up to toast the AF and said that like a good big brother, they'd buy the AF a drink on it's birthday, so the Navy put money on the bar for us all. I wasn't drinking, but the thought was very nice, and with 350 people there, it was a very generous birthday gift.

Upstairs in the castle was GB's (Great Britain) party - they had loud music and a lot of flashing colored lights showing up in their windows. I was tempted to crash it - just out of curiosity, but Kirk and I were both ready to go home by 11.

A good night... and now I can say I've been to a ball at a castle. Pretty cool.

.... check out the photos that were taken... no great ones of us, but we are in #119... don't laugh.

Today was the day of the Open House at Arianna and Luci's school, so Kirk and I were able to go this afternoon and see their classrooms and talk to their teachers. Luci stood and recited the Pledge of Allegiance to me perfectly and then showed me her classroom. She seems happy there, but I worry that she might be bored. She could easily do Arianna's schoolwork. Today was the first day that Luci had to "pull a card" at school - meaning, she wasn't listening and didn't stay on "green light." We'll have to work on that. I had warned the teacher before the school year began that Luci would cause trouble if she wasn't kept mentally occupied.

Arianna had written out a presentation that she read to us and also gave us a tour of her classroom. She fits in well there and is also doing very well. Today was hat day. Luci had taken hers off, but Arianna, who had insisted on tying her hat on with curling ribbon this morning, was still wearing hers proudly. She's photographed here with her teacher, Mrs. Berlin.

Aachen: the final frontier.

Sorry... Trekkie moment.

Sitting here thinking of my to-do list and momentarily brain lapsed.

Scary.

So... ah-hem. Aachen.

I had the pleasure to going there today with a friend who'd never been there before, so I played tour guide and enjoyed an entirely child-free day.

Elise was picked up at noon by Kirk and dropped off at Tante Tinny's house where she stayed until I returned at three. Elise and Tinny did well together, so I hope to do this again - having a longer day provides the opportunity for an adventure whereas a 4 hour day makes for a very quick, not so relaxing trip - especially if you have the common misfortune of getting stuck behind a tractor on the drive home.

The obligatory first-stop in Aachen is, sorry to say, Starbucks. It's sad, but this is the only time where I go American. In all other situations, I will opt for the unknown or local fare. Here, I know my Starbucks and must have my triple Venti whatever-I'm-in-the-mood-for in a nice large mug while sitting in a predictably comfortable chair in a consistently clean establishment. Plus... the bathrooms are clean and free - something I will always value. (That being said, I think I may have found my Starbucks replacement.)

After a large hot coffee, we just took a leisurely walk around the town. Aachen is beautiful. It's Rathaus and Dom are exquisite. The shops and alleyways always have the most inviting windows decorated for the season. It just feels good to be there. And, it felt good to walk around ducking into shops here and there as I wanted to - without children to worry about.

There had been an on-going music festival in Aachen, so at every turn in any open space large enough for a stage, there was a stage and beer tents. And, in the square just nestled between the Rathaus and Charlemagne's Dom, there was a enormous Ferris wheel - taller than the government building itself. That was a fun photo op and if you look closely at the close up photo, you'll see a tiny man who'd come out of the red door at the top of the Rathaus, walked over to the corner, and took a picture too!

The other photo op of the day was of this bagel/bratwurst vendor who literally "wore" his stand. There was one very thin pole that gave him some support, but the counter space that housed all the food was assembled in a sort of ring that he wore around his waist. Interesting.

And, since some of the most beautiful things in Aachen are their storefront windows - notably their bakery and printen shops, here are a couple photos to salivate over. The Nobis shop had printen kites for the season.

The Middelberg Konditorei (a potential Starbucks replacement) displayed a beautiful cake decorated with darling marzipan hedgehogs. Drawn in by the window, I saw what was the most marvelous display of cakes and chocolates that I've seen (and tasted) in Germany. Oh... it was amazing. And if their coffee (yet to be tested) is as delicious as their cakes (I tried two), then Starbucks will have seen the last of me. Berries are always my top choice - even over chocolates as I usually find the chocolate flavors in cakes here to be a little too - something - not quite sure what - not enough chocolate flavor, I think. But today - Ahh... I think I heard celestial choirs singing. I had a raspberry cake - a good white cake with the gelatin and raspberry topping. It was good. Very good. But, it was good like Schleypen good (my favorite local bakery), so not worth a special trip for... but then... the choir. I took a bite of a chocolate mousse cake topped with assorted berries. The thick layer of mousse rested on a wafer thin shortbread cookie-like crust and that 3" layer of mousse was seriously the absolutely best chocolate mousse I've had ever. The consistency was perfect and that chocolate flavor was amazing - intense, but not so much I couldn't finish the cake - bitter, but not too bitter - just the right amount of sweet - and the most amazing real dark chocolate flavor. I can almost hear the choir now just thinking about it. This will be my next birthday cake. Oh, and yes... the berries on top were delicious too. :)

The other moments today I actually allude to in a later post -- a fabulous moment in a bookstore when I realize just how much I miss American bookstores, but take a few moments to peruse the English section and find some enticing titles for a later read -- and a silly moment at a cramped little scarf shop when the Spanish music overhead played with my language skills causing me to momentarily forget how to speak German and started to speak a rather odd mixture of Spanish and French.

Today was fun. I must do this again soon.

Today was the day for absurd photographs. First, my friend called me in the morning laughing and telling me to PLEASE go to the antique store in Stahe with all sorts of old crosses, statues, and flower pots in the front and take some photos. I wasn't sure what she was talking about, but I got in in my car and drove 5 minutes away to the old brick farmhouse/antique store. Now, among the rest, there stand eight slender mannequins - all with beautiful styled wigs on and nicely done makeup - but all completely naked. It was something that might not surprise me in a dept. store window, but when driving down our country roads, we're quite used to seeing horses, cows, deer, pheasant, and lots of bales of hay. Naked mannequins do turn some heads. Of course, then coming home, I passed the new billboard in Gillrath - a larger than life ear of corn with a blue condom on it. Crazy.

In the evening we had horses, so I had to get a photo of the rolls and rolls of mint green and white plastic wrapped bails of hay. The orange mesh bag is full of walnuts drying - Tinny hung them in the courtyard. She says they are too green and will taste better when they've dried.

Elise, happy, is hugging a box of Belgian butter biscuits. I'd smile too. Delicious with a cup of strong black tea.

Not really. Yesterday was the Schutzenfest in Gillrath, so I woke up as usual, heard drums (not quite so usual), and saw a parade walking up the little street right across from ours complete with the church boys in their red and white gowns carrying icons and the priest rather plainly dressed only in white, walking behind with a group of the men. They had come from the church, did a little procession, then were on the way back. Later that day we did walk down to the king and queen's house to get this picture and to watch the feather-hatted men and prom-dressed girls with the band all line up and prepare for the king and queen to come out of their home. For a couple blocks on both sides of the street in front of the king and queen's house, little trees stood lining it covered in crepe paper streamers. In and among the little birch trees, the crowd thickly gathered. We walked up, snapped some photos, and then got half-way back to our house before the parade caught up with us. Then we watched it there before walking back home.

Today, I was in it. I knew that the Kindergarten participated in some way and I knew that there was breakfast involved. I thought I might come by and take some photos... but, I couldn't take photos from within the parade ranks.

So, I dropped Elise off at 0830. And, was told (as is becoming quite usual), that I need to return NLT 0930 because "Eltern" go with the "Klein" - meaning, for the little kids, parents must go with.

I came back, we did the traditional "hurry up and wait" syndrome while the schutzen men paraded formally up the little hill stopped in front of the kindergarten and then did all their "about-face" style maneuvers until they were done and we were finally allowed to proceed. I stood between Elise and her English speaking friend, Hattie. We walked in the parade down to the church and through the line of official looking men into the church where I understood that we'd have a small children's service. Boy was I wrong.

It was a children's service in that we did sing a couple children's songs. But, there was plenty of talkign on the part of the priest, standing and sitting and reciting by us, and communion with the bells. Senior citizens came out by the dozens to participate. It was hard enough for me to sit still during that 50 minute service, but for the kids - near impossible. All the kids were squirming and talking. One was screaming through half, so I couldn't even hear the priest to pick out the words that I might understand. My Elise sat there looking through a little leather covered Bible arguing with her friend about whether it was a brown cover or a black cover.

(My number one irritation through the entire service was that BOTH Elise and I had to use the bathroom. We got up once to go to the back and one of the mother's told me that there was NO bathroom in the church. I walked outside for just a moment to look around and think... and saw another mother leading her little girl from the bushes and pulling her pants up. Apparently, I wasn't the only one who had to "pee pee machen," but there was absolutely NO way that I was going to crouch in the church bushes. How can a church NOT have a bathroom? Doesn't make sense to me.)

So, when the service finally ended, we got back into the parade (these folks like to march and if they spend all that time getting gussied up in their felt feathered caps, than why not strut about a bit), walked down to the end of the street with the band playing, then doubled back and marched right back to where we started and then into the party building right across the street where they, THANKFULLY, had a bathroom. Phew!

It was crowded and chaotic. Not organized. Drinks and large plates of brotchen sandwiches sat on the tables waiting for us, but a large group of older gentlemen sat at one of the tables taking up almost half of it, and other non-kindergarten folks sat at others. Instead of anyone saying anything, everyone quietly grumbled, dealt with it, so that 1/3 of the mothers and all the teachers were left standing, all with children at their sides. And most of us got nothing to drink. So, Elise ate 3 1/2 brotchens with butter and schinkenwurst, then we left early - cigarette smoke and crowds make me cranky.

Ahhh... so that was my Monday morning... Elise wasn't thrilled during the event, but it was something that she could hold over her jealous sisters later - "I was in a parade today!" "That's not fair!!" If only they knew...

Very hard to find, even in Spain, these delicious flower-shaped cookies from the Leon region are made up of super thin layers of pastry stacked together and covered with powdered sugar, so eating them is a messy adventure while the delicate layers break apart in your fingers. But ooh... so delicious. If I find these in Spain, I'll get several boxes.

So, today, I went to Noemi's house and she was happy to introduce these cookies to us. We were happy to help her lighten the box. Then we took a couple with us to the hospital where we met our friend whose son was in for an emergency appendectomy. We found Ciro in his room alone since Maria had been whisked away to fill out paperwork. Then the nurses came to take Ciro to surgery and we were frantically trying to call Maria to come right away. All was fine and we had a nice visit in the cafeteria - just like in the states, smelling strongly of chicken broth. In our conversation, it came up that there is an age limit here when parents can no longer stay with their kids. Apparently in the Aachen clinic, a mom was not allowed to stay with her 9 year-old daughter. They'd have to pull me away kicking and screaming.

A friend and I had a brief battle of the cameras and she got this one of me. It's rare for me to actually be photographed as I too often am the one wielding the camera.

I think, when I finally leave Europe, that if anyone remembers me, this is what they'll remember. You show them a photo of me without a camera and they'll say, "who's that?," but if you show them this one, it will be instant recognition... "Oh yeah, she's that crazy American who took pictures of her cappuccino!"

And my cake, and old brick walls, and windows, and doors, and salads in France... it's all inspiring.

This last couple weeks I've been so busy trying to think about my upcoming International Women night among other things, that as awful as it is, Luci's birthday really kind of snuck up on me catching me unusually unprepared.

It was a school day, so I did bring in cupcakes which her classmates devoured. She was very happy that I was there and it was good to see what kind of class she's in (amazing teacher, challenging students).

But, it was also a ballet night, so our small festivities didn't begin until after 8 and then, of course, it was promptly to bed.

She and I did get to go to ice cream while Tiara was at ballet, leaving the other girls at home with Kirk and allowing Luci and I some special time.

At home she opened just a couple things from us. Her big party will be on the 16th - a combined party with Arianna.

The following is what came out of a recent conversation with Elise regarding Halloween. It started with a serious discussion about what she wanted to be, then I thought I'd get her opinions on all the family...

Elise - Turtle, Luci - Pony, Arianna - Vampire, Tiara - Bear, Me - Lollipop, Kirk - Backpack

Happiness is finally here.

As all my school girls get settled into their traditional classes at their semi-traditional American-style schools, my youngest has finally agreed to be happy, giving me my fourth and final green light - something that I really needed as I struggled with my decision to put her into the German kindergarten and another looming decision to take her out with me another year.

But after almost three weeks, she's settled in and is quite happy.

Which is such a relief. The first three weeks were hard - very hard - on both of us. Partly because of the separation which was new for us both, and partly because of the cultural differences that we didn't expect.

Like this.... the kindergarten opened on the first Tuesday in August. Elise received a nice letter in the mail saying that her starting time was on Wednesday at 0945. I thought that was nice to stagger the new kids, so that they got extra attention, so we showed up prepared with all our supplies (rubber boots, house shoes, gym clothes, outdoor gear, and breakfast box). She ran in happy, then the teachers looked up at me and told me to pick her up in one hour. One? She should have had at least two until the noon pick up time. No, on the first day just one. She did great, so the next day she stayed for three hours. That day she cried three times (of course, it was her first long day away from me). She wasn't the only one. German kids by the handfuls were screaming, crying, and trying to run out of their classrooms to the front door. At least Elise was reasonably docile in her classroom. So, the next day, I left her. They called an hour later. She was crying and I needed to come get her.

Ok, so I'm used to the American system where you drop your kid off at the specified time and pick up at the end time and in between, the child can scream or cry and the teachers are fine because it's a phase and they learn that you will come back.

But, it was Friday and I couldn't argue, so I went and picked her up. They told me then that on Monday, I must stay with her. Huh? How is that going to teach her to be away from me? So I stayed one hour, and when I had to leave and Elise got upset, I was told to take her with me. The next day, I stayed for 20 minutes, then left. I was told that I could leave her for 30 minutes. Great - just enough time to load my dishwasher and come back. Wednesday I was able to leave her for 45 minutes. Both Thursday and Friday, she stayed for just one hour. The next week we slowly worked our way up to two hours and then three. Now I actually have come to some normalcy and last Thursday was the first day that she stayed at school and didn't cry. Now she runs in happy and runs out happy. Life is good and I'm putting those first trying, emotional packed weeks behind me.

Last year when Arianna went to the German kindergarten, they would occasionally have a breakfast together and each child would sign up and bring some element of breakfast (5 brotchen, slices of cheese or schinkenwurst, tomatoes, fruit, cucumbers, etc...). We always brought brotchen since I could stop at the bakery on the way to school and quickly pick them up - simple. And the kids would eat staggered like normal when they were hungry and when there was a place at the little table. Last week they had a breakfast in Elise' class. We brought brotchen as usual, but when we arrived, the teachers had pulled every table in the classroom together with all the chairs. A place for each child was set with a little glass plate, a ceramic cat mug, silverware (not plastic), flowers on the table, and nice glass pictures of chocolate milk, apple juice, and orange juice. The breads were sliced and put in baskets. Bowls of grapes, plates of cheeses, vegetables, meats, and sliced fruits were set out on the table. It was beautiful - worthy of a nice B&B. And it was just for the kids.

These are the cultural differences that I can learn to love. Breakfast at school - such a happy thing. Elise is part of a family there. It's nice.

Yesterday was Luci's first day of school. Per tradition, I was prepared to drive her and walk her to class on her first day, but forever independent, my Luci wanted to take the bus with Arianna and all the other big kids waiting at the bus stop. She was almost run over in the stampede to get to the bus, but was calm and got on that bus like she'd been doing it every day for a year, then sat and smiled out the window waving.

Kirk was on base and went to meet the bus as it arrived and walk her down to her classroom at the other end of the school.

She and Arianna are in the same building and have the same lunch time which is very nice.

Her day in Mrs. LeRoy's class went great. She said she did papers. Now with two days done, she is very happy and seems to love her new school, teacher, and class full of friends.

Last night Arianna was in her own bed in her own big girl room being tucked in. She's usually chatty at night, but usually it's asking about what's going to happen tomorrow. Tonight she got very teary, and then told me "It's really hard growing up." Then it continued... "Do boys have periods?" "No, only girls."
"Why?" "Because your period gets your body ready to have a baby and boys don't have babies." "Is Tiara having a baby?" "No, she's not ready yet." .... and it continued. Arianna is thinking about everything right now, absolutely everything, so no wonder growing up is hard. This afternoon she was sobbing because one of her friends keep interrupting her (one of her pet peeves) and she said that tomorrow she has to tell him that she can't be friends anymore. Such weighty issues for six...

... issues, that I'd expect more from my twelve year old, but happily am not. Yes, she's emotional. Yes, she's trying out her hair flipping and eye rolling... but, she's still an amazing girl who loves to read, cares about school, and bottom line: we can still laugh together after an arguement and we can still talk.

The biggest issue now is making her put her book down at night so she can get some sleep. So far she's enjoying middle school. Last week she complained that she couldn't get enough work done in her seminar class because the teacher was too relaxed, so I told the school counselor, she changed the class, and today, Tiara came home with almost no homework because she got it all done at school! Wonderful!

Ballet is just starting so it's too early to tell how this year will go. She's taking jazz, classic ballet, point, and was asked to be part of the Voorstellingsteam - a performance team working on something that they will perform at the end of the year. That class is immediately after point, giving her over 2 hours of ballet every Friday - almost 5 hours total dance each week. Horseback riding is on Wednesday and is the one thing that makes Tiara absolutely break out into uncontrollable smiling. She loves riding Holiday and is very close to being able to control her enough to ride on her own with out the teacher there.

May be it's a farming thing... do folks in the U.S. decorate hay? I've never seen it until we moved here. I missed the gigantic hay "bunny" at the Happy Horse place last year, but I wasn't going to miss these two. This hay bride and groom are there to commemorate Lothar and Desiree's anniversary. And they are LARGE. Check them out in relation to the other things in the photo. Elise can walk right under the sign they are holding without hitting her head!

And the next photo, though a bit unclear shows one of many safety lessons that German children receive. The policeman is standing in front of a bus talking to the class. Right in front of the bus, on the ground, lodged slightly under the bumper is a small rectangular bale of hay dressed like a child. This is the warning not to run out into the street. I think after this morbid demo - the kids will get it.

My kids learned that lesson from the three legged turtle my friend found in Oklahoma.

Photos of the Day:

My girls just got new umbrellas from Japan and spend all afternoon dressing up in fancy clothes and parading around like a bunch of paperbag princesses. Oh, and speaking of paper...

Cultural bit:

Ok, so I moved to Germany and I learned to deal with their garbage issues. Truly, I'm the best trained monkey around - so much so that I actually rinse out all my plastic meat wrappers, cans, and anything else that is remotely yucky before throwing it away. I sort out glass into different colors, sort through papers trying to take care that a paper towel that is too yucky goes into the restapval or "real garbage." I do sort out bio most of the time and fill my yellow sacks without fail even upstairs in the bathrooms and office, I am sorting out all packaging trash to go into my downstairs yellow sacks. But now, there is an article in the newspaper. They have been finding an abundance of boxes (paper, right) in the altpapier. Of course, milk cartons go into yellow sack. And any treated paper that would go into the freezer goes into the yellow trash... but now anything remotely shiny or colorful is yellow trash. My granola bar, fruit roll-up, and cereal boxes are now yellow trash items (though they are just paper), and I'd better get it right because they are now inspecting garbage (who wants that job?) and fining folks who don't comply. Love living here, but... these are the things that will make me nuts. The little insidious things like garbage. It's garbage! I think recycling is good, but I shouldn't have to spend my precious time playing in my trash. Somewhere there must be a camera in my house and they're all laughing at the American who can't figure out a "simple" thing like trash. Seriously, this could be a video game. Shiny box in altpapier? BZZZZZZZZZ You just lost 25 points.

Here are photos from Arianna's first day of school - a fun day for her with a very exuberant start to her first year. This was the first day - the fun day - the easy day - in week one before week 2 when life got hard and homework got harder and life got hard and oh my, it's just so hard to grow up (her daily mantra). Hollywood... here she comes.

I'm really not sure where to begin with this one. The issue of German school has really been more of a continuing saga, then a one day affair. It began really, before we even moved here as we thought about the education of the girls and the place where we were moving to.

Though Kirk and I both liked the idea of putting our kids in the German school system both to learn the language and participate in the culture, we didn't think that we should do that right away given the overseas move and reuniting our family after a 15 month separation (Korea)... so, we waited. Arianna did 1 year in a English speaking system, then, frustrated with her American kindergarten class and finding a spot at the German kindergarten, we made the move just this last March into the realm of German educators.

And, it was ok. The kindergartens provide mixed classrooms with ages 3-5 playing, crafting, and doing various activities that focus on experience and not fundamental learning. Arianna picked up a lot of the language in just those 3.5 months.

And then the agonizing began. What do we do with our girls this fall and where is the big green neon sign telling me which decision I'll regret the least? I think every combination of possibilities existed. Aria in the Gruenschule 1/2 days and the American school 1/2 days. Luci doing the same with the German kindergarten in the a.m., then the American one in the p.m. Elise, we were certain would go to the German kindergarten. And, we knew Tiara would be at AfNorth -phew - at least one kid came with a neon sign.

And we talked, and deliberated and discussed and analyzed, making pro con lists until the pencils were all broken. We talked about it so much, it seemed like we'd become the neighborhood soap - "and what will the Stahlbaums decide today?!??!" I'm still getting that question.

And the answer? Uh.... do I have to decide NOW?

There were a lot of reasons to send Arianna back to the American school. Both little ones and big ones. One reason, though it seems strange, is that the vacation times for the German system and Tiara's International School are different, thus making it impossible to travel during the school year (not acceptable while living here), without taking one of our kids out of school. Logic mandates taking Arianna out for a week (not horrible to make up in her 1st year of school in a program that only goes for 3 hours every morning) instead of Tiara who's in the 7 grade and is taking an advanced math and a high school level French class. But, here, school is mandatory to the point that the police will come to your door and can take children away from families who don't comply. Oh, I am so not ready to deal with that. Still... we talked. I really didn't want to rob Arianna of an amazing experience or an language education. I didn't want her sacrifice of switching schools in March to be in vain. And for the longest time there was no peace or feeling that any decision was right.

As strange as it may seem, and may be it was just the time, but one evening when Kirk and I were talking about it again (he, by the way, was never a huge pusher of the German school), he told me, "You have to remember that when you send Arianna to the Gruenschule, she isn't just learning a language, she's learning a culture." Done. That (coupled with A LOT of other things) made the decision.

It sounds bad, I know. I love living here. I love my neighbors. I have German friends that are very dear to me. However, I do recognize that there is a difference in how they think and how they do things (as a whole). It isn't bad, but, I really don't think it's a mindset that Arianna needs. I think it would change her too much and I like her the way she is. Her spirit is special and I don't want a system to crush that. So....

Today was Arianna's first day of the first grade with a teacher that is absolutely wonderful with great classmates that she already knows and loves, at a school that while not stellar, will provide Arianna with many opportunities to excel. She was smiling so brightly today. And that's when I got my second neon sign.

My third neon sign came a couple days ago. Luci, we'd decided a while ago, would be best in the American school. She's smart and needs a challenge that the German kindergartens can't supply. But, when Elise started on a Wednesday and Luci wanted to go to, we thought, well, no harm to try. Luci wouldn't start the American school until next week anyway.

So, Luci went, running in smiling on her first day and ever day for a week. And then, late last week, her feet stopped at the door and she wouldn't go in. I left her on the bench outside the classroom with the teacher talking to her. And, though Luci has gone continuing through this week, she doesn't want to. Nothing's happened. She talks about her friends there. She is getting along with the children well and has even picked up a few words, but "it's boring" and now all she can talk about is the American school. I knew that the American school wouldn't work if Luci had to be with the same teacher that Arianna had had... and then my neon sign... the class IS being split, and Luci IS going into the other classroom! So, next Tuesday she'll start her first day of an American kindergarten and, hopefully, that sign will still be flickering.

...tbc tomorrow when I'm not so tired... Elise's sign is still missing...

I can't believe that summer is officially over. I really don't feel like I had one. The weather was so horrible that we didn't' do half of the outings/trips that we'd intended to do. And our year last year was so busy that through the best of intentions, I think we all just wanted/needed some time to do nothing.

So, a short trip for us and some arts and crafts and that was about it.


Still, looking back now I can see some small triumphs with all four girls getting or graduating to new bicycles, Arianna learning quickly to ride without training wheels, Luci adeptly moving onto a large bicycle, and Elise, for the first time riding a little bike now comfortable to zoom around the neighborhood.
We met new neighbors and new friends, and the kids enjoyed the new development which consists of a partially finished road, and empty fields where houses eventually will be. And, some neighbor boys dug a big pit, so Luci collected bits of tiles among the rocks, Elise picked flowers, and all three played in that filthy pit in the ground like it was a secret cave.

The final month of summer did bring a handful of sunny days where we could gaze our at the land around our home, breath in the fresh air, smile, and appreciate just how beautiful this place is.

This week I'm fighting an ear infection and a clash of styles in the German kindergarten, so the days that I thought would be full of accomplishment have been sadly hectic and distracted leaving me enough energy to clean my house, cook, and deal with all the necessary obligations, appointments, and distractions, but nothing else.

The good news... is that Kirk is in Iceland and having a great time, so at least one of us is having an adventure. The photo is, of course, of Kirk in front of some beautiful waterfall in Iceland... I'll have him write something about it when he returns.

Elise began school today!

Another day tomorrow... when I will edit this with more information and a photo!

Since I'm working on this other blog now for our local area, I'm trying out new restaurants a little more. I'm not going to post all of it here because you don't really need to know about every restaurant... but, if you are curious about the restaurant in Hastenrath where you can eat with a view of a live chicken in the window, a miniature horses behind, or a bearded goat, check out this latest review: flammerie (http://livingingk.blogspot.com/2007/08/flammerie-new-restaurant-in-hastenrath.html)

This last week has been an exciting one in the world of AL (Aria and Luci).

First, after Kirk came home last weekend, we all went out for a bike ride. I walked with Luci and Elise watching them. Tiara hopped on her bike. And Kirk, walked with Arianna. Within 5 minutes, I heard across the tall grass, "She's riding, she's riding!!!!" And, seconds later saw Arianna flying around the corner coming towards me ALL BY HERSELF and Kirk jogging behind her. We all started yelling and cheering including Arianna's German friends and from there, she just kept going and ended up doing 5 more laps around the new streets behind our house. Then, getting a bit too confident, she started playing around, moving her handlebars back and forth, so as she rode by Kirk and I, wiggling her handlebars speeding fast around a corner, he and I in unison shouted "don't get too fancy" just as she went down. Tears and a really roughed up elbow this trip, but she was doing amazingly well. The next outing with her she didn't get hurt, but fell a couple times deciding that her bike is too big for her and she needs a tiny short bike like her friend David who can barely peddle because his bike it too small for him. Yesterday we rode again. We were going to the new roads again near our house where there are no homes built yet and consequently, no traffic either. I walked again with the little girls. Kirk tried to walk with Arianna until she sped up and took off not to the new streets, but toward her friend's house. She sped down the hill by his house towards ours almost out of control. I couldn't see anything. When Kirk found her she was sitting on the curb by our house in tears because she couldn't stop, so again, she's convinced that it's her bike. 3 rides since she learned and she expects to be perfect. Figures. This is also the girl that took only 3 months of ballet classes and is absolutely convinced that she's learned it all and can be a ballet teacher when she grows up without ever learning any more ballet.

Last Monday Arianna and Luci tried out for the Little Mermaid play. Missoula Children's theater was here for the week, so I'd signed the girls up. Tiara was sick, so she stayed home the entire week. Elise, though enthusiastic, is too young, but AL had a great time. They, along with 13 other kids their age, got cast as seahorses who ran on and off the stage a lot and had one singing number with a giant cowboy starfish.

They rehearsed 4 days - just for a couple hours each day and though the play itself was pretty corny (really dumb humor), the kids had fun.

After the performance, several families that participated took the kids out for ice cream. The photo above is the Spaghetti Eis - vanilla ice cream extruded through a machine that makes it look like spaghetti, then covered in strawberry sauce.