Swimming Cool...

or Therma Erding as it's known to the general population. Some friends of our invited us to Therma Erding for their daughters birthday. Our friends have been teasing us that we need to go check out Therma Erding. What it is really know for is their "Sauna" side of things. In which, in true European fashion, nobody wears any clothes and everything is coed. Thankfully they have the "family friendly" side of things where people at least had a few clothes on and there are lots of fun things for the kids.

One of my favorite things about going to places like this here is that is a true cultural experience. We've been to indoor water parks in the past, but this one was decidedly German. And not just because of the amount of "skin" we saw.

The really fun thing about a "German" water park is the lack of rules and lifeguards in general. Everyone is expected to be smart about things and enjoy themselves. While in the US one place we went wouldn't let Hailee go on any of the slides because she was less than an inch too short of the cut off. At this park James was able to go on most of the slides, which he absolutely loved. Both kids had such a great time. By the end both of them were so tired they were about to drop.

I wasn't sure what the dressing room/locker rooms were going to be like so I just packed two bags. One bag for the boys and one for the girls. The fun thing was that the dressing rooms were all in the same area by the lockers and then they had separate shower areas. So Hailee and I got to be right next to Todd and James while they were dressing. James totally cracked me up. I told Todd to pass me their swim suits so we could put all the wet stuff together. Right after I got their wet clothes I could hear James in the next stall over, "I'm so naked, I'm so naked." Then "Dad, you're so naked, SO naked." The whole time they were in the dressing room James just wanted to talk about how naked he was. I was glad Todd got to enjoy that experience. I've had too many dressing room experiences with the boy, it was his turn.

James just loved the "Swimming Cool." He woke up the next morning (after a very good nights sleep) asking to go back to the Swimming Cool. I just wish it was easier to take my camera in to get some good pictures of the kids on the slides. I think James had a permanent smile on his face. Every time he went down, he would jump up and say "lets go again" even if he had just gotten a face full of water.  For the record James kept his clothes on the entire time. I was even amazed he kept his water wings on. He was a perfectly behaved child the entire time.

Don't you just love German Design.

shoes...shoes...shoes

These are Hailee's school shoes. She needs 6 pairs of shoes to go to school. Granted she just wears 3 pairs every day, she needs all of these during the year. First snow boots, are a requirement for sledding at school (which of course Hailee couldn't live without). Next on to Rain boots...for rainy days. Then on to normal go to school, come home from school, recess shoes for days that are not snowy or rainy. Next onto PE shoes. She needs an outdoor pair and an indoor pair. And finally the shoes she wears every day, her house shoes. They are for when she is in her classroom (we just had to replace these as her other ones we got her broke). So there you have it bare minimum of 6 pairs of shoes for the year. That is not including church shoes and sandals for the summer.

Somes days I feel like I'm being over run with shoes. With no closets in the house it get's a little crazy.

I think I'm seeing a trend here. Do you think my girl likes pink? Red is actually her favorite color, pink is her second favorite color. Red shoes are almost impossible to find.

Sleeping Arrangements

These two absolutely crack me up. When I showed Hailee this picture this morning she said "I thought I felt something!" What this picture doesn't show is that Hailee is just as wild as James when it comes to sleeping.

I asked Hailee if she wanted her own room. She quickly responded "NO!" They love sharing a room. They shared a room in Oregon as well, but there they had their own beds. They will probably be looking forward to their own space when we get home. But for now, neither one of them would change their sleeping arrangements. Bed time is one of their favorite times together. I can't get them down at different times. They like going to sleep together.

Home

I've been thinking about "home" a lot more often these last few days. Now, I usually pride myself in the fact that I don't really get too homesick. Sure I have my moments, but for the most part they go quickly and I'm happy to be "home" with my little family. For me, "home" means family. Todd and the kids feel like home to me, no matter where in the world we are.

But then there comes times when I want to be "home" with all my family. My aunt Carla has been in the hospital the last little while battling cancer. Things took a little turn for the worse and my mom and her sisters went right down to be with her and my grandparents. I wish we could be there, although I'm not sure what the nurses would think of my little boy running around.

As we've been in Germany it's been really fun to discover our German roots. Both Todd and I have family that came from Germany. I can't imagine immigrating to the US and not being able to communicate easily with your family left behind.

I've decided that "heaven" will be family time. But for now I am grateful for internet, cell phones and modern technology that is keeping us connected. It's been so nice to get updates and feel like I can still be there, even though I'm not there.

Ruth

In the last few months we discovered that Ruth lives right around the corner from us. She is from Germany, but has lived in Switzerland, Spain, and Florida (probably some other places along the way as well). She comes to the International ward because she has decided she doesn't like Germans. She has lived a very full and interesting life. We love having her around. She loves reading just as much as Hailee does and has been spoiling Hailee with German reading material.

With the start of our new time at church Ruth has started coming home with us after church and eating dinner with us. While James is napping and I'm getting dinner ready she reads with Hailee. They are a cute little pair. They are separated in age by over 70 years, but both enjoy reading German fairy tales. Their friendship is such a cute sight.

Sissy and the Boy

James is sitting by me as I write this blog post and when he saw the picture he said "It's Sissy and the Boy."

Our family loves little moments where we can escape and just have some family time. Sometimes it happens just in our apartment as we enjoy the weekend together and sometimes it's when we get away together. The best part of our trip to Verona was just having so much family time, which is one reason why we enjoy taking a train so much. We get to sit, relax, and laugh together. Here are some of my favorite kid stories of the quick trip.

James loves ice cream cones. In fact I love how he says it, those three words turn into one in his mouth "I-crean-cone." According to James the best part about being in Italy is the gelato. I was a little worried that with it being cold an ice cream cone would be hard to find. (It's more and more difficult to find them in Germany as our favorite places are closing for winter.) Luckily for James its a little warmer in Italy and Gelato places don't close for the winter. He was thrilled every time he saw an "I-crean-cone" sign.

Our second day there he wanted gelato just about as soon as we walked out of our hotel. I told him we could get one after lunch. He then said "I....will....not....throw....the....I-crean-cone." In the very voice he uses when he is trying to get out of time out. After he has done something naughty I make him repeat after me "I....will....not....hit or bite or throw" depending on what the offense is. I guess he thought if that I knew he wouldn't "throw" the I-crean-cone I would get him one.

The next day we only had a few hours in the morning to do a few things. On our way to Castlevecchio James asked...

James: Where are we going Mommy?
Nicole: We are going to a castle. Do you want to go see an old castle?
James: (pausing for a minute to think about my questions) Mmmm. I want an i-crean-cone.

Lesson learned. Don't ask your two year old what they want to do while in Italy, or all you'll see is the inside of a gelato shop. Even with his ice cream addition he was such a good sport the whole time we were there.

As we were going through a beautiful church in Verona Hailee said,

Hailee: I wonder if anyone still gets to go to church here.
Nicole: I think they still have services here.
Hailee: They are so lucky. It's beautiful
a few minutes later
Hailee: Mom, I just have one questions. Where do they have primary and nursery?
Nicole: They don't have primary in this church
Hailee: Thats not so fun.

I guess we don't need to worry about Hailee converting to Catholicism any time soon. It is a pretty building to go to church, but let's face it, it would be pretty boring without Primary.

Last summer when we went to Venice Hailee and I made a fun discovery on the way home. Just before getting on the train we stopped and got a few snacks to take with us. One of the things we got was a new flavor of Fanta.... Red Orange Fanta. We both loved it and were sad we only had enough to last our train trip home. I had forgotten about our little discovery until we made it to a grocery store by our house and Hailee discovered it again. She convinced Todd that we needed the big bottle to take back to the hotel with us. As we were walking back to our hotel she happily carried her prize. Since I was busy with the stroller, Todd wanted to hold Hailee's hand since it was getting dark.

Todd: Hailee come here so I can hold your hand.
Hailee: Dad I can't, I'm carrying my Fanta.
Todd: (teasingly) Oh it takes two hands to hold the precious Fanta
Hailee: (very seriously) Dad! It is precious, you can't buy this in Germany or America.

Hailee did get to enjoy her Fanta when we got home and even convinced her dad to let her bring home an extra bottle. She is still trying to decided when we get to drink her precious Fanta.

Alla Fine

 Friday we had a morning to finish seeing the last thing on our list. On the way there James asked, "Where are we going mommy?" I replied, "We're going to see a Castle. Do you want to see a Castle?" James thought a minute and then said, "I want some ice cream." Thankfully he enjoyed the castle (probably not quite as much as ice cream), he even found a couple of things to get excited about.

 We spent the morning at Castlevecchio, a 14th century fortress along the river. It had a great museum and it also had great views of the city. Hailee always loves the audio tour. I am always amazed at how much she enjoys the museums.

 Towards the end of the tour James found his favorite room. A room full of Robots and knives. What could be better? It was fun to see him get so excited.

It was a great way to spend our last morning in Verona. As soon as we were done we picked up our stuff and made our way to the train station. As far as things go it was a great trip. Thankfully we didn't follow in Romeo and Juliet's footsteps and have a tragic end. All in all it was a great trip.