Ryan's 1st Day of Pre-School at CLA

Ryan couldn't wait to get back to school. We signed him up last week to start preschool at Childrens' Learning Academy. He would ask every morning if he was going. On Tuesday he finally got the answer he wanted. He was so excited that we were 30 minutes early! He let me take a couple of pictures and was like "Alright, see ya Mom!" Here's a picture of him with his teacher Mrs. Tina and him tracing his name (something they do every morning).

Today I took Ryan and Mia to the park. They played in the grass and I played with the camera. Ryan let me take a few shots of him :-)

Ryan learns his 1st German Phrase!

We practiced in the car and he's got it down...a phrase any good American child would learn first!...lol!

Dinosaur in German is "Dinosaurier"

This weekend we stuck around the local area. Saturday we went to Burg Nanstein Castle in Landstuhl. I forgot my camera :-( But it was fun to watch the boys run around and explore. They brought their shields and daggers and hunted for dragons! I also learned a couple of things: 1. Bring Euro everywhere you go. Gabe had to go back to town to get more $$ to pay for our drinks and pizza which took about 30 minutes. Germans do not accept plastic the way the U.S. does. 2. My German sounds better in my head than when spoken. I WAS able to tell our waitress that we would not like onions on our pizza but only after I told here we didn't want cheese. Good thing for the translator app on my iPhone because a pizza with bacon and onions and no cheese wouldn't taste very good. She and the cook had a good laugh when I corrected our mistake :-)


I took 2 pics with my iPhone of the boys looking over the village of Landstuhl

Another thing that seems to be fairly common here is Colabier. It's a half cola half beer drink that I guess I'll have to try...interesting...

Saturday night we were invited over to our new house by the current tenants...Michelle and Kyle Benwitz. They had many of the neighbors over so we could meet them. It was really fun. The kids got to run around and play with the other kids and get to know them and we got a few more tips on some of the quirks unique to the house. Ryan was tired and kept reminding us it was bedtime so we left around 8:30...both kids were out in about 5 minutes :-)


Sunday we went to the Dinosaur Park in Kaiserslautern with the Horton's (Steve. Lisa, Austin and Alex). Beautiful place. We ended up with the annual membership because I have a feeling we'll be spending a lot of time there. There are places for the kids to climb and play in the water. Perfect for a 75 degree Sunday afternoon. In one of the pictures you'll see Gabe swinging the kids in what looks like an onion. They loved that.
Dinosaur Park website

 The membership also serves as a pass to the Japanese Gardens....can't wait to check that out. Here's a picture of us inside on of the buildings. It seems as though Easter is a pretty big deal here in Germany.

Next weekend...Belgium! (if the van gets here)

Something For the New House...

Picked this up from the BX and we're happy we'll be able to hang it up in a couple of weeks!

The boys got some new weapons for slaying dragons...

We Got the House!!

SO EXCITED!!! We live about 100 yards away from a deer farm...the boys and I can go and feed them. It will be the closest thing to "country living" they've ever experienced. 5bdrm, 2.5bath, 3 levels...move in- 16 April :-)

Ryan and I checked out a local Preschool called Childrens' Learning Academy (CLA) today...Ryan wanted to stay and kept asking why he has to wait until next week to start...too cute.  Here's their website: 

Childrens' Learning Academy

France, monkeys, a castle and pastries!

Our friends, The Horton's mentioned that there is monkey farm called La Montagne des Singes over the border in France in a town called Kintzheim....about 2 hours away so we decided to caravan down there and spend the day checking out the area. First and foremost: FRANCE IS GORGEOUS!! It may seem funny to say but where Germany has houses that resemble gingerbread, France has houses that resemble gumdrops. There is a definite difference in style and color. Gabe and I immediately fell in love.

The Monkey Farm was pretty cool. They hand you a handful of popcorn and explain how to hold out your hand and let the monkey take the piece from you. The kids thought it was pretty cool that the monkeys were so close and not in cages. They were everywhere. I found it kind of funny that some monkeys weren't interested in the popcorn...guess they'd had their fill already...lol!

The above photo is of Ryan doing his best monkey impression! Below is a photo of Dylan eating "French" fries...he got a kick out of that :-)

After seeing the monkeys we decided to check out a nearby castle. Alsace Castle or Château de Kintzheim...I believe it's called....honestly there were 5 different signs in 5 different languages so I'm not exactly sure. It was massive and all the way at the top a large hill/mountain. I kept reminding Gabe to watch the road and not to look over the edge. It was a crazy windy drive up to the top. We decided not to do the tour because the kids were already getting tired but we'll definitely be back to check out the whole thing. Will probably have to make a whole day of it?

As we were leaving we stopped at a coffee stand and the lady asked me if I'd like an espresso? Why yes, I would and two of those lovely pastries...Merci!

 Here is a picture of the town as we drove through it...

And lastly...if you think there aren't enough reminders that you are no longer in "Kansas" just make a visit to the nearest facility...and no, that is not a shower, ladies!...a seatless latrine! Or as my friend Brooke calls it "A squatty potty"...lol!

Possible House...

So, it turns out that the ladies I met at the park really pulled through. The lady who is currently living in the house emailed me last night and even sent us some photos. She offered to show us the house so Ryan and I drove out there this morning. It's in the village of Oberstaufenbach. It's a little bit of a drive (15 minutes to base) through a few villages, around many windy roads, out near farm land and rolling hills. BEAUTIFUL!! The scenery was like something out of a movie...German countryside. When we got to the house, Michelle (the current tenant) met me at the door, introduced herself and hugged me. I can't even tell you how cool it was to receive such a warm welcome...she is one of the sweetest women I've ever met and so helpful. She showed me the house, explained a few quirks, explained the layout of the neighborhood, gave Ryan a snack and then had me call the Realtor. Needless to say...I LOVE the house and made an appointment to meet with the Realtor on Monday morning. I pray we get it. It would be perfect for our family. The kids would have a ton of freedom out there. The house is on a cul-de-sac and is made up of mostly American families with lots of kids :-) Here are a couple of pics...

(Oh, and it's 5 bdrm, 3 bath!)