Noah is 8

So the day finally came, the first day of school and his birthday. No wonder the poor kid couldn't sleep last night! Noah has been counting the days for weeks until he would finally be eight. We celebrated at home with lots of legos! Happy Birthday Noah!!!

First day of school 2009

So yesterday was Thomas and Sophie's first day of school (today was Noah's) Everyone was very happy to go back to school and it was so nice not to be the new kid! First time in a long time that everyone started school in the same school that they had finished in in June! It may be the first time that there were no tears, even from me! I think the pictures tell it all (except of course Thomas's. He is about as happy as possible having his mother take pictures of him in school!) Ahhhh, 9th graders are fun! Of course I forgot my camera to take pictures of Noah today, on his official first day but I will devote another entry entirely to him for his birthday!!

Health care in Germany

So I have been meaning to post this for awhile and with all the debate regarding health care in the US I thought it was timely! Thomas had sinus surgery two weeks ago. We had debated a bit about whether we should do it in the US over the summer but decided that there would be too much follow up care to do it somewhere other than where we live. We had several appointments leading up to the surgery, a week long stay in the hospital and have have many follow up appointments so far with more to come. I have been nothing but thrilled with the quality of care, the patience of all the doctors/nurses/staff with me and the language barrier, and of course the results of the surgery. My boy can breathe through his nose!!

There has been one very funny andecdote. We where sent home with a bunch of prescription for creams and nose drops. I dutifully took them to the apotheke (pharmacy) and had them filled. The pharamacist carefully went through what each of them was, what the proper doseage was and how often they were to be used. We got home and T settled happily on the couch to watch some DVD's in English- a week of German only TV had been a bit boring! It came time for some the nose drops to be administered. The directions had been that he needed 20-30 drops of this one medication. I began dripping into his nose. He began to scream. He took the bottle from me and said "Mom, I think these are painkillers and I only need them if the pain is bad." I wasn't sure about that but I stopped the torture. It did see a little strange that the medication to ease pain was causing more. We were going back to see the Doctor in a day so I would just ask him then. The next day he took an Advil for the pain.

When we went for our appointment and the Doctor asked how everything was going, I replied fine except that the pain killers were causing more pain than they were curing. He said, "ohhh" I explained that I could only drop 2 or 3 drops into his nose before Thomas complained that they hurt too much to continue. The Doctor smirked. He asked to see the bottle. I gave it to him. He chuckled. He explained, smiling, that the drops where to go into water and be drunk by Thomas. He laughed and said "Good to know that pain killers in the nose hurt though!"

When we went back for the next appointment I reported that all was fine now that I was putting the correct drops into his nose. I told him that all my German friends (and others as well!) had found my story very funny. He told me his had as well!!

I am not going to get political on this blog - I will leave all that debate for Facebook!- but I have to say the German Health Care system certainly has worked for us!

Leogland

We went to Legoland for the weekend. They were having a special deal where if you bought a two day ticket you got the second day for free if you stayed in the Lego village. Since one of the lodging choices was camping (kids: think fun, mom: think economical) seemed like a perfect deal. We had a fantastic time. The park was great (a bit crowded on Sat but Sunday we hardly had to wait in lines at all). Kids rode all the rides several times. Thomas got over his fear of rides on this trip and now wants to return to all the theme parks he has been to where he didn't ride the roller coasters. Sophie is the fearless one, went all all the rides, icluding the spinning ones to the point of feeling ill. Noah started off fearles but gained some respect for the scarier rides. "I liked it but I thought I might die so I don't want to ride it again!" I rode several of the rides until I realized that Noah was tall enough to ride most of the rides himself! A turning point in visiting amusment parks! I could focus on being the photographer! Camping was great. For the first time in many camping trips we had no rain- quite a feat for camping in Germany! It was a beautiful evening and after spending 12+ hours in the park every one just passed right out. Me included! We had a great time and the kids are already asking when we can go again.....


The kids waiting in line for the Dragon Coaster


Going down the "Test Track"


At the entrance to the park


Waiting for the fireworks to start


After I took the picture I decided everyone needed lunch! They looked much happier after some food.


Getting ready for the 1st ride of the day- the roller coaster! Why start off small? Jump right in. (Noah may have regretted this decision...


After the roller coaster a little bit tamer ride. We spent a lot of time bouncing off the sides of the water way. He may not be quite ready for the open seas...

Then onto a daddy powered ride. Jon hauled them up to the top of the tower pulling the rope.


Thomas and Sophie rode the "caterpillar" Sounds tame enough until it starts spinning around and around then switches direction half way through. All the time going up and down little bumps. (like driving in Boston!)


Riding up in the observatory tower to get the full view of Legoland.

Kletterwald

This may be my first post ever without photos. Despite all my best intentions, even putting the camera by my car keys so I wouldn't forget it, I forgot it! I took the kids to the Kletterwald on Wednesday. It was a gorgeous warm sunny day (a true rarity) and we were itching for a bit of an adventure. Actually they were itching for an adventure, I was the chauffeur and as it turned out a necessary climber. The Kletterwald is a huge ropes course with obstacles and ziplines all 3 to 6 meters up in the trees. There are 9 different courses with a variety of difficulty. I had intially thought that I could help get the kids into their ropes and then sit down below and watch them climb. I am terrified of heights. Turns out you have to be 8 to climb without an adult on any of the courses and 12 to climb on most. So climb I did. (There was no way Sophie and Noah were going to sit and watch Thomas and his friends climb.)

We had a 30 minute session on how to safely hook yourself into the wires wrapped tightly around the trees and attach yourself to the ziplines to insure a smooth glide down not a rapid freefall. Did I mention that this was all done in German? I did have a brief thought about the guilt I would feel if anything happened but it appears our German is better than I gave ourselves credit for as I returned with the same number of children I left with, all whole with nothing broken. Not even a scratch on any of them!

Thomas and his buddies quickly took off to the course with the 185 meter zipline. Noah, Sophie and I started at course 1. They quickly got the hang (no pun intended) of hooking and unhooking themselves to the wires and soon left me in there dust. Course 1 is only about 1.5 meters up. I thought not so bad we can just stay here. Of course they were ready for more. We moved onto course 2. It began with a ladder straight up into the trees 6 meter up (for you non metric literate folk reading this that is apppr. 18-20 feet- high!) I wondered if perhaps we had missed the course that was somewhere between course 1 and course 2, course 1.5 perhaps? I had second thoughts by the time I got the top and wondered if I could just climb back down but unfortunately Noah was right behind me and Sophie was waiting patiently at the bottom to come up! So off we went.

I tried my hardest to focus on the very narrow, ever so wobbly boards/logs/ropes/wires in front of me that I was supposed to step on and not the height. It didn't help that Noah kept catching up to me and wanted pass me! "Come on Mom you are too slow!" As you make your way from tree to tree there are platforms at each tree where, if you are not being trailed by an ever so eager 7 year old, you could rest for a bit. We made it successfully through the course and I thought for sure our time was up- but no, it had only taken about 20 min of our 3 hours of climbing time! Oh joy! Time to do it again and again, and again....

We climbed though the course several more time (with Noah in the lead) and then found a platform where you could climb up and zipline down to the bottom so the kids were happy to do that for a while. Then Sophie said she was tired and wanted a drink. I could have kissed her. We sat for a bit and had a drink. Then they were ready for more! Today is Friday and I am still sore. More from having my muscles tensed in fear for three hours than from any physical exertion!

I know there will be requests to return and I am sure Jon would love to take them!

Saying goodbye

So, one the biggest downsides of expat life is that my kids say goodbye to a large number of their friends every year. Sophie seemed to lose the most this year and will miss her buddies in the fall as their return to their homes around the globe. She has friends from every continent except Antartica at this point! Gives a new meaning to pen pals!

Summer fun at Fenway

So lots to get caought up on- one of my many summer vacation goals...Figured I'd start with a highlight of the summer so far- FENWAY PARK! Thanks to Uncle Sam my kids are totally ruined for ever attending a baseball game like normal people (ei in seats where you have to buy overpriced hot dogs, warm beer and the field in a spot in the far distance!) We love going to Fenway! Helps that the Red Sox won both games we attended. Go Sox! (yes, we are all wearing jackets at a July game, love that New England weather!)

A few random photos

It has been a busy winter with lots going on, not much of it blog worthy!! Just thought I would post a few new photos for the loyal few that are still checking this (Deb, the PB ones are for you!!). We have a vacation coming up which will hopefully provide some good blogging material!

Pine Wood Derby

Noah participated in his first Cub Scout event yesterday- the Pine Wood Derby. He was disappointed to not win a trophy but had a lot of fun in the building process. I think his car was great!