Saying good-bye to the big bear in Radolfzell our last night in GermanySunday marked a significant anniversary for us. It was a year ago yesterday that we said "Auf Wiedersehen" to Germany after two adventurous months in the country. In many ways it is difficult to believe that was only a year ago. Julie didn't even exist yet! We quizzed Reese on her German this weekend and she just responded to all of our questions with"Huh?" I asked her if she remembers Germany and she just said something about riding in an airplane. I don't know if she even remembers that or if she just remembers me talking about her riding in an airplane for Germany. It's sad. I wish she were old enough to have remembered our great trip. It really was the best summer I've ever had. Every day is an adventure when you live in one room that you don't want to spend any time in and you don't speak the same language as everyone around you! It was a truly remarkable experience getting to know people from all over the world, exploring new cities, and spending all of my time with our little family. I hope we get to travel again some day.
Speaking of anniversaries, Todd and I recently celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary. I know, you're thinking I look to young to have been married for 6 years. Ok, maybe you weren't thinking that but I'll pretend you were. I can't believe we've been Hoosiers for 6 years. Yikes. I will refrain from making further comments about Indiana at this time... Anyhow, marriage has been a great adventure thus far and I can't wait to see what the future has in store for us and to share it with my little family. I know things can and will change. For instance, take the difference between this anniversary and our last. For our fifth anniversary, Todd, Reese and I ate dinner in the Englischer Garten in Munich. For our sixth anniversary we ate at our kitchen table. Last year we had authentic German cuisine (bratwursts and pretzels) whereas this year we ate Applebees carside-to-go. Last year we had a few pints of Hoffbrau Haus beer between the two of us, this year we got wine but were too tired to drink it. All kidding aside, it was another lovely anniversary this year for where we happen to be in life right now - not in Germany and with a (then) 2 1/2 week old daughter. The highlights of the day were lillies from Todd and his watching Julie so that I could be asleep by 9:30pm. Our anniversary might not have been the most glamorous, but it was really good.
This past weekend not only marked a year since we left Germany, but it also marked our first night of being tag-teamed by the girls. Saturday night Reese came down with a really bad cold or virus that had her waking up every 40 minutes or so crying because she sneezed all over or felt stuffy. This happened to be the same night that Julie decided it would be fun to play from 12:30 until 5:00am. I didn't think it was very fun. Of course this led to her mixing up her days and nights for the first time since she was born. We've been expending great effort ever since to keep her more awake during the day and I think we're starting to get back to "normal" - she even slept for a 3.5 hour chunk last night! Reese is also feeling better now, but it's been quite a challenge trying to teach her about containing her germs. I've been telling her that she needs to get lots of sleep so that her sick germs go away and this has actually worked. She's been going to bed much better for me. I wonder how long I can use this line for...
Today was a big day for Therese even though she failed to grasp it. It was her last day at school for the year. When she starts back up in a few weeks it will be in a new classroom with new teachers and a new group of students. She's had these teachers for almost a year now and they've been great. I'm sad about it even if she isn't. When we left the school today her teachers asked Reese if they could have a hug. She just looked at them and said, "No." At least they're used to working with 2 and 3 year olds so their feelings weren't hurt. We did promise to stop by and say hi next year. In general Therese's mind has been preoccupied with the task of caring for her baby (she's moved on to swaddling Baby and lifting up her shirt to "feed" her) and with our upcoming trip to Mamie and Papa's. Last night she demanded that I call Mamie "right now" to tell her we are coming to her house on Thursday. Today she told me that she is going to swim in circles with her cousins. I have no idea where that came from. Anyhow, she is very excited to see all of our family as are Todd and I. We leave tomorrow so I have lots of laundry and packing to do. We'll be sure to take lots of pictures to share on the next post!
Our family in Munich for our 5th anniverary
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