The Results Are In!--Wochen 12-13

Last weekend, Dane was invited to go to a track meet in Budapest.  Since this meet was the one closest to home, we decided to pack everyone up and head up there with him.  The day was about perfect.  The sun was shining, the breeze was blowing, the AIS Budapest campus was beautiful.  We had packed some blankets to sit on, just in case.  We were glad we did.  Having never been to a track meet before, I wasn't sure what to expect.  The day was fun.  There were races going on all day long.  Dane was only running in two of them--the 1500m and the 3000m.  I can see why the track and field people get to be such good friends.  You spend the entire day hanging around these people and you only have to do your event for 10-15 minutes.  The rest of the day, you just hang out and wait.  Dan and Dyllan headed to the store and bought us stuff to have a picnic.  They arrived in time to see Dane's first race.  Dane ran very well.  He won the race!  We were so proud of him.  He also shaved 11 seconds off his last time for the 1500m--all in one week.  We ate our lunch and hung out together.  The other kids played on the playground for a good part of the day.  They loved the fresh air and being outside in general.  Dane's second race was at the end of the day.  Again, he ran it and won.  We were so excited.  He had a better time for the 3000m last week, but he still came out with the win!  He was several yards in front of everyone else.  I think if he had had more competition, he might have been pushed to get a better time, but if you are way in front, you don't really have any motivation to go too much faster.  As a result of his performance in Budapest, he has received an invitation to represent his school at the European International Schools Track and Field Championships in Warsaw, Poland.  He is busy now preparing for that.



We heard this week, that Allynn is an award winning photographer.  I won first prize in the contest.  I was very excited for my first competition to be a win, let alone, the first place win!!  So, I now have an official certificate and the first place prize was a 10 Euro gift card to Dunkin' Donuts.  Apparently, they have one here.  We haven't been to it yet, but we are told that there are usually really long lines to get donuts.  We'll check it out soon.  Dan was able to pull off an honorable mention for his photo submission.

As Dan's birthday is nearing, I seem to be going through my mid-life crisis.  I decided that I wanted to lighten up my hair.  I've never been blonde and I thought that it might make it easier to hide the gray for longer if I were to be blonde.  So, after reading much online, I decided to take the plunge into blonde hair.  Most of the sites said to go to a salon, but I don't feel comfortable talking on the phone in German yet, so I didn't know how to make an appointment.  So, I decided to just go for it.  I knew that I had to find a hair dye that would bleach out the dark color on my hair.  They don't sell bleach here over the counter at the Spar.  So, I went with a platinum blonde shade.  Then after bleaching the color out, I figured I would then just dye it the color I wanted.  So, I also bought a shade that I liked to go for a toffee blonde look.  As you can see from the pictures, the platinum blonde color worked really well on my roots, and was able to strip some of the color out, but had an atrocious outcome.  So, then Dan took the other dye and dyed over the Elvin princess root blonde maiden with the other color.  The result was a strawberry blonde.  I have to admit, the color is a bit more strawberry than I would have liked, but I only have to wait 4-6 weeks before I can change it again.  In retrospect, I should have used a cooler color as the second color, to take some of the red from the bleach out.  But at any rate, I am now a blonde--and Dan said that it didn't take long for me to start acting like one either.


The kids had a holiday this week.  Dan found out that International Ice Hockey Federation World Championships were in Prague this last weekend.  He tried to get tickets to the Canada vs. Latvia game, but by the time we secured a hotel room and Dan got out of his meetings, they were all sold out.  So, we canceled our hotel as well.  It would have been a great weekend in Prague, but we missed out.

We found this car downtown.  Dane was in love.  The hotel doorman brought the car, revved it up, and parked it out front of the hotel for his guest.  He got a standing ovation for his parking job from all the people who stopped to take pictures.

Instead, we took the kids to a few sites in Vienna that we hadn't been to before.  We walked around downtown, and we finally saw the Mozart statue in the park.  We feel like we are fulfilled tourists now.  We spent the entire day out and about in the city and we never stopped for ice cream.  I think that is a first for us.  We stopped at IKEA and found an interesting sign on the toilets in the show room.  They had stickers and signs that read, please do not use.  You know that there must have been a reason to have to put those signs on.  I'm glad I'm not an IKEA employee. 

Dan and I did take advantage of Spargel zeit.  It is once again asparagus season, so we went out to a heurige for dinner.  I ordered the spargel, Dan ordered the spare ribs.  It was a great evening out, but the spargel was way overcooked and I had to slurp it up.  I think with hollandaise sauce anything will taste good, as I cleaned my entire plate.  The chicken and the spare ribs were delicious.

Time for pictures--Woche 11



Allynn's entry

Dan's entry

Dan and I entered a Spring Break photo contest offered at the kid's school.  The rules were that the entries had to be taken during Spring Break, and they had to be submitted by the person who took them.  You were allowed 3 entries per person.  The kids tried to take pictures during our trip, but none of them turned out to be in focus.  They didn't have a single one that could be entered.  It seems like when you are trying to take a good picture, it never works out.  The best ones are the ones that you do not plan.   With that being said, I know that we won't win, but we still had a good time trying to get some pictures.  Here's what we entered.  And a few more just for fun and because it was time to subject the kids to the quarterly torture that is picture taking.  

 

 

Dan spent the week back in Indiana.  He had a rigorous schedule of early morning meetings and late night dinners all week long.  He stayed downtown and even had to do all of our shopping during his lunch breaks.  He was sad not to even have time to see and spend time with our good friends there.  It was a strenuous week for him.  We got home from our vacation at midnight on Saturday night, and Dan had to be back at the airport to leave at 8:00am the next morning.  Then he had his long flight, followed by his very long week, then another sleepless flight back.  He didn't get home until Saturday morning.  The rest of us were eagerly awaiting his arrival with a full day of grocery shopping and furniture shopping--but mostly waiting for his suitcase full of treats.  He was so excited--ha ha ha. 

 

We did go furniture shopping for some outdoor furniture.  I will wait to post the pictures of it because we really like it and want to go back to complete the set.  So, when we get the whole thing here, I will take a picture of us relaxing on the new furniture.  Better yet, come to Vienna this summer and come relax with us.  We put it outside the kitchen door, on the patio there.  I think we will really get a lot of use out of this, as we spend most of our time in the kitchen.  It will be easy to just sit out and relax during the mornings and several of the evenings.  I even have thoughts of having my German lesson outside as long as the weather is nice!

 

Dane was invited to participate in the first Track meet of the season.  There are 26 middle school boys on the team, and only 12 of them were invited to the meet.  It was in Munich and the team took a bus on Friday morning, ran that day, and then spent the night with host families.  Then they ran again on Saturday.  Dane was asked to run the 1500m on Friday.  He was the fastest 7th grader at the meet and came in 4th, behind three 8th graders.  His time was 5:37.  Then he was done on Friday.  His host family was very nice, but didn't speak a whole lot of English.  Oddly, they spoke Russian, and their German was "nicht so gut".  And well, Dane's Russian was "nee ochin horosho".  He did have a bed, was fed, and got a shower.  For that we are grateful--especially the shower part.  Saturday, Dane ran the 800m, 3000m, 4 x 100m relay, and the 4 x 400m relay.  Dane didn't like any of them except the 3000m.  The 800m he came in 6th, the 4 x 100m, the team came in last (were disqualified because some random kid from his school accidentally cut across the track and messed up the times) and the 4 x 400m they came in 3rd.  The 3000m Dane ran in 11:30 and was again the first 7th grader.  There were 3 high schoolers and one 8th grader that came in before him.  Technically, he came in 2nd.  We are very proud of Dane for such a great performance on his very first track meet.  Especially since he didn't know what to expect.  We are looking forward to a great season and Dane hopes to, of course, get even faster and better.  He is also hoping to only run the longer distances--crazy stupid right?  When Dan picked him up on Saturday night, he looked like he was understandably about to fall asleep.  The two made a great pair because Dan was already asleep when Dane got to the car.



From Arctic Plunge to Sun Sponge --Wochen 8-10

The past few weeks have brought lots of adventure--I'll try to summarize. 

Dane got to have a fun night with the youth at the church.  They had an Oscars night.  For the past month, each group of kids has been working on filming and editing their "movie".  They got them all finished and turned in, and after, they had an Oscar night to see who won.  Of course, it was a formal event, complete with red carpet.  They were served dinner, watched the movies, and then had awards.  Dane's group won the Oscar for the best story line.  Then they had a dance lesson and a dance.  Dane said he enjoyed the evening, up until the dance.  He was pretty much a wall flower for that part of the evening.

Meanwhile, Dan and I went to the English theater and saw Alfred Hitchcock's The 39 Steps.  It was a fun and suspenseful play with only 4 actors playing 58 roles, or something like that.  The other kids got to play at a friend's house, as our babysitter canceled 2 hours before we had to leave.  Thank goodness for friends who can bail you out at the last minute.

Yogurt and canned
apricot "eggs"

April Fools day was fun.  I made the kids "eggs" for breakfast.  I usually don't fix them breakfast, so they were excited to not have to make it themselves.  Dyllan cut hers and even tried to stab it before she realized that it wasn't an egg.  Dan even came down to watch the fun.  Deagan put a bucket of water on the top of our bedroom door.  It was a good try at a prank, but it fell off before anyone opened the door.  Luckily the Internet router which sits beside the door survived the flood.  April Fools can turn to "You Fool" so easily.  Then, for the afternoon snack, I served lime aid punch.  It was great to watch Dyllan try to suck it up with her straw, when it was really jello! 

The weather also played some good tricks on us.  We had every sort of weather in the span of five minutes.  We had sun, wind, rain, then hail, sleet, and snow--back to sun again.  This happened several times during the day.  It was crazy weather and a good sign of Spring.  Snow with thunder is always a weird thing to see.

Dane made it on the schools track and field team.  He decided he wanted to do long distance.  He will probably be doing the 1500 or 3000m race.  All of the meets are away, so I don't know if we'll get to see him run or not.  He is excited to be getting active again.  The coach requires a minimum of 3 long runs per week.  We're excited for him!

Dyllan had another day for parents to come into the classroom.  We watched her do a presentation on "Why you should stop smoking".  The school does a great job in having events for the parents to attend.  Dyllan is also loving gymnastics and choir.  Deagan is also loving his ball sports and tae kwon do. 

Dan travel to Milan this week.  He really likes Milan, especially this time of year.  Nice and green in the low flat land with snow covered peaks all around in the distance.

Although we are still very much in Spring, the property management still thought it a good idea to clean and open the pool.  Dyllan and Deagan could not stand it, to have a full pool, without swimming in it.  Dan and I both told them that it would be very cold, but they decided to take the arctic plunge anyway, and give it a try.  They both went in, and swam one lap before running back to the house.  Their lips were blue by the time they got back, but I had missed the photo opportunity.  They were too fast for me.  So, Dan told them to go again.  Without hesitation, they were both willing to do it again, so that I could document it on film.  The German tutor thought both them and us to be out of our minds--"Getting in the pool in this weather can cause all sorts of health issues."  You won't catch me in it for probably at least a month.  Not so much because of the warnings of the German tutor, but more because I have common sense.

We had our Easter Family Home Evening and we dyed Easter eggs.  Of course, there was also Easter chocolate eggs and the Easter lamb for the treat.  We learned from last year to pick up our eggs early.  We were hard pressed, but we finally found some white eggs that we could dye.  The kids had a great time.  They even made a couple look like minions.



 We spent most of the week getting ready for our trip.  We did some Spring cleaning and piles and piles of laundry.  I think it will be well worth the effort.

For Spring break, we took a two and a half hour flight to Palma de Mallorca.  We had never been there, and decided to check it out.  Apparently, it is a prime location for the Germans for summer break.  This is where the term "Ballermann" (party mentality) originated.  There is a local beach called Ballermann 6 and the Germans party there all summer long.  You can even buy Ballermann hits on iTunes.  We were not in party mode quite yet however, as Danyon got motion sickness on the flight and puked everywhere--again.  I'm going to have to sew barf bags into all his vacation clothing--just in case.

Once we got him cleaned up, we could get back to our vacation.  Much to our relief, spring break was considerably more calm than summer.  We stayed at a resort in Puerto Cristo.  It is on the far east side of the island.  It took about an hour to get from one side of the island to the other.  We arrived Saturday late afternoon, and spent the day familiarizing ourselves with the resort and of course, doing laundry.  Mallorca seems to be sort of deserty inland, and the coast line is not all beaches.  The island is very hilly.  It is very popular with biking enthusiasts.  There are tons of paved and mountain biking trails all over the island.  The towns have a sort of African desert feel to them in the architecture.  They cater to tourists, as I think this is their biggest income.  It was surprising to me how many signs were in English and German.  There were more of those than ones in Spanish.

The Easter bunny somehow found the kids on Sunday morning and all were excited about the treats.  Danyon, in particular, loved searching for everyone's treat baskets and sneaking their treats all week long.  We were able to watch one session of General Conference while we were there.  We just hung around and had a relaxing Easter.  We took a walk along the beach.  The beach was pretty small, but nice.  There was white sand and turquoise blue water.  It was still pretty chilly to be swimming.  We thought that the resort might do something special for Easter dinner, but it seemed to be pretty low key.  In fact, I think that they gave several employees the evening off, as the dinner menu seemed to be lots of make ahead items.  Although I missed our usual ham, a buffet comes in a close second.

Monday, we decided to check out the pool.  The weather was just a bit too cold for swimming.  Sitting by the pool required a towel to wrap up in, or else a sweatshirt.  Danyon lasted about 30 seconds in the frigid kiddie pool.  Dane, Dyllan and Deagan lasted a bit longer in the bigger kids pool.  They each went down the waterslides a couple of times.  Then they were done.  There was an indoor pool that we decided to go to.  Although it was warmer, we still only lasted about an hour before everyone was done swimming.

We decided to get some bikes--the resort rents them for free (with a 250 Euro deposit) and check out the island.  This is new for us, as Deagan has just recently re-learned how to ride his bike.  We had a great ride into town (about 3km, but it is pretty hilly, so the kids had to walk their bikes up a couple of hills.)  The town of Puerto Cristo is a nice sea side fishing village.  We walked around, went to the beach, and had some ice cream.  Then we were sufficiently ready to head back to the resort.

The next couple of days we spent exploring the island.  We rented a car and drove to a few of the local markets.  Different villages have markets on different days.  We headed to them in the morning, and then took our picnic lunches (again, provided by the resort--no deposit :)) to the beach in the afternoon.  In the markets, you can find anything from chicks and roosters, to household goods, to the usual tourist fare.  The markets are closed by 2:00 in the afternoon, so it is better to get an early start. 

One booth at the market.  Leather seems to be big here too.

Mallorca is known for its pearls.  They are not real pearls, but have the same luster and, supposedly, jewelers have a hard time telling them apart.  They make them out of layer after layer secret ingredients from the Mediterranean--Dan read that it was really ground up fish scales, so I can see why they call it secret ingredients instead.  They make long tubes of the pearl, then they heat them up and work them into shape, much like a glass worker.  Then the polish, and presto, a pearl!  They sell their pearls all over the island.  They offer a 10 year guarantee, although I don't know what to expect after the 10 years--maybe if they are fish scales, they stink.--Still not sure.

There are two caves on the island.  They are a huge tourist attraction.  We went to the "Dragon Cave".  All the caves that I have been to have been relatively cool in temperature.  The first thing to hit me was that this cave stays at 71-72 degrees year round.  That was warmer than the outside temperature.  It was a pretty good sized cave with tons of stalactites and stalagmites.  It seems that it would have been the perfect place to hide pirate treasure, although I don't think it had a history of such.  The tour comes complete with a classical concert.  In the center of the cave, they have an amphitheater, of sorts.  They sit everyone down, then they turn off all the lights in the cave.  Then, a lit boat comes across the front of the "stage".  The boat looks really pretty with the lights reflecting on the water of the lake in the cave.  The boat has a real orchestra playing classical music.  I didn't recognize all the pieces, but they did play Pachebel's Canon.  There were 4 pieces in all, then after the concert, we all got to ride in a boat across the lake and then we walked up all the steps to the outside.





We found a vending machine that popped
your popcorn fresh for only 2 Euro

Friday we just hung around the pool.  The kids were loving the English T.V. and they found a new favorite on Netflix:  The Amazing Dr. Pol.  I think we watched the entire first season and part of the second during Danyon's nap times.  We also tried our hand at tennis.  We had a really great time.  The kids did pretty well, considering it was their first time playing.  Danyon wanted to be part of all the action.  He feels like he is just as big as everyone else. 

These were the best thing we
ate all week.  Crispy croissant
filled with chocolate.  2 a day!

Saturday, we played some soccer and then we sat by the pool playing games until it was time to leave.  Dan even got in a couple of loads of laundry.  The flight home was much better.  We gave Danyon some motion sickness medicine before leaving and we were puke free.  We didn't get home until about 1:00am, so we were pretty tired.  Dan has a pretty hairy week coming up.  I can't imagine trying to keep up that schedule.  The rest of us are pretty tired and are still hating that there is reality and school tomorrow.

The Sun Only Shines in Vienna When You Need It - Woche 7

Not exactly how we saw it, but here is what a photographer took on Heldenplatz in Vienna

For solar fanatics it was a big week.  On March the 20^th we had a solar eclipse that could be viewed throughout most of Europe.  All the kids in Dyllan’s grade spent the week preparing special eclipse viewing boxes and were not allowed outside during the event unless they had a welder’s mask or their special viewing box.  Dyllan even made a second box for Mom and Dad so that we could see what she was going to see.  In true Viennese style we assumed that the sun, which rarely seems to show itself this time of year, would not make an appearance through the clouds.  Much to our surprise, it turned out to be a perfectly clear day and the eclipse was completely visible.  Dyllan got to see it at school and Allynn got to use the second viewing box to watch it at home with Danyon.  Dan spent the eclipse in a conference room, but was promised it was really cool.

Dane had a pretty normal week (he said), but was a big help on Saturday with babysitting his siblings while the adults attended our spring conference for the local congregations of the church.  Dan was in meetings for about 4 hours on Saturday for training and even the visiting authority who was originally from the US, but now lives in Germany, gave all his talks and instruction in German.  There was translation available, although Dan opted not to use it this time, and figures he got about 70 percent of it (hopefully the important parts).  Allynn even opted not to use translation for a few of the talks and did pretty well with understanding.  Allynn says that she mainly chose not to use the translation because it was hurting her ears, the headphones that is, not the talks.  Her German is really improving and the new tutor is making a big difference.  She wouldn’t have gotten any of the conference a year ago without translation.  The kids all opted to get the headphones during the Sunday morning meetings that they were invited to, but didn’t wear them for more than a few minutes and got as much out of it as they would have in English.  Mostly because they were fighting over crayons and seating arrangements for the majority of the meeting, I think.

Danyon had the most fun of anyone at the meeting and gave us a big scare.  With all of the members of the church being invited from Vienna and the other cities in Eastern Austria we could not fit in our regular church building, so the meetings on Sunday morning were held in the Vienna International Center (the United Nations Campus in Austria).  Danyon’s attention span was only good for about 30 minutes and Dan took him out in the hallway to quiet him down.  After trying to keep him from running around with other kids that were in the hallways for about 15 minutes Dan finally just turned him loose and followed from a safe distance to try and let him burn off some energy.  When Dan stopped to talk to someone in the hallway he turned his back on Danyon and about 15 seconds later, when he tried to spot him again, he was nowhere to be found.  Dan searched all over the place (it was a big convention area full of meeting rooms) for about 5-10 minutes and then started to get a little panicky as he still couldn’t find Danyon.  At this point he started employing other wandering fathers and children and had a handful of people looking in all the corners and rooms.  When Dan went to get Allynn to get her help in the search (which meant that panic had really set in) he found Danyon coloring on Allynn’s lap.  Apparently he slipped past Dan went through a different door than the one they had come out of and found his way through the huge conference center and right back to where he was supposed to be.  Allynn  was getting very upset after 20 minutes of having to wrangle all 4 kids in the meeting while Dan was off in the hallway chatting.  She was also surprised and confused by the fact that Danyon kept asking “where Daddy”.  Little did she know what was going on in the hallway.  

Danyon had another big moment this week.  Allynn put him down for a nap and was a little surprised when he still wasn’t awake after 3-1/2 hours, so she peeked into his bedroom to find his entire room, including Dyllan’s half completely torn apart.  She eventually found Danyon curled up in the corner, shirt off, covered in chocolate and fast asleep.  Further investigation revealed that he had managed to find Dyllan’s stash of American candy, that Dan had brought back from his last trip.  He had eaten an entire 12oz. box of Junior Mints and an entire box of Reese’s Pieces before falling into a sugar coma.  Danyon has become a real treat monster and anything that is not locked up quickly disappears; even the items on the top shelves in the kitchen cabinets.  He is either a very good climber or is paying Dane to help out.

We did get a nice surprise on Friday evening as a result of all this.  When one of Dan’s colleagues from work (Mihovil) found out about the loss of the candy he had his wife, who works at the UN, stop by the commissary and pick up two containers of Breyers Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream and then delivered it to the our place on Friday evening. 

On Saturday morning we did a little yard work, basically just raking out the winter debris and spreading some grass seed.  To our very pleasant surprise, without being asked, Deagan was the first and only one out in the yard and was a huge help all morning long.  This was a very nice turn-around from the recent yard work experiences with Deagan, so he got to come shopping with us after the work was done and purchased a new Bey-Blade stadium, some Hubba Bubba and a new flavor of Fanta soda that made great floats when we got home.

The last major event of the week was the cleaning of the cat.  For some reason Marco has had really bad gas lately and can clear the room with his silent cat stench.  While I was typing the blog however, he walked by and I could swear the stench was now lingering with him in general, so I suggested that we should give the cat a bath.  Much to my surprise a soaking wet cat just got dropped next to me on the couch.  Dyllan has informed me that he didn’t like it very much, but at least he smells better.  My guess is that he will never cross the threshold of the kid’s bathroom doors ever again.  

 

We did get to finish off or Sunday with a fresh rhubarb pie.  We saw rhubarb in the store for the first time since we moved here and were sure to take advantage of it.  YUMMY!!!!

 

Dinner for How Many???--Woche 5

This week was pretty normal--until Dan found out that he was asked to cook a nice dinner for all the women in our ward.  The dinner party was scheduled for Friday night.  He was told to plan for no more than 40 women and at least 3 courses.  Dan spent a couple of days in Germany this week, but after that, he spent all of his free time at the grocery store.  He went one night, and bought all the chicken the store had, among many other items.  The next night, he wandered around to 4 other stores, hoping to pick up enough chicken to feed the 40 women.  None of the other stores had any of the chicken he needed (he was looking for thighs).  He had to go early morning on Friday in hopes of finding more chicken thighs.  Luckily, they had stocked up in one store and he was able to get them.  Dan and I spent two nights this week chopping vegetables and de-boning the chicken.  He chose a very yummy dessert (Cherry Berries on a Cloud), and since the meringue base had to sit in the oven overnight, and since our oven can only fit one pan at a time, I had to start making those on Tuesday night.  I made one every night up until Friday.  Luckily, I was able to keep them dry enough to still be good on Friday.  We slaved away for most evenings and then on Friday, we spent the whole day getting ready.  Dan planned a good menu of salad and homemade rolls to start, then grilled marinated chicken thighs, sop-a-suey, grilled vegetables on a skewer, and rice.  Then we had the yummy dessert.  The evening ended up being very nice and Dan and his crew of 1 did well to cook all the food.  He got more help once we were at the church to help serve and do the dishes.  The end total was 50 women fed.  It's a good thing that Dan planned for more than 40, but he was scrapping the bottom of the barrel for enough rice at the end.   

Even with all the added stress this week, Dan was still able to drop a few more pounds and is finally under 200lbs.  He has hit a major mile stone and things are going well for him.  As for me, it doesn't seem to matter what I do.  I have been monitoring all calorie intake for the last 8 weeks.  Some weeks at 1200/day, some weeks at 1400 per day.  I have been regularly exercising at least 5 days a week.  Some weeks, I have added a second workout into the schedule per day.  No matter what I do, I have stayed at the same weight for 5 weeks.  It is very frustrating.  I'm happy for Dan, but would really like to see the pay off as well.  Dyllan has also been working hard and has lost 4lbs and can now do push ups and sit ups.  Her gymnastics are going well. 

Dane put his lips on Marlene and she started to sing!

Dan's experience in Germany was a good one.  He flew into Basel and was informed to please take a taxi from the French side of the airport.  The Basel airport is actually located in France, but is shared with Switzerland.  You can choose whether to go out the Swiss exit or the French exit.  Even though you are leaving from the same building, the taxi fares vary by up to 300 percent.  Dan needed to go to a small town in Freiburg, Germany.  The fare from the French side turned out to be about 100 Euro, but had he taken the taxi from the Swiss side, it would have been over 300 Swiss Francs.  Dan can hardly wait to go to Switzerland for vacation.  I think it's a good idea that we are leaving the kids at home--less mouths to feed and fewer taxis.

Birthday Wishes--Woche 4

Hang on everyone, we have a teenager in the house!  The teenager is finally official, even though certain teenager eating habits and emotional swings have been present in the house for a few months.  We are excited for Dane! 

The volcano cake

We celebrated the usual way, with letting Dane choose what he wanted to do.  He decided that he wanted to go bowling with his friends.  We haven't ever done "friend" birthday parties, and we decided not to start.  So, in the next couple of weeks, we will let Dane go bowling with his friends, but for his actual birthday, we spent the day together as a family.  We went to Dane's favorite restaurant, Athena, for dinner, watched a movie at home, and of course, had cake and ice cream!!  Dane opted for a salted caramel chocolate cake again this year--Yum!! 

Dan just got back from a week back in Indiana.  We like it when he goes to the States to pick up some items that we can't find here and miss.  I don't think he likes it though, because it is somehow not worth the time spent on airplanes to get there.  With that though, we are stocked up on candy, chips and popcorn. (They do have popcorn here, but it pops very small and has a ton of "old maids").  It's nice to have popcorn that doesn't break your teeth!  We even got a bottle of Ranch!  I am amazed at all the stuff Dan can fit into his suitcases.  The kids feel like it's Christmas whenever he gets back.

Dan got the bikes out of the storage room and got them back to working condition.  Dyllan and Deagan have been having fun riding around our courtyard.  Deagan asked for the training wheels to be taken off his bike.  When we left Indiana, he had just learned to ride a bike without training wheels.  We learned last summer (when we rented bikes to explore Kotor), that he had forgotten how to ride a bike--it is possible to forget how to ride a bike.  He couldn't ride the bike there, and had to use a scooter.  Now, he can ride around the courtyard without training wheels.  Hopefully, we can get him on the canal trail soon and he can really learn how to ride--without auto traffic and not too many other bicyclers.  Dane is enjoying his new swayboard that he got for his birthday.  I'm amazed at how well he can ride it after only 2 days.  I don't think I could get on, let alone, ride it any where. 

When I asked Dane what he wanted for his birthday, he replied with "a soprano saxophone".  I told him to just name his current (alto) saxophone a girl name, like, Marlene.  He didn't think that was very funny.  Dane has enjoyed the weekend putting together Lego, playing on his swayboard, and also playing around with his new soprano saxophone, Marlene.  He will have to put in a lot of practice, (as the first time he tried to play it, no sound came out), but he is excited to be able to learn it.