Germany 2008

Home Sweet Home for the week!
The boys exploring the grounds!
So cool, a sunken pirate ship! Good thing the temperature was in the 70's!
Johnny and Erik- Two peas in a pod!
Ice Cream for us, and German beer for Dad...Life is Good!

Johnny on the kiddie slide at the water park!

Curtis LOVED this "dangerous" slide!

Isn't he WILD! (:

Erik and I in the park!

The boys relaxing at the sub-tropical water park at our resort!
Curtis and Johnny outside the cabin. I learned again how different having boys is, than my house was growing up. All they needed was a stick, an ant hill, and a bottle of water, and they were entertained for hours!
Outside of the castle in Celle, Germany. Johnny thought they might think he was the "King of the Castle" if he wore his crown! Curtis was afraid the fire-breathing dragons might eat him!
The boys watching a water fountain in Celle. Minutes before Johnny ventured into it, and was soaking wet and screaming!

We had a great time in Germany this past week. The country was much bigger than the Netherlands, and more Americanized- with imports! (They had REAL gum: Extra, Orbit, Juicy Fruit, ect!) We left on Friday and the trip took seven hours because of road construction in Germany. First thing we noticed is no one spoke a lick of English. This is quite different for us, from the Netherlands. Here, most everyone knows English, as they start learning it in second grade.

We got to our resort and were pleasantly surprised at how nice it was. I unpacked, and the boys played at the two parks, about 1/2 block from our cabin. We all went to bed...until 3am. The heater in the cabin wasn't working. It was pretty chilly. First, I have to explain that the cabin wasn't huge...but perfect for us. It was the size of a large hotel room. With two bedrooms, a living room/kitchen area, and a bathroom. Erik and Johnny were in one bedroom, and Curtis and I in the other. (The biggest bed was a double, and there was NO way I was squeezing in there with Erik...it was tight enough with Curtis!) Anyways, Erik walks out of his room at 3am, with his arms crossed and visibly angry. I walk out, and he looks at me, like he is mad, and says- "We're FREEZING on our side of the cabin!" As if my ROOM is SO much warmer 7 feet away from his! We try to get the heater to work, and are arguing. I tell him it's gas, and he says it's electric. I can hear the pilot light trying to work. (In my head, I just wish my DAD was here to help!) Finally, Erik says, "I'm going to turn on the stove to get some heat in here!" Now, I'm freaking out- "HAVEN'T YOU EVER HEAR OF CARBON MONOXIDE? DON'T YOU WATCH THE NEWS IN THE WINTER WITH THEM TELLING YOU NOT TO TURN ON THE BURNERS FOR HEAT?" Erik's response is, we have to do something! Finally, we get the heater to light and it starts to warm the cabin. Erik goes back to bed happily- like he is THAT much warmer in a matter of seconds. I on the other hand, can't sleep a wink. Why- because it's then that I notice everything is gas- stove, heater, and there is NO carbon monoxide detector in the cabin! For the rest of the night, I'm pretty sure I have a headache and flu-like symptoms. (Or maybe that is just being prego!) I finally open my window and fall asleep close to morning!

Our first full day was great! The weather was really nice during the day- 70's four out of our five days in Germany. We all headed to the water park and spent the morning there. The boys LOVED it, and it was empty the whole time. Was perfect for their ages! After long naps, we hit up the lake and exploring the grounds.

The second day we spent at the beach, eating lunch over-looking the beach, and just relaxing! So nice to have time to do nothing and read, while the boys played. I remember not too long ago, watching other mom's at the park who were sitting on a bench with a coffee and a book. I wondered if I would EVER be able to do that? Well, my time has come...at least for the next 5 1/2 months! (I'm going to enjoy it while I can!)

The third day, it was back to the water park. We had a great time again- until Johnny told us his tummy hurt, and he got a stomach bug while he was eating at the restaurant. I won't go into details- but after Erik took care of the mess (I'm still sick- so I would have been worse than Johnny had I cleaned him up!), I headed back with a very mad Johnny to the cabin for a nap and to rest.

The fourth day, it rained all day, a steady rain. Was a perfect day to go out and explore Germany. We went to a few towns, and hit up some Walmart type stores. Our favorite town was Celle. It was the typical German town- with a nice castle in it. Inside the castle was a wishing well. The boys all go up to the well to make a wish.

Here are their wishes-

Johnny: "I wish, I wish, I wish for a Baby Einstein Video with giraffe's in it!"

Curtis: "I wish that everyone here didn't speak German!" (Can you tell he just wanted a friend at the parks to play with!)

As we were walking back to the car, down the cute streets filled with shops, Curtis stopped DEAD in his tracks and said, "Cool store, let's go in!" I look and it's a GERMAN dollar store! The four of us were in heaven! Curtis and Johnny walked out with Koosh Balls, and a hacky sack, and Erik walked out with a travel chess set! That's all the loot we bought while in Germany! We were totally laughing on the way out- that THANK goodness we all love stuff like that! Now, if only my dad were there, it would have been the perfect combination in the "Euro Store!"

Finally, it was back to pack up our stuff, as we had to check out the following day. Our last day, after we packed the car, and cleaned the cabin, Erik went to the park with the boys, one last time, while I went into town to return plastic bottles, our parking pass, ect. When I got back to the campgrounds, the scariest thing happened. I crossed the street and was on the sidewalk for about 15 feet and all of a sudden I heard this terrible noise. I look over in the street and a car hit a motorcyclist. It was BAD, and the guy on the motorcycle went FLYING about 10 feet into the ditch, and the car was totaled. I ran over, to find this guy lying in the ditch and not moving. The lady got out of her car, and didn't even seem like she wanted to help this guy. She was in shock and just stood there. A few workmen nearby, ran over to help, and had their phones out calling their 911-=112. It was when I got to the guy, and he was not responding much, than I realized that I was basically worthless. He was breathing- that was the first thing I checked for. But, NO ONE spoke English. So, once these workmen came, they took over, and I stood back and watched and waited to see if he continued to stay conscious. I didn't know if anyone knew first aide or CPR (I do) and just hung about, feeling really stupid, because NO ONE could understand anything I said, and visa versa! It was a very helpless feeling. These guys closed the road, and sat with him. They seemed to know what they were doing, and had someone get a blanket from their car to cover him up. After 24 minutes...yes, I timed it, the rescue team arrived. The guy never got up, just moaned. I was shocked they didn't put him on a spinal board and just lifted him on the stretcher. He couldn't move his legs, but could move his arms and upper body. I'm not sure if he broke him legs, or what, but he was pretty bad! It really made an impact on me, and I was jumpy in the car the whole way home. (aka- BACK SEAT DRIVER!)

So, now we are back, and Erik still has 4 days off of work because of holidays. I need to catch up on laundry, and then we'll head out somewhere in the Netherlands to visit.