Halloween was spooktastic! We were so close to skipping it, so glad we didn't! In general, Germany doesn't make a big deal over Halloween, so everyone in the area goes on base for the BIG celebration. We started out going house to house expecting the traditional trick or treat routine, but nothing was normal about it. Every house that was handing out candy had a little station (and some not so little) outside their home, most of them were fully decorated and some not only had treats for the kids, but also a treat for the parents. Then there was multiple haunted houses set up in garages. We went through a few of them, some were friendly and some not so much. Eloise had a run in with a not so friendly and very scary werewolf, who got in her face and really scared her:( We then headed to the park fora bit of trunk or treat, which was a huge row or cars, each with their own little theme and some had little walk through exhibits. The line was over one hour wait so we decided to check the inside out. They had a huge projector set up at the baseball fields playing Charlie Brown's Halloween. Then the football stadium had more candy booths, free popcorn, hot dogs and drinks. They also set up a bunch of carnival games for the kids to play. The kids had a blast! Alan and I both agree.....best Halloween ever!
The highlight of the weekend was heading over to Laudenbach/Heidelberg on Saturday to see Alan's family; Simone, Markus and sweet Luan! It was my first time meeting them, though Simone and I talk daily via facebook, so I feel like we were already close friends/family. On Saturday they fed us a yummy lunch and we sat around chatting for a bit. We then headed into Heidelberg and played at an awesome fairy tale park. It had different story tales, folk tales and Grimm brothers.themes set up around the park. The girls enjoyed the train, bumper cars and bounce houses the most. Then back at the house Markus cooked a great German dinner for us; Bratwurst, potatoes and red cabbage. Just so happens they have an extra apartment that has been converted into an office and made for the perfect overnight stay for us. The next day we had tasty treats, fresh from the bakery and then we were off to Heidelberg again to tour the castle. The castle was beautiful, with amazing views of the city and beautiful architect. I would have loved to see it in all its splendor, though it is still pretty fantastic! If you have't caught on yet, we love castles, as we should, with three of our very own princesses. The two girls looked quite fancy in their princess dresses and were the star of the show. There were a lot of people there from all over the world and it seemed like most of them wanted to take a picture with my fair skinned, blondes in their dresses. We went back to Laudenbach for another great meal! Simone cooked us homemade Schnitzel, pommes frites (french fries) and salad. No meal is complete without chocolate and of course it happened to be kinder-eggs:) We said our farewells and I already can't wait to go back! Luan (2 years old) says he is now a big brother of Eloise; so needless to say, we love our German family!!!! Think the Christmas market in Heidelberg is a good excuse to head back in a few weeks.
I can legally drive in Germany....not that I would ever drive illegally *cough *cough. I have a drivers license as of today! I feel like a 16 year old girl, taking the drivers test for the first time. I won't mention how many times I failed the street signs portion and that I wanted to run out crying. For petes sake, how many similar signs can one country have and it doesn't help that they are all in German. I did pass all the other portions with flying colors and get to check one more thing off my to-do list.For those who have been curious, Alan has official started working. Because of the sensitivity of what he is doing and for security purposes, I won't ever be sharing much about his job. What I will say is that the men that he is working with have been very welcoming and he is excited to dive in!
We have the keys to our house, even though we don't move in until the 17th. Unaccompanied baggage gets here tomorrow! For those of you that aren't military, that is all of our belongs that we deemed we can't live without, but have been living without for two months. Exciting times!!!
We think we might have found a church family, so huge praise! They were so sweet to let us crash their home group last week for dinner and a video lesson on The Prodigal God, by Timothy Keller. Really neat military families with young children, they go to a small church in one of the near by villages. Feel like God is answering our prayers left and right, we feel so blessed and comforted by His presence in our lives.
We miss you all in the states! I long for good friends and long talks, while sipping/devouring coffee.
Sending our love from Germany,
xoxo
Loved reading all this! It does this mom/grandma's heart good to hear things falling in place. Especially, that you can now drive legally...not that you would have otherwise. wink, wink!
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