Bike rides

I've been dying to do some family bike rides since we've moved here and yesterday we found some free bikes! We went straight to the store and got Miles a seat and helmet and took off to explore Degerloch (the town we live in).

I can't believe how gorgeous this place is. I LOVE living here (in the Spring and Summer of course). The towns are so quaint and cute. Women are hanging their clothes out on lines, you can smell the German lunches being prepared. We even passed by a miniature farm where a man was singing while hand-milking his cows. And to think all this is right by our house.

I'm really excited because my parents are coming here in a few weeks and I'm so excited to take them on bike rides that are off the beaten path so they can see the "country" side of Germany.

We're taking off from our apartment. Somehow I get stuck lugging our 36 pound toddler around. I posted on my facebook that I'm going to have "Hulk Hugan" thighs by the time summer is over.

One of the first trails we discovered. The building in the back is the hotel we stayed at when we first moved here.

Here are the cows I was talking about. They are bucked right up against his house. I can't help but wonder if he wakes up to 'mooing'.
We love bike rides!
The last leg of the ride I had to beg Brad to switch with me. Then he had the gall to claim his thighs hurt. You think babe?? :)

to do...or not to do

So, it's time decide wether or not to enroll Miles into German kindergarten. I am very torn on this and find myself going back and forth everyday.

Here in Germany, kindergarten starts at 3 years old, is 5 days a week and 3-4 hours a day.

I'm torn for several reasons. Some of the big pros I see are also big cons. For example, there are no Americans in his class. No one, not even the teacher herself speaks English. But, at the same time I see this is as a pro. Miles will learn German in a heartbeat. He'd probably be completely fluent by the time we leave Germany. But at the same time, will he be a complete outsider?

Another con is the culture. If you ever visit Germany you will notice several things right away. A lot of times there are no lines for anything and things can sometimes be chaotic (and I'm talking about adults here). You have to just get in, be aggressive, get what you want, and get out. People will not think twice to cut ahead of you if you're not paying attention. If you are even 5 seconds late on gunning it at a green light, you get honked at by 3 cars. There is no such thing as personal space here. You can be at a zoo with all the space in the world and someone will be breathing down your neck to look at the same thing. So with all that in mind, you can imagine what the kids are like. I have a few friends who's kids are in German schools and it's tough. We teach our children to wait their turn, to share, say please and thank you. I'm not saying Germans are extremely rude people, there is just a huge difference between American etiquette and German etiquette. So, this is cause for concern because A) I don't want Miles to feel bullied all the time and B) He's going to have to "unlearn" somethings when we leave.

Blah. I'm so torn. I hear horror stories and I hear amazing stories. My friend Alissa's 5 year old has been in German school for 1 year now and is completely fluent in German. All she did was drop him off one day and never looked back. Now, when the move back to the States, all she has to do is find some way to keep his language skills up and he's fluent the rest of his life. What a neat gift for you child.

So my question is, what would you do? Keep in mind we have about 1 year left (give or take). So I could very well not put him in anything until we get back to the States.

Loving Spring!

We went to Wilhelma this morning and I can't say how much I love this place. I am so glad we got year-round tickets last year. I am so bummed though because they planted millions of gorgeous flowers and of course I forgot to charge my camera because it died after 5 minutes! Ah well, here is some of what I was able to take.

Mini-Marine

Playdate at a castle

Miles and I met some friends at a local palace this morning for a playdate and we had the whole place to ourselves! Can you spot the 2 yr olds below?
They were so excited to just run free and scope the place out.
Miles and his friend Jonathan are making their way to the top.
We didn't have to worry about keep 3 tots entertained. Just give em' some sticks and they'll find something to do.

April showers...

Well, you know the rest. The rain has been a welcome change here in Germany. Anything but snow and we are happy campers! We took a little walk this afternoon and told Miles he could jump in all the puddles. He knew exactly what this meant and went to fetch his raincoat and boots. Of course I had to bring my new camera (which almost 2 months of owning it and I still can't get over how much I love it). Brad now starts singing the song "Paparazzi" every time I whip it out.

Little update on Miles. He is almost 100% back to normal other than a wet cough. Thank you so much for everyone that prayed and checked up on him. That was so scary having him be that ill. I really appreciate the support!

Thought I'd throw this in here because it totally made my day. Brad came out of the bedroom tonight dressed like this and said, "guess who I am?" Haha!

200th post!

As I was getting ready to blog I noticed this was my 200th post! Now, it makes me think...what in the world did I talk about for 200 posts? Hope I didn't bore you to death and you've found this blog somewhat interesting.

So, just a little update on Miles. I took him to the Dr. 2 days ago because it had been 4 days of a high fever and hardly any food/drink intake. Dr.McDreamy (what us married, but 'can't help noticing his rugged good looks' gals call him) took a look at Miles and couldn't figure it out. I don't know if it was because he's young and new to practicing, or what, but he thought it was just a cold gone hay-wire and we went home with antibiotics (which we could not get Miles to take) and that was that. Fast-forward to today and Miles is completely lethargic, looks like death and coughing up all kinds of stuff, still no drinking, still no eating.

We took him back, this time to Dr.waytoomuchcologne and right away he could tell Miles has both pneumonia and bronchitis. He has also lost 6 pounds! My poor baby is SO SO sick. We are to watch him the next 24 hours and if he's still not eating and drinking or responding to the new antibiotics then we are to take him to the hospital tomorrow morning to be hooked up to an IV.

These past 6 days have completely sucked the life out of me (and literally to Miles). I have been so overcome with worry, anxiety, sleep deprivation that I haven't been able to think, or do school, or even eat myself. I just couldn't bare watching him skip meal after meal, watch him cry w/out tears because he's so dehydrated, and change dry diapers. Ugh! A mother's love for her child is so strong! I just really hope he kicks this soon. It's so scary watching your child become so ill. I'll try and keep you updated if you've read this far and care to hear more! Please pray for Miles though. He is in need for a speedy recovery.

Couchy Easter

Poor Miles has been so sick this weekend. This is actually the sickest he's been in his short little 2 years of life. So we did just about nothing the whole weekend trying to nurse him back to health.

But I hope everyone else had a great Easter!!