Endings and Beginnings

After a week of sensory overload and a little bit of culture shock (what - I can go to Target at 9 pm on a Sunday and find 10 varieties of shampoo?!), I finally have a minute to provide an update on and some photos of our last few days in Germany.

The end of our European adventure was highlighted first by celebrating Beach's birthday on Thursday the 14th (see earlier post), walking around Ramstein Village and enjoying our last German ice cream sundae on Friday evening, and going into Frankfurt on Saturday night, where we stumbled on a beer fest (not hard to do on a weekend in the summer in Germany). At the festival, we ate some authentic German food, sampled some good beers, and danced to oompah bands (Finn especially loved that part).

We flew back to the US on Sunday - Father's Day. Finn was, like last time, an angel on the flight, sleeping most of the way and smiling, laughing, and being generally cute the rest of the time with only a few tears near the end. We even got several comments from other passengers at the end of the flight about what a good boy he was (thank you, Finn, for making it look like we know what we're doing). We had a layover for a few hours in Cincinnati, where we went to our condo building to visit our friends and neighbors, Justin and Eliza, and to meet their new baby girl, Elena. While we were there, Jeff and Angela of The Daily Squink stopped by to show off their little boy, Rowan (thanks to the Squink for the pictures of the kids - we left our camera in the car). We had a nice, if quick, visit, and headed back to the airport for our trip to Virginia. Many thanks to the Stones for driving us to and from the airport and cooking dinner for the whole crowd, and to the Browns for making the trek all the way from Dayton to see us.

And that's a wrap on this chapter of our lives. Stay tuned...

In honor of Beach

Yesterday was June 14th. I know everyone loves Flag Day, but what you may not know is that it's also Beach's birthday - oh, what a curse sharing your day with such a major holiday. Our activites yesterday probably weren't how he always dreamed of spending his birthday. We stayed up until 3:30 in the morning preparing for a visit from the movers and then woke up at 6:30 when Finn was ready to start his day. Later, we stopped into the office for some last-minute paperwork and a little break - while we were there I surprised him with a fancy cake from a German bakery, washed down with margaritas. Tequila and chocolate - a delicious combination. When we got home the whole family took a long nap before Beach's birthday dinner consisting of whatever was left over in our fridge - mostly condiments (he doesn't waste a thing) - followed by another late night of packing and cleaning for the move. I guess we really are grown-ups now. Life gets in the way of fun, even on one's big day. Beach, one of these years I hope you get to celebrate your day doing something for yourself. Anyway, Happy 31st to you!

Finn also wanted to write a post but since he can't type yet, I'm ghostwriting:

Happy Father's Day, Papa! You're the best Dad a kid could ever want and I can't wait to learn all the things you have to teach me. I'd love it if we could go to a ball game to celebrate. Actually, since the Reds are terrible this year, let's take a 9-hour flight across the Atlantic instead. That sounds like much more fun!

At least I think that's what Finn said. He doesn't speak very well yet, either...

We love you, Beach!

On the move

Here goes - we're ready (sort of) for our move back to the good ol' US of A. As promised, here's our plan for the next month or so.

Our cell phones are going to be up and running on June 17. We're not publishing numbers here - don't want any web crazies stalking us. Our personal contact info is not changing, but in case you threw it all away thinking we might never be back, I'm also sending out a mass email.

June 17
Arrive in Virginia. We're staying in Williamsburg while Beach does 4 weeks of Reserve duty at Langley AFB. The hotel is the Residence Inn Williamsburg. Phone number there is 757.941.2000.

July 10

Sarah and Finn arrive in Massachusetts. Cell phone reception is spotty in the Berkshires so if you need to get in touch, call us at my mom's house.

July 14

Beach arrives in Massachusetts.

July 18 or 19

Leave Massachusetts and drive back to Ohio with a car full of cats and babies (well, just one baby and all his gear). Planned arrival in Cincinnati is July 19 or 20.

We're looking forward to seeing everyone and introducing our new addition to those of you who haven't met him yet!

Gratuitous Finn picture:

As they say in Germany - Tchuss!

We're serious this time.

This is really it. We've taken our last side trip in Germany.

There was a going away lunch for Beach on Thursday at which his commander and coworkers said some very nice things about him. For example, "I really didn't want someone with a PhD, but he proved that engineers aren't so bad. I might hire another one sometime." (the Colonel, confirming stereotypes about pilots). He was given a certificate stating that he graduated, with honors, from the Stein-Werfen Schule (Stone-Throwing School - the 3rd AF is a tough crowd). And he was presented with a framed picture collage declaring him the best officer ever to grace their hallways (see previous post - this is what happens when you ask someone to design their own going-away gift).

But I digress. After lunch we hopped in the car and headed up to Cochem in the Mosel river valley near the French border. The Mosel valley is said to be what the Rhein wants to be; it has beautiful vineyards, picturesque castles, and quaint villages. Well, except for Cochem which, while pretty, has been overrun by tourists (mostly German and Dutch). Like many American tourist traps, this city offers its visitors an abundance of stores where you can buy souvenir t-shirts and "authentic" battle axes made in China (for those who remember Fudge Knives, it's the German equivalent of that). But what Cochem has that American cities don't is architecture that has endured since medieval times. So, we had plenty to look at.

The first afternoon and evening we walked around the city, hiked up to Cochem Castle on a hill overlooking the valley, had our last schnitzel dinner at a restaurant on the river, and danced a bit with Finn to a band covering "Lady in Red" at a wine festival ("Lady in reds, she dancing wiss me").

The next morning we went outside of town to Burg Eltz, a castle that has been continuously lived in since the 1200's by the same family and has had the same furnishings since the 1500's (at least in the part we saw). The Eltz family was smart enough to form the right allegiances over the years (German-French, French-German, whoever controlled the area) so their house wouldn't get blown up like so many others in the area. The castle doesn't offer tours in English, so we got to practice our German a bit. I think I understood four sentences out of the whole 45-minute shpiel. They didn't talk much about buying bread. That I would have understood. Still, it was interesting to see. Afterwards we hiked down to the little stream near the castle for a quick cool-down, where we witnessed a gentleman strip down to his tighty-blues for a wade in the ankle-deep water. Oh yes, we got a picture. See it here (along with some of the rest of the trip and Finn, if you're interested in that kind of stuff).

Cochem and Burg Eltz - check.

We're outta here on Sunday, so this week we're knee-deep in moving preparations. Keep posted for an update coming later this week on our plans for the next month or so.

Last day at work

The grand year is rapidly coming to a close. I had my last day at work today; I have to work overnight over the weekend. We have definitely had a lot of fun including adding to our family with the most precious little boy.

I was looking forward to a break from the grind of my civilian job and get a little more operational military experience. In addition, we hoped to get to see some of the European sites. I think that we were very successful on all fronts.

Although it will be great living in a house with our own stuff and back into normality, I've met a whole group of great people whom I'll miss when I'm gone. We've put together a collage of photos of the people I worked with as part of the going away process and included it below.

I've thought about the name of the blog as well. once we're back in the US, the name makes significantly less sense. We'll have to put some work into that. Potentially we keep it the same.

Ten days and counting...

So nice they named it twice...

In an effort to see as many of the tourist destinations in Germany as possible before our time is up, we made a quick trip down to Baden-Baden (translation: Bathe-Bathe) on Saturday. Baden-Baden, located on the northern border of the Schwartzwald (Black Forest), was the playground of Europe's rich and famous in the 1850's and still attracts many aging and ailing Europeans looking to find a cure in the area's restorative waters.

According to our trusty Rick Steve's guide to Germany & Austria, the city has 4 things to see:

1. Casino: Modeled after the Palace of Versailles and still very formal. Jacket and tie required.
2. Lichtentaler Allee: A lovely path along the river Oos, flanked by huge mansions built during the city's heyday.
3. Friedrichsbad: 120-year-old Roman-Irish bath house. In a departure from the dress code of the casino, nudity is the standard here.
4. Caracalla Therme: Modern bath house for those less daring (swimsuits allowed).

Since we were dressed neither for the casino nor the baths, and one really needs to get into these places to have the full experience, Baden-Baden was somewhat less exciting for us than some of our other trips. Still, we had a nice walk along the Allee, some good people watching and Finn, ever the discriminating diner, had a meal outside the casino. Here are some photos.

Baden-Baden: Check!