August and September - what have we been doing?!

I have not been in the mindset to write this blog.  I started the last post when we got home from vacation in early August and never finished it until October 11th!  I had envisioned writing our daily trials and tribulations and while I have to a certain extent I thought I would be more into it.  This year with the move, stress, uncertainty, pandemic etc. it has taken a toll on me mentally.  Life is good - don't get me wrong!  We are healthy and so are our families.  We are happy and have taken each day as it comes, some with more challenges than the others but we carry on.  This expat experience is far different than I ever imagined.  My expectations were shot when I really realized that this pandemic was going to have a bigger impact than I anticipated.  We would NOT be traveling like we planned.  We are NOT taking the public transportation like we planned.  We ARE being cautious and careful and respecting the rules set forth.  We ARE finding fun things to do around home keeping the kiddos busy.   The past 5 months have really flown by and honestly have been really great.  I just have to keep an open and positive mindset that this IS going to be different than what I anticipated and to make the most of it (as I always do in our numerous moves)!  Obviously if you follow us on Facebook I post a lot of pictures and keep tabs on what we are up to on a regular basis.  In a nutshell this post will have some videos of the past 2 months and what we've been up to.

After our vacation we spent many days in August at the lake, we are so lucky to have that here.  The kids love it, it is safe and clean and fun for everyone.  We had some really hot days and used our terrace with the little pool to cool down too.  We finally got an enormous umbrella for the terrace to help shade the living room without having to draw the shades.  There were so many beautiful sunsets we captured off the terrace as well.  We ate lots of Eis, climbed back up to the Windeck Ruins, played at the Schloßpark and walked through the forest-the Odenwald- next to the Schloßpark.  We went to the Weinheim pool for the first time with our friends and had a blast.  There was a huge waterslide that William must've went down 25 times.  

A collection of the August pictures. 

We continued to visit our favorite alla hopp playgrounds and finally visited the Heidelberg Zoo. The Zoo is not far from our house and really nice.  It was a bit rainy the day we went but we still had a great time and look forward to going back when it's a bit warmer.  

The Heidelberg Zoo

The first week of September was supposed to be our “before school” trip to France, just across the border to the Mosel River area but we decided to cancel at the last minute because the Corona numbers were on the rise and we were afraid they were going to put restrictions for quarantine upon us crossing the border back into Germany.  It was a beautiful house with a lovely garden and we were really looking forward to it but better to be safe than sorry.   This is the time it sort of slapped me in the face that our travel plans were/are being interrupted by this pandemic. I get it, I do but it still has gotten me down in the dumps.  So, we carry on and fill up the days with “fun around here” activities. As I looked back over the pictures we really crammed a lot of fun into a few weeks. 

Our anticipated trip to Miramar the indoor water park on September 2nd left me with zero desire of returning!  It was fun, Dave and the kids had a great time but not so young me somehow managed to flip off my tube going down a fast water slide, slammed my head on the side and landed upside down on the head- then continued to fly down the spiraling slide like a dead fish in the water.  I had an X-ray on my neck at the ER because I was in a lot of pain but thankfully no fractures. Just rest and heat!  Luckily daddy took the kiddos to the Schloßpark and the lake over the next couple of days. 

A few of the highlights over the month:

• We visited the original alla hopp in Schwetzingen- another super fun one of course!
• Another bus trip to the Waidsee (lake)
• Made homemade pizzas and Evie’s 1st day of school cake 
• Lots of walks to the playground by our house and the Schloßpark
• Wonderful day trip to the beautiful Luisenpark in Mannheim
• First trip to the dentist- Dr. Silke Buck (such a fun name to say!)
• Elternabend (parents night) at Pestalozzi Grundschule and preparation for Evie’s Erste Schultage (1st school day is in a separate post)
• First trip to the Rhein-Neckar-Zentrum shopping center in Viernheim (kids and I took the tram for the 1st time!)

A collection of the September pictures 

On a very sad note we once again had to deal with losing a pet. Our beloved Marley was failing very fast, just as her sister did just 4 months prior.  It was so hard to say goodbye to our other fur baby from so far away and not be able to hold or pet her one last time. (Clearly this did not help with me feeling the blues.)  We were thankful once again to Grandma for taking such good care of her and being with her in her final moments.  At least Marley and Kensie are together again.

Another positive note for me is that I found a new gym!  I always feel better with a fitness routine.  It is called Mrs. Sporty and it is a lot of fun.  It is a small environment, with super friendly and helpful staff.  The functional training concept workout can take only 30 minutes but I like to stretch it out.  There is an online booking system to reserve my time (due to Corona social distancing restrictions of course) and with a key card I can access the studio when it's closed as well.  There's a little play area that the kids can sit at while I work out too.

September was also very exciting because Evie started school - more to come about that in the next post.  It's a pretty big deal and warrants its own exclusive blog post ;)

The weather is turning into fall for sure.  The days are getting darker earlier and we are (not so much welcoming) the fall German rain season.  Time to get out the hats, scarves, mittens, boots, ramp up the Vitamin D when we can and stock up on Elderberry!  

Bis zum nächsten Mal,

 Tschüss!