Continuing a Summer of Parks

We may be living in Germany, but we are mostly living at parks. As of the end of this week, I've been to 45 unique parks! It's been so fun to go to all these parks! Each park is unique, and I've realized the boys and I thrive at parks and kind of struggle anywhere else. 

Monday was a warmer day, so we hit up a sand-water park. We'd never been there before and the boys had a great time! We were only there for about 10 minutes before a whole group of daycare kids came. I was so disappointed my philosophy of the kindergartens avoiding water parks wasn't totally true. There were probably 15 children, but I knew we needed to stay and play. When other children are around, I follow Jay more closely to be sure he's kind and interacting nicely with the other kids. Hugh is usually perfectly content to do what he wants to do, and just ignores most other kiddos. I felt grateful these kindergarten teachers were very kind and helped Jay with water and let the boys play with their toys they brought. Per usual, Hugh loved every second of the sand and water and could have stayed there for hours. Jay was ready when all the kids left. He thought if they left, we should too. I had him stay for a bit just to let Hugh play for a little longer. In the evening, the cleaning lady came during dinner. Hugh and Jay were beyond interested in eating, and wouldn't touch their food until she was totally done. I did end up going to the front desk and requesting they come in the mornings, so hopefully we won't have this issue again. 

This reusable swim diaper has been my saving grace, it keeps all the sand out of the nooks and crannies for Hugh! 

Jay ready to go, Hugh ready to play

Can you spot Hugh?

When Jay crosses his legs, it just gets me! He and Hugh are people watchers, here they were at our courtyard park just staring at some people. 

Watching the cleaning lady, and Hugh making a mess while someone is cleaning - awesome.

I finally gave up and just let them really watch...

Tuesday was a rainy day. The thunderstorm at night was loud, crazy thunder and lightening, and it kept us awake a bit. I knew everything would be too wet to play, and I was right. It was raining from the time we woke up until about 9 AM. I decided we'd try to go to the Aquarium. If pictures say a thousand words, it may be better to let you fill in the story around the pictures. The pictures make it look like we had a wonderful time! In reality, it was a rough hour and a half. Hugh was terrified of the fish at first, warmed up and then could have stayed there forever looking at things. Jay was ready to run through the exhibit and would have been done in 10 minutes if I'd let him go at his pace. The fish were not nearly attention grabbing enough, and he was constantly looking for things to touch or climb. Even in the touching section, he was too rough with things, we left fairly quickly. The lady was nice and would have let Jay hold the snail, but I was so worried he'd through the snail which would have been horrible. It was a bit of a disappointment they didn't have bigger fish or sharks, but it got us out of the house which was the goal. I ran into a lady who lives nearby on our way home. She has three little boys younger than Jay and they moved here from South Africa a few months ago. Her name is Nicoletta. When I've talked with Nicoletta in the past, she's mentioned she has no family and that sometimes it can feel lonely. I can't imagine being a few weeks postpartum with no help, no family, and three tiny kiddos. I've thought about her a lot and asked her if she's been to one of the nearby water-sand parks. She said no, so we made a plan to go Thursday together once things warmed up a bit. Seeing her helped me step out of my sorry self-pity walk and focus on someone else, which was very good! 

The one place they were both happy

And then the place they were happiest!

The baby swans are growing, it's fun to see! 

Seriously the best part of the day is when Daddy comes home! The boys squeal, yell, prance around, and run until he gets up here and they run down the hall and give him the best hugs.

Hugh's learning how to fight back a little to Jay's handsy nature, it's sometimes good, sometimes not.

Wednesday we walked to several parks. We happened upon two while we were walking, and then two more were the official destinations. The first park we happened upon got quickly overrun by children from an elementary school. I don't love playing with kids who are all bigger than mine, so we left and enjoyed our other parks that were much more quiet. We timed it perfectly, missing the busiest times at the other parks. Jay and Hugh played fairly well together and tired themselves out. On our way home, we tried a new grocery store called REWE and went to a department store. I have been looking for rain clothes for the boys and finally found some! They are a bit pricey, but I can't have more days like the aquarium days. We need to be able to go out in the rain and play and stay dry. I sure hope these little rain pants and jackets help! Because I've learned to buckle Jay's backpack to the stroller and then buckle Jay to his backpack, stores are a lot more manageable. He does take his angst out on Hugh a little more, but there's nothing much I can do about that whether he's buckled or not. After naps, the little neighborhood boy came out with his scooter. Jay was soooo interested. I asked the little boy, John, if Jay could ride it and then encouraged Jay to ask him. Jay would start asking, reach for it and John would ride off. Eventually, John came back and continued to ask Jay if he wanted it. Jay started saying no, and I explained to John I thought Jay might be nervous because he keeps driving away when Jay gets close. John finally let Jay do it, and then walked all around the park cheering, good job Jay, bravo Jay, super Jay. He would make sure Jay used it appropriately, and it was very kind. Jay loved it. 

Jay riding John's scooter

We had our first play date on Thursday! Nicoletta is such a sweet lady and her boys are very kind as well. We met at 9 AM and went to our favorite water-sand park. They had never been, so we went to the playground first and enjoyed showing them how to climb and go down the really big slide. Then, we went to the water. There was a group of daycare kids there, which I'd never seen before. Usually we are the only ones. It was a lot easier to keep track of the four boys once the daycare kids left. They had a great time in the sand and water! Having an extra mom there and extra boys provided much more enjoyment for all of us. We stayed all morning. It was also nice when Jay had to go potty, I didn't have to load up Hugh and the stroller, we could just go real quick and come back. Hugh fell asleep on the way home and wouldn't wake up, so I sent him straight to bed. Unfortunately, he woke up very early from his nap, so I didn't get much personal time. A very kind Columbian woman and her grandson came out to the park again. We met them the day before, and she took us over to another speilplatz (aka park) nearby. It's right in our neighborhood and I didn't even know it! We all appreciated the change of scenery from the regular park we go to.

I spy two cute little boys who are happy to be at a new park!

The sweetest little load

Friday we went to a very far away park that looked like it would have super fun water to play in. Unfortunately, the water feature was broken! We were so bummed and the playground was buzzing with children. We weren't super excited about that, so we went to another park that was probably just as busy but the water features mostly worked. The water came out slowly, but it was by this old church and clock tower which was cool. Jay struggled at the park, struggling interacting with other kids, listening to me, so he spent a lot of time in timeout. This made it less enjoyable for both of us, but Hugh seemed undisturbed as he toddled around everywhere in and out of the water. I seriously do think sand and water is his natural habitat. I tried out another park that afternoon that had a wheelbarrow and other fun toys, the boys did great and it was a nice break for me! We spent our evening vacation planning with Grandma and Grandpa Blaylock, we're so excited for them to come visit next week! 

Very cool bridge from a hill that led to the playground.

This was a spinning toy, Hugh thought it was very fun

Hugh also loved the day-care bus, luckily they said it was okay if he climbed in it.

see the cool church?!

I love reading a book before naps, it brings us all some peace, and we needed that especially this day.

Jay wasn't sure about Hugh's driving skills

Hugh loved the big ball!

And, he loved the little slide he could do all by himself.

Saturday was deemed as "Kid's Day!" We had big plans to go to the bakery, the pool, and then an adventure park in the afternoon. The morning started great with the boys sleeping in and eating breakfast at home. Then, we went to a new bakery nearby to buy some fresh treats and bread for the day. Our favorite was probably the apple pastry and the bread, the pretzels were delicious too! We headed straight from there to the pool, Dantebad. Matthew had never been and it was fun to see how shocked he was about how big the pool area was and the number of pools. Jay was in heaven! He was so excited to have Daddy at the pool! He went down the big slide once, but was pretty scared and didn't want to do it again. He had fun in the whirlpool and the heated pool which we didn't try out last time. Hugh dipped his toes in after much encouragement and mostly loved the spoon he found in the sandbox. He found that at the beginning of our time there and held it all the way home. He begrudgingly got into the water when Matthew or I were holding him, but he would snuggle as high as he could to avoid it. I don't know why he loves water and mud so much, but not the clean water? That afternoon we all took good naps, preparing for our afternoon out. I went grocery shopping, got home and it started to downpour. We determined the summer adventure park wouldn't be much fun in the rain, if it was even still open. Plan B was in action and we put the boys into their rain pants and went to the park. They both had a great time splashing around and going down the slides without getting wet. These rain pants are awesome! Plan B turned out very fun! We walked home in a rainstorm but while they were playing it was pretty dry in the sky. There was a lady who got after us for not covering Jay's head in the rainstorm, but he won't let us and we try! 

Check out the size of this pastry! It looks better than it was, it was too nutty flavored for us.

Three boys in the pool

Jay trying out the slide in the pants!

Today was a nice Sunday. Time to relax and enjoy being spiritually fed. We had our Come Follow Me discussion together while the boys were napping. Then, we had family night with our lesson after dinner and naps. We enjoyed a quick trip to the park with the wheelbarrow and big ball. Jay found a guy fixing his bike tires, and he thought it was fascinating! The guy was very kind, let Jay open his new tire tube box, and was patient as Jay wanted to get too close sometimes. 

I hope in 15 years I get a picture of Jay that looks like this when he's on a mission!

This is our train ride today! 

Multiple times this week I've been asked if I am American because they can hear it in my accent. How fascinating! In my opinion they have accents, and they think I do. Isn't that the beautiful thing about being in different parts of the world? It's hard to imagine little kids learning anything but English, and here they all speak German or another language first. 

Matthew and I have had a few conversations about our time here as we've reached the halfway point. We feel very blessed to have the opportunity to be here. Matthew mentioned we've been here 6 weeks, which is one transfer in the mission field. One transfer?! It feels like an eternity since we've been home in Colorado. It feels like a different life almost. I have gained more empathy for those missionaries who go to foreign countries (or even not foreign countries) and everything is new and you're doing things totally out of your normal routine. It feels long and hard and lonely! It also feels exciting, thrilling, and joyful. When I was with Nicoletta this week we talked about doing new things in Germany, and she said, "Doesn't it make you feel strong?" I'd never thought about that, but it does! We've figured out how to eat, sleep, play, and enjoy our time. Our first day here, I doubted we would survive and here we are thriving. I am grateful for the many prayers on our behalf! We've felt them and we need them. Heavenly Father is good and He's watching out for us while we're on this short assignment in Germany. 

Another aspect of life I realized I need this week is meaningful connection. I haven't had as much opportunity to connect with people here as I do when I am back home. There's a language barrier, and it's difficult. I've also felt more disconnected from people back home. I reached out to people in our ward in Colorado this week, I had a play date, I talked with my sisters, and had a couple evenings with Matthew that were not fully vacation planning. After each of these interactions, I felt more positive energy and happiness. I also feel more connected to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ when I have meaningful scripture study in a quiet and peaceful time. Those times are hard to find right now, but I'm working on it! I need connection and it needs to be a priority for me in my life.