Week 3 - It's Feeling Like Summer!

Jay's continued his early morning regimen, so I've started to get up and do a workout and shower before Matthew goes to work. It's been a good way to start my day, and allows me to simply enjoy the morning with the boys. I walk whatever pace I want to, and stop and smell the roses and look at the fun things around us more than I was before. I'm also more tired, so quick afternoon naps are becoming a regular thing. I have realized I need them with the early mornings and how much we're outside. 

Monday was a multiple park adventure day. The weather was in the 70's which was the coolest of the week. We walked to our first park and saw a little rose garden. Roses always make me think of Oma, she always had rose bushes planted in our yard growing up. Someone left their toys at this park, and we made the most of it! The little wheelbarrow was a hit, plus the big shovels, we stayed for quite a while because they boys were having such a great time. Hugh was brave and did the slide a couple times on his own, which was very cute. He's getting more brave, which is fun to see. The next park we went to was okay, it had a couple fun sand chutes with trap doors to let the sand out when you wanted to. And, the last park had the funnest slides and swings. I love when you can climb the mountain and go down the slide, such a great idea! The boys were tired, but woke up early from naps so we hit another park. I love when we're at parks alone because I don't have to worry about my kids interacting with other kids or adults. In the afternoons, the parks are so busy we are never by ourselves. When Jay started getting handsy with some of the kids, we left and came home for dinner. The boys were out quickly that night which was a blessing! 

Rose garden picture

This silly cow only had one handle and it really threw Jay off

Little bunny

Scooping

Transporting

Transporting

Dumping

There goes Hugh!

Little playhouse at park 2

Sand chutes and trap doors

Slide off a climbing dome, so smart!

Wilderness slides

Slide 2

Hugh loving the swing

Sleepy boys

Jay at the 4th park of the day

Hugh did pretty good climbing up this himself

He liked the idea of the slide, but wouldn't go! I had to go get him.

We're still waiting on our carpet to be installed, it's been one delay after another. And, these delays have been made up, which is extremely frustrating. We gave the deposit for the carpet several months ago, and have been trying to get it installed for over a month. I am hoping by the end of the weekend, we either have carpet scheduled for install or we get a refund. It's scary when you make an investment in something you thought was reputable, but it turns out it's not. We're hoping we don't get totally swindled. We spent most of Monday evening trying to figure out what to do about it. 

Tuesday was the hottest day, and the grumpiest. Jay woke up Hugh early, and Hugh was grouchy from the very beginning. I went on a long walk through Olympia Park, and he napped during our walk which helped some. On our walk, a lady was feeding the ducks and swans bread. We stopped and Jay loved watching them! The swan was huge! If he extended his neck, he was easily as tall as Jay, maybe taller. Also, all the babies were so cute! We came back near home to a nearby park that had a little pool. The water was FREEZING! Jay didn't want to get more than to his knees wet and Hugh was definitely the bravest. They did have a great time splashing around and enjoying being outside. Again, people left fun toys that made it more interesting. The park nearby is so fun with built in trampolines and a zipline. The elevator is broken, so I had to lug the stroller plus Hugh and all the stuff down 3 flights when we left, and up 3 when we returned home. We also went grocery shopping, so I wore Hugh, pushed Jay around in the cart and then put one bag on each shoulder for the walk home. I was beat by the time we go home! 

I was sweaty and needed a pump up pose!

I knew it would be too hot to enjoy a regular park in the afternoon, so we went back to one of the first parks we visited in Munich. It's up by the shopping mall, and pretty easy to get to by train. It has an amazing water feature and you can run as much water as you want and play in the sand. The boys loved it! They had a great time, and it's a pretty easy place to watch Jay because it's fairly contained with surrounding trees. We played so long I was late getting dinner on, but it worked out okay because Matthew had to work a little later too. 

Hugh warming up to the idea of this sand and water playtime

Getting a little closer to getting in as he watched Jay

Now they were both fully embracing the fun!

Wednesday morning while we were saying our morning prayers, Matthew prayed Jay would poop in the potty and right as we finished Jay stood up and said he needed to go and went and did it! He's doing it more often now, and we are soooo grateful! It's been over two years of learning, and I am hopeful this summer we'll be able to figure it out. The boys and I went to Dantebad, a local swimming pool only a few minutes from where we live. They do have a nude area, but it's very well marked and surrounded by a tall wall, so luckily there's no chance of wandering into it. Jay couldn't wait to go to the pool! He had the best time going down the slide, running to the park area nearby, splashing around, and it's all shallow enough he didn't have to wear his floaties. He really wanted to try the big slide, so I set Hugh over on the grass about 20 feet away from the pool, where I could still see him, and Jay and I went down the slide. He had a great time, so the next time I let him go by himself. I think he had fun, but I think it also scared him because I didn't catch him at the bottom and I made him kick all the way to the stairs. He hurried up the stairs to go again, but determined he was done and I was okay with that. Sometime in the future if we go on a weekend, Matthew can come and we can have a blast doing all the things with Jay and not worry about two kiddos in different places. Hugh didn't love the water. I have never had good luck with him in water at public pools. There's something about them he doesn't like. He was my buddy everywhere, and he gives good snuggles, so I was okay with it. Hugh and I did take a small fall in the pool while chasing Jay. I fell on my elbow in trying to protect Hugh, and I've got a nice shiner there. Having a bruised elbow reminds you to keep your elbows off the table and how much you use them for everything! In the afternoon, we played at our courtyard sandbox. It's got some shade and it was the low energy option for me. The boys loved it and played super well. 

Jay went down this slide a ton while we were there

Hugh was the happiest during snack time

In the background, you can see the big slide Jay and I did together. 

Thursday we went back to what I'll call the splashpad. We walked there, which takes about 35 minutes, then played on the playground for a bit until they were done. Then, we went to the splashpad area. We were the only ones, except for a drunk guy sleeping on a bench. Maybe he wasn't drunk, but he was probably homeless and didn't really acknowledge we were even there. Hugh loves the sand and water combination. He was ready to play as soon as we pulled up. He splashed and dug and wandered in and out of the water. We paused for snacks (like 15 minutes in), and I had to beg Jay to keep playing. I was grateful he obliged and I think they both had a great time over all. We went to Aldi to get some groceries for our weekend trip, and Jay loved the bread slicing machine and the snack of eating the bread that followed it. 

Bread slicing! 

I forgot to mention this from our first week: My glasses got severely bent during our travels. I wore them on the plane, took them off to sleep, and Jay kicked them in his sleep. They were unwearable. I had kind of thought I was toast for three months, but as we walked around I saw many glasses shops. I got brave and wandered into one of the shops and asked the lady if she could fix my glasses. Luckily, there was a person in there who spoke English and could translate for me. The lady was happy to fix my glasses, she made them fit and I can wear them again! I asked her how much I owed, and she said it was a service. Bless her!

General observation of the week: smoking. Everyone smokes here. It's mostly cigarettes, but there are other things being smoked too. They smoke at the pools, the parks, waiting for the busses and trains, etc. We have to leave our windows open to get fresh air, there is no AC, so it's very frustrating when our neighbors start to smoke and it smells up our house. 

This week has been a little harder, physically, emotionally, and mentally. I think doing something different every day and being out of the house for 5 or more hours is wearing on me and the boys. The no consistency and having no place that's a "yes" zone for Jay (and Hugh) is hard. Home is usually our consistent place and "yes" zone, but where we are right now just can't be. Jay isn't entertained by pretty much anything other than the suitcases, which can only be pulled about 5 feet and everyone can hear everything and see everything. They are constantly touching each other and poking everyone's buttons. Bedtimes have been a struggle, with many timeouts and we've been having to take turns laying upstairs to get the boys in bed. Often it's 8:30 before we even have time to sit and talk about our days and do something we choose. Then, the boys are up before 6 and we start again. I have never realized how much I depended on my home being my safe place and my boys "yes" place, and I hope I appreciate it more when I get back. We're repeating some parks and areas to try to help ourselves get into more of a routine and experience things that are expected, and that's been helping us all! I originally had this mentality of I can't repeat anything because I don't have time and there's so much to see, and I am working on just focusing on what's best for us whether it's repeating or not. On the positive side, Jay actually started calling our apartment home this week. He was just saying "go back." But now, he's saying "go home." I miss my sisters like crazy during the summer and the times I normally have with them, but I don't really miss the social pressures of being home. When I get looks from people at the park because of the way my kids are behaving, I know I will probably never see them again. We get to wave goodbye through our big window to Matthew everyday and the boys love it! The weather has been great! Warm enough to play in the water in the morning when everyone is at school. We've been missing our AC, but grateful for the fan they provided for us in our apartment. I got some really good dark chocolate this week, and this picture below just makes me so happy. Jay rarely looks at the camera for pictures, so this is a rare one! It was one afternoon after naps and he was trying to tackle me. I love my boys and Matthew, and being together with them here is truly a blessing! 

Nymphenburg Palace, Marienplatz, and Father's Day

Saturdays are our adventure days with Dad, and we love it! Our first stop on Saturday morning was Nymphenburg Palace. We could actually walk there in about 40 minutes, so we walked there and back. By the time we returned home, we had about 16k steps and by the end of the day over 23k which equates to about 10.8 miles. We were exhausted! The Nymphenburg Palace was beautiful! Every part of the inside of the palace and outer buildings was ornate and intricate. Gold everywhere with huge murals on the walls and ceilings. We tried to do an audio tour, but in these places you aren't supposed to touch anything and you're supposed to be quiet, which doesn't work the best for our crew right now. With all this in mind, the boys still did very well. This was mostly a summer home for the royal family and it blows my mind, I don't know how you'd ever use that much space! Especially knowing how tiny of a place we live in here, it's very impressive because I bet commoners lived in even smaller places back then. The carriages were probably my favorite, beautiful, and amazing to think about them being pulled around. The sleighs were also beautiful, you don't see many sleighs in movies other than Santa movies so it's cool to think about real people actually using them to get around in the winter in snowy places. The grounds were magnificent too, so green and luscious everywhere. The rivers and streams and ponds were very full! It's been way rainier here than usual and you can tell by the height of the water. We were very cold and tired by the end of our time there, so we hurried home on our tired legs. 

Walking up to the palace, everything you see is part of it

Matthew and the boys before we went in

This was in the great hall

Another room, as you can see we were doing well at this point

Just a picture of the ceiling, and Jay

This carriage was the first style, carried by people. It reminds me of Emperor's New Groove

Behind the boys is a baby carriage, they said usually drawn by goats, dogs, sheep (can you imagine?!)

Soooo extravagant!

Another Carriage

I thought they slays were so cool too!

This chandelier reminded us of the one at the cabin, and this is in their Hunting Lodge 

The kitchen of the hunting lodge, isn't the tile pretty?!

Bath House, they'd bathe down there

So picturesque! This was in the back of the palace

The boys on the bridge

Hugh and Daddy in a Chinese inspired room

All the decor for this chapel was made of coral and seashells, incredible. 

The family at the back of the palace

We all took good naps, as Jay was up very early. Again, the naps weren't crazy long, so we hit the road back to the city center called Marienplatz. It was a madhouse! There were seas of people. I think all the Scots and Germans were in town because of the game on Friday evening. We weren't sure if we'd make it through the sea of people with our stroller. We stopped at a couple cathedrals, which Jay thought when he hollered it was fun because of the acoustics. Yikes! We had to leave quickly again, we were supposed to be silent in them. They were beautiful! Also, the city square Marienplatz is gorgeous architecture and I enjoyed looking at it. We hit up the Birkenstock store, and I bought some new sandals. I've had mine for four years and I have worn all the traction off and am about to wear a hole and crack through the soles. It's time! 

We didn't go in, but it sure looks like TJ Maxx from the US...probably better because it's a K

Inside the St. Michael Cathedral

Outside the St. Michael Cathedral, can you find me?

I spy a little Matthew outside of Frauenkirche

Jay trying out the bench

Jay was running away from me here inside Frauenkirche

Marienplatz, the little dancers in the clock tower do move a few times a day

Matthew and I at Marienplatz

Woohoo for new shoes!

Rossmann store, it's what they call a drug store, kind of like a mini Walmart

We wrapped up our Saturday adventures by eating pizza at an Italian restaurant in town. The menu was in German and maybe partly Italian, so it was really hard to know what was on the pizza you were ordering. Plus, the waitress didn't speak much English. We ordered a pizza with salami, a cheese pizza, and some pizza bread. The pizza with salami came first and I took a bite and it tasted like fish. Matthew kind of thought I was silly, his first bite was fine. But, we came to realize that there were pieces of fish all over the pizza. We are not fishy people, so we tried to pick off what we could and enjoyed the other pizza and bread more. I later looked up the translation of the word, and it was anchovies. I didn't know anchovies were fish, but now I do! 

Jay found out he could blow bubble through his straw, and here's the result below

Sooooo much happiness! He loved it and thought it was so funny!

Sunday was Father's Day. We missed our train to church by about a minute, so we had to wait 20 minutes for the next one to come. We ran all the way from our apartment and we were sweaty. It was probably a good thing we had to wait. We hopped on the train, then jumped onto a bus. The bus got us there only a couple minutes late, which is better than the trains would have done. We met some more people at church, everyone is always very friendly. We had a linger longer and enjoyed some sandwiches, veggie bars, meat and cheese, chocolate, etc. We waited about 10 minutes for our bus to go home, saw one pull up on the other side of the street and I asked Matthew if he was sure that wasn't ours....it was. So, we waited another 10 minutes for the next bus, then got on the train and then home. Hugh slept most of the way, and must have been extra tired because thankfully he did nap again when we got home. We gave Matthew a bunch of fun candy to try for his Father's Day gift. We got to talk to our Dads, which is always special. I cooked burgers for dinner which were really yummy and enjoyed paprika chips. They flavor everything with paprika, so it was the closest I could get to BBQ which is Matthew's favorite. For dessert we had Mars ice cream bars, yum! I love Matthew and I love watching him be a dad. He's so good with our boys. He had great energy, and they truly light up with joy when they see him coming home from work or chasing them around the kitchen or whatever it may be. Life with Matthew is better for all of us! It seems like many of our Father's Days we've celebrated in different places, and Matthew's a champ for always embracing whatever we do. 

On the bus to church

Cheers to the perfect dad for Jay and Hugh, we're so lucky to have him for forever!

If these two are on the couch, they are usually wrestling. At this present moment, they were both having a great time.