Autumn Pictures

We didn't capture first day of school pics this year ... Possibly because it was raining ... Again .... In Drizzeldorf ...


In retrospect it was a good thing, because the the 15 km (9.3 mile) route that had taken us 22 minutes the week before when the girls went to soccer camp turned into a 40 minute surprise commute that rendered parking at either school an impossibility. (I had guessed that I wouldn't be able to find parking, which was the only correct prediction of that morning.) I dropped the girls at an intersection a few blocks before school ... And then parked in a free 24 hour lot I had scoped out the week before. I hoofed it to school only to arrive in the elementary school courtyard, just after my youngest's class had already gone up to their classroom. Nailed it.


The next morning we left earlier. And made it in plenty of time. We learned two important things about local German traffic that first week. First, local traffic is always heavier on Mondays. Second, traffic is always heavier on days that rains. (That one seems a bit ironic in a place where cloudy and overcast and rain seems disproportionately abundant.) But we also recognized something else ... On days there is no chance of rain more people must walk or bike, or maybe choose public transportation, freeing up the roadways and shaving our trip to school nearly in half. (Another personal hypothesis is that because it rains so often, the locals seem to celebrate the days that are dry :: there are way more convertibles and outdoor eateries than one would imagine in a land where, according to weatherspark.com "The median cloud cover is 85% (mostly cloudy) and does not vary substantially over the course of the year." )


But this last week has been gorgeous! And we are basking in the 15% window that is free of cloud cover. The shaddows stretch long in the evenings, and the sun filters brilliantly through turning leaves.


And so, with the weather improved, and the commute somewhat conquered, this week I talked the girls into some quick autumn photos. And although they aren't the traditional squeaky clean, first day of school style ... they work!

(This isn't her best pose ... Because she was insisting on cartwheels instead!)

Sleeping Sound in Deutschland (finally)

Last night, for the first time in 10 weeks, Eliza climbed the ladder into her own loft bed. 

For two and a half months she's been a vagabond ... 

She had two weeks away at two different camps this summer. 

(We did our pack-out during the first week she was gone.)

She followed her fortnight of sleeping bag slumber with a week on a mattress she shared on the floor with Mills during our last week at The Bungalow ... 

There was a week at in InterCon in downtown Düsseldorf 

where she bunked up with Bea under high thread count duvets ...

(before downgrading to the utilitarian rental bed that fit her needs, but wasn't her own.)

Three weeks ago our shipment arrived. And we rejoiced. We unearthed reminders of home and favorite things, most of which were no worse for wear after its voyage across the Atlantic. 

Unfortunately, the hardware for Eliza's loft bed was no where to be found. It was either accidentally discarded by an overzealous unpacker on this side of the Atlantic, or carelessly sent to storage by a less motivated packer on the other side. My bet is that its buried in a storage unit in Peoria. 

Lack of hardware meant Eliza could not utilize her bed until suitable replacement hardware could be found and a handyman (supplied by the moving company) could be located. 

A handy man was located. He came and surveyed the situation (and evaluated other pieces that sustained damage in shipment.) He snapped pictures, took notes and promised to return. He finally did, after acknowledging it was difficult to find the parts for the Chinese bed that came from Chicago and has been twice fully disassembled on an equal number of international moves. 

{Quick Aside:: Said handy-man looked nothing like I thought he would. He was tall and skinny --think Mick Jagger (he even share a similar surname). He had pointy shoes, stringy long but thinning hair, and eyes that googled behind glasses with an intensity that suggested he knew exactly what he was doing. I surreptitiously snapped a few pictures of his arrival and when I saw his tool kits I suddenly realized he reminded me in some way of a younger, more German version of the artist who repairs Woody in Toy Story II}

Thankfully he proved equally skilled, and our resident junior higher (although her International school describes her otherwise -- According to them, she is a Senior School student in the Middle Years Program) has her bed back. 

A Tuesday with Bei Bei

When Bea was much littler ... Not yet fully in school, but on the doorstep, I took a day a week to do something purposeful with her. We were living in China and there was much to see and I wanted to maximize my waning time with my last baby at home! We called them "Thursdays with Bei Bei". 

We took the city bus and meandered all over our city ... Climbing towers and visiting monistaries. 

Yesterday, with Millie off in the farest flung corner of Eastern Germany on a (mandatory) class camping trip, and with Eliza staying late at school for her Photography club, Bea and I found ourself with a spare hour in our day to spend together. We recounted our Thursday's with Bei Bei Adventures and thought we try it out in Deutschland.

We started with a drive ... I was wanting to explore a community just north of the school and she was eager to have my full attention and basically have the car to herself. We admired the countryside, and smiled at the free range chickens in a pasture.

We remarked on all the horses (there was even a horse walking down the sidewalk when I picked her up after school!) 

We then decided to stop to pick flowers along the road at a "you pick on the honor system" Bloomen plot. 

After paying 60 Euro cents for each glad  stem, she climbed in the passenger seat and promptly Instagrammed a bloom. (A sure sign my baby no longer a baby!)

We made time for a gelato. (No picture because with the narrow cobbled streets,  in the quaint German haunts, I plunge all my efforts into driving!)

We still had time for a quick trip to the park before gathering Eliza. 

Bei Bei sure know how to maximize an hour!!