Mobilization & Dance Class

Malu left yesterday to start mobilizing for his upcoming deployment.  Basically, he and his unit will be training and preparing to deploy overseas over the next two months. Back in the states, Malu would always mobilize at Fort Dix, New Jersey.  There was usually one four-day weekend closer to their departure date that they'd be released to visit family, go on a short trip, etc.  Here, although he is technically mobilizing in another German state, he's only two and a half hours away at Grafenwoehr.  This means, that when there's down time over the weekend, he may be able to squeeze in a few visits here and there. 

Additionally, next weekend the unit will host what's called a Yellow Ribbon event where all the unit soldiers and their families link up for a meet & greet and to connect with resources before the deployment.  Lodging is paid for, which is a nice bonus, and you get to spend time touring the area at which the event is hosted.  We'll be in Nurnberg!  So while it's not officially good-bye, I still had a hard time after he left yesterday.  I mean, this is pretty much the beginning of the deployment (which, including mobilization, will total 11 months).  And even though he's a few hours away right now, he's still not here :(

 

Somehow I manage.

 

Work and just everyday life just kicks right back in to gear and there's no room for moping.

 

Today was my first official day back at work after leave.  It was busy.  I still have tons of catching up to do.

 

Vaiosina also started her first day of the Parent & Toddler Team Dance class that I signed us up for.  For the next two months, she and I will spend every Wednesday afternoon (it's a 45-minute class) at dance class.

 

Today, she was very timid.  She was content to just watch for the first half hour.

 

 

I didn't feel the least bit bad.  With a class full of tots, it was hard to keep anyone's attention.

 

 

She didn't really warm up and start dancing until about the last ten minutes, but it was still fun.  I'm pretty sure that after about two classes, she'll start groovin' like she usually does when it's just us at home.  As a matter of fact, she was showing me some of the moves she learned while on the potty tonight.  It's going to be a great time for the both of us!

 

I decided that we'd treat ourselves to personalized pizzas for dinner.  Vaiosina loved making them!

 

You see?  Even though we're missing part of our trio, we make do.  We're just fine.

 

Malu had been telling Vaiosina for weeks that he'd be leaving soon and that she was going to have to take good care of me and that she is.  I'm so glad that she's here to keep me company.

 

I love you baby girl.

 

And to Malu...we love and miss you so much!  Hope that we get to see you when you catch a break!



Just Us & A Perfect Weekend

On Saturday, we spent the day out and about...just the three of us.  Add beautiful, summer weather and the German outdoors and what do you get?  Perfection.

We've taken to riding our bikes a lot lately.  Our trip to Lake Constance really inspired us to dust off our bikes and get them out and running!  It's been awesome...although I'm still trying to get used to riding on the roads with traffic.  It can be scary at times, especially when you're the one toting the little one!

I think I've mentioned this several times before, but Germany's (and pretty much all of Europe) outdoors are just heavily laden with trails that people hike, bike, and run all year long.  As you ride the trails, especially on a beautiful day like that day was, you run into tons of people either hiking, walking their dogs, parents/grandparents walking their kids/grandkids, people picnicking and riding bikes.  Even more so, you run into biergartens along the way--restaurants with outdoor seating where people can take a break from the trail to enjoy a nice drink and/or meal. 

On our leisurely stroll through the woods and a mere 15-20 minutes from the post gate, we stumbled upon a biergarten that we had been to before with friends called the Katzenbacherhof.  The place has a ginormous playground that Sina loves (complete with slides, swings, and a sand box), a small restaurant, and just an overall relaxing atmosphere.  And thank goodness we ran into when we did--I was needing a break.  Those trails are quite hilly! 

Here are a few pictures...

Vaiosina absolutely enjoys being out on the trails--probably because she doesn't have to exert any energy!  She actually falls asleep from time to time.  What a lucky duck.  She couldn't get enough of the little sheep.  She kept singing the "Baa Baa Black Sheep" song to herself.  It was so cute.

 

The playgrounds here are just amazing.  I mean, we have cool playgrounds back in the states, but it just seems like the ones here are much more elaborate and more fun--even to us adults!  Coincidentally enough, a lot of the equipment at this particular park had U.S. Corps of Engineers engraved on them.  Why don't they have swings like this at home?

This is my favorite picture of Vaiosina from that day.  Love that smile!  She was clapping and asking for more!

This girl is quite fearless. Even more so when daddy is around and, of course, he encourages it.  Look at her go!

We enjoyed a great lunch!  Grilled steak, wurst and potato salad.  Yum!

Didn't I tell you she couldn't stay away from those sheep?  And there's me hauling precious cargo.  There's a lake along the trail; just minutes away from home.  Love it!

We spent the rest of the weekend doing much of the same.  We've really been lucking out with this gorgeous weather!  I hope it continues at least until Malu leaves (yup, the ugly deployment is rearing its nasty head).  

Hope everyone has a great week!

One Sweet Day

Malu returned after a month-long training event on Saturday afternoon.  Sina just about died when she saw him walk through the door.  I mean, she screamed as she ran to the door to greet him.  For the first few minutes, she wouldn't let him go.  She'd hug him, then look up to stare at his face repeatedly as if she didn't believe he was really here.  It was so precious.  We knew we didn't have much time to work with; just over a day, in fact.  He actually left yesterday for another TDY (business trip), so it's just me and the mini-me again this week.

However, Sunday with Malu/Daddy was a fantastic day!

The weather was absolutely perfect, so we spent a lot of time outside at the playground.  When Malu's around, I feel so much more at ease as far as Sina is concerned.  Up until that day, I was killing myself going up and down the slides with Sina because I didn't think she could do it on her own.  After all, she wanted to be on the "big kid" playground as opposed to the one nearby made especially for toddlers.  I mean, this playground is high up and the thought of her falling freaked me out.  But then Malu shows up and all that goes out the window.  He encourages me to let her try it on her own.  And you know what?  She's great at it.  He showed her how to climb the ladder on her own.  It totally freaked me out...but she did it!!!

We also spent some time shopping at the PX.  Sina kept pointing at our sunglasses curiously and I'd forgotten that she had a pair in her diaper bag.  I pulled them out and she put them on.  She loved them, whereas months ago, she didn't want anything to do with them.  She didn't even want to take them off when we got inside the PX.  Isn't the picture of Sina and Malu adorable?

After the PX, we went back to the playground before dinner.  After dinner, Sina and Malu did a little crafting and made caterpillars out of egg cartons.  It was quite messy, but tons of fun. 

So even though we had just a short amount of time together, I'd say it was time very well spent!

Lucky for us...Malu returns on Friday afternoon, so it won't be too much longer.  And we intend to do this weekend up big, as in a trip to the zoo!

Happy Tuesday to All!  Thank God this week is just whizzing by!

P.S.  I finished the Hunger Games and am on the second book now! 

Back on the Countdown!

Malu left for a month's worth of training this morning.  At the end of the day, my boss asked me how I was feeling about it.  I said, "It sucks, but I'm okay, Sir!"  He snickered and said, "That's what you say now, but I'm sure your Facebook status will say otherwise later on tonight."  He was right.  Not too long ago, I posted about how much I'm missing Malu already.

I'm not going to lie.  This really sucks.  I hate having to start another countdown.  Granted, this is only until the end of this month, but no amount of time apart from a loved one--be it a few days, a week, etc.--is easy.  And this is coming from someone who's about to go through her third deployment as an Army wife!  It's harder now that I'm a mom and doing everything on my own with Sina, holding down my full-time job, and trying to keep house.  It's exhausting just trying to get through each day.  In fact, I feel all my energy draining out of me just thinking about trying to get through the next few weeks.

But you know what?  I'm going to be fine.  I always am.  I'm stronger than I give myself credit for sometimes and I have a strong support system.

But Malu...Sina and I miss you so much and wish you all the best at training!  We are so proud of you!

I posted this picture on my Facebook profile.  It was taken at a monastery in Ettal, Germany.  It's one of our favorite places to visit. 

I love pictures of my sweetheart and our little girl.  My loves.  My life.

What A {Love}ly Day!

Just thought I'd take a moment to tell you guys how great our Valentine's Day was yesterday!

First off, the night before, I made some heart-shaped, chocolate-covered rice crispy pops for Sina's teachers at school, and sent along some store-bought treats for her little friends at school.  I was inspired by a post on this awesome blog and received lots of positive feedback on how they turned out!

Looking back on my childhood, I can only remember getting Valentine's from friends at school when I was in the first grade.  I remember making a card box and then collecting cards from friends in class.  Sina's not even two, and is in a toddler room at daycare, and already received her first few official Valentines.  How cute is that?  She came home with lots of candy that mom and dad will have to eat!

I was feeling the love all day at work too.  I mean, it was raining Valentine's Day candy and treats all day long.  At work, I'm an Executive Officer to one of the primary staff officers for our Command.  Executive Officers are always dubbed "XO", so how cool was it when one of my senior officers dropped in with a basket of treats his wife made saying, "XO, what's with all these treats I have here with your name on it?"  Get it?  Tons of the treat bags were labeled "XOXO".  Yup, that's me, a bundle of hugs and kisses :)

We didn't have any big plans to go out for dinner.  We really just wanted to spend the night at home relaxing.  So, I whipped up a wonderful dinner for all of us.  Chicken Marsala....yummy!  Click here for the link to the recipe I used.  Since I couldn't find Marsala wine anywhere, I used some white wine I had at home.  I served it up with some sauteed brussel sprouts.  Dee-licious!

We all exchanged gifts during dinner, Sina included.  She received a teddy bear and a new movie (educational, of course).  I got Malu a Vitamix.  He'd been wanting a blender for a long time and I wanted something that would last for years.  Let's hope the Vitamix is exactly everything it's supposed to be, because it cost a pretty penny.  I have to admit that I've been wanting it too, so we can pretty much call it a joint V-Day gift.  I personally didn't want anything big for Valentine's Day seeing how the sewing machine I wanted so badly a few months ago is still in its box in our room and the fancy-do camera I got for Christmas has barely been used either.  Still, Malu got me the Breaking Dawn, Part I, movie that I wanted as well as some chocolates (hmmm....do you think we have enough chocolate to last us the next few months?).  The movie was the perfect close to a perfect evening.

After dinner tonight, I put the many cards received from friends and family from all over on top of one of our bookshelves in the living room.  It's a lot of cards!

We feel so blessed to love and to be loved.

Happy Wednesday Everyone!  Tomorrow is our Friday.  Another long weekend.  Woo hoo!!!

Giggles

Not sure what's funnier...Sina's giggling or Malu pretending to be a kangaroo.

Those giggles are enough to melt your heart.

Happy Friday everyone...it's officially the weekend here in Germany and ours is already off to a great start.  After a pretty good day at work, we all went to dinner in town, ate a very hearty meal (that will most likely last us the entire weekend--love leftovers!), and then came home and cuddled up to a pretty decent movie, called Abduction (starring Taylor Lautner).

We don't have anything lined up for the weekend, mostly because we're all still trying to fully recover from our illnesses (Malu won't admit it, but he's coming down with something too).  Plus, the weather's been kinda crappy lately.  People I work with told me this is the coldest it's ever been in years this particular winter.  I mean, we've experienced single-digit temperatures the last week.  I'm so ready for spring!

Anyway, it's getting really late, so I'm going to stop for now.  Good night all!

Happy Saturday!

Football Fan!

Finally back on the up-and-up and wanting to start catching up on this blog (and reading my other favorite blogs too)!  Both Sina and I are feeling tons better, thank goodness.  Just a short one tonight, seeing how it's almost midnight on our side of the world.

If you've been following us at all, you know that Sina has become quite the football fan.  Although we don't necessarily follow college or professional football closely in our household, we love the game.  Sina went to her first couple football games in the fall, thanks to our local high school team and LOVED them. 

A few weeks ago, she learned to throw her arms up in the air everytime someone says "Touchdown!"  It's so adorable.

Her Uncle Vaea (Malu's little brother) is currently playing college football in California and aspires to play professionally one day.  Malu was able to pull up some of his game highlight clips online and Sina was happy to join him.

 We kept telling her, "there's your Uncle Vaea!" and she'd say "Co-co" for Uncle.

She kept saying and signing "ball" and did the touchdown move a couple of times.

So not only is she a big fan of football, she's a big Uncle Vaea fan too.

We're so proud of Vaea and how hard he's working to pursue his dream.  We love and miss you!

Tomorrow's Friday you guys!  I can't wait for the weekend!  Nothing planned right now...just wanting to stop working :)

Frohe Weihnachten! {Stuttgart Xmas Market, Part II}

Last Friday, we took the Finch Family to the Stuttgart Christmas Market since Malu and I had such a blast the first time we went.  We had a slight hiccup that morning.  We were actually supposed to take the train to Strasbourg, but it didn't quite work out.  For our large party, it was going to cost us almost $500 to take the intercity train all the way down there.  Heck no...not for a two-hour drive that would only cost us almost a full tank of gas.  So, since we were in downtown Stuttgart anyway, we settled for going to the Christmas market just a short walk from the train station.  How convenient!  Strasbourg was going to have to wait another day.

The problem with going to the Christmas market on a Saturday?  The crowds.  I mean, it was hella crowded.  But not crowded enough to ruin the afternoon/evening.  We had such a great time.  We actually stayed out until the late evening, which either family normally doesn't do because of the babies and their bedtimes, the hassle of it all, etc.  But we braved it anyway and it was totally worth it. Because I took so many pictures...I had to narrow them down to a few that I thought everyone would enjoy.

It was rather chilly that day, but it was perfect because there was no rain!!!  Anyway, we immediately set out to look for some gluhwein and to start collecting our gluhwein cups.  Every place has a different kind of cup or mug and we probably picked up about 3 or 4 that day.  What's nice is you pay a deposit on the cups when you buy the drink.  If you choose not to keep the cup, you just turn it in and get your deposit back.  It's the same with some of the dishes that your food gets served in.  I actually walked around with a dish full of spaetzle (noodles) at one point.  People looked at me weird, but hey, I paid a deposit and turned it in when I was done!  We did some shopping, some munching, and--to be honest--a lot of gluhwein-ing.

And we all actually learned to say Merry Christmas in German that day.  Frohe Weihnachten! 

Madisen, the cute 4-year old belonging to Team Finch, is absolutely adorable.  She loves getting piggy back rides from Malu.  They posed in front of the life-size nutcracker.  The German Pyramid Windmills are a mainstay during the holidays, or you can see them year round at a local Kathe Wohlfahrt store.  This is a giant version of the windmill perched atop a Kathe Wohlfahrt kiosk at the Christmas market.  There, you can purchase miniature ones.  They are so ornate and intricately decorated.  Heat from candles at the base turn the windmill at the top.  I'll be buying one of these before I leave Germany...for sure!

At night, everything is lit and you just ooh and aah at the splendor of it all.  One of the best parts of the evening was listening to a live choir inside the Altes Schloss (or Old Palace).

 We stood amidst a large crowd in that palace and people around us were dancing and singing joyfully with the choir.  It was especially fun when we sang Jingle Bells.  The other best part of the evening was ice skating with Madisen.  Yup...there was an ice skating rink out there.  I hadn't been on the ice in..well...ages.  And Madisen chose me to take her skating.  Needless to say, I had to call for backup.  I snapped a cute picture of Madisen and her mama, Mattie.  Easy peasy for Mattie...she "skated" in her normal shoes!

We decided to go and warm up at a restaurant and have some dinner.  The pick?  Sushi!  I also hadn't had sushi for ages until then.  It was dee-licious!  While we were there, I was able to take a picture of little Mackinley, the newest addition to Team Finch at 7 weeks old.  What a cutie.  And there's Malu and Madisen with our yummy sushi!

One thing was for sure...we were all exhausted when we got home.  It's not easy being out all day and carting around three kids.  Still, we got our rest and headed out to Strasbourg the next morning.  I promise...I'll be telling you guys about that too!

In the morning, Malu, Sina and I will be heading out to link up with Team Finch in their neck of the woods.  Yup, we'll be spending Christmas weekend with them.  Guess we just can't get enough of those guys!

Please keep us in mind as we travel on the roads.  And everyone enjoy your Friday!

Christmas Party

My office had its annual Christmas party on Friday night.  It was the first Sina-free night Malu and I have had since, like, last year.  Last year around this time, we were spending the holidays with family and they'd completely taken Sina over.  To date, we have yet to find a babysitter. 

On Friday, Child Youth Services just happened to have a Parents Night Out evening where they extended their hours from 1830 to 2330.  So Malu and I were able to have a night to ourselves.  The party was so much fun.  We didn't plan it, but our outfits ended up matching perfectly and my boss told us that we won the award for best looking couple that night.  How flattering!

The food was great, as was the program.  People walked away with some really great White Elephant gifts and we had tons of good laughs.

Just as Malu was starting to tear up the dance floor, we had to leave to get Sina and she was surprisingly still awake when we got her.

Anyway, it's back to reality tomorrow.  Another work week.

We spent tonight at the Stuttgart Christmas Market and I'll be blogging about that tomorrow.

It's Always Better When We're Together

We can't be more grateful for the fact that we live in this beautiful country, that  we have been living together for over a year now (no deployment!) and that we even get to work together--in the same building (I'm on the first floor, he's on the second)!  This means that we get to do a lot together...take Sina to school, have lunches (when time allows) together, pick Sina up from school and then do our grocery shopping together afterwards.  We even give Sina baths, read her bedtime stories, and put her to bed together. 

Together.

This will be our second Thanksgiving together in a row, which means that we're on a roll.  The year before last, I was in Kuwait and Malu was mobilizing for another deployment.  The year before that, I was in Colorado with family and Malu was deployed.

Today, I am so thankful for my husband, Vaimalu.

He's a fantastic father, provides for and protects our family, and is truly my best friend.  I am thankful for him everyday but this evening, as I watched him serenade Vaiosina as she took her bath, I couldn't help but think that there is so much love in our home and we couldn't be more blessed.

I also realize that this particular setting may be unconventional to some.  I mean, who serenades babies while they are in the bath tub, right?  He does and does it so well.  Apparently, Sina thinks so too.  She just sits there and bobs her head and sways her body to the music.

What lucky girls we are!

I'm savoring every moment we have the opportunity to share.  With another deployment looming on the horizon, we have to make every moment count!

Thanks Malu for all that you are and all that you do.  I love you!

One more day in the work week...yeah!

Boy Toys

I wouldn't call Malu a car enthusiast, but there's something about fast cars, or maybe just cars in general, that just makes a guy go goo-goo ga-ga.  Ever since we moved to Germany, Malu's exclaimed on more than one occasion that wants a fast car--a muscle or sports car--like a BMW, a Mustang, or a Dodge Charger.  I mean, imagine what it's like for him to be on the autobahn in our tank of a Jeep Commander and getting passed by fast car after fast car.  He likes to joke that he's in a quarter-life crisis and that I should allow him to get his fast car.  I deny this request vehemently.  The thought of him speeding around on the roads just freaks the heck out of me.

There's a place in Stuttgart called Meilenwerk.  It's a place where you can purchase high-end luxury and sports cars.  It's a place where people who own these kinds of cars can work on them or have them serviced.  There's also a museum with classic cars, a hotel and a few restaurants.

To me, the placed reaked of carbon monoxide and I surely thought one of us was going to pass out from the fumes.  To Malu, it was heaven.  We saw classic and new Mercedes and BMW vehicles.  There were Lamborghinis, Ferraris, Porsches and Maseratis with million dollar pricetags.  Wow!

Funnies (and cuties) from that day...

~Looking at a used Mercedes, Malu says, "Babe, this one's not bad.  It's only 59,000 Euro."  Yup, what a sweet deal, babe.  That's like $80,000.

~Sina kept saying "car" or in Sina-speak "cah-yee".

~Sina sported her black tutu, leggings, and her smokin' furry black boots from her Uncle Jon and Aunt Jolene.

~Malu saying, "I'd totally buy one of these cars if they could transform into a house that we could also live in".  For real?

I'd say that another cute thing was Sina tap-tapping on a quarter-million dollar McLaren, but it got me in hot water with Malu since she was on my watch at the time.  That was no bueno.

Malu has admitted that he really doesn't want to buy a sports car.  Thank goodness because there's no way we want another car payment.  He said that if I let him rent a fast car that he can take to his next drill in Grafenwoehr, he'd be forever in bliss.  I've been looking around you guys, but the fastest cars that get rented out here are BMWs and Mercedes.  What to do?  I guess I'll keep on looking.  And at least he's easy to please :)

On a totally random note, Sina was using one of those harness-leash things and wonder if people think it's a weird thing to do. Is it? We can't help it though. Sina hates being in her stroller and doesn't want to be carried for too long. Boy, does she love to explore. She is a big girl and she wants to go everywhere on her own!

Well you guys...yet another week has arrived.  Can you believe that we're under two weeks away from Thanksgiving?

I can't wait!  Have a great week everyone!

Perfect Sunday!

What a weekend!  We had perfect fall weather...not too hot or cold...just perfect.  We slept in a little bit this morning and realized that we never turned our clocks back.  No worries because we weren't on any kind of schedule today.  We just took our time getting ready and had some fun in the process. 

When we finally got out of the house, we head over to the PX to see if Malu and I could get some Halloween costumes at the last minute.  All the local stores are closed on Sundays, so the PX was our only option.  No surprise...we got there and got stuck with the leftovers.  The good thing--my too-big pirate costume and Malu's executioner costume cost under $10. Everything was 50% off!

After the PX, we rode over to the library.  A friend who works there told us to stop by to make duct tape halloween bags.  Apparently, duct tape crafts are all the craze these days, so we wanted to see what all the hoop-la is about.  Who knew that duct tape comes in a million colors and you can make just about anything with it?  Sina wasn't too entertained...she had just woken up from a cat-nap.  She preferred to watch her mom, who was more into it than she needed to be.  Hey, what can I say...I'm a kid at heart!

Check out our candy corn duct tape bag!

When we got home, Sina and Malu took a much-needed nap.

Meanwhile, I got to work on Sina's Halloween treats for her daycare's Fall Harvest celebration tomorrow.  Since Sina is going to be an owl this year, I thought it'd be nice for her to give her little buddies some owl cookies!  To my disdain, I kinda hit roadblocks along the way as I tried to put these together.  I ordered candy melts online and they didn't make it in time; I ordered clear plastic bags for the cookies, but they ended up being too small; and I totally forgot to get ribbon to accent the tags I made.  So...I improvised.

Take a look at these...

Who needs a Cricut, right?  Um...I do.  After cutting only a dozen of these, my hands were in a world of pain (I think I suffer, to some degree, from carpal tunnel syndrome).  Christmas present, maybe?  Anyhow, in case you can't see, each card says "Happy H"owl" oween!".

Since the plastic bags I ordered were too small, I used ziploc bags I had onhand.  Then, I used some kitchen string as ribbon.  They didn't turn out so bad after all.

When Malu and Sina woke up (yes, it was a late afternoon nap), I had dinner ready (Asian Beef Lettuce Wraps) and we spent a few hours relaxing and playing around with our little girl.  Here she is enjoying a few clementines with Malu.

Yum!

Now, Sina is asleep and I'm enjoying the Twilight series marathon that is on TV! I'll be dragging Malu over to watch it with me.  I'll be using some ice cream to bribe him.  He can't stand these "silly vampires". 

What did I tell you?  A perfect Sunday.

I honestly can't wait for Halloween tomorrow.  I'm excited to see Sina in her cute little costume.  I'm excited to see her paint some pumpkins at school and share her owl cookies with her friends.  I'm excited to see her and her executioner daddy out there trick-or-treating.  I can't wait to share all of it with you guys.

Stay tuned for some more Halloween fun!

Joy

Our little family is complete again...and all is right in the world.

She was beyond ecstatic and stared at him on the ride from the airport all the way home.

A month must seem like ages to little tots.  Although she's happy to have her daddy home, Sina seems to be more clingy to me (when previously she was inseparable from her daddy), and is unsure whether daddy should be reading to her, or carrying her around the house, or playing with her.  When she's upset or frustrated, she comes straight to me.  I'm sure she's wondering where he's been all this time and I think Malu is adjusting to her response to him as well.  I hope this phase passes quickly.

Still, we're having tons of fun.  We spent yesterday afternoon at the playground, had a nice little dinner, and Malu and I had a lovely evening just talking and getting caught up.

Today...much of the same.  We're just chilling on this beautiful Sunday!

Thank God for bringing Malu back to us safely :)

Hope you are all having a great weekend as well.

The New Ride

The car itself isn't brand new, but it's new to our family!  We've given names to all of our family vehicles and this one's no different.  My old car was Suzie the Suzuki, and we call our Jeep Commander Jasper.  Now meet...

Vick the V-Dub!

We got a sweet deal on this car from a co-worker of mine who is PCSing back to the states.  We officially took ownership of the car last Thursday.  It's a 2000 VW Polo and if you were to drive down the autobahn at any given time, on any day, just about every other car you pass (or that passes you) is one of these.  Our Jeep Commander is a nice vehicle, but people stare at us all the time in that big hunk of a truck while out on the roads.  I mean, it just screams American.  Now we fit right in!

What's nice is that this car will take us from A to B and not guzzle gas.  What's nice is that we'll be able to park with ease when going downtown or through small towns.  What's nice is that Malu can drive this car to drill leaving Sina and I with another vehicle to get around in (which would have been nice for last month's drill when Sina and I got stuck in a rainstorm, waiting on a bus to take us from Panzer back to Patch).

Some negatives...it's a stick shift and only Malu can drive it at this point.  So it's truly just his car right now.  He is dead-set on teaching me how to drive it though.  We shall see about that.  The back two windows are manual.  Haven't had to use those for a while.  It has a tape deck--no CD player or MP3 connections.  And it's small...really small.

But it works!  And it has A.C.!  And we tested it out this weekend and drove it to the Hohenzollern Castle.  Made it without any problems.

Aren't they cute together?

If you dared him to, Malu would pick that thing up and move it down the street.  That's how compact it is.

Well, welcome to the familia, Vick!  We're gonna drive you silly!

King for the Weekend: Hohenzollern Castle & Malu's B-Day

We celebrated Malu's birthday this weekend.  It was Sina's and my mission to make him feel like a king.  What better way than to take him to the Hohenzollern Castle?  What's great about Europe is that you can drive along the highway (or out in the countryside) and you'll see castles pop up out of nowhere in the distance.  Lucky for us, the Hohenzollern Castle is under an hour from here, about 30 or so miles south of Stuttgart.  It overlooks the towns of Hechingen and Besingen, both seated at the foothills of the Swabian Alps.  The castle is the ancestral seat of the Hohenzollern family, a family of kings and emperors from Prussia, Germany and Romania.  The castle was first built in the 11th century and built upon three different times and then commissioned for restructuring/reconstruction throughout the years--the most recent reconstruction ending in the mid-1990s.  We didn't get to go into all parts of the castle on Saturday afternoon, as the only inside tour of the castle was in German.  However, we got a really good look outside of the castle as well as the St. Michael's church, which is the oldest part of Hohenzollern.  I took tons of pictures that day, but these are my favorites.

We pulled over to get a picture of the entire castle.  It was another overcast day, but warm and comfortable out.  We were surprised that it didn't rain.

Good thing we grabbed a bite to eat at the base of the castle (where there was a restaurant and souvenir shop) because we needed the energy to get up the mountain and to the castle.

Going through the entrance and into the castle.

The view from the top was breathtaking.

Looking down on one of the castle turrets.

Me and my Sina.  I was a little nervous holding her that close to the ledge.

I guess you could call this the castle courtyard.  I loved the ivy!

Looking up at one of the castle towers.

Isn't this door beautiful?

Another doorway with a beautiful little garden.

This was above the entrance to the castle.

If you want to see more pictures of our day at the castle, you're going to have to check out my Facebook page!  And I must say that I especially enjoyed the walk back down from the castle!  Easy peasy.

On Sunday morning, we made Malu chocolate chip pancakes with strawberries, whipped cream and more chocolate chips--a king-sized serving!

Because Malu had some schoolwork due that day and some reading that he wanted to do, Sina and I did our best to give him some peace and quiet.  We figured we'd continue on with his birthday celebration later on for dinner.  So, later that night, we headed into town to a Chinese restaurant (a different one than our usual place; we've been on this Asian food kick lately) and indulged in another king-sized meal for two...

It was so much food!  And delicious!  We had chicken with bamboo shoots, chicken with broccoli and some sweet and sour beef with vegetables.  Yummy!

Sina enjoyed herself immensely.  She helped herself to some rice and chicken and even entertained other customers nearby.  She's a riot!

I was amazed that I managed to get a picture of her sitting still!

The dinner came with ice cream for dessert--vanilla, strawberry and chocolate ice cream with lychees and topped with whipped cream.

Look at how she's eyeing the ice cream.  Yes, we gave her a taste.  I think she's hooked.

Not sure why we got the ice cream anyway...I had a chocolate cake waiting for Malu at home.  We saved that for a late night snack.

So I'd say that was some birthday weekend, huh?  And he deserved all the royal treatment he got just for being the wonderful daddy and husband that he is.

I wish that I could say this is a short week because of the 4th of July weekend coming up, but it's not.  Our 4-day weekend will be Saturday-Tuesday of next week.  How will I manage until then?  Today was quite the Monday--as manic as ever.  Let's hope the rest of the week will fly by quickly!  Is it bad to be ready for the weekend already?

Well, have a great week everyone!  Until next time!

Family...

I've been amassing photos since we lived in El Paso; even more so when Sina came along.  Since I knew we weren't going to be there long, I didn't want to waste time printing and framing photos.  Now that we're here in Germany and will most likely be here for the full 3 years, I figured I could actually start decorating the house with personal family photos.  Along with the ladybug drawing I had framed, I had this one of our little family done as well.

The picture was taken when Sina was 6 days old (here is the post with all the other pics).  I found the wall decal on amazon.com and I am so happy with how it turned out.  It is hung at the hallway entrance that leads to our bedroom, Sina's room and the guest room.

I love this saying.  Our story began when Malu and I married 4 years ago (we celebrated our anniversary this past weekend!).  Even then, we were our own little family--just the two of us (well, 3 if you count Lucy).  Since then, more chapters have been added to our story to include buying a home, two deployments, multiple moves (too many to count), and most importantly, the arrival of our beautiful baby girl.  Not only that, we have the invaluable support of both our families at home and the Army families we have come to know and love over the years just because we had to move from post to post.  Our families have enriched our story in every imaginable way and make celebrating our anniversary each year extra special.

I didn't get to write this on our anniversary.  I was too busy making a big stink about Father's Day :)  But it was a great day.  We spent the evening having some of the best Thai food I've had in a long time.  Who would've thought that would happen here in Germany?  Anyway, Happy Anniversary to my partner-in-crime, my bestest friend and my sweetest love.  Here's to many more anniversaries to come!