The Kids Schule (School)

Getting the kids signed up for school was a little crazy.  School started 5 days after we got here and we still hadn't signed them up, or decided which one.  It came down to the exclusive german public school that was german immersion (1/2 day English, 1/2 day German) that wasn't too far away. Or the affluent english speaking private international school that was about a 35 minute drive away. In the end we decided to go with the private school, and I think we made the right decision.

It is called the Berlin Brandenburg International School.  It is in a town called Kleinmachnow which is between Berlin and Potsdam.  It is set back into the trees and has a lot of history.  It used to be Hitler's Secret Weapon Testing Headquarters (kind of creepy, but kind of cool).  It is protected as a landmark and so it still has the original marble floors, stone walls, etc. but it has been transformed into a beautiful school. There are 4 houses (buildings), and grades preK-12 are all spread out between the 4.  Each building is connected with semi underground gothic tunnels.  The kids think that it looks like Hogwart's so they love it.  Apparently there are also a bunch of secret tunnels that run well below the school.  They give tours occasionally, I really want to go on one.

The gymnasium is a new building across campus.  It is stunning, and it where Berlin's pro basketball team practices in the evenings and weekends.

BBIS is an IB / PYP program.  Which is awesome.  They do not believe in timed testing, teach to the test, or homework.  Homework is optional and only given to teach the kids how to work independently at home (Which outside of reading at home they have several studies that show that homework is not productive) YAY!!!!!!!  All of the things that I hated about the school in Leesburg. Their program is similar to montessori in that they believe in playing while learning, hands on learning, and ensuring that learning is fun. (and somehow they still manage to have successful graduates :) Okay enough of my snarky comments:)  The girls get german instruction for an hour everyday, which they love!

Here is the campus.  The school owns the lake (also where Hitler tested weapons, shudder) as well as the surrounding forest.  The 3 buildings that are to the far right are the "houses" they are where all students have their classes.  The other 3 buildings are the boarding school and offices.

This is part of the playground.  They have several playground teachers that are there to play with the kids. It is great! One of the teachers sat and ate Brooklyn's sand pie's throughout the entire recess.  Also there are real toys like bikes, wagons, scooters, you name it.  The only thing I don't like is the sand which is why the kids have  "house shoes" shoes that are only worn inside.  They change their shoes before and after recess.

This is the cafeteria where they have catered meals that are fresh and amazing!  The only downside is that the German diet is very potato heavy and so Brooklyn has to take a lunch from home.

The only other difference in schools here is that there are no crazy rules.  If it is your birthday you can bring in cake, ice cream you name it.  They encourage parents to come in classroom as often as they want. They also encourage parents to come in and teach about different religious holidays, and cultures, including food. Which I really like. They allow friends to come to school with you for  few days, if you would like (so come visit and bring your kids)  And they have snack time 2 times a day, and they aren't just crackers.  Kids bring in sandwiches,  cinnamon rolls, etc. As you can imagine Brooklyn and Hallie loved this idea:)

It's Off To Germany We Go!

So flying to Germany was pretty horrible.  It all started with the dog.  Miley is small enough  to fit underneath the seat of the airplane.  Which every airline on earth charges only 150 per flight for this service.  Every airline that is except for British Airways.  Which starting this year is the only airline that State Dept. will let you fly with.  They were completely unwilling to work with us.  It didn't matter that I found flights cheaper with another carrier that has contract with state they didn't care.  If you are flying to berlin you must go take the British Airways flight.  GRRRRrrr Bureaucracy! So . . . we bought Chris a ticket with Lufthanza, and I flew on my first international flight, which was also a red eye with the 2 girls on British Airways. This sounded like a good idea to me until I realized that I had the 2 girls as well as 9 suitcases, plus 3 carry ons!  We were packed into that rental car like sardines.  Plus Chris flew out 5 hours before us so I had to figure out how to drop off the rental car, and check us in with all of our luggage. Thank heavens for sky cap!!

Once I got the luggage figured out we made our way on the plane. The kids were being really good, and we hunkered down for the night.  H-May slept for the first 3 hours, Boo slept for the last 3 hours, I did not sleep for any of it, and to make matters worse I started getting sick halfway through the night.  Sick, sick, I mean nauseated, running to the bathroom every 30 minutes sick (Jenn and Raelynn, I totally jinxed myself) 

We made it to London and were all exhausted.  I had packed some clothes for us to change into. At the time I was in sweats and the girls were in PJ's but what I thought was a gate check of our carryons turned out to be a regular check so we would not be seeing our clothes until we landed in Germany. I was still really sick, but luckily the girls we extremely good and played until our next flight. I really did not want to get back on that plane, I kept trying to think of a way that I could get a hold of Chris and make him take a train and come pick me up.  But Chris was somewhere in Europe with out a cell phone so I forced myself on the plane.  The next 2 hours consisted of fanning myself with the emergency procedures card with 2 open barf bags on my lap. I made quite the spectacle.  But I managed to make it to the bathroom every time so I still had some dignity left.

Once we landed in Germany I found another obstacle.  That darn luggage.  Chris had assured me that I did not need to change my money until I got to the embassy, and that he would be waiting for me to help me with my bags.  BIG FAT LIE :)  I got off the plane and to my horror discovered that the smartcart machine only took Euros, there was no place to exchange my money and I had to get through customs with my luggage before I could meet up with Chris.  Again we had 9 very large suitcases, 3 carryons. It was physically impossible, and there were no workers to be found, anywhere. And to make matters worse the bathrooms were on the other side of customs and I was still feeling really sick.  I wanted to cry. Thankfully after about 20 minutes, and who knows how many prayers I saw a small window and Chris was standing on the other side. I got his attention and he found a way to get me some money so that I could get 3 smartcarts and get through customs. So after traveling for who knows how many hours we made it to Germany in our sweats and dirty nightgowns at 3 pm. Phew!

 Back Seat

 Front Passenger Seat

Back Seat

The First Few Days

 We live right next to the Grunewald,  in Dahlem (has the red A).  It is literally a 1 minute walk and we are in a huge forest. It is pretty amazing.

Since we were all really, really, jet lagged we decided to eat out. This little gem is right next to our house.  The food was AMAZING, but really expensive.  It is nice because the outdoor seating area was in the back of the restaurant and went straight into the grunewald forest.  There were a bunch of families eating there and so while the adults ate and visited the kids played soccer/ran around in the forest.  It made for a really relaxing dinner. 

 Chris speaks German really well but  it was an upscale restaurant and even he couldn't decipher the menu.  So I just picked something and hoped for the best . . . I was completely shocked when they brought out my meal and it was an ENTIRE LARGE PIZZA.  It was a little embarrassing, I felt like a total pig.  But even more embarassing was that we were all starving and managed to polish it all off, plus 2 large servings of Schnitzle (breaded and fried pork), a loaf of french bread, and a large bowl of spaghetti.

 View of the restaurant from the forest

 H-May running around while we waited for our food.

Sad

Okay so I have to say that it is a little funny that on my last post I posted pictures and talked about the National Christmas Tree because . . .

Here is what it looked like in December

Here is what it looks like now

We had some wicked wind come through our area and it snapped the poor tree in half.

So after 33 years as our Nations Christmas tree. It is time for us to say goodbye.

It's replacement will be arriving sometime this spring.

The 3 T's

Each Christmas we try to visit what in our family have come to be known as the 3 T's (thanks for the idea Raelynn) Which are the Temple, Trains, Tree's.

Temple

We made it to the temple first. Each year the Washington DC temple puts on it's own mini light display. Now I have to say that it is Nothing like the lights on temple square it is basically just a parking lot with lit trees in it, and a small nativity, but it is a HUGE tourist attraction!! Tour bus after tour bus dumped hundreds and hundreds of people off to see it's lights, and listen to it's free concerts. When we arrived at 6:30 the 7:00 and 8:00 concerts were both full and the line wound around every inch of the visitors center, and out the door. It was PACKED! You could barely move. After a 1/2 hour wait we were able to see the huge, and amazing collections of nativities from around the world that they had there. It was chaotic, but despite the chaos it made me happy to see the missionaries so busy, and to feel the spirit that can come from being around the temple.

Tree's

The National Christmas tree is a massive pine tree that permanently lives in front of the white house for the sole purpose of being decorated each year as the national christmas tree. It has a bunch of trains that drive around the bottom of it, and it is surrounded by 50 christmas tree's decorated by each state. The tree's are beautiful but our favorite part is santas house that they have next to the trees. Each year they have an adorable cottage that is filled with sleeping elves, Mrs Clause and most importantly Santa. The kids LOVE to come here and best of all you leave with a free picture of your kids!

Train's

On Christmas Eve we finally made it to see the trains at the Botanical Gardens. This is my favorite Christmas tradition. Each year they turn the botanical Gardens into this amazing christmas wonderland. They have about 30 buildings from around the world that they make out of organic materials (leaves, mushrooms, and other plants) They are incredibly detailed, and look very real. The buildings are surrounded by waterfalls, christmas trees, poinsettias, miniature elf villages, and trains that drive in all different directions on tracks that drive through waterfalls, and on tracks that are suspended above your head. It is amazing!

Elf on Shelf

This year we decided to start a new family tradition and so I bought the ELf on the Shelf, left it on the doorstep and told the kids that Santa had sent it to them. They LOVED it! For those of you who are unfamiliar with the Elf on the Shelf it s a very clever book, that comes with a very clever little elf. You start by reading the book, it talks all about the elf and how it a special elf from Santa that has been sent to live in your home and watch you until Christmas. Each night after you have fallen asleep the elf flies back to the north pole to tell Santa all that he has seen and heard throughout the day, and each morning it returns to a different spot in the house. If you touch it, it will lose some of it's magic, and won't be able to return to the north pole to tell santa how good you have been. Under Santa's strict orders it can not talk to you, but it can hear you and tell santa whatever you would like for him to hear. On Christmas morning he flies back to the north pole in Santa's sleigh not to return again until next Christmas. After reading the book you give it a name. My kids chose the name Dingle.

Chris, Hallie, Brooklyn and Dingle.

I knew the kids would like having an elf around but I had no idea that they would buy into it as much as they did.

On the first day Hallie talked to the elf for at least an hour

On day 3 Hallie told us that she saw elf's eye move

On day 4 Hallie told me that she thought she saw the elf watching her in PE at school, and once in the lunchroom.

Every morning I awoke to 2 crazy kids frantically searching the house for the elf and then telling me all that they thought that he did that night

On day 20 Brooklyn sat down in the rocking chair next to the elf and her hand accidentally brushed the elfs cheek. The kids cried and cried because they thought that the elf would not make it home to santa that night. Luckily he had just enough magic left.

The elf on the shelf may seem like a creepy little vintage doll that is ALWAYS watching you! The kids LOVED it and I definitely think that he will return again next year!

First Snow, Just In Time For Christmas

I know that I have not been very consistent at posting for the past few months. But I have to say that life NEVER seems to slow down. I thought that once I got the kids started back in school things would slow down a bit, but trust me they haven't. It has been nothing but Colds, Flus, PTA, Homework, Chris gone to NC, Super Saturday, Callings, Gymnastics, Joy School, Strep, Play Groups, Laundry, Doctors Appointments and the list goes on and on and on and on. I have been so stressed out I pretty much collapsed last week and spent a good 3 or 4 days without leaving my bed. So it is time to prioritize, reduce the to do list, and if needed replace good things with better things. I feel like through the hustle and bustle of life I have lost track of family members and friends. So it is time to start blogging again.

We had our first snow of the season!! Which is pretty exciting around here. Being in the UT state of mind I thought that although it was snowing I could head out and run some errands, after all it was only an inch or so of snow. Boy am I dumb! Apparently the reason the city shuts down when it snows is because I swear the entire city of Arlington only has 2 snowplows. After slipping and sliding around in my Jeep, while dodging other people who's terrified eyes lead me to believe this may just be the first time they have ever driven in the snow. I called my friend Lindi and we hunkered down and watched the kids through the window while they ran around in the snow.

UGggh! Why do kids eat snow! So gross!

The kids had a blast, and even better they fell asleep pretty quickly last night!