Anholter Schweiz - A Day a the Nature Park

This week Dylan and I went with my friend Kristin and her daughter, Amy, to Biotopwildpark Anholter Schwiez - aka: a nature park.  The weather was finally warm enough to wear shorts and we even had to put sunscreen on - it actually felt like summer!

Dylan and Amy had a blast chasing each other around the park, seeing the animals and playing on the playground.  This day trip is best described through the photos.

Amy is a stroller diva.

This is pretty much the last time they were both in their strollers for the day.

They had fun chasing each other down the paths.

We saw lots of bears, thankfully all were behind double, electric fences.

Dylan and Amy both exclaimed "Woooowwwww, bears!"

By the look on her face, I don't think Amy wasn't too happy to share the tree stump with Dylan.

That is, until they both discovered how fun it is to inspect the rocks and tree bark at their feet.

Taking a break on a bench.

They held hands for a while - so cute!

This is how Dylan walks when he's deep in thought.

In the "petting zoo" area, Dylan and Amy chased the goats around.

Yes, they literally ran after the goats.

Dylan kept calling the donkeys "Oscar."  Oscar does sometimes have that same dopey, blank stare.

Uh oh.  Don't leave your buggy unattended with donkeys near by!

"Nobody messes with my buggy!"

We had to wrestle multiple items of Amy's away from this donkey.  He really wanted to take off with her apple juice and bananas.

"Peek-a-boo Mommy!"

More Peek-a-boo...

Two tired kids at the end of a fun day.

Lazy Sunday - German Style

One of the things that I miss the most about America and that I will never get used to in Germany is that everything - I mean, everything - is closed on Sundays.  This really limits what we, and everyone else in the country, can do on Sundays.  Because nothing is open (other than some bakeries, ice cream shops and a few restaurants), people are pretty much forced to stay home and spend the day with their family.  


The law here actually enforces that retail establishments be closed on Sundays based on a clause in the German constitution that Sunday should be a day of rest and "spiritual elevation." As recently as 2009 this has been contested and, if you're interested, here is a link to an article about it: http://abcnews.go.com/Travel/court-rules-shopping-sunday-germany/story?id=9236076 


I find it really hard to not have the option of going to the grocery store on Sundays.  Every day of the week I make a quick trip to the store to buy what I need for that night's dinner, and this daily shopping habit has made me nearly incapable of planning both Saturday and Sunday's meal on the same day.  I often budget into our weekly shopping expenses 8 Euro's for Buddy's Snackhouse on Sunday nights because I know I'll forget to buy food for Sunday dinner.   


So, what do we do on Sundays?  One of three things:

1. Literally, nothing.  We stay in our pajamas as late as possible (sometimes all day), fight over who has to get dressed to take Oscar out and play Angry Birds on the computer while Dylan incessantly requests that we read One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish to him over and over again.
2. Take Dylan and Oscar to the park.  Normally a trip to the park is in our daily itinerary, like going to the grocery store, but on Sundays the park is so completely overloaded with people (because there is nothing else to do) that I prefer to stay away from it.  
3. Walk around town and window shop and/or get ice cream. 

This past Sunday, however, we had access to the van so we decided to go into Dusseldorf and walk along the Rhein River. Bryan had been to Dusseldorf on his own while Dylan and I were in America (see Bryan's re-cap here) and had really enjoyed it, so we thought at the very least we'll find a park and some ice cream and get to see a new place.  


Dusseldorf was delightful on a Sunday afternoon.  Not only were bakeries open, but there were multiple Starbucks and nearly every restaurant that we saw was open and full of people.  It seemed like everyone in the entire city was out and about, enjoying a leisurely stroll by the river or through Dusseldorf's impressive shopping and dining area. It was a nice change from our usual Sunday routine around Borken.

River walk in Dusseldorf - so many people it's easy to forget it was a Sunday!

Also, so many long sleeves and jackets it's easy to forget it was late July!

Bryan with a sleepy Dylan at the end of the boardwalk.

The people give the illusion that stores are open. 

Another great walking area in Dusseldorf on a Sunday

Even the street performers were out.  No "day of rest" for them.

No Cell Phone, No Problem

Some of our readers may be shocked - SHOCKED - to hear that this 29-year-old Gen-Y'er doesn't own a cell phone. (gasp!) I am a marketing and demographical anomaly.  Surprisingly, I find it quite simple to go through daily life here without a "handy," as the German's like to call them.

Even when I did have a cell phone back in St. Augustine, I had the cheap "free" phone that came with signing up for our AT&T plan (although, that's more of a product of my cheap, I mean frugal, husband than my cell phone preferences), and I didn't really use it all that much.  I went through college and several years post-college without a cell phone and it wasn't until I took a job that had me frequently traveling across town to and from meetings in a less-than-reliable car that I finally got one.  My first several cell phones were so seldom used, in fact, that I had pay-as-you-go plans instead of regular monthly plans.  And I have never had a phone that can access the Internet.

When we moved to Germany last September, I had a pretty humorous "exit interview" with AT&T about my future plans for phone usage.  I could tell the person conducting the interview was a young girl probably just out of college, and I was throwing her through a few loops.. Here's how some of the conversation went:

AT&T: Can you share with me why you have chosen to cancel your plan?

Me: I don't need it anymore.

AT&T: So, you're leaving AT&T for another provider?

Me: No.

AT&T: What do you plan on using for your mobile communication?

Me: Nothing.

AT&T:  How will you make phone calls?

Me: We have a landline for local calls and I use Skype for long distance.

AT&T: Do you have plans to get a mobile phone in the future?

Me: No.

AT&T: How old are you?

Me: 29.

AT&T: (silence)

So, daily life here in Germany really isn't complicated enough to need a cell phone. Here are 3 reasons why:

1. I don't receive enough phone calls to warrant a cell phone.  If someone calls while I'm not home, I can see who it is on caller ID and call them back.  We don't even have a voice mail for our local calls! (Note: Our phone is equipped with a voice mail, but it's all in German and we don't know how to set it up).  
2. I don't drive anywhere (I don't know how to drive a manual car... but during August Bryan is going to teach me ... stay tuned for a he said / she said blog post next month about that adventure). There is no fear of venturing out in the car, getting a flat tire and needing to call for assistance.  That scenario just isn't going to happen.
3. I don't want to pay the bills.  We live a remarkably low-bill lifestyle right now and want to keep it that way as long as possible.

So, regarding phones, I am essentially living up to mid-1980s technology standards and don't mind it one bit.  Bryan, on the other hand, does have a cell phone, but he never knows where it is, so it is of little use.  He told me that in December he put 15 Euros worth of minutes on it and still has 13.80 remaining.  The only time we make sure to locate it and charge the battery is when we get a babysitter so she can reach us in case of an emergency.   Our first few dates here sans cell phone were oddly liberating.  It was scary and freeing to say to the babysitter as we scurried out the door "We don't have cell phones so use your best judgement.  Just call 112 (Germany's 911) if there's an emergency.  See you around midnight - bye!"  

What I've Been Doing - Bryan's Update

I have had a really busy summer so far.  Work/school has been in full swing and basketball has been going 4 nights a week.  Yes, Tuesday is currently the only evening I am home during the week.  Occasionally, I can make it home in time to play with Dylan for a while and say hello (while eating dinner) to Dana.  These past weeks have been grueling and could be a recipe for a total breakdown somewhere towards the end of the long basketball season, but I am trying to strategically use my ample vacation to minimize the insanity and prolong the inevitable burnout. 

Speaking of Urlaub (Vacation), we will be taking a couple of weeks off in August.  We can't wait to share our adventures with you.  We have established our budget and have made our accomodations (I will let Dana share the details of where we are going if she wants.) 

Since I spend most of my week on a bus and in the gym, here are a couple of noteworthy updates from me this summer.

Enjoying Germany's Public Transportation/ Mastering the 'Do Not Disturb' face

After 6 weeks of riding the bus from Borken to Münster every day, something happened.   I stopped getting sick when reading/doing work on the bus.  This was a far cry from my first two weeks where I almost needed to get off the bus halfway through the trip so I could throw up and was totally sick for the first 20-30 minutes once I got home. 

This is huge for me, as it means I get 10 extra hours of work in per week. 

I also noticed that I am typically the last person to have someone sit next to me on the bus.  Normally, if there is room, each person has two seats to themselves (one for them and one for their bag/jacket).  When the bus becomes more crowded, the people getting on must ask if they can sit next to someone else (implying that they move their crap, I want to sit down.)   I have learned that it must be important that you ask permission before sitting down.  I once sat without asking and the woman glared at me the entire 55 minute ride.  

Usually, asking for permission to sit is the end of the discussion with the person until it’s your stop and you need them to move again.  German’s aren’t very chatty when there isn’t beer involved.  This is a good thing, because the commute is more of a work time for me now and I would rather not be obligated to make small talk with somebody every day.

Anyway, I have noticed that all other seats are totally filled before somebody asks me to move.   I have thought about this quite a bit and can only think of a few reasons why.

1.       Maybe I smell.  You can’t rule it out. 

2.       Maybe I look like I don’t speak any German.  Unfortunately, this theory does not work in other situations.  We currently blend in well here (although I still won’t wear black socks under sandals and Dana won’t wear a scarf when it’s 90 degrees /35 degrees Celsius outside.)  Also, nobody on the bus knows if I speak German or not (see above:  we don’t speak, period.)

3.       Maybe I am incredibly good looking or really ugly.  I am still not sure which one I am, but it could be why nobody wants to sit next to me. 

4.       Maybe I have developed a great ‘do not disturb’ face. 

I am pretty sure it’s not number 1, 2, or 3.  Therefore, I am fairly certain that it’s #4.

The purpose of the ‘do not disturb’ face is to make someone feel (in the ½ second they walk by my seat) that asking me to move over would be a really inconvenient/confrontational task for them and for me, so they might as well ask somebody else. 

To successfully pull this off, it’s important that you must do it in a very discrete way.  Because you ride with a lot of the same people every day, you can’t overtly stare at somebody and say with your eyes while shaking your head, ‘there is no way you are sitting next to me.’  After all, it still is public transportation and you might be asking them to sit the next day.   

My key to becoming the last person with an open seat is to become very serious (and very intense) about what I am reading/working on at the time.  I don’t look up from my work, which I think helps add to the ‘do not disturb’ face.  It would almost appear that I would also be surprised to see you as well as annoyed if you were to ask for the open seat. 

If the theory ever breaks down (and it does occasionally), it is important to be extra nice when someone actually asks you to sit next to them.   If someone asks me to sit, I give an overly friendly, ‘kein problem’ (‘not a problem’) just to show them that there are no hard feelings and that the ‘Do not disturb’ face was not an ‘I’m a mean person’ face.  

Bryan's note:  Ok, I just realized after proof reading this that I spend way too much time on this bus.   Sorry to bore you with those details.  Here is the other update:

Basketball Boot Camp

The basketball team that I coach (2^nd Mens) have been working really hard this summer.   We decided at end of the season, as a group, that we would do some sort of fitness program in the 13 weeks of summer that the gym is open to replace just having open gyms.  What they didn’t know is that they were about to join ‘Bryan’s Boot Camp.’ 

For the last 12 weeks, we have met two days per week and spent the first 45 minutes doing various basketball centric exercises.  The rest of the time is working on our individual games (shooting, 1 on 1, etc.)  

For the fitness part, we first do jump rope (we currently do 1200 as our warm up.)  Second, we do the Medicine Ball 200, which is the core muscle workout used by the University of North Carolina basketball team (essentially 200 sit ups/crunches.)  We recently did the Medicine Ball 200 twice in a row. 

After that, we play cards.  Not in the way you’d think.  We currently go through an entire deck of cards one card at a time.  However, all red cards are sit ups and all black cards are push ups.  Jacks count for 11, Queens count for 12, Kings are 13, and Aces are now 15.  That means when the entire deck is finished, we will have completed 210 push ups and 210 sit ups.  Add this all together and you have Bryan’s Boot Camp.

I figured we would be doing the last workouts with 4 people maximum.  I had originally said that these practices were optional, so only the serious guys would come.  What actually happened was the group grew in size.  We started with 12 and the group grew to about 18.  It’s back down to about 14 down each workout, but I have been pleasantly surprised how many guys are serious about getting better at basketball.  Even Dana and Dylan come to the gym most nights while we are working out and Dylan gets involved by doing jump rope (without the rope) and sit ups.  He did 30 sit-ups on my lap the other night.  I'm so proud.

When one of my players calls me ‘Drill Sergeant,’(and they do) I am quick to point out that I am doing the exercises right next to them (and I also point out that I am the oldest in the group) and a real drill sergeant would only shout the orders.   I am more of a crazy fitness instructor that really enjoys hearing people yelling in pain. 

As of Friday, we are finished with the 13 week program.  We did our final fitness test on Wednesday (and had the celebration party at my house on Friday.)  I am really proud of my team for working so hard this summer.  They have improved so much (with fitness and their overall basketball game) in the last 12 weeks.   I can’t wait for the season to start. 

Bryan's note:  That story wasn't much better. I will go try to get a life in the next month and come back with more interesting stories. 


Here are some photos of other things we've been doing lately:

Bryan played in Philip Lensings "transition game" from being a Wulfen player to a Borken player.  This was a friendly game in which Philip played for 1 team during the first half, then switched to the other team for the second half to represent his switch to a new team. This photo is after the game when Philip was giving a speech to the 300+ people who attended the game.

We went to a birthday party for one of Dylan's friends who has a trampoline.  It was so cute watching all 6 kids jump and run around together.  Miraculously, no one collided and bumped heads.

For the end of summer training celebration, we had Bryan's team over. I still can't believe we fit this many people in our living room. 

Dylan had a blast at our little party too.  Each time the buzzer rang and  a new person showed up Dylan would point and shout "New one! New one!" excited that there was somebody new for him to pester, I mean, play with.

Here is Dylan's reaction every time we watch the video of him and his "Papa" (Grandpa) on the choo-choo-train at a park in Maryland.  It never gets old.

Dylan's Dream Come True - Open House at the Fire Station

One of Dylan's favorite things to do is walk by the fire station every day an see if any of the fire trucks are out in the parking lot.  He gets so excited he jumps up and down, points his fingers and shouts "Mommy!  Weee-oohhhh! Weeeee-ooohhh! Tee-tee taa-taaa!" (the sounds that a fire truck makes in Germany) and runs around the parking lot in a crazed state of excitement.

So, we knew it was going to be a pretty exciting day for Dylan when the fire station had its annual Open House last Sunday.  They had food and beer tents set up, all of the trucks were out and to Dylan's delight they allowed kids to sit  in the drivers seat, climb around and push all the buttons they wanted.

We planned on taking Dylan over there after his nap, but since we live directly behind the fire station there was simply too much noise and excitement happening outside of his window to make a nap possible.

The day would have been perfect had Dylan taken a nap.  It also didn't help that in the morning we tried to tire him out by taking him on a picnic to a nearby playground and lake, and let him run around for a few hours in the sun.  But it was clear after 45 minutes that he was not going to sleep, so we gave in and walked over to check things out.

Everything started out pretty well and Dylan was generally well-behaved until he realized that he was actually allowed to sit in the trucks and play with things.  He was good with sharing the back seats with other kids, but he went off the rails when he had to wait in line to sit in the driver's seat.  He cried and screamed a little louder with each kid who got a turn before him and, of course, like magic the tears immediately ceased when it was his turn.  He pushed all the buttons and pretended to drive the truck, but when his turn was over getting him out of the seat was a huge task.  Bryan had to grab him by the legs and was holding him completely horizontal while Dylan held on for dear life to the steering wheel and screamed at the top of his lungs.  Yes, we were those parents and he was that kid.  Needless to say, we didn't stay too much longer after that incident.  A pregnant lady looked on in disgust as she plugged her ears to stifle Dylan's nearby shrieks.  Bryan said to her as we passed, 'Just wait, your time will come soon.'

I asked him who he was talking to and he said "Oma" (Grandma)

This looks like a kid who's on a fast track to a meltdown.

Smiles after watching a demonstration of how the crane works.  

Finally, it's his turn!

"Don't you dare try to take me out of here!"

Watching another demonstration...

Dylan fought off some older kids to sit on this seat.  All those sit-ups and push-ups that he does at home (seriously... but that's a story for another blog post) have paid off.

Last photo taken on our way back home. He was one tired kid.