I got carded & Found Crullers

We had our first run in with German authorities this week.

Max and I have taken the bus a few times here which is always a challenge trying to get Max and the stroller on board in a matter of seconds. he first time we tried it poor little Max got caught in the doors. Luckily he wasn't hurt just shocked! On the buses there is a place in the middle for stroller and wheelchairs. Usually there are a couple of strollers already there so it can be quite tight. We went to the pool again this week and took the bus since it is a good hike on foot. Going to the pool is pretty exhausting for me because I have to take the stroller and a big back pack with all of our swimming stuff. so we get on the bus and squeeze the stroller in between two other strollers. I set Max back in the stroller since there are no seats and then stop to take a big breath - yea we made it! About the time I exhale a guy is sticking a yellow card in my face. Stephan had mentioned there are people who travel on buses and trains to make sure everyone pays so I could guess who this guy was. Anyway I just held out the change I had meticulously counted out so I would have the exact amount to give the driver when I was able to make my way between all the people standing with my massive back pack up to the front. The guy was not impressed. He said it was too late that he had watched me get Max settled and then stand there and do nothing. Seriously it could have only be a few seconds. Anyway, a lady who was on the bus with infant twins in a stroller started yelling at him to give me a break and that it is too hard to make it all the way to the front with a small child. She was good and the guy let me of this time. I think there is a hefty fine - something like $50 if you are caught riding without paying. So now I am really afraid of the bus since I need to get on, get settled and run to the front to pay! I need to figure out a monthly card but we only ride once or twice a week so it dosen't make that much sense but it would be easier.

On a good (or bad) note I have discovered that they have cruller donuts here. The kind that look like tractor tires. When I was little we used to go to a little independent donuts shop after church and they had the best crullers - eggy inside with lots of air pockets - super light. I haven't found really good ones in the States in years. They are usually more cake-like on the inside. I saw them in a bakery window and was so excited. I have now tried several different bakery's and they are all fantastic! No wonder all this walking hasn't made one pound of difference!

Rosenmontag 2

Here the second and last video of carnival. I am already week behind in reporting what we have been up to so here is a brief summary. On Tuesday after the parade Patci and Martin stayed to do a little walking tour of the city with Max and I. It probably wasn't that exciting since everything was closed - I guess recuperating from a week of carnival. We did have a nice walk along the river and ended with a Mexican lunch which thrilled Max. Patci and Martin headed back to Hamburg after lunch and Max and I just hung out at home. Wednesday we went out to find a new potty seat for Max since I thought he had to go to school on Monday without diapers and thought we should at least start the potty training before he was expected to use the potty at school. Stephan corrected me on that. Apparently I completely misunderstood what the school had said and he can go in diapers to school. So no rush but it needs to be done any way. So far he has sat on it twice but no activity yet. The afternoon on Weds was beautiful - sunny and relatively warm so we rode the bike along the river and used the new bubbles we got to have some fun. Stephan had to work late so Max and I had an easy dinner at Pizza Hut around the corner. I was thrilled to find a salad bar! We also got a world map so Max can now point out where Georgia, Alabama, Germany and Australia are. Australia because we met with a woman (Pauline)from Melbourne on Thurs who has just moved to the area and may do some babysitting for us. Max seemed to like her so she is coming on Sunday evening to a trail run. Stephan and I will go to dinner or a movie near by in case it doesn't work out so well. Yea our first night out! We met some friends (Melanie and Elena) at the pool again yesterday afternoon and they went with us back to the Mexican place as they were interested in the experience. We are thinking of having Pauline spend 2 hours with Max and Elena every Monday afternoon and Melanie and I getting to spend some time on our own which sounds fantastic to me. Massage and pedicure here I come!

Max starts preschool on Monday. He will only go from 9-11 the first two weeks to get acclimated. I am hopeful that it won't be too traumatic. I am planning on staying the first day since it will be such a big change for him. So far he has said he doesn't really want to go but hopefully the kids and the toys will change his mind.

The rental car contract was up so it went back a few days ago. Stephan is now a train commuter. Hopefully our car will arrive in the next week or so. Not sure how long it will take to get any modifications done. it will be nice to have transportation to the big grocery store soon though. We are planning on visiting friend's of Stephan's who live about an hour south of here this weekend. We spend New Years eve with then when we were in hamburg two years ago and had a great time so I am looking forward to the visit. I guess that is it for now.

Rosenmontag 1

Here is a video of the final big day of Carnival. Stephan's sister Patci and her boyfriend Martin came in the night before. We got decked out in hats I made and Max put on his lion suit and we headed out to the platz by our house and scored a spot on a wall just above the parade route which worked out great for Max since he wasn't too excited to be too close to some of the costumes. He definitely got into yelling "hellau" and waving to get treats. If we talked to him when a big float was approaching he told us to wait until it had gone past. he didn't want to miss any treats! We got tons of things including a soccer ball, bags and bags of popcorn, candy, a roll, a soft pretzel, bags of chips, some cheese, a hot dog, packets of waffles, soup mix packets, loads of tissue packs and even a pair of men's thongs! In the second video you can see all the goods! The weather was pretty good. We had a few minutes of very cold rain but then we actually got a good hour of sunshine. The parade lasted over 4 hours! We then walked down to an area where there was music and people were partying in the street just to check it out. It ended up being a little to crazy/crowded for a stroller and a 3 year old we headed in around 7pm. Max was a trouper. No nap, tons of noise and people.

Carnival

Here are a few pics from carnival. I am uploading the video now. Max found the tiger women particularly scary. The statue is in one of the main platzs and someone climbed up to give him a more festive look. The big heads are a famous symbol for Mainz carnival. Stephan thinks they represent different political figures. Not sure though.

Apartment Tour 1

Trying again to upload the first part of the apartment tour.

More Carnival

More Saturday Carnival

Here is some more carnival video

Views from Carnival on Saturday - children's parade

First day of carnival

Thursday was the first day of carnival (Fastnach) here. Max and I scored a great seat in a cafe in front of all the action. Can't get the video to load just yet. You hear people yelling what sounds like "Hello" everywhere. Apparently for carnival everyone yells "hellau" as a greeting. I will be putting up video from the parade we saw yesterday and and you will hear it every 5 seconds! Max has even been saying it as we go down the street. We haven't gotten to check out the carnival nightlife since we haven't found a babysitter (we do have an appointment for next Thurs to meet one)but I hear people singing in the streets at all hours.

Apartment Tour

Here a look at our new place. This is the second video. i am having trouble uploading the first one.

Cupella

Many of you have asked what I am going with Cupella (my line of sleepwear/lounge wear). I have been working with a company in Ft Worth (In Style Exchange)to do product development and production. We had a major issues when the dying house sent my fabric and elastics to Ft Worth and the elastics somehow didn't make it for In Style to develop sample garments. This happened a few days before we left for Germany. So In Style had to source new elastics. I got news yesterday that the patterns and sample of 2 of the designs are done. They will be shipping them to me over here for review. Here is a pic of what pattern looks like. We'll see what the sample looks like when it gets here. UPS to ship a small 5 lbs box was over $150 so we are using the US postal service 2 week delivery to bring it down to $50. I had no idea shipping would be so much for such a small package!

Carnival Starts Today

Today at 11:11 am Carnival kicks off in Mainz. Not sure what that means. Max and I are finally going to register as residents today and try to get him a German passport so we will be coming back through the main platz around that time. I'll post later about what we find. I have been holding off on posting any more videos as our wireless data stick is saying we are over our time/data amount. Friday is the day they are supposed to hook up internet in the house so be watching for lots of pics/videos soon.

Just got an email from a couple in ATL who are moving to the area in March. They found us on an expat site I am on. Yea! Maybe a friend to explore and hang out with!

Happy Carnival (Fastnachts)

Party Horn Dance

Max loves the party horns Oma Stella sent. Here is the party horn dance he created.

First Paly Date

Video of the cafe where we had our first play date!

Jumping Place - Rambazamba

Here is some video of our trip to the jumping place this week.

New Toys - Message for Amy

We got Max a parking garage as soon as we got here and he has totally loved it. Now Stephan and I each spend a few hours a day running car through it. Max wanted to show his teacher (Amy) his new parking garage and bicycle man so he asked me to film this.

Shopping Mistakes

Here is what happens when you don't really know the language or the stores.

Nifty Plaground

Here is a nifty playgorund we found hidden in the middle of Aldtstat (old town where we live).

Care package

We got a lovely care package this week from Oma & Opa Stella (Stephan's parents). It really made our day as we were a little sad that Stephan was on his first business trip and we were on our own for 2 days. Max got all kinds of games and art supplies and I got a chocolate cake!

Possible Preschool for Max

Here is a look at the preschool where Max has a spot starting March 1st. I am still looking at a few other schools but there seems to be a wait list everywhere else. The teacher was very nice and Max liked playing with their cars. We'll see what he says when we actually have to go and stay. He was a little nervous that we were going to leave him there but did seem very impressed with the gym downstairs that each class uses a couple of times a week. They gave us a list of things he needs to start school. Rain boots, house shoes, plastic overalls that the kids wear to play outside. I'll take a pic of him in is new get up soon.

Fun in the House

Here is a little video of Max playing in the house in his new Strumfhose (basically tights all the kids wear here since it is so cold. it took a bit to get him in them but now he wears them daily).

First Sights in Mainz

Here is a look at our first days here. I plan on filming the apartment and uploading it soon.

Calm day for Max and I. We played at home in the morning and went out for a little grocery shopping this afternoon. We both got new umbrellas since there is a light rain here pretty often. Max's has cars on it. He is very proud of it and used it on the way home today. Stephan is back from Vienna and is recovering from a pretty bad cold - still dragging a bit.

Forgot to mention that I sat down and watched my second German tv show last night - Germany's Next Top Model hosted by Heidi Klum. Not in English but the closet thing to home! earlier in the week we watched the German version of American Idol which was also fun even though I don't understand much.

Max got a couple of party horns from Oma Stella (Stephan's Mom) and has been dancing around the house blowing the horns. It is very entertaining and I'll upload a video soon.

More soon...

Great Thursday

We had an awesome day yesterday. It was cold but sunny and we had 2 play dates! We met the wife(Paulina) of one of Stephan's coworkers for coffee and some playtime in the morning. Her husband is Greek, she is Polish and they have a little boy about Max's age and a little girl about 2. They have been here for years but remember what it was like to be new and not speak much of the language which is great. In the afternoon we met a German woman (Melanie)who was raised in the UK and her daughter (Elena)who speaks only English right now to try out the indoor swimming pool in the center of town. It was really fantastic. The water is about 90 in the up stairs Therme room. It is a tropical looking pool with two story glass windows. There is a ledge on the side of the pool that is about 4 feet wide and only about 2 feet deep so the kids can play easily and the parents can stand in the deeper water in the middle. There was a hot tub and a smaller water area with slides and animals that spray water for the really little kids. There was also a round area with fast running water that pulls you a long like a river. We were really surprised when we got in and went speeding around the corner. It was quite difficult to get out of the currant once you were in but Max thought it was fun. It was like zipping around a bundt cake pan that is wide enough for 4 people or so. Hope that explains it. No video from that trip for various reasons. The downstairs has swimming lanes for adults and a spa area with sauna and steam rooms. Apparently the spa area is coed and clothes are not worn. I didn't check that out yet. Not sure what I think about the coed part! The pool is open until 8pm and 2am some nights. On the 2 am nights the pool and spa are nude. Sounds interesting.

One other thing to mention is that everywhere we go (shops, restaurants, even the pool) has little candies or toys to give the kids. We are getting quite a collection of cars and gummy bears!

Well Max is up and very upset that Stephan ate the last of the chocolate marshmellows (Mini Dickmans) so I have to go. More later....

First Set of Videos

Here is a random smattering of videos I have taken since we got here. Still getting used to my little flip camera so things are a bit shaky.

We finally have internet access (via a wireless card - home to be up on Feb 20)so I am finally getting to start the year in Mainz blog I talked about. I have attached 2 email messages that we sent out in case you didn't see them on the first go around. Excuse all the mistakes they were done on the phone and texting isn't my forte just yet.

We had a good day today. Found a great playground that we had heard about but couldn't find. I convinced the DHL guy who delivered an awesome care package from Stephan's mom to go to the automatic pick up machine and get our package out and bring it to me. The package had the wireless card that I am now using to get internet access! Max and I tried a Mexican place (the second one we have found) since he was begging for cheese dip and chips - which they had! He ate a whole bowl of cheese dip, a serving of black beans and 1 1/2 baskets of chips. He was missing his Mexican food!
He has also been very attached to riding in the stroller. A few Germans have commented that he should be walking now not in a stroller. Anyway, he decided he wanted to walk home tonight and made it about half way. It is a good 15 min walk in the cold so I was impressed. So in general a great day! I am going to work on posting some video this evening and will write more later.

Previous emails...
2/11/09
I went to 2 places to try to get Internet service for less than 2 yrs and finally signed a contract. Supposedly we will have it in about a week. Max is feeling much better. We took his bike out on sun for a ride along the river andduck and swan feeding. Yesterday was really rainy and cold so we figures out how to take the bus to a jumping place. He had a blast but getting on and off the bus with a stroller in the rain and walking several blocks on both ends of the trip in the rain wore me out! Have to find so closer indoor options. We ordered a wireless data card so we could have Internet anywhere but they tried to deliver it while we were not home so it is now locked in a DHL automatic machine that requires a European debit card to get it out. We have been waiting on our card since before we left the states. This is a major prob since almost no one takes credit cars. This we are having to use cash everywhere. We have our first play date tomorrow at the swimming pool tomorrow with a lady and her daughter who we met at ikea this weekend. She us german but grew up in the UK and her daughter is about macs age. We will have brave the bus system again to go there. Hopefully I can figure out what line and stop we need. Stephan isin Vienna fir two days so this will be our first days totally alone. We will see how max reacts to Papa not coming home tonight! I got an email from Gigi (mom from macs Atlanta school who just moved to Frankfurt with her kids too). They aregavung the same internet issuesbut hopefully we will take the train to visit the inthe next week. Carnival starts here soon. They had a pick off gala last night in the plaza by our house. It was too cold and wet to go out but we watched it on tv. Lots of Funny costumes, dancing and singing. Max was very interested in the show. Stephan said mainz has about 200,000 people and it goes up to 500,000 during carnival. May get really crazy soon. I think the parades start in 2 weeks. Stepans sister and boyfriend (maxs favorrite person) are coming for the weekend in 2 weeks. They were going to drive stephans car down from the harbor but we got a message saying the boat it was supposed to go on got dry docked so it won't ship until deb 20 to arrive some time early march.

2/3/09
Max is doing really well – a little more sensitive than usual and he wants to stay in most of the time but no major breakdowns yet. We did go see a possible new school yesterday. He seemed really worried we were going to leave him there but he really warmed up when he saw that they have a little gym in the basement with mats and a big box of balls they can play in. It is 22 kids in a class which I think is really big for him so I am going to keep looking but at least we have an option. Max has made Amy several pictures already. We have to find a post office and we will send them soon. Max wants me to say he got a new bike today and rode down the cobblestone streets next to me as we went looking for an internet café and he is drinking his juice and water. Not sure what this is about. He has asked about you both tons and wanted to buy Isie some food yesterday. Luckily no breakdowns! We’ll try to write once a week until we get internet at home. Max has been really good while we sit in the café to catch up on some emails.