Time for a reboot

Update 5 March:
I posted some photos from a day at the beach here!
Update 26 February:
I posted the back to school photos here! 

Hi folks, we're back!

Where have we been? Well, we've been around! Since I stopped in the middle of working on a post about the rest of our Easter trip (which I have published here, finally, by the way), we've been living our lives here in Poland and traveling when possible. In July we went to Krakow. In July and August we took a two week vacation to Český Krumlov in the Czech Republic, Vienna, the Plitvice Lakes National Park, Dubrovnik, Split, and Rovinj in Croatia, Lake Bled and the Lipizzaner Stallion Farm in Lipica, Slovenia. Then we went to Copenhagen with friends. In October during fall break we took a trip down to Bavaria and saw Garmisch, Mad King Ludwig's castle, Neuschwanstein, better known as the inspiration for Cinderella's castle at Disney World, Munich, and Salzburg. When Aunt Sarah came to visit in December she and I spent some time in Berlin, and we all spent a couple of days traveling to Dresden and Bolesławiec. When Aunt Mer and Uncle Steve came after Christmas we went back to Krakow, then to Budapest, Slovakia, Prague, and Berlin. Over Emmy's recent winter break between the school terms, we went down to Graf, the U.S. post closest to us, and also Rothenburg and Nürnberg. It's been quite a year.

So, where have I been? Well, I have to be honest, on April 13th we got some unhappy news: Charles wasn't going to appear on the promotion list to Lieutenant Colonel that was being released the next day. We were shocked, disappointed, upset. Neither of us wanted to be overly confident, we knew it was a possibility, but he'd been given this job because he was "in the top third" of his year group. I certainly did not understand fully what it meant if this came to be. Because this was his "primary zone" look for LTC, meaning the year that he would be expected to be promoted and his best chance of being selected, then he only gets one more look. The chances are much smaller that he will get promoted, and if he does not, then he gets kicked out of the Army. Frankly, folks, this has felt like a punch in the gut. After years of service and being encouraged along and being promoted two years early to major, it is deeply disappointing. I really struggled with this news and it really caused me to grieve and caused me to deal with depression like I haven't in years. That may sound dramatic, but I have learned once you have dealt with deep grief, new losses can make those feelings bubble up again stronger than you imagined. This is a life that we've both been devoted to, I spent hundreds, probably thousands of hours volunteering, and gave up career opportunities. To have it all come to an end not on our terms is a blow. We can speculate as to why this happened, but we don't really know. He did all the right things, he just got caught up in numbers and likely he was actually at a disadvantage because he was promoted so early. Unfair, but then we've long ago learned that life isn't fair.

This news affects our family in many significant ways.  It means we could lose his retirement, although he should have no trouble applying for the early retirement program that is temporarily in effect. But even that will not be a significantly smaller retirement pay. It means deciding where to try and settle down, looking for a forever house sooner, having less time to save for that forever house. I have less time to decide if I want to go back to school before he retires. It means we won't know if or where we are moving until this summer, when this year's promotion list is released.  It has meant feeling like we are in a permanent state of limbo. I honestly couldn't bring myself to come back to this space to write about it, and it kept me from blogging about anything else. Sure, we have had a lot of fun these last few months, don't get me wrong, but as a friend who is in a similar situation has said, it cast a gray cloud over everything.

So, I'm sorry. We're here. I'm back at it. I've started this post probably 20 times in the last 10 months, but here it is. I'll continue to try and post photos from our adventures. We've got a lot more coming up, as we're trying to pack it in before we potentially move this summer. The kids are happy and healthy and keep us on our toes. We've celebrated birthdays and holidays and enjoyed watching them grow in this international environment.

One thing is for sure, we miss you all terribly and we hope you are well. I'll close this post with our Valentine for 2017 (which should be arriving to you soon, if they have not already), as we send our love from across the globe.

A fall day at the beach

August was a good bit cooler than usual, even for this area I think, but September brought some sunnier days and warmer weather. We were even able to head to the beach in Germany the 2nd weekend in September for a few hours. It was lovely, we'd never been to this beach. The kids had a blast, Rags had a blast, and we ran into some other friends there. We also were reminded that we should really not plan any more picnics on the beach, we always wind up eating a lot of sand, ha!

This time we headed to the beach in Ueckermünde, Germany, about an hour away. It is on the Szczecin Lagoon instead of the Baltic, so it is not only closer, but warmer and calmer than the Baltic. And it was less windy! There is a dog friendly part of the beach, so Rags was able to run around ad have a good time. Of course it is also next to the nude part of the beach. Hey, bodies are bodies! But I was glad that curious Emmy didn't seem to notice, so we didn't have to get into any discussions about that.

It was a lovely couple of hours there, we were so glad we went and checked it out!

I have long said that Emmy is never happier than when she is at the beach. Still true! 

They could walk out so far and the water was super shallow. Matthew had a blast! 

Gosh I love these two! 

Rags and her new friend.

That is the best daddy right there playing with his kiddos.

Time to build sand castles! 

First days of school

Emmy started P3, 2nd grade, on September 1st. She is having a good year so far!

All of the children in her class last year have returned for the new school year, and three new students have joined the class. The new little girl visited last spring for a day, and Emmy and she instantly connected then, and picked right up when school started. Emmy is excited to have another girl who is "little, like me!" Emmy is one of the smallest in her class and she likes having a pal her size.

Overall, she has a good class. Her teacher from P2 told me the other day she really misses their class, they are a wonderful group. Her teacher this year is also lovely and she said that when the kids came into class the first day they all said "Good morning Ms. Edyta, how are you?" which Ms. Magda taught them to do last year. She loved it, and I love that they not only were taught that, they remembered!  She likes her teacher this year, she knew her already, so that was nice. It is the first time that she can remember starting a new school year as an "experienced" student from that school. The last time this happened was in CO when she four months in the 3 year old class when we moved there, so that fall she started Pre-K back at the same school. Anyways, it was nice for both of us this year, we knew the routine, she knew the children and the students, I knew other parents. It has been a good transition.

Waiting on the opening ceremony to start. 

Two handsome dudes. Matthew was as patient as one could expect a 2 year old to be during a very long ceremony. Thankfully it was on the playground, and there were other little friends running around. 

Emmy chose KFC for supper that night. Then she got sick overnight and had to miss school the next day. We aren't having KFC again for awhile. 

 And then, Mr. Matthew started preschool! He's such a big boy! Originally I thought he would not be starting until the end of September, when their new building was ready, but when I went to go pay the deposit and fill out paperwork, the director said, oh he can start Monday! That was on a Monday, so then the teacher in the class said to bring him an hour or two the rest of the week for "adaptation". So, I took him again Tuesday and Wednesday while Emmy was still in Summer camp. Then that Thursday was the first day of her school, so we did not go to the preschool. And, unfortunately, Emmy woke up Thursday night and threw up. So, Friday we all stayed home. The next week, he went for a few hours each day before he finally stayed for naptime. By the 2nd week, he was waving good-bye to me and walking on down the hall on his own! His best pal is named Hania and he seems to be doing great. They are warm and kind. He has a music class and the learn some English and some German. Several other families from the barracks send their children to this school, so it is a good place to be.

This is the main building of the preschool. 

And this is where his class is. There was a change in the Polish law, so now kids can stay in the kindergartens a little longer, so they needed more space at his school. They opened a 2nd building nearby for the littlest ones. It is very nice! 

Getting help with his inside shoes from his big sister. 

Easter Break Part 2 - Trier, Bruges and a bit of Luxembourg

Let's see where were we...oh yes, on our way to Bruges! Everyone we'd spoken to about Belgium said Bruges was their favorite city, including Rick Steve's travel guide, so we decided to take advantage of being closer to Belgium and drive to Bruges.  On the way, we stopped in Trier, Germany, as it is a short drive from Michaele and Josh's home.

Trier is the oldest City in Germany, founded in 16 B.C. b Augustus, and was an ancient Roman capital . It is situated close to the border with Luxembourg, and while we wanted to take a trip much to do in the same day as Trier. We made it late morning and parked near the Porta Nigra, the remaining Roman gate to the city.

To the right is a church that was added to it, which is possibly was it was saved from destruction during various wars. 

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Photography by Emmy

Happy girl at lunch.

We walked down to eat lunch at a restaurant that had been recommended to us: The Potato Restaurant, Kartoffel Restaurant Kiste. It was yummy!

The Basilica is now a UNESCO World Heritage site.

As we left lunch, rain had begun to fall again. We walked over to the Basilica of Constantine, which is the oldest Christian church in Germany.

Outside of a restaurant, I just love Europe for all of it's charm. When the weather warms up, this place will be amazing. 

Plan showing the original plan of the church.

We were back on the road fairly quickly in order to get to Bruges by suppertime. We had arranged to rent a flat from a lovely couple who runs a B&B and have recently remodeled a couple of flats nearby.

Walking to supper, one of the lovely canals in Bruges

We were a little later because of construction, so we checked in, threw our stuff in the flat, parked the car (parking is tight in the city, one reason we picked this place is they offered secure parking a couple of blocks away that our big American car barely squeezed into), and went to eat at the closest restaurant recommendation to our location from Rick Steve's guide, a delicious Italian place called Carlito's. Fortunately we got a table and the kids, while tired, did not embarrass us too much while we inhaled food and got out of there. Ha! I always feel a bit self conscious taking the kids out to eat in Europe. I'm not sure about Belgium specifically, but eating out in Poland is expensive for Poles, so you don't see children out as much as were used to.

YUM!

The next day we slept in a bit. The time did not change here until Easter weekend, so we were all adjusting and sleeping in later, which was pretty glorious. Our goals for the day were to cover the basics: Belgian beer, chocolate, waffles, and fries. We ate a small breakfast and took off for the city center in search of our 2nd breakfast: Belgian waffles!

After waffles and walking around the square some, we opted not to climb to the top of the tower so we could make the brewery tour at 11 am. Along the way, we stopped at a couple of recommended chocolate shops for some Belgian chocolate, of course!

Belgian Chocolate!

Brewery tour! One of the best we've ever been on. 

Learning all about the different grains used for making beer and how they add flavor.

After climbing a lot of stairs, we made it to the roof of the brewery. 

These are the tanks they used to ferment the beer in. 

Belgian Beer! Beer tasting after the tour.

Emmy enjoyed hot chocolate instead.

Matthew enjoyed playing around. 

After the brewery tour, it was time for some lunch, to include Belgian fries, of course! 

Belgian fries! 

Sharing a delicious piece of chocolate.

Beautiful statue of the Madonna and child. 

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Canal boat tour! It rained on us off and on, but we enjoyed it. 

The next day we had to pack up and start the trek back home. We made a quick stop for Belgian beer, then headed into Luxembourg. We'd hoped to go into Luxembourg City for lunch, but time was tight making it to our stop for the night, so we opted to stop at the American Cemetery instead.  General George Patton is buried there. We walked around a bit before heading back to the car to make it to Ramstein for the night. 

On the way out of Belgium we had to stop at a grocery store so Charles could fill the car with beer. 

We barely fit! 

American Cemetery in Luxembourg. 

General Patton's grave

Emmy loved the fountains.

We spent the night back at Ramstein AFB (well, just off base this time) so we could pick up a few more things at the commissary, then we headed home the next day. It was a wonderful trip!