Since we closed on our house late last month, things have been pretty non-stop. John was still in Germany until last Thursday, so it was me and the kids here trying set up shop. As I just mentioned, John was in Germany until last Thursday wrapping up things at work, packing and seeing a few sights. During his last few weeks there, he was able to take a quick trip to Munich, Normandy, and Obersalzberg. Obersalzberg is located in the German Alps and is home to the "Eagle's Nest", which is a retreat located high in the mountains presented to Hitler for his 50th birthday. He also visited Dachau, one of the few existing concentration camps in Germany. Most were destroyed after the war, but a few were left intact as a memorial to those killed. He visited Normandy with our good friend Nick, but did the rest of the tour himself. Below are a few pictures from his travels.
Here in Iowa, the kids and I have been busy unpacking and trying to establish everything that comes with a new home, i.e. phone, internet, cable. Next week we are on to another project - finishing the basement. Just when we thought we were ready for a little peace and quiet, we decided to finish the basement in our home right away. Hopefully, if everything goes according to plan, the basement will be complete just as our sea shipment from Germany arrives, again, if everything goes according to plan.
Henry has been taking a few fun classes at the Family Museum this week -"Dirt Diggers" and "Bug Hug". They were only a couple of hours each day and he had a blast. It was really good for him to get into a group setting again, I can tell he really misses his school in Germany. The other day he asked me when he could return to school, I felt terrible for him. He has managed to stay busy here at home though. We spend a lot of time exploring our yard, finding fun things in the empty lot next door, and watching all of the construction taking place around the neighborhood. The other morning, after a hard rain, we found a tiny frog in the driveway. After a few minutes of investigating him, I finally convinced Henry the little guy had to find his mommy. After a long goodbye, Henry finally let the little guy go into the grass. I thought we were going to have a new pet for a minute. The good news is he will be starting preschool in August and has a pretty full schedule until then. Swimming lessons start in July and he has a few more classes at the museum.
Beatrice is doing great. She just celebrated her 3 month birthday on Wednesday!! I cannot believe she is 3 months old already, what a 3 months it has been - she is certainly well traveled. We want to give a big birthday hug to her little friend in Germany, Eliana Keeler, who had her 3 month birthday on Tuesday!
As for me, I am happy to have John home and our family together again. When John arrived home, we were able to tour the jet he flew home on, Henry even got to go into the cockpit - which he thought was pretty cool. Father's Day was great, the kids made John stepping stones, like Henry has every year - our collection is growing rapidly. I am planing to return to work part time in August, hopefully by then we will be completely settled.
Congratulations to our nephew Will, who made the All Star team in Dubuque - he has always been our "All Star"!!!
Below are pictures of John's travels, our new home, and day to day fun stuff.
Enjoy.
