Prague

This has been a wild week in the Archer house. As many of you know, we are planning to return to the United States for a visit this Thursday, well, it is now going to be a house hunting trip as well!! We were informed earlier this week that our stay in Germany will be ending much earlier than planned. Due to the struggling economy, we will be returning home this summer. John and I are finding the news bitter sweet. While we are happy to return home to family and friends at home, we have made many wonderful friends here, enjoyed countless sights, Henry has a wonderful school, I and have actually adapted to the German culture - which I thought I could never do!! John has also enjoyed the work he has been doing at Deere and everyone in the law department in Germany has been like a second family to us. So, our already busy visit home will be a lot more hectic as we look for a new home and prepare for another international move!

To take our mind off all we have to prepare for, we decided to head to Prague for the weekend. It is about a 4.5 hour drive from our home, so we left early on Friday, stopped for a nice lunch, and arrived in the city in the early afternoon. After checking into our hotel, we headed out to explore the city. We started out with a boat ride on the Vltava River. We had wonderful views of the Charles Bridge, the Prague Castle, and rooftops and spires of "Old Town" and "Lesser Town". After the boat ride we walked through the city and enjoyed looking at the beautiful architecture, jewelry (especially the amber and garnets), and spectacular glass pieces the city is known for. After a great dinner at a local restaurant, we headed back to the hotel for a rest.

On Saturday we did some more sight seeing, shopping, and of course - chased pigeons. European pigeons will be so happy to see Henry Archer move back to the United States. He has made a sport out of chasing innocent pigeons just looking for a bite to eat, although it is quit amusing to watch.

After lunch we headed back to the hotel to check out the pool. John and Henry had a great time swimming. Henry learned how to do a "cannon ball" and has not stopped talking about it since. After a nap, we headed out for more walking and sight seeing. Henry managed to find a John Deere tractor for sale. John ended up buying it for him - like we need one more tractor!!

Bea had fun on the trip as well. She is such a trooper, I cannot believe the places she has been since she has been born, and she never objects! We are very lucky to have such a little princess in our family.

Mommy's Birthday

This week was pretty quiet after my parents left on Tuesday. Henry was very disappointed on Tuesday morning when he woke up to just me and Beatrice in the house. He is still on Spring Break, so we kept busy by going out to lunch and then spent the afternoon at the park. Actually, we spent a couple of afternoons at the park this week - and then took really long naps when we returned home (yeah!).

On Friday we celebrated my birthday. Henry, Bea and I met John at work for lunch, although Henry skipped lunch entirely and played on the tractors, and later, we had planned on going out for dinner. Since we have a three year old and a newborn, we opted to eat at Pizza Hut, plus it is a nice reminder of home. When we arrived at the restaurant, I was surprised to see "Happy Birthday" banners and another John Deere family there to help us celebrate. The Keelers are a wonderful family who moved to Germany shortly after we did - I have talked about their daughters before, Samantha and Abigail, Henry's friends. I am very happy to announce that there is a new little Keeler for Beatrice to be friends with! Eliana Keeler was born just one day before Beatrice - in the same hospital and by the same doctor! It was wonderful sharing such a special memory with them and we look forward to sharing many more great times in the future.

On Saturday, we went over to another John Deere family’s house for a cookout, Luann and Bruce Rickert. Luann decided to have a small cookout at 11 o’clock the night before and emailed us. She made a very funny and true point at dinner – back in the States, it would have been impossible to call three couples at 11 o’clock the night before for a cookout the next day and have them all show up. Life here in Germany is certainly much less hectic and a lot less scheduled.

We had a wonderful time, Bruce did a great job grilling and during dessert, everyone sang Happy Birthday to me and Bea. Below are a couple of pictures of Bea meeting her “John Deere Family”.

After church on Sunday, we visited the local fire station for an open house. Children were given the opportunity sit in the fire trucks, spray the fire hose, observe a fire being extinguished, and play various games. In addition to the kids’ activities, there was a cookout and a band playing. John and I exchanged smiles when the first song they played was John Denver's "Country Road". Henry often sings this song, only he changes the words to "Bumpy Road", how funny they played that song first.

Thank you for all of the birthday wishes, have a great week!!

Luisenpark, Mannheim

In Germany, the Easter holiday extends into Monday, so businesses and stores are closed, so we decided to take the kids to Luisenpark in Mannheim. It was a beautiful sunny day and the last day my parents would be here, so we wanted to make the most of it. Luisenpark is consists of nearly 100 acres of flowering gardens, animal exhibits (mainly birds), lakes, playgrounds, green space and restaurants. After a nice lunch, we walked the gardens, visited many bird exhibits, and went on a boat ride. The park has small boats that run on underwater cables that guide you around the park via the water way. There were huge fish and very aggressive ducks along the way wanting to be fed. Luckily, we had a bag of Cheerios in the diaper bag to satisfy them.

After the park we returned home and enjoyed the afternoon and evening together. Thanks Mom and Dad for a precious visit and for all you do, we are a very blessed family.

Happy Easter!!

The time has gone by so fast since Mom and Dad (and Bea) arrived!! It seems like they just got here and it is time for them to go home already!! Three and a half weeks is just not enough. We could not have survived without them. Henry is going to be heartbroken when they leave Tuesday morning, now I just have to convince him that it won't be 6 months before he sees them again!!

We have continued to stay busy. On Thursday we stuck close to home and took a boat ride on the Neckar River through Heidelberg. The weather was amazing, again, and the views were wonderful. Henry kept pretending he was a pirate (the fun kind) and Bea managed to sleep through the entire ride. After the boat ride, Dad took Henry home while Mom, Bea and I stayed downtown Heidelberg to shop.

John had the day off work on Friday, so we headed down to the Black Forest. Our destination was a small town in the hills called Triberg. Triberg is best known for its cuckoo clocks and is also home to Germany's largest waterfall. John and I had never been, so we were not sure what to expect. As you can see by the pictures below, the Black Forest is spectacular. We visited the waterfall, the cuckoo clock museum, the world's largest cuckoo clock, had a wonderful outdoor lunch, played in a park, hiked, and drove in the mountains. Thanks Mom and Dad for an amazing day!!

On Saturday we were all pretty exhausted from our travels the day before, so we stuck close to home. Mom and I prepared for Easter while John and my Dad visited a local restaurant and beer garden. Later in the day, Henry and John went to park and came home with the most amazing tulips for me from a "pick your own" tulip farm. Papa and Nana also made their famous bunny cake for Henry and Bea and later we had a small egg hunt for Henry and, of course, Easter Bunny visited with a few new toys and clothes for Henry and Bea, thank you Easter Bunny!

After church on Sunday, we joined our friends Nick and Molly at their place for lunch. The children had an Easter egg hunt, played in the garden, and managed to find a bottle of baby powder to make "snow"!?!? Thanks Nick and Molly for a wonderful day.

Enjoy the pictures below.

Schwetzingen, Strasbourg, and Heidelberg

The weather here in Germany has continued to be wonderful, so we are making the most of it. After church on Sunday, we drove to Schwetzingen, a quaint town about 10 minutes from Heidelberg. Like Heidelberg, Schwetzingen is home to a spectacular castle. This castle was used as a "summer home" for royalty. In addition to the many detailed buildings and structures on the property, there were acres and acres of gardens. The daffodils were in full bloom as were all of the flowering trees. We must have walked for two hours and still did not see the entire property. In addition to the sites, there was a darling outdoor cafe and, as usual, Henry found an ice cream stand along the way.

On Monday John and I drove Bea to the American Consulant in Frankfurt to help her with her passport and citizenship. We made the appointment right after she was born and Tuesday was the soonest we could get in. I was amazed at how busy the consulant was. There were hundreds and hundreds of people applying for citizenship and trying to get passports to travel to the U.S. After two hours of going from window to window, we were successful and are anxiously waiting for Bea's passport to arrive.

On Tuesday we drove to Strasbourg, France. We have visited Strasbourg before, so we knew it was worth the drive. The city is just across the border of France and because it has been both French and German, it is the best of both countries. In addition to sight seeing, we took a boat ride on the Rhine River around the city and had a wonderful lunch outside.

On Thursday we finally toured the Heidelberg Castle. John and I have walked past it a several times and I drive by it 4 times a day taking Henry to and from school, but have not been inside yet!! As you can see by the photos below, it is well preserved and sits high on a hill, so the views are spectacular. It was a steep hike up to the entrance, but we managed.

We have made the most of the rest of the week, I will blog more later - it is difficult to keep up, we have been too busy.

Happy Easter.

A Busy Week

This has been a busy week for the Archers. The weather has been absolutely wonderful in Germany (finally). The sun has been out everyday since we returned home from the hospital and the temps have been in the upper 60's and low 70's. Bea is doing great. She is growing so fast, I cannot believe she is almost two weeks old already!! Henry loves his sister, but is even happier about Papa and Nana being here. Everyday when he goes to school he asks them if they will be here when he gets home. He started spring break this week, so he will have the next two weeks off to be with them.

Here is a recap of our week....

Last weekend there was a cute little carnival just a couple of blocks from our house. Although it was small, it was the perfect size for someone Henry's age. My Dad and John took Henry once and then John and I took Henry back for more fun. Henry and John had fun on the bumper cars and also found some yummy treats along the way.

John had to return to work on Monday, so we stayed close to home. My Mom, Bea and I went shopping downtown Heidelberg while my Dad hung out with Henry. As I mentioned above, the weather could not have been nicer, so we did a lot of walking and outdoor exploring.

On Tuesday my Mom, Bea and I went downtown Mannheim for more shopping. John met us for lunch at a local restaurant and later that day he was able to squeeze in 9 holes of golf. Mom, Dad, Henry, Bea and I took the tram downtown Heidelberg later that evening for pizza. Another day full of walking and fun. Later that evening we had a nice visit from another JD family.

On Wednesday I had my HCSC (Heidelberg Community Spouse's Club) monthly luncheon. This is an event I always look forward to and wanted my Mom to join me, so the three of us (we took Bea) went for an afternoon of entertainment, shopping and fun. Several different vendors come to the luncheons and sell merchandise such as jewelry, purses, pottery, linens and various other items. We had a great time, and Bea was the star of the show.

On Thursday I wanted to show my Mom Germany's "American Style" mall (yes, more shopping), so we spent the day browsing around a mall in a neighboring town. My Mom loves all of the shoe stores here - it seems every other store is a shoe store. Later that day I had an appointment with my doctor, so my Mom and Bea tagged along. Dr. Lieder was happy to see Bea doing so well and my Mom was interested to see the differences between office visits in Germany compared to those in the States. Our good friend Molly and her daughter Lucy came to visit later that night.

Finally, on Friday we set off for Trier. Trier is the oldest city in Germany and also is home the Trier Cathedral which houses the Holy Tunic, the robe Jesus was wearing when he died. Trier is also an old stomping ground for my Dad. When he was in the Air Force nearly 45 years ago, he was stationed in Spangdahlem, Germany, a small town 30 minutes from Trier - he and his friends visited Trier to "sight see" once in a while. Later that day we drove to Spangdahlem. Although he did not recognize much of the town, we enjoyed the visit and the drive was spectacular.

On Saturday we took Henry to the Heidelberg Zoo. We enjoyed the sunshine, walking, visiting the animals and the beautiful flowers in bloom.

Below are many pictures from our week.

I will blog more in a couple of days. Thanks for all of your well wishes, we will be home for a visit soon.