Germany

I’ve been thinking a lot about Germany. I think because Av was about Camille's age when we were there. Feb 2007 we spent a month there. John needed to go for his job and so Av and I went with him. It was a great experience but very hard too. John flew there first to get us set up and Av and I followed a week later. The flight there was very tough. I thought Av would sleep but she decided she didn’t want to. Getting off that plane in a strange country not speaking the language with a 1 year old was very scary. I had to make it though customs and baggage claim by myself until on the other side John was waiting. Luckily a very nice businessman helped us with our bunches of bags (car seat including the base, stroller, pack and play, diaper bag, purse, booster seat, toy bag, each had a bag of clothes and a kid). John spent as much time with Av and I as he could but still we were on our own a lot too. We spent countless hours wandering the city and hanging out in the city square. There was a great park that Av loved and a neat toy store. I had 3 Starbucks to pick from so I was happy. Avery rode the bus in her stroller everywhere we went. For months afterward she would point out buses and motion to get on them. Our apartment was a 2 bedroom 2 bathroom furnished place. It was nice and had a balcony overlooking a courtyard. There was a nice grocery store 2 blocks from our apartment and for an activity Av and I would walk there and decide what new food we would try for dinner that night. Av and I spent so much time playing in our apartment there. She was not walking yet but she had just learned to cruise. I would line cereal up on the coffee table to encourage her to cruise around it. The only channel we had that was in English was MTV and it was not even all in English so TV was not really a part of our life there (the girls do not watch much TV still at all. It’s not on during the day at our house. Just the am for breakfast and Av has a few shows she watches for quiet time each day). During those days Av had a fascination for anything that could be worn like a necklace. Embarrassed to admit this included my underwear. She would pull them all out of the drawers and one by one put them on around her neck. This went on for months and months but makes me think mostly about Germany since it’s one activity we did a lot there. I have wondered a lot if Camille will do this too but I don’t think so because she is of the age that Av used to. I remember once answering the front door with her in my arms with about 12 pairs of my underwear around her neck because at the time she always had it around her neck I barely noticed. We took weekend trips to visit castles and at the end of our stay in Germany we drove to Holland to visit John’s aunt, uncle, cousin and cousin in law. It was so nice to see them and have them meet Av. I can’t wait to go back and take Camille someday.