Today Michael laid out a plan for us to go up the Wendelstein. It didn’t seem like that big of a deal, one hour by train, then we take a gondola up, a train down then another train back to Munich. Easy peasy right?

We got ready and headed out the door at around 9am. We were surprisingly on time. We decided not to take a stroller with us, we figured it would be easier to get around. So instead we took the baby carriers. We went to Hauptbahnhof and got the Bayern ticket. It is such a good deal - 27 euros will take 5 people anywhere in Bavaria! WOW! We asked the snooty ticket guy where to catch the train and he told us the wrong platform. We searched for the right one and found it with 5 minutes to spare. It was a pretty crowded train with no empty seats, so we had to sit on the floor. A very nice woman offered her chair, but when I went to sit in it, Elijah protested. So back to the floor I went. We waited for awhile, couldn’t figure out why the train was delayed. Some people left, and it opened up seats for my mom and dad. They took Elijah and for some reason, my mom could entertain him better so he was happy. Michael and I had Rowan and we created a little “play area” for him. He could basically walk around in 1 square foot of floor space. They both did pretty good though, no real complaints. As we made every stop though, more people got on the train, so it got really crowded and we eventually lost Rowan’s playspace and he had to make do with very little. He was ok though. Just give him a pretzel and water and he’ll be fine!

About 6 stops before we had to get off, mostly everyone cleared out, so we could sit down for about 20 minutes. We got to the town of Osterhofen and had a 5 minute walk to the gondola and got there just in time. It was a 7 minute ride up. When we got there it was about noon, 3 hours since we left the house! The boys were pretty cranky at this point, but luckily my parents were very accomodating. They let them run around while they followed them around. At the top of the Wendelstein, there wasn’t anywhere we could just let them go since there were steep cliffs on all sides. I wasn’t feeling too good, headache and general tiredness. We ate lunch at the Restaurant and Michael grossed out on the Wurst - it was the worst Wurst and the worst french fries. The fries were deep fried about 10 times so it was basically a crispy shell of potato housing old layers of oil. I got the spaghetti and at first it was ok, but then about 10 bites in, I was regretting I got it. My parents liked the food though, my mom got some kind of ham and just ate it up and my dad also cleaned his plate. Weird.

The boys had some fun in between their crankiness. Rowan was so funny. He especially liked this older kid running around, and everytime the kid would pass by him he would get so excited and scream and want to follow him. The kid was kind of confused as to what the big deal was. And then Rowan got his hands into a puddle and Michael stopped him from playing more with the water by blocking access with his body. Instead of Rowan throwing a tantrum, he was laughing. Everywhere he walked, Michael would be right in front of him. He tried from every angle and even faked him out by walking away looking uninterested, but then sharply turning around and trying again. He was just laughing and laughing. Eventually he gave up. Elijah especially enjoyed going into the tunnel with my mom. There was no way we could’ve done this by ourselves!

We took the train down the mountain, it was so steep! We put the boys into their carriers and they immediately fell asleep to the rumbling of the train. They are so peaceful when asleep. Then there was no real map of how to get to the bahnhof in Brannenburg. We had to meaner in the town and every once in awhile they would have a sign pointing us in a direction. We were thinking about stopping for ice cream, but Michael thought it would be best to push on. It took us about 45(?) minutes to find the train station, but when we did, the train almost immediately pulled up. What luck! We got on and was relieved that we arrived just in time. If we missed that one, we would’ve had to wait an hour.

We arrived in Rosenheim and the train was going to sit there for awhile. Michael was wondering if he could quickly hop off and get a nice cold coke for us. He looked out the window for a coke machine. None was found. But he saw the sign for the train and it said “Innsbruck Hbf”. And then he was like “Hmmm…Innsbruck? That’s the wrong direction.” So he immediately asked the train operator, and the guy told us that yes, we need to get off and go to another train. We just missed one, so we’ll have to wait an hour”. Michael was so mad at this point. We got on the wrong train! We passed the time by eating some ice cream at a restaurant near the train station and bought some cokes. We made the next train and had a comfortable ride back. We got scolded for putting our feet up on the chair. We only did that to make sure the babies in their carriers didn’t fall over!

We got home and everyone was so tired! My parents fell asleep early and Michael and I went out to get Chinese for dinner. I think my dad got up and ate some, but my mom didn’t, she just slept! I’m sure there was still some jetlag too. All in all, it was a fun day and we all had a good time.

Kwansei at his old Army base in Ansbach

Today we took a trip about 120 miles north to visit a historical place: Dad’s Army base in Ansbach, Germany. He was stationed there in 1964, and his trip at that time began with a disturbing incident. To celebrate his birthday, he drove with some friends to Nürnberg and had some drinks. On the way back, his friend (who didn’t drink anything) fell asleep at the wheel and crashed into a tree at 80 miles per hour! Amazingly, no one was killed that dark night in 1964, but Dad had a nasty scalp wound. The guy in the back seat was sleeping and he was fine. The driver had a badly broken jaw. In fact, the car was completely accordianed into the tree, and some guys from the base went back later to look at the wreckage. They could only shake their heads in amazement that everyone was alive.

A frantic ambulance ride 30 minutes to the west followed. In the Ansbach hospital, the doctors shook their heads and said everyone was too banged up to treat there: back to Nürnberg for surgery! Another wailing trip 30 minutes back, where the German doctor at first refused to touch Dad’s heavily bleeding scalp. He had to hold the skin together and hope that the blood would clot. In the end, there were 16 stiches on the left side of his face, and 22 stitches on the right. “I looked like Frankenstein,” said Dad.

Finally life settled down to normal in Ansbach. Dad worked in the Intelligence Division, and knew all about planning rendezvous points, and sending out decoy patrols to frustrate the enemy’s attempts to learn what was really going to happen. On the grounds, he showed us where he worked during the day, which was just above a sub-basement ammo dump. Oddly, his workroom is now some kind of pottery/art studio. Truly, “swords into ploughshards.” In fact the whole building is now either an art school or a place to teach specialty art teachers their craft (Fachlehrerausbildungen).

Dad lived on the 3rd floor, in the back. We took a picture of the approximate room. “It hardly changed here, I remember all of this!” he said. This base seems to be better preserved than another he went to with Shaun in California, where nothing looked the same. Perhaps because it is an out-of-the-way place in sleepy Bavaria. Other buildings around the central square belong to the Bavarian State Police now.

I almost forgot to mention, before it was a U.S. Army base it was a base for the German Army. In fact, the famous tank commander Rommel lived here. Dad said there were tunnels underneath that allowed the soldiers to disperse to the town and other places in case of invasion. But they were “booby-trapped” and were therefore sealed up by the U.S. Army as too dangerous to venture into.

Dad recounted several other adventures. In those days, the townspeople were very formal, and even soldiers had to put on a suit before going into town. In fact it was illegal to wear a U.S. military uniform. Dad remembered many of the town buildings. One interesting point is that there was a “German sector” down some streets on the left where Americans didn’t really venture. Once he went to a bar there, and some German war veterans liked him because he was Japanese. These friendly guys bought him a drink, but he felt a little cautious when it turned out they had been “SS” officers. A very strange experience!

At that time, the Americans were rich and the Germans were poor. “Now it’s the other way around,” he laughed.

After lunch and some impromptu shopping for the boy’s summer wardrobe we drove home. We took a long winding way through forests, hills and small towns. The towns were oddly deserted, except for the occasional farmer tending a field on the outskirts. The countryside was beautiful.

This morning my parents were up early because they have odd sleeping hours. My dad was up at 3am looking at the news. My dad sleeps, then gets up, surfs the net, then goes back to sleep. My mom just sleeps. My mom being the push over heard Rowan cry early in the morning, so she went into their room and slept with them! I was so mad! I have a strict rule of not opening their door until 8am. Unless of course they are screaming bloody murder.

Anyways, this morning we took a tour of my neighborhood. We first went to Odeonsplatz. On the way, we ran into our neighbor Arne (thus proving what a small town Munich is) then went down Theatinerstrasse, looked at all the stores, then headed to Marienplatz to go to Starbucks. It was funny watching my mom order because she gets the same thing all the time “Venti-mocha-frappaccino-extra-thick-no-whip-no-drizzle” and they understand that in the states (or at least Hawaii) but would they understand that here? She had to ask for extra ice and “spell out” what no whip and no drizzle meant. It tasted the same as it does in the US, thank goodness. Don’t know what my mom would’ve done if it didn’t. She then commented on how it’s the same price, then I reminded her of the exchange rate, then she was saying how expensive it is! We stopped in a Richart bakery and my mom got some croissants and some pretzels for the boys. She really likes the bread here. I have to say that the sesame croissants were really good. I think she is hooked on them because she always notices the bakery and I can tell she’s wondering if they have as good croissants and the other one. And I’m sure she’s happy that there is practically a bakery on every block!

We had lunch at the Schrannenhalle, and I was very dismayed that Va Piano has closed down and another Italian establishment was there instead. The food was ok, just not Va Piano. I was so sad since this was one of my favorite places to go. The one on Theatinerstrasse doesn’t have the same atmosphere and isn’t as stroller friendly as this one was.

In the evening, we had Riki and Arne over for dinner. It was so much fun to have them over. I hoped they liked the food. It was basically meat and rice and a bit of salad (if you had room in your stomach). We had a feast - Chicken Katsu made by yours truly, Portugese sausage, Kalua Pig, rice and salad. Yum!

My parents arrived today! Michael and I met them at the airport and everything went smoothly. Their flight was on time and they didn’t get stopped by customs or anything. They even squeezed in a visit with Shaun and Scott in Seattle. We took the train back to our house. I think this was the first time we “picked up” someome from the airport. They were really tired but also excited to see the boys and be here.

We got home and the boys were still up, they didn’t take a nap. So they were kind of fussy. Elijah looked at them with a little bit of caution. He always does that with people that he recognizes but doesn’t know. Rowan, of course, was just so happy for more attention! My parents were so happy to finally see them, it’s been 6 months! It’s amazing how much they have changed in that time. I put them down for their nap and my mom was busy unpacking. Lots of meat and other misc stuff that I asked for. Mmmmm…kalua pig and portugese sausage!!!! I also had them bring a boatload of stuff that I ordered for the boys and had it sent to them (didn’t want to pay for international shipping and deal with customs).

In the evening I tried to keep them up, but they were so jetlagged that they slept. I think my mom was a little surprised to see some people walk by our place and look at her. We overlook a courtyard and it looks kind of private, but anyone can just walk by and see in. Not too many people do, so you’re always surprised to see someone.

Every day I say “I must update my blog” and every day I don’t do it. I’m just lazy I guess. By the time we’re done with dinner and homework, I’m ready for bed and don’t want to type stuff. Then I feel bad in the morning for not doing it and it repeats over and over and over. I guess I’m just obsessive about writing something every day, but that doesn’t make sense if I don’t do it every day. Ah well, the cycle continues!

Today I feel much better, not as sick, but still coughing and have a stuffed up nose. I didn’t get enough sleep since I stayed up doing homework and reading my book. I really should start earlier…

Michael stayed home from work in the morning to help clean our place up (so messy!). He also had to take his bike in to get fixed. He’s been wanting to do that for 2 weeks now and just never got around to it. The reason we’re cleaning is because my parents are arriving tomorrow and it has to look a little more decent than a pig sty. I had to return some overdue library books, so I took the recycling down (7 euros worth!) and then we went to the library. I’m trying to buy a fresh breze - pronounced BRET-ze (pretzel) for the boys every morning. They love it so much! You see a lot of kids here munching away on their pretzels. We went to Karlsplatz, picked one up, then went to the Gasteig to return the books. I only owed 2 euros, so that wasn’t too bad. We came home and I put them immediately to their naps although it’s been so loud lately with the construction that they didn’t take a really good nap. Bummer!

German was regular, no big deal…

Nothing else special happened. We finished watching Napoleon Dynamite (awesome) and found the wedding scene after the credits. We’ve seen the movie several times and never waited through the credits long enough. Luckily we were just talking and it came on and it was so funny! We also watched the movie “Creep” and I couldn’t watch most of it since it was too scary for me. It wasn’t all that great, but at least it was short (1 hour 15 min).

Today is 6/6/06! I was expecting something Satan-ish to happen today. I know a lot of expecting mothers were trying to avoid having their kids born today. I wonder how many kids were born, must be a lot! They could be satan in disguise!!!

The boys are doing ok and I am doing better. I had to run out in the morning to get more milk and diapers since we were out of both. I really like this afternoon lesson schedule, it is working out to be so much better for me. I don’t have to wake up in a panic and fly out the door anymore! And if we’re out of something, I can just run and get it, I don’t have to get up super early and try to get it before class or something (which is impossible). The boys are better behavior wise, they are usually pleasant in the mornings.

Today though, the construction noise was ridiculously loud and when they were drilling, it made the ground shake. So there was no way that the boys could get they nap. And boy were they cranky in the afternoon after I got home! Rowan has turned into a tantrum machine and is so dramatic. I’ll have to video it one of these days. He throws himself on the ground and either lays out flat and screams, or throws his hands forward in agony. I have to stop myself from laughing out loud. Just any little thing will set him off if he hasn’t had much sleep. He is getting better at telling me when he’s hungry, so that’s good. I let them take a secondary nap whenever I got back from class because they were both just too fussy and there was no way they would’ve made it through the evening. It was much quieter at 5, so they fell asleep right away and I woke them up at around 6pm. They were fussy, but not nearly as crazy fussy. Rowan didn’t want to eat though and threw a tantrum at dinner. He calmed down a bit whenever I let him feed himself. It’s so weird the things that will make them happy. I usually let them feed themselves with yogurt, anything that can be picked up with fingers, and quark. But for things like tofu, it is pretty hard to manage. So what I did was scoop it out for him and hand him the spoon. He was happy with that arrangement.

After they went to bed we were pretty pooped and I didn’t want to make dinner, so we got our neighbor to watch the boys and then we went out to Sausalitos for dinner. We love their fajitas. It was a weeknight so it was only 1/2 crowded and not as hot as last time. We did have a wine barrel for a table, so we had to sit with our legs spread around it. Not too comfortable.

We spent the evening walking through the neighborhood and saying all the things we like about Munich. We really do like it here. There are, of course, things that we miss, especially family and friends, but as a place to live we like Munich a lot. And Michael couldn’t be happier with his job. So we’ll be here awhile…

Yes, that is right. Yet another holiday in Bavaria. Don’t you just love those Catholics? I think it’s like White Sunday/Monday or something like that.

Michael agreed to take care of the babies today and he did get up for the morning session, but then fell asleep when he put them down. I had to take care of lunch, which I was pretty upset about since I wasn’t feeling all that great. And then to come down to a really messy kitchen made me even madder. Oh well! At least I got to sleep in a little. I made hot dogs again. Man, I can’t believe they actually like that stuff, especially Rowan. I gave them some tofu dogs as well and they liked those too, but didn’t eat them with the same enthusiasm.

Michael came down after awhile and I went back up to nap. We tag-teamed it all day. The boys have really gotten the hang of bringing us books to read. They will pick the same books too. They like “The Little Red Hen”, “Goodnight Moon”, “That’s not my …” series, “Baby Faces”, “Baby Animals”, “ABC” by Dr. Seuss, “Go Dogs Go!”, “Seymour the Sea Turtle” and “10 Little Ladybugs”. It is so awesome that they like reading, right when I’m done with one book, they will get another. Once I told Rowan to get “Baby Faces” and it was under another book and he didn’t see it, so he grabbed “Baby Animals” as a replacement. Later, he saw it out of the corner of his eye, pushed the other book off and brought it to me. WOW! He understands!

I stayed up super late because I had a ton of homework to do and didn’t do it all weekend. I wrote my first story, but it wasn’t really a story. I had to use all these verbs once so it is kind of weird.

The boys never miss a meal! They can eat by themselves and drink with a straw.

The boys are getting pretty good at eating quark by themselves.

DISCLAIMER: If you’re easily grossed out, you should skip the next paragraph!!!

Michael was still gone on his climbing trip. I woke up to a lovely scene this morning. Now, before I get into it, let me back up a little here. Before we had kids, and even when I was pregnant, people told me all the stuff that will happen - oh, the poopy diapers, the late night feedings, the crying, the eating issues, what have you. I always said “well, that’s ok” or “I’m looking forward to that challenge!” But I was never prepared for what happened this morning. I opened their door and it turned out that Rowan vomited sometime last night and there was vomit everywhere. Ugh, just the smell made me throw up a little. From what I gathered from the crime scene, he threw up in the blanket and then lassoed his blanked while he slept. There was some bits of partially digested soy beans all over the place. Luckily, most of it was on the bed covers or on their clothes. Some got on the futons, but very little, compared to what was around. Rowan looked up at me with a sweet smile as he blinked his vomit encrusted eyelashes at me and then rubbed his eyes, then screamed because he got some in his eyes. He also had lots of wonderful smelling bits in his hair and a big chunk of it was matted together and stood up like Cameron Diaz in “There’s Something about Mary”. I had to change their super full diapers, take off all their clothes, pull up all the blankets, wipe off the futons as best I could, wipe the floors, give them both a bath, wash their hair twice and the water had nice bits floating around afterwards (ewwww), wash all the bedding, clean out the washer of all the soybeans (ewwwww ewwww) and then I could finally be mad at Michael for making me deal with all of this myself.

That was the excitement for the day. I was so tired throughout the day, it was ridiculous. And then, in the evening, I started feeling feverish. I couldn’t believe it. I don’t know if it is the same sickness or if it’s an entirely new one. I’m so sick of being sick! I went to bed early (before midnight is early for me) and Michael didn’t come home until 2am! I took some Nyquil so I didn’t even hear him come home.