Five times Three

On Friday, the four of us headed out to visit with Peter and Steffi for the afternoon followed by dinner nearby. Earlier that week Martin and I realized our five year anniversary celebrating our Germany wedding was that Friday, and given how close Peter lives to our German wedding venue, we decided to go back to where we rounded out the wedding tour. Dinner at Oma Keppmans.

Unfortunately we didn’t manage to get a single picture (Martin and I took turns walking with Alva and Oskar was off playing with Peter and Steffi’s two girls), but we did manage to get one the following morning.

As Martin so lovingly put it a few years ago in a slightly different context: five years later and nothing to show for it...other than some debt, wrinkles, grey hairs, stretch marks, and the two most beautiful and perfect kiddos a parent could ask for.

I hear an American!

Martin and I have been together for almost 10 years and we have been going to his parents’ house for almost as long. In all of those years I have never heard another person speak English let alone American English in his home town or nearby city. And if I was completely honest (if not somewhat shallow) I have never seen a group of people that I could potentially see myself being friends with (other than the people I have met through Martin). Which, when we discuss potentially moving back to Germany and specifically the area his parents live, this fact makes me a little nervous. All that changed on the Thursday of our trip.

After our successful trip to the goat farm and seeing Oskar play on the big playground, Martin’s parents suggested we check out the new playground in Iserlohn. We went on Thursday and my life changed completely.

Located on a man-made reservoir with a path around it, I was immediately reminded of the Lafayette reservoir. People were riding bikes, pushing strollers and out for an afternoon run. And even better than the Lafayette reservoir, this one had a cafe where you could grab a coffee or beer (we unfortunately did not, but I plan to if we ever make it back). From the parking lot it was a quick 10 minute walk to the playground. And I was definitely impressed. It was huge and pirate themed with a pirate ship and wooden palm trees.

Upon arrival Oskar and Martin took off for the big slide and I parked Alva in the stroller at the end of the low concrete wall. With at least a half dozen other moms seated along the wall with their strollers and bikes I had a good vantage point to check out the local scene. Upon sitting down I couldn’t help but notice the cool mom group and began to imagine myself as their friend. They were seated furthest away from me, most with blond hair pulled back into a messy bun or ponytail. The majority wore baseball hats and all had on sunglasses and casual t-shirts. They looked like they would drink mimosas at brunch and get dressed up for a martini or nice glass of wine at night. I wanted in.

It was shortly after (and right before Alva started crying) that I heard one of my future best friends speaking American English to her son playing just in front of me. Of course with Alva starting to cry and my BFF grabbing her son to leave I never got a chance to say hi, find out what she was doing in Iserlohn and make her realize I would be a perfect friend to have based in the US but could hang out with every time I came to town. I would even bring her favorite items back from the states. But alas. My opportunity was missed and my attempts to go back were unsuccessful due to previous commitments. I fully plan to visit this playground again every chance I get, I mean Oskar loved it and I would be a bod mom not taking him back to enjoy.

The Goat Farm

After some quick researching (okay extensive; this was the first “vacation” I have gotten in Europe since Martin and I got married and wanted to make the most of it) on things to do in and around Amsterdam with kids, one place kept on coming up: Geitenboerderij Ridammerhoeve. Everyone was raving about it! And even better, while just outside of Amsterdam it was also incredibly close to where we were staying on the coast. I added it to my list of things to potentially check out while abroad.

Turns out it was the highlight of the trip. I should never doubt multiple recommendations from mothers in the know. It will save me from the roller coast of emotions I had leading up to the actual visit to the farm.

Before we left San Francisco I was super excited based on the various recommendations I had read. I mean, who wouldn’t be excited about goats? That, plus it was something that I got to plan as compared to normal trips home where I have no input. The more I thought about it though, I began to worry that it wouldn’t be the success I was hoping for. I mean the moms whose recommendations I was following might have older kids rather than a toddler and even if they did have toddlers, Oskar wasn’t that excited about the animals at Tilden Park so he might not like this experience.

So I did a little more research and realized that it was age appropriate for a toddler... but even more amazing I learned you could do yoga with the goats on the weekends. You can imagine my disappointment knowing we were in town over a weekend but I wouldn’t be able to go due to family stuff.

The day before we went, I began to again doubt my decision to bring 6 adults out to the middle of nowhere based on some random people recommendations.  And the morning of our outing I had a brief moment of dread when we got to the location and found ourselves potentially lost. 

We were in fact thankfully not lost, we just needed to walk the ten minutes from the parking lot to the actual farm.  And upon first glance I knew it was going to be a fun day. I will let the photos speak for themselves but in summary, it took Oskar about 10 minutes to warm up to the goats and various other animals (although he never trusted the free range chickens) and after that initial time Oskar couldn’t get enough of the goats... he wanted to pet them, follow them into the barn and even go down the slide with them.

Greetings from Holland

This last week wrapped up our two week trip to Europe to see Martin’s family and introduce Alva to the German constituents. We mixed things up this trip and instead of spending the entire time at his parent’s house, we opted to rent a house on the Holland coast for a week with his parents, sister and sister’s new girlfriend before spending time in Germany. Martin chose the location of Noordwijk-Binnen and Meike booked the house. And it couldn’t have been more perfect... except for the weather.

Noordwijk is a posh, ocean-side town with large houses, a quaint downtown and beachside restaurants and swim clubs. And even better, it was a 25 minute drive from the Amsterdam airport where we flew into.  Even through the jet-lagged induced haze, I could appreciate the iconic Holland countryside we passed in the short drive - green fields offset by bright colored flowers, canals along the road, old windmills, and families on bikes. The only thing missing was a woman in wooden shoes and a funny hat selling Gouda with her cow.

While the Weather was not on our side (heavy winds and rain most of the week) we managed to make the best of it...Oskar and Martin spent a day at the beach, we wandered through town,  and Martin and I were able to sneak away for a day date for French fries and groceries.

With no obligations and the relaxation of us all being on holiday, the week flew by. And before we knew it, it was time to drive the three hours back to Martin’s parent’s house in Germany.

Our international traveler - getting ready to go to the airport at 5:30am

Checking out the town

Do these shoes make my feet look big?

A little rain won't stop these two from having fun

A beautiful day at the beach...

Local adventures

I am not sure exactly when it started but a few weeks ago we began calling our errands “adventures” to bring a little joy to the otherwise mundane tasks and to help encourage Oskar to get dressed and out the door. Since then, we have been on a few adventures, some real, some unexpected and some just an errand repackaged as something new and fun.

The first of our adventures was on a Sunday and it was to the Tile and Flooring store in Hunters Point to pick out tile for Timber Cove... we got there before they opened and were the first ones in the door. With Alva in the stroller (at two weeks old) and Oskar and Martin running around we somehow managed to pick out tile fairly quickly. It took a little longer to actually order the goods so while I managed the actual purchase Oskar and Martin played in the display bathtub. It kept them both happy, entertained and contained for at least 10’minutes.

The following week we had a true adventure to Tilden Park to see the farm animals and ride the steam train with Grandma and Grandpa. Oskar was a little overwhelmed by the animals, but we kept ourselves entertained by watching my dad trying to feed the cows, pig, sheep and goats his old celery.  Apparently the animals are local food snobs; they constantly turned down our limp celery in favor of fresher greens. From the little farm we took the short drive to the steam train where Oskar was super excited and exclaimed every few minutes first “we are taking the train” followed by “we took the train.” Unfortunately Alva was a little overwhelmed so Martin and Alva stayed behind while Oskar and I, along with Grandma and Grandpa took the loop.

 A dead car battery and need to drive around for a while led to our adventure to Cavallo Point with Jeffrey and Kyrian (who were nice enough to give us a jump). We drove over Sunday morning so we could charge the battery and allow the two boys to ride their bikes and explore the wide open spaces. And we refilled our stomachs with lunch at the restaurant.

The following weekend my parents came over and we went on an adventure through Chinatown in search of dim sum. The wait was too long at the first restaurant we tried so we ended up at a counter-service restaurant deeper in Chinatown with limited seating and nothing but locals. My dad managed to make an impression by ordering the chicken feet, while Oskar made friends with the toothless older woman waiting for her food. She didn’t say a word but made enough hand gestures and facial expressions to get her point across... at least I think she was saying Oskar had a good appetite!

And finally, our local adventures ended with the biggest one, a trip to Timber Cove for Saturday night. It began with a monumental meltdown by Oskar in the morning because his banana broke into two pieces, followed by a road side stop five minutes before Timber Cove to clean up some puke (Oskar’s), feed Alva and pee on a tree (Oskar, thankfully not Martin).  The night ended with both kids crying at bedtime in our hotel room. Thankfully the time actually spent at the house with Grandma and Grandpa was really fun (they drove up that day to drop off the newly purchased tile and help supervise the kids while Martin worked).

Next up, a true adventure to Europe with the four of us!

Midlife tune-up

I normally spend a day or two once a year doing personal maintenance. You know, the basics: a facial, massage, pedicure and doctor appointments. However this past week, as I celebrated my birthday, I had to pull out the big guns...38 feels really old! I am not sure if it is lack of sleep, taking care of a toddler and a newborn or the fact that the two candidates for governor of Florida are only one year older than me but this birthday felt big...a pivotal, shall I say defining, no turning back moment in my life even more so than my artificially scary age of 32... in comparison this is way worse.

At 38, I can no longer claim I am in my mid 30s. And at 38, I don’t yet have the grace and humor of turning 39, the final step before 40. Yes 38 is a rough age to admit to.  

So these past two weeks I have spent doing a more thorough mid-life tune up.

I got a pedicure the day before my birthday. My first one in close to two and a half years. And as I have done for the past ten plus years I got the same color, OPI red, since it felt natural and familiar. Although in the harsh daylight of the following day, the OPI red seemed all wrong, it was too loud, screaming I am off to Vegas without a care in the world (or even worse, I am in denial about my age). While it suited me and my life for 10 years, it is no longer the right color for me. Time to find a new one that tells the world I am a 38 year old mom of two.

To follow up the disappointing pedicure, I had multiple doctor appointments, thanks to the postpartum process and my vanity. And as a result of these appointments I walked away with multiple prescriptions, for both medical necessities and superficial ailments.

With the all clear from my doctor, I went to my first postnatal yoga class with Alva to kick off my “Get My Body Back, But Better” (#GMBB2.0) efforts. Between the stretch marks and extra skin on my stomach I really need to work on losing the remaining pounds from pregnancy and get back into shape. No time like the present.

And in my free time, thanks to a sleepy newborn. I even balanced my checkbook (something I haven’t done since online banking became available) and kicked off a volunteer project for our local homeless center.

So okay, 38 is scary and I am definitely feeling my age, but I think I am now mentally, if not physically prepared and ready for the next year of my life.