Saarbrucken

we spent the day in Saarbrucken with our friends the Dehns. We had really nice weather and the kids had a lot of fun. We watched the water organ play which was interesting. We also rode on a train, went into Gulliver's world which is a place full of minature landmarks from around the world. There is a train you can pay to watch run around the tracks so we did that once. Then there were a bunch of rides, but we kept to the free things.

Another requirement down!

Ryan has been so close to getting his wolf badge so finally I asked Zach to please get the tool requirements done. I showed him the book and explained he just had to name some tools, learn and use a screwdriver, hammer, etc. well Zach goes all out and sets out this massive spread of every tool imaginable! As they are going through it all Tyler says "Hey Mom how come I didn't get to do this." I replied. "You did, but I had to do it and I don't know that many toold." So he feels a little jipped. Anyway Ryan has it done and after completing his wood project he will have his wolf badge!

Palms sweating, heart beating fast, stomach doing flips......

Yes it is that time again......time to get cars inspected for registration! We had to do this in Alaska too at the cost of $50 for each vehicle. Here in Germany it is free, but that does not make the experience any better. Zach's car has failed for something every year and of course I have had to do the inspections with three kids every year. He has been telling me the past week the tires are going to fail it. So close to selling it I don't want to spend the money on tires! He's home this year so why am I doing this? If I don't it won't get done that's why. So the other day we switched cars and I geared the boys up for the long wait. Last year we waited in line for an hour! And then it failed so we had to fix the problem then do the inspection over so the boys groaned and whined. This time as I pulled in there were no cars! At first I thought maybe they were closed. I have never seen no cars in line, very odd. I slowly pull in and as you pull to the front of the line they have signs that say what is required. You must have a warning triangle, good spare tire, renewal form, current registration, valid ID, first aid kit......oh no! We had taken the first aid kit out for something. I quickly call Zach and ask if he put it back in. Phew....he had put it back in.

So I pull to the front and get my papers in order and wait to be waved to the garage area. There were a few locals and a few military and I always prefer the military to do the inspection. They are much nicer from my past experiences. Finally they wave to me and I drive to the garage. I first have to show my paper work, then my first aid kit, spare tire and warning triangle. I then pile the kids out of the car so the guy can do the test drive. We sit in the waiting area nervously another guy shows up watching us. Guess the three kids had him nervous. Soon my palms are sweating. What is it going to fail for this year? Is the guy going to be nice about it? The first time it failed back in 2007 the local national was not very nice about it and when I asked if he knew where I could get it fixed becuase Zach was deployed he was even less nice.....if that was possible.

Soon the car pulls into the garage and the local goes under it to check all the things he is looking for while the military guy does the lights and such. My heart is beating faster as I have been to this point before and failed....two years in a row. Soon they are both at the little window....no not the window so soon, what did it fail for? The military guy walks off so it's me and the local. My stomaching starts doing flips. He waves me over and I prepare myself for the bad news to come.

"It's good, I am just waiting for him to stamp your paper." I could have hugged the guy right there! Yay it passed, it passed! I took my stamped paper proudly to the sub station to pay my $30 and got out of there as fast I as could before they changed their minds!

Moving upate

Just thought I would let family and friends know that as of right now we are scheduled to fly out of Germany Sept. 24th. Zach is going back to assignments Monday becuase there seems to be confusion over how and when we get our orders. The base here says one thing, the headquarters in Texas says another! Maybe it's time they call each other and get it figured out! Hopefully he will have a better idea Monday afternoon. Funny how without any hard copy orders we can schedule a flight, but nothing else. That's the Air Force for you! We have our van scheduled for a detaling the 14th so it can hopefully be shipped the 17th. Cross your fingers that happens! As it is there is no way it will make it to Baltimore by the 24th of Sept, but the fewer days we have to rent a car the better since that was not a planned expense. Once we get hard copies we hope to get a definite answer on base housing. They have 140 new homes opening in the next few months so please pray that we can get one! As much as we were wanting to buy a house I think being on base will make the transition easier on the boys especially being so early in the school year and just getting used to being back in the states! We don't want to rush into a house especially since the area is so unfamiliar to us and the whole house buying process.

Just some other tidbits....
Cody is scheduled for another EEG Tuesday so hopefully that goes well and they don't find anything more. I think we have his medications refills fixed. I sure hope so because I am really tired of dealing with them deleting the perscription or giving me too small a bottle. This EEG will help us determine if we need to up his dose or not. The boys start school August 31st so we are working on getting supplies. Luckily I won't have to buy them again in New Jersey. I guess all we are responsible for are book covers so I can handle that! We are holding out on clothes. I really am anxious to get back to the states and take them to a store to try things on! This internet ordering is getting old and the wait for the clothes, just to find out they aren't going to work. So my boys will have one nice outfit for the first day and then they will just make do with what they have for the remainder of the time we are here. We'll keep everyone updated as much as we can. Keep checking back to see what we are up to!

Trenches, Fort Duaumont and Fleury

Next up, explore the trenches! The big boys and most of the kids went to explore trenches while Melinda and I stayed behind with tired kids. They had a good time and took silly pictures. Zach could spend all day wandering through this stuff so I had to kind of push him along to the Fort! We did the tour which is really neat. It's all wet inside and the cold felt great after being out in the heat all day! We wandered around on top of the fort and got a group shot of the kids, well minus Valery who was in the backpack. Then finally our last stop, a village that was completely detroyed. They have markers showing where things like the baker, weaver, plumber and other buildings once were. This is one of 18 villages that there was really nothing left. Very sad. After wandering through the "town" we made a pitstop at good old McDonalds to refuel the adults and make kids happy for the 2 hour ride home! It was a fun day and worth the second trip back! And on the way home we saw hot air balloons! Picture isn't that great, but what do you expect driving 75 on the autobahn!

French/German Cemeter and Ossuary

Our second stop of the day was to the Ossuary and cemetery. I talked about this place before, but will just briefly explain it. This is a WWI battle area and under the Ossuary 130,000 people are burried. If you look in the windows you can see bones, piles of bones. It is very sad and kind of morbid. The cemetery has around 20,000 burried in it as well. Nearby villages, I think 18 were completely detroyed. we had been to the top before so we took Maddy and Valery on a walk while the rest of the Terry's went into the tower. I set the girls free in the shade and they collected sticks with Cody and had a good time! It was very hot out so we stayed in the shade as much as we could. While the big boys went exploring with some of the kids Melinda and I made lunches to revive us for the rest of our adventures!

Meuse Argonne American Cemetery

We stopped at this cemetery on our way to Normandy, but were not able to fully explore it so Zach has been dying to go back! We decided this weekend to go check it out and explore more of Verdun after he heard about all sorts of things we missed the first time! So we headed out, but this time the Terry's came along too. Zach loves telling all the stories he finds about these places and I have heard them all so having friends along gave him his chance to tell everything again! We had great weather and I think everyone had fun!