Holiday plans

We are coming home for the holidays - Get out the menorah and santa hat!!!

We got Carter a Lego advent calendar which we are using to count down to our trip home.  Tomorrow is the first day.  We arrive in MI Dec 13th.  We have a few days there to adjust, see friends, check in at work, go to the doctor, visit family and finish xmas shopping.  Then it's off to ATL on the 18th.  From there we go to Chattanooga for some mom time.  We return back to MI on the 22nd and get ready for xmas with Nana, Grandpa, Kevin, Christina and COUSINS!!! On the 26th we drive to Cincinnati for a few days with dad and grandma Rose's 94th birthday party.  On the 29th we head back to MI for new years and leave for Germany on Jan 2.  Those 3 weeks are gonna fly by.  Hope we can see everybody.  

Oh yeah, we are gonna eat bagels too, lots of bagels.

Move update

It appears that all the drama has died down and we have a signed lease for a new place.  Our new place is great and we are renting from another Ford family.  They are going for a 2 year assignment to the UK so the timing works out perfectly for both of us.  It's in the same neighborhood as the first place we wanted.  Looking forward to exploring the new town.  

The movers come Monday - Wednesday next week (Thanksgiving week).  We fully expect things to be a bit crazy for a while until we get all settled in.  Our internet may be down for a week with the move, then again it could get transfered the day of the move...it's tough translating german mail.

Carter is all prepped to move to the new place.  Although he will probably be dissapointed that the boys who lived there are taking all their toys.  His biggest concern is that the movers won't have enough space on the truck to fit our table and chairs.

Stay tuned for more updates on the move as things progress.

Carter's Big Boy Bed

Carter finally got his big boy bed today. Carter had been sleeping in a "toddler bed" since he was 18 months old and it was really starting to look small for him. Prior to his 3rd birthday, I started look for a twin sized bed online. I quickly learned that bed sizes in Europe are close to the US, but not quite the same. I didn't want to buy a European sized bed and then return to the US and find that I there aren't any sheets the right size. So, when I learned that yet another Ford employee was moving to Germany, I decided I needed to get a bed and a matress on his sea shipment. I ordered the bed and matress online. Can't believe I actually ordered a piece of furniture online without having seen it in person first. My co-worker arrived here in Germany in early October but he didn't move into his house until this past week. It was so frustrating knowing that Carter's bed was here in Germany but we couldn't get to it.

Once we told Carter about his big boy bed, he immediately wanted to sleep in it. We had to set it up the very day we picked it up. I was actually impressed with how well it matches his other furniture (the stuff that was part of his orginal nursery...dresser, bookcase, and bed side table). Carter is in love with the car sheets. He doesn't like to sleep under the covers...I just have to fold them back every night. It actually makes Carter mad when I make the bed and put the striped pillow sham on top of the pillow with the car pillow case.

In Bruges

While my parents were in town visiting, we took a weekend trip to Bruges, Belgium. Perhaps many of you have not heard of Bruges...or maybe some of you have seen the Academy Award-nominated movie In Bruges. If you haven't seen the movie, I strongly recommend it -- it's a dark comedy that had me in stitches at times.

So having seen the movie, we decided to take a visit because, according to the movie, Bruges is a "f---ing fairy tale." With that sort of endorsement, how could we not go?

Unfortunately, we didn't have the best weather. It was cold and rainy nearly the entire weekend. However, it is a charming historic city which is probably why it's a UNESCO World Heritage City. One of the highlights was The Chocolate Museum. Because of the weather, the museum was rather crowded. At one point when there was quite a back up in the flow through the museum, Carter said rather loudly and with such disdain, "These French people are getting in my way!" It was a struggle to hold back the laughter and later Ben and I were wondering where he learned this dislike of the French. Perhaps this is normal playground conversation here in Germany.

Another hit was the abundance of chocolate shops. After dealing with the cold and rain, we decided to take a break in a chocolate shop for some cocoa. We were escorted to a living room type space over the store and we were served the largest mugs of steamed milk I've ever seen. They the provided you the chocolate shavings/chips to stir into the milk. It was the best hot chocolate I've ever had. The cup size was rather ridiculous though. As you can see in the picture, you need to hold it with two hands.

One of the more beautiful and quieter spots in the city is the Beguinage. It is is a group of white houses around a little garden covered with large poplar trees. This is now a monastery for the Benedictine Sisters. And, yes, the trees are all growing at the same angle.

We didn't take the time to climb the steps of the famous belfry to see the view of the historical town square. But we did take a nice horse drawn carriage ride through the city...probably Carter's favorite part of the trip. He was really fond of our horse, Lady. Every horse he saw after that he had to ask us if it was Lady.

Tigger Costume - The Rest of the Story

The place from where I ordered Carter's tigger costume never shipped it. I called them to find out what was the issue...especially given that I had paid through the nose for overnight shipping. Apparently they are out of stock...despite it clearly stating on the website that this costume was in stock. She nicely offered to ship me the costume in November. Ha! She clearly doesn't have a 3 year old. Obviously I demanded that my order be cancelled and my money returned.

So what do I do when they are desperate for something Halloween related? I call my friend, Alana Goldberg. Not only does Alana get stuff done, she LOVES Halloween. I called Alana and told her my dilemna...she told me that she would call me back within the hour. When she did, she had located the costume in the appropriate size and it was on hold at a Toys 'R Us near my parents' house.

Fortunately my mom was able to zip up to the store and pick it up before she and my dad had to catch the plane to come here to visit us.

Thanks to Alana and my mom for saving the day. Here's Carter looking adorable in his costume.