September 2010

This is Helen Schmuck fossil hunting.  We miss the Schmucks!

Saying good bye to our favorite babysitter Lauren

Evan proudly showing off his fossil

The Temporary Living Facility at Langley AFB

Neil and I were recently given the opportunity to relocate across the Atlantic to Germany.  Many days and persistent efforts have been extended to bring this move to fruition for our family of three.  Three children under the age of five that is.  Ansley is four, Evan is two and a half, and Colin is two months old.  What possessed us to cross the Atlantic with our three small children?  I am not sure we can answer that question.  My best answer is that Neil and I both have a bit of restless blood.  We both figured if not now to Germany never.  We would never be able to make this move without the help of the United States Military.  

After collecting passports, putting all of our valuables in two brief cases(think of all the birth certificates,passports,car titles, and important papers a couple accumulates in ten years of marriage),packing "lightly" for the children, packing up our house, shipping our car, and saying the tough goodbyes to dear friends, our departure of the East Coast finally arrived. 

Did I mention that after being married for ten years we wanted to celebrate with a big trip?  We had previously planned on visiting my sister in England.  The big trip turned out to be a move to Germany instead.  We set out for the "Old World" at 8:45 AM on September 13, 2010 from the Temporary Living Facility on Langley Air Force Base that had become our home for one month.  I must say it did have an awe inspiring view of the Back River - a tributary to the Chesapeake Bay.  Every morning with the 5:00 am wake up call of my crying newborn son I would stare out the windows at the pink, purple, and peach hues rising above the glistening water.  Each morning the view took my breath away.  As we were leaving the temporary living arrangement I had grown fond of, Ansley declared "This was a hotel room, not our home."  Even though I had tried to convince the children otherwise.  

The first step in our journey was to collect our dear pet dog, Cocoa, from Hannah Hrinda who had so kindly cared for Cocoa during the duration of our stay at the TLF.  The Hrindas are a family of five and have three dogs and a ferret.  Those of you who know Cocoa know that this type of family set up is Cocoa's heaven.  Similar to our daughter Ansley, Cocoa is a social creature drawn to all walks of life whether it be vertebrate or invertebrate.  The zest is always there.  We loaded our dog into our rental van that Neil kindly called the "padiwagon."  The rolling circus now included three car seats, two adults, one dog, eight pieces of luggage, and a dog crate.  What an easy target for thieves.  Our belongings also included a toddler potty, a child magnetic writer, diaper bag, baby sling, stroller, dog food and water, snacks, and a DVD player.  I was able to wedge into the padiwagon in the 17" space between the two boys.  

Next we began our drive to Baltimore.  Mostly uneventful (and filled with two rounds of Tinkerbell the movie) the drive was a success.  At the end of the drive we stopped at a happenstance nature center in Maryland outside of the Baltimore airport.  One can envision this type of establishment.  We collected a McDonald's meal for an "All American" picnic.

We unloaded the padiwagon and both the bipedal and four legged creature exited the van.   After eating and gathering our pile of trash we felt guilty at all the trash a family of five makes when eating a McDonald's meal. The nature center made us pack out our trash.  Hopefully Germany's people with infinite wisdom on trash and recycling would teach us to be better conservators of nature.  

We went inside to the nature center and left after the two toddlers had touched a life sized stuffed beaver, every animal pelt known to man, all the interactive computer screens, and Evan had climbed into the stuffed Polar Bear/Ptarmigan exhibit. I have come to realize young children do not know what ropes mean.  My guess is that Evan was not the first toddler to assault the polar bear.  The ladies at the front desk did not bat an eye lash when he climbed into the exhibit.