Two Week Update...

These last two weeks were filled with lots of...lasts.  It has been a time of transition and change, and through it all, the kids have remained mostly content and Jeff and I have done our best to keep a positive perspective on things.  The week before last was Tay's last week in Germany and last week was our last week, so they spent as much time as they could playing in our awesome backyard,

...playing in their playroom...

...saying good bye to their kindergarten friends and teachers...

...and saying good bye to their awesome babysitter...

...and walking to school as much as possible...

...and spending time with lovely friends who gave us some lovely farewell gifts.

We shared many meals together with surprisingly many friends we made in such a short amount of time, even across the language barrier (thanks to their abilities to speak English).  We will especially miss Theresa's family, Gabriel's family, kleine Sebastian's family, Natalie's family, the Angles, and the friends we made at St. Michael's parish...especially Amanda, Jill Ann, Marie, Andrea, and Sunny.  

After Tay and Jeff left at the end of February, Ri, Rea and I were left at home to spend our last week.  While we were home, I started sorting and clearing the house as much as I could before Jeff returned to pack it out.  I found a few lovely drawings Tay and Ri did while cleaning...

This is one of my favorites.

Ri is drawing more and more these days...and with many more colors.  She loves to draw with many colors just like her big sister.

While it was just the three of us, we went about our day like nothing was different, really...we still had silly bath times...

...learning to walk time...

...monkey meal times...

...buried in beanbag times...

...surprised times...

...sisterly wrestling...

...and silly hooded breakfast times.

Last Friday, February 28th, was the Kindergarten's "Fasching" party.  What is "Fasching," you say? "Fasching is Germany's carnival season. It starts on the 11th day of November at exactly 11minutes after 11am and ends at the stroke of midnight on Shroud Tuesday - often referred to as Fat Tuesday (the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday)" (http://people.ucls.uchicago.edu/~mzemil/4thgerman/Fasching_intro_english.pdf).  All the kids were to dress up in costumes for the party, so since we had the Korean Hanboks for the girls, I thought I'd let her wear it to school.  Isn't she beautiful?  

We even dressed up the little one (since she'll wear one for her Dol) to see how she'd like it.

It was still a little big for her...and she's propped up against the cabinet since she was having a tough time standing up with it on...

ADORABLE!

She was so funny...but she did not care for the headband.

See?

She liked it, though...so she wore it to school.

On the day of the party, she got all dressed and practiced going up and down the stairs...not sure why.

I also put a little make-up on her (blush and a little tinted lip gloss)...

...and she spun around like a princess should...

...and very closely examined her face.

On the last day of school, we left extra early so we could take our time and enjoy the beautiful walk one last time.  It was Pajama Day, so she is in her PJs...and we did take some time to play at the playground a bit.

Our last day of walking to school...::sigh::

She was a little bummed out for part of the stroll...

...but then she found a flower and it made her happy again.

Now, the littlest one still hasn't taken more than four steps on her own...but she continues to try and climb things.

She also continues to sleep in her fetal position.

Ah, here she is attempting to take a few steps.  Sorry for the blurriness...

One day while we were driving along, Ri called out to me to "look" so I did...and here's what I saw.

Last day spending time in our backyard...Jeff took this pic.

Oh, and this, too.

Oh, I almost forgot!  We went to our town's Fasching Parade on Sunday!  Here they are all bundled up and ready to go.  We walked there...

We thought we were early, but the place was already PACKED.  So we just stood in the back as high as we could to see the parade.

Lots of noise and music, so it was an interesting event for even the baby!

Poor Ri couldn't see much of anything except when I held her up, so she had her own fun running around the grass and "forking" some leaves...

This one was probably the most impressive float that went by...

Getting a little chilly and tired...

Pretending to "eat" her leaves...

She "planted" a tree (branch)...and got distracted by a float that went by...

I thought this was funny...Zumba combined with Zombies...to make "Zumbis"?

Finally got a smile out of her...although it was pretty forced.

And the selfie for proof of attendance.  :)

Here are some cupcakes I baked for her school party.

And the cake I baked for the church social on our last Sunday in Germany.

My ridiculous collection of unpaired socks that I found while organizing the girls' clothes for the pack-out.

So...let me show you how Jeff's travels with Tay went last week.

Yay!  Made it to Florida!

And now, let me show you how my travels went...and tell you a tale of woe...now that it's over, I can smile about it and write about it, but let me tell you, after that experience, I think I may never want to make another overseas trip again...!  Here goes...so, it started out all fun and games.  Happy girls, lots of snacks and toys and movies.

About three hours into the flight, they are asking for a doctor on the plane because someone needs medical assistance immediately.  A couple doctors move to the back of the plane, and a short while later, they ask if anyone has a particular piece of medical equipment for blood-sugar level monitoring and measuring.  Shortly after that, they announce that they are going to have to redirect and make an emergency landing in Scotland to get this man some help immediately.  So...we land.  And sit on the tarmac as they escort the man off the plane...and now, the waiting began.  They had to refuel and do some maintenance...and they didn't have the correctly certified mechanic on hand at the airport we landed, so whatever needed to be done for the plane couldn't be done until Delta sent someone to the location.  More waiting.  Anyhow, I think we waited a total of three or so hours on the tarmac...no getting off the plane or anything.  Bless these children...

We finally got ready for take-off...and this is the selfie I got.  Sheesh.

LANDED!  In Atlanta.  And BOTH girls were sound asleep.  How was I to get off the plane?!?  Anyhow, we managed to get Ri up long enough to de-plane and grab our stroller...and within minutes, she was knocked out again.  We were fortunate enough to have had a six+ hour layover in Atlanta before our next flight, so the three-hour detour didn't affect the rest of our flight plans.  Another blessing in disguise.  We were finally able to board our plane to Florida and luckily, both girls were sound asleep on the plane while we waited to take off...until they announced that they had to replace a part on our plane...UGH.  So, we waiting an additional hour on the plane before actually taking off for our destination.  I was unable to get the message to Pops, though, so he waited an additional hour for us in the terminal late at night...thanks, Pops.  Anyhow, we made it.  Safe and sound.  Minimal crying.  Thank you, God.

Now...dealing with these little buggers who kept waking up at 2:30 in the morning...that's another story.

She would wake up at 2:30 and then zonk out around 5:30 for another hour or two...in my bed.

Granny and Pops' house has such fun things like itty-bitty rockers...

She really liked trying to get in and out of the rocker.

Another little rocker.

Wagon rides are so much fun!  Especially in beautiful Florida weather.

These girls are having so much fun here...

Turtles in the pond.

Feeding the fish.

Her hair is particularly RED in the sunlight.

 She said she was an "ant."

We collected sticks and created a stick alphabet in the backyard.

Another, much happier, selfie.

One morning, all three girls happened to wake up super-early and crawl into my bed...I guess I better enjoy it now while they're still little.

Jet lag is so exhausting.

Cross-legged on the couch.

Fishing with Pops!

Ri caught four fish on this day!  She was SO happy.

With her second largest catch of the day.  :)

Little one found the sun spot in the corner of the room and was doing a little yoga.

And a little light reading...

And finally...it was daylight savings today, so we "sprung" forward.  Now I'm awake late and getting a chance to catch up on my blogging...while this one sleeps soundly beside me.  

Life is good...

Good night.  Much love.