I'm horrible at updates

So... I'm sorry I haven't updated this thing as much as possible. Time has gotten away from me. I leave Germany tomorrow. Time has flown by. Before I know it I'll be in California again and school will have started and I'll have a new job and I'll be living real life. Scary thought.
So, I went to Munich. I think my favorite part about it was the street performers. There are some incredibly talented people on the streets of Munich. I also walked through the Englischer Gartens, which was like a Central Park. It was absolutely gorgeous. Part of the Isar River flowed through it. There was a part of the river that had a very strong current and people were surfing on it. It was so cool! I got a video of it, but since I haven't been able to use my computer so it's hard to put up pictures and videos.
The Marienplatz was gorgeous. There was a big football(soccer) tournament that week against Manchester United so the football players were in the Marienplatz putting on a show for everyone. They did all sorts of tricks to advertise for the game. It was awesome. I seem to have really good timing when I have gone places.
I met some really nice people at the hostel I stayed at. I ended up drinking 5 red bulls over the course of the night and going swimming at midnight in the Isar River. Who says you can't have fun without drinking? Although I think I permanently damaged my heart with all those energy drinks...
We went to Bodensee this past week. We stayed in this HUGE house right next to Lake Konstanz. The lake was gorgeous. I saw a swan while I was there. The first swan I've ever seen in real life. Pretty birdy.
The familywe stayed with was one of Martin's(my boss's husband) best friends from boarding school. Natalie also went to boarding school with his wife, Marita, and Natalie's parents are good friends with Marita's parents. All these noble families know each other somehow.
Marita has 4 kids, the exact same ages as the kids I nanny. It was great. Until more and more kids started showing up. At one point there were 16 children running around. I had a mental breakdown. I could not deal with it. Luckily the pool was above ground, or else I'm pretty sure I would have had a panic attack.
We leave tomorrow morning, and get into CT around mid afternoon. The time change is crazy. Although, it's better on the east coast. Only a 6 hour difference.
I leave CT on August 18th and fly to Salt Lake where I'll spend a few days with Robert and Natalie and visit some friends. Then I drive home from there on Friday night and will be in Folsom Saturday morning. Just in time for school to start the next monday. I've got a busy couple of weeks, but I can't wait to see you all!
Much love and best wishes!
Deanna

Back 'home'

Well, we drove back from Ulm last night and we're back at Rennertshofen safe and sound. I forgot to write about this in my last post, so I'll say it now.
While in Ulm, Natalie's sister had a mechanical bull for this big party they had the day before we got there. All the kids rode on it, and LOVED it even though they were thrown within ten seconds of climbing on.
The kids asked if I wanted to try. I made myself a promise on the plane over here that I would try something new everyday to make sure I got as many cool experiences as I could. So, I climbed onto the 'bull' and rode it for probably 30 seconds before it threw me off. Granted, Katarina was doing it VERY slowly so I stayed on longer, but I definitely have a new found respect for the rodeo. It was HARD! I had to use every muscle in my body to keep myself on.
And another thing, two days ago we were all by the pool either swimming or resting or whatever. The sun was shining, everyone was happy, not a cloud in the sky... and it started raining. Let me say again, there were NO clouds in the sky. The rain was falling from where? We were all very confused. Right after we left the pool, the clouds tumbled in and it looked almost like night time. It started pouring rain. Thunder, lightening, the whole shebang. I was walking down the stairs, and on the wall across from the stairs were these huge windows looking out over the garden. I was looking through them when suddenly lightening struck RIGHT next to the glass and cracked the window. The thunder was ridiculously loud. It was the craziest thing.
Today was just a relaxing day. I laid out by the pool for an hour or two to try and fix the farmers tan I got in Salzburg. The sun wasn't cooperating though.
As an end note: I hate bugs. I'm itchy EVERYWHERE!

Party time in Ulm!

This week we're in a small village outside of Ulm, home to the largest cathedral in the world, the Münster. Natalie's sister lives here with her family in another huge castle. I've decided I'm never going to have this many rooms or levels or ground in my house. I feel like I have to run everywhere.
I am staying in the guest wing of the house. To get there, you have to either go outside and unlock the door or go through a few corridors and through a few doors that are incredibly difficult to open. Since I rarely wear shoes, I go through the corridors, but the scenery is really cool. There are four different rooms each with bookcases surrounding the walls. There are also some shelves with REALLY old parchment and hand written books. It looks like a museum. There are some books with nazi symbols on the outside. The history here is right in front of my face.
Yesterday, Maiju and I went into the city of Ulm. There is a big city holiday going on right now. All the stores were closed and everyone was on the river, watching a parade of people on anything that could float. There was even a team of water polo players swimming down the Donau. There were boats of brass bands and controversial propaganda. Then there were the young people who were trying to do nothing but get the spectators as wet as possible. It was really cool.
after the river parade, Maiju and I climbed to the top of the Münster. With 768 steps up a spiral staircase, we looked over the busy city and tried not to get too scared, being 161 meters or so off the ground. Apparently it was meant to be shorter, but the builders wanted to outdo the Köln cathedral.
Today was a relaxing day. The kids all swam all day and came in for dinner looking like prunes. I miss you all! Can't wait to see you in about a month! Love youuu!

I've lost track of the days...

It's almost my third week here. Almost halfway over. It's insane how quickly times passes. I'm already planning my trip home. August 23rd is when I get home, by the way.
So, the train ride home from Salzburg was an absolute disaster. I ended up getting on the wrong train in Ingolstadt and going the complete opposite direction I wanted to go. Then once I finally made it to Neuberg where Natalie was to pick me up, I tried turning my phone on and it didn't turn on. I tried to charge it...and it didn't turn on. I didn't have her number anywhere else, so I took a taxi. The taxi driver didn't know where the estate was at all, and she went a completely different way than I've gone, so I got lost, and we searched all over the countryside for the estate. We finally made it there, obviously.
Yesterday and today have been pretty relaxed. Natalie and her mom went into Munich today so I had all the kids all day. Sophie finally gathered enough courage to stand on the ladder in the big pool. I'm very proud of her.
Tomorrow we head to Frankfurt for the day. Four hours in the car with four children. Joy. Natalie tells me these traveling plans a day in advance, so I haven't even packed yet, not to mention I don't even have a bag because the stupid airline broke mine. On the bright side of that, Natalie is definitely buying me a new one. I've had that duffel since the 8th grade, and I get a free new one, AND I'm getting paid to travel all over Germany. Why am I leaving this job again?
After Frankfurt, we're going to Natalie's sister's castle in Wies Baden. It'll be fun ot hang out with Maiju again. I just don't want to live out of a suitcase anymore.
Well, that's all for now. Bis später!

Day 15: Interesting people

I've met so many ridiculously cool people. One night we were all sitting outside in front of the hostel talking when this group of Russians come and sit at the table next to us. They start playing the accordian and tambourine and singing and dancing. They had just come from a Folk music festival they sang at. I sang some jazz and we beat boxed and it was so awesome.
I also met three Danish guys who were probably the coolest guys ever. Christian, Kenneth and Tom. No Torben. Don't ask. It makes me giggle. They were so much fun, and I was sad to see them leave this morning.
I was walking next to the Salzach today listening to my iPod and enjoying the warm weather when this guy says something to me, and I didn't hear him so I stopped and turned off my iPod. I ended up talking to him for about an hour and a half. He spoke soooo fast though, so sometimes I had to just say HEY! Wait a sec I can't understand a word you're saying. We had some good laughs.
So, yesterday I went to the Schloss Miribel Gardens, which was absolutely breathtaking. I didn't bring my camera cord with me, so you'll have to wait to see pictures, but they'll be worth it.
I actually got 200 Euro total stolen from me. I don't know how it happened though. Each time my purse was locked up in my locker. I'm really depressed about it. That's like a weeks work in someone else's pocket. This place is stressing me out because I'm always worrying about money, but at the same time I really am having a good time. The diversity here is so great. Everyone is traveling, so everyone is nice and willing to talk to you because they're in the same boat you're in.
There isn't really all that much left to see here. If I hadn't been robbed, I probably would have gone to Frankfurt today with the Danish boys. Oh well. That's life.
I miss you all! Hope all is well.

Day 12: Arrival in Salzburg.

This weekend has been a whirlwind of crazy. Friday we left for Kronwinkl, probably the most amazing castle I've ever seen. I've only stayed at one castle in my life, so I guess that isn't saying a lot. First of all, this place has it's own built in cathedral. It has about 100 guest rooms, no joke. Natalie's best friend from boarding school and her husband lives in a flat on the third story, while Caspar(the husband's) parents live on the first and second floor. What they need with two floors is anyone's guess. I think all their servants live on the first floor. We went to the Landhuter Hochzeit, which was another Rennaissance festival celebrating the wedding of the Landshut Prince to the Polish? Princess. It was really cool. Natalie took me to this show with the kids with all sorts of Renaissance entertainment. Flag throwers, tumblers, singing, horse races etc. It was really cool. The whole city dressed up for this and it was basically a zoo. They were behind fences and we got to watch them in their natural habitats. For the show, the King, prince, princess and nobility were all sitting across from us eating their dinners, just like it would have been. We basically just hung out around the castle for the weekend.I hopped on a train this morning to Salzburg. Of course I worried the whole time that I was on the wrong train and that I would end up somewhere completely different. Luckily, I got off at the right station. I couldn't figure out the bus station, so I walked all the way to the hostel on the other side of town. It was a nice walk. The land is absolutely gorgeous and the buildings are amazing.
I was very proud of myself for being able to find the hostel all by myself. Now I'm just hanging out because it's Sunday and everything is closed anyway. I love you all! Pictures to come. I hope everything is well.

Day 9: Not much to report

Since the whole party stuff is finished, there hasn't been much excitement. Natalie's friend from boarding school is visiting with her two little girls, Elizabeth and Amelie. Elizabeth turned 4 yesterday and Amelie is two. They are both so sweet, but don't speak english. I've been doing my best to converse with them, but I usually just ask Theresa or Sophie to tell them something when I can't think of the right word.
I'm planning a trip to Salzberg next week from Sunday to Wednesday. I'll make sure to take a lot of pictures, and have adventures for you to laugh at. Things usually go wrong for me.
I managed to break my toe getting out of the bathtub the other day. The tubs here are unnaturally high, and I'm very clumsy. The two don't mix well. I also smashed my pinky finger in a drawer today and it's pretty swollen. I should probably stop hurting myself soon.
The weather has been pretty yucko lately. A lot of overcast days with thunderstroms throughout the day.
I'm finally able to move back into the estate house tomorrow. Morfar's sister is leaving tomorrow morning, so I won't have to walk back and forth between the two houses anymore.
We're going to one of Natalie's friend's castles on Friday. We'll go to another Renaissance Fair while we're there. It's a little village near Eching. It was the town that Natalie and her husband first lived when they got married.
Mormor and I are making cherry marmelade later today. I picked the last of the cherries yesterday. Most of them are rotten. Rotten cherries smell awful. I climbed up in the tree because there are fences are the tree to keep the horses out and with the ladder you can only reach so far. Mormor came along the path and kept telling me not to fall, don't fall, please please please don't fall. She didn't reylize that I was in fact a monkey in another life and have never fallen out of a tree before.
Hope all is well where ever you are reading this. Much love to you all!

Day 5: Reception

Saturday was by far the most interesting day I've probably ever experienced. We we to a special mass in the morning held in the next village for Morfar's birthday. Catholic churches have a lot of sitting and standing, and because it was German I'm still not sure why we did that. They also have a lot of singing and off key choirs. Maybe it was just this one. I had to Take Mariella outside because she was crying. This older man followed me outside. He looked very out of place amongst the dirndles and lederhosen. He had on black skinny jeans and a colored button down shirt, pink socks and amber colored sunglasses that he wore all the time. His hair was platinum and shoulder length. He was rockin a killer beard as well. He walks up to Mariella and I and tells me what a beautiful baby she is and then says, "mon cher you are smiply delicious". I was about to pick her up and run when he tells me he is Natalie's uncle, which I think means he is her godfather. Somehow I can't see Natalie's parents associating with someone like him, but who knows. He reminded me of the character Bono plays in Across the universe. I went in and out the whole service with Mariella, and each time he would come out and talk to her. He was very sweet with her, but I found it odd that he kept coming out.
After the service there was a large reception at the estate. Everyone from the mass came as well as political figures and important people in Bavarian society. That man sat at the bottom of the hill in the backyard the whole party. He sort of intrigued me in an odd way. He seemed like the kind of person who has done insane things and met awesome people. I kinda wanted to talk to him more, but I didn't because of the creepiness factor.
In the middle of the party, it started pouring rain. Thunder and lightening dacned across the sky and we all tried to find cover. Maiju brought and umbrella for me and I walked over to the tree at the bottom of the hill to escort any guests to a dryer place. They had taken refuge under the lawn chair cushions. Turns out no one wanted to leave their place because they said the sotrom would pass in a few minutes.
The crazy guy with long hair, we'll call him Chong, grabbed me around the waist and pulled tme to his side and kept giving me these sweet compliments with alcohol on his breath. They were also pretty creeper status as he was probably in his late 50's. Maiju came over to us, and I could tell she was just laughing her head off inside. We all talked about Finland, and I was still pinned to his waist. Then he asked me if I had ever been to Austin Texas, and when I told him I was born there he got very excited. Apparently a friend of his told him he HAD to visit there because it was all about music.
After the party, Maiju and I went back to Neuberg to "go shopping" Her idea of shopping is going to the supermarket to buy candy. Maiju is always eating but she is as skinny as I am. Freaking Europeans. I bought some delicious German chocolate. We came home and I trimmed Maiju's hair. She was very trusting, which I thought was odd because she has very long and gorgeous blonde hair. It turned out great though. The river is the Donau, by the way. It runs through Neuberg.

Day Four: Dagmar Cup and Renaissance Fair

Friday afternoon was a relaxing day. We BBQed and they had a croquet match. They split all the adults into three groups for three different matches. It ended up that all the adult siblings and Morfar made it to the finals. They wanted to keep the trophy in the family. They play for the famed "Dagmar Cup", a silver trophy. Mormor's grandmother was very into croquet. One day, her family was playing and the grandmother won. After the game, everyone was inside eating drinking and altogether being merry, and they heard one of Mormor's brothers outside practicing. He sadi he wouldn't be beaten by his grandmother and wanted a re-match. Ever since then they have had a family croquet match. Dagmar was the grandmother's maiden name, hence Dagmar Cup.
At the BBQ, the grilled cheese wurst. It was amazing. Germans know how to make a good sausage, and they eat constantly- I'm going to come back twenty pounds heavier, so someone be ready to motivate me to go running.
That night, Maiju and I went into Neuberg for a German Renaissance Fair. It was held in an actual Renaissance village. It has had a ton work done, but it has been around since then. It's held every two years in old Neuberg, and it's a huge event. There were many street performers, and most of them were children. I couldn't resist this little girl dressed in her costume playing her flute on the ground. She was so sweet, so I gave her a few Euros.
Maiju and I found this stage thing with bleachers, and since we had been walking around in a crowd for two hours we sat down to watch two men sparing with swords and shields. They were just practicing for a later show, but it was still pretty cool.
We went to one of the shows they put on. We realized after we sat down that we might not enjoy it as much as we thought we would because of the language barrier, and I was getting ready to ask her if she wanted to leave when it got pretty awesome. The performers starting juggling flaming torches. One woman jump roped with a flaming jump rope. This one boy juggled these metal cage balls of fire.
Towards the end of the show, a man started breathing fire. He did some impressive stunts, but the coolest was when two other performers came out and did it with him. They had one torch and the first man spit on it, then in that explosion another man blew on it, and in that exlposion another man spit on it.
On the drive home, we got lost quite a few times. We were driving back in the dark, so it was difficult to look for familiar streets and landmarks. In one city called Hütting, the road split into three right turns. We tried every single one and each time Maiju had to back out with her huge megavan because the roads were too narrow to turn around. We got some good laughs about that while rocking out to Michael Jackson. He's gotten huge now that he's dead.

Day 3: The Hunters and More

Today was awesome. It was Morfar's birthday party. The festivities began when we went to the Forester's house, abt 200 meters from the main house. They played their musical instruments for us and sang traditional German songs. It was so cool. After that the guests starting arriving. There were 11 kids total to watch between Maiju and I. She is Natalie's sister's Au Pair from Finland. She didn't arrive until just before dinner though, so I was on my own for the majority of the day.
I met many people, but I think the coolest part of my day was when the hunters came. There were 7 older men standing in two rows, totally decked out it lederhosen and wool stockings. They also all wore the same dark green jacket. They played these huge buglehorns They use these horns at the end of their hunt to honor those that fell. I think it's so awesome how germans are still so traditional in their everyday lives.
Many people came and went through the evening. After the kids ate dinner, Morfar opened his presents. It is a Swedish tradition to give presents to your family before you receive your own on big birthdays. He turned 70 this year. Morfar's children, Franz Katerina and Natalie, all got beautiful silver platters with the date engraved on them. The grandchildren got silver shot glasses. The Germans start them young.
Because Mormor and Morfar both come from such old European families, they still use their family crests. Until now, Morfar's father and mother's crests were sho9wn throughout the house. Today, he got a dinner set with his and her crests engraved at the top. His crest is diagonal lines, like the K Swiss logo. Mormor's is a fiery heart. It represents Richard the Lionheart#s heart. Apparently when he died, his heart was supposed to be returned to Jerusalem. The man who was to return it, died on the journey, and with his dying breath he threw the heart in Jerusalem's direction.
After presents were opened, the kids recited a poem written about Morfar. It was so sweet. Then the parents went to dinner while Maiju and I bathed the kids and got them in bed. We tried to find something on the telly that was in english. She is Finnish and speaks less German than I do. We ended up watching Germany's Funniest Home Videos, which in my opinion is way funnier than America's. Maybe because I didn't understand the dubbed in dialogue.

Day 2

Today was a great day. I slept off my jet lag with eleven hours of sleep and woke up around 7:30. No one was awake yet, so I took a bubble bath and a good book. Afterwards I ate breakfast with Mormor and Morfar (Natalie's mother and father). That's the way the swedish call their mother's mother and mother's father. Morfar doesn't speak a lot of English, probably because he just choses not to, and Mormor is trying to better my German, so she speaks mostly German with me. Needless to say, it was an interesting breakfast. They have been very patient with me, which has been very nice.
After breakfast, Mormor took me out to the stables and showed me her horses. As we were walking around the bend, there was a white pony grazing that took my breath away. She was gorgeous. Mormor told me she was a Welsh pony that foaled last spring. We went around the barn and there were probably twenty ponys just hanging out, some laying in the hay some standing and waiting for their breakfast. Mormor's dog is an Australian shepherd dog, and very rambunctious. The ponies don't usually like dogs, but Caramel is the exception.
We walked back to the house and on the way, Mormor pointed to a bunch of varied fruit trees. They have a ton of cherry trees mami. I'll eat extra for you. They also have raspberry bushes and a vegetable garden. I could eat fruit for breakfast lunch and dinner for the rest of the summer. We got back to the house around 10 and the kids still weren't awake, which is very odd for them. They usually wake up around 6:45. I woke them up, and they were bright eyed and bushy tailed when I told them they could ride the horses.
After they ate breakfast, the girls and I went swimming. It was the most gorgeous day. The sun was warm and there was a slight breeye. It was perfect. We swam for awhile and then I laid out in the sun while Theresa and Sophie played with Mariella. We ate a lunch of veal schnitzel
After Mariella's nap, Mormor, Sophie Mariella and I went outside to pick raspberries for the cake. It was Morfaräs birthday the next day so the family came over for cake presents, merriment and whatnot. Anyway, Mariella doesn't like German babyfood, so she didn't eat that day. I gave her a sweet pea to chew on and she loved it. So I cooked up a bunch of them and finally got some food into her.
Natalie forgot to tell me that on Saturday there would be a large reception for Morfar's birthday and everyone would be wearing dirndles and lederhosen. Luckily they have a closet full of them. I wore a gorgeous red one.
My bag still wasn't there, but at least I had clean clothes.

Day 1: the flight

One botched check-in, two airplanes, one missed flight, 9 missing suitcases and a whole lot of jet lagged underslept children later and we're sade and sound in Rennertshofen.
We arrived at JFK with a minimal amount of time to check in due to heavy traffic in Manhattan--as always. Natalie and the kids went to the 1st class check in while I waited in line for twenty minutes behind two very awkward German lesbians who had to kiss each other every chance they could. I finally made it to the counter, my baggage made it through, my tickets in hand, and I see Natalie still waiting at the counter. They couldn't find her tickets. Luckily she still had the receipt or we would probably still be waiting at JFK trying to check in. We rushed through security and just barely made it to the gate when they began boarding.
I was seated next to a very good looking German young man and a balding German on the other side. All the stewardesses spoke German to us, which didn't make sense to me seeing as we were flying out of NYC. I hate having to say "I'm sorry I am American and cannot understand what you're saying." It makes me feel ignorant. I sat in that chair for 8 hours without any chance to get up and walk around until right before breakfast. I got up to change Mariella's nappy and I think I heard every joint in my body creak. There was one foot of space between your seat and the one in front of you, and you were sitting knee to knee with the person next to you. Usually I don't mind riding coach, but this airline was meant for midgets.
We landed in Düsseldorf as our connecting flight was leaving the gate. The swine flu is a major scare right now in Germany, so we had to fill out a form before we landed with all of our information and any symptoms we were feeling. The only box I stupidly checked was a runny nose and it took ten minutes to convince the doctor waiting at the gate that it was just allergies. This is the time when you are allowed to lie to your doctor. We walked through the airport to our next gate and I remembered we didn't have Mariella's stroller. I ran all the way back to the gate, through the swarm of doctors only to find out that in Düsseldorf they take the strollers down with the other luggage and we can pick it up in Munich. Completely useless for people with connecting flights. Natalie and the kids didn't have their connecting tickets because of the screwy checkin at JFK, so we stood in line with four red-eyed, sleepy children running on 1 hour or less of sleep. Tension was high, and patience was running thin. We finally got their tickets and found our gate with enough time to change Mariella and sugar charge the kids with M&M's and Starbursts.
Our next flight was even more cramped, but the flight to Munich was only an hour or so. When we arrived there we were all feeling better that we got there safely with minimal setbacks. Our luggage didn't show. Luckily a very nice airline worker opened the stash of forgotten luggage and gave us carseats for the kids on the drive to the estate. It rained on the way there, but only for a few minutes.
After admiring the German landscape and farmlands, we made it to Natalie's parents estate. I think I've gotten lost at least 5 times already in half a day. It's absolutely amazing, and Natalie's parents have been so accomodating and sweet.
We ate lunch and I took a shower and slept for a few hours to make it through the day. I woke up and the bags were here! However, my duffel bag and half of two booster seats were missing. Natalie was furious. I'm just tired of all the screw-ups. After some rude phone calls, they said they wouldn't deliver the bag because it was on the carousel when we got there, which was a total lie. It must have been on the flight before us. The one we missed. Ten minutes later they called and said they would deliver it two days later, which didn't help me in the least, as my prescription medication was in the bag. Yay withdrawls. After dinner they said they would deliver it the next day.
Moral of the story: Never ever, NEVER fly AirBerlin.

.

.