We're still here!

So, we just passed our halfway mark. We've been in Germany 4 months now and have just 4 more to go. It has been interesting in so many ways. Most recently, I have been struggling with "transition fatigue" and am trying not to hate it here. Honestly, I don't hate it here. I quite like it, in fact. But I miss our car, I miss many of the things we are "used to", and I miss the sun. It has been the darkest winter on record for Nuremberg. Yay for us. Just today, as I was pushing my bundled up children through the snow, trying to teach Eli how to keep his head down so the icy snow/rain wouldn't fly in his face on the way to the grocery store to pick up milk (because it only comes in liters, our refrigerator is small, and I refuse to buy shelf milk), I had to remind myself that it's snowing in the U.S. also and that Spring will one day come. (Right? It will come eventually?!)

I am teaching aerobics twice a week in our church building, which has been really fun. It gives us something to do two mornings a week, and gives me a project to work on at home as I come up with new routines.

We have done a number of trips, but none out of Germany yet. We were tentatively planning on Vienna this coming weekend, but the weather is still supposed to be stinky and I am kind of done with sight-seeing in freezing temperatures. Although seeing Dachau, the former concentration camp, was pretty powerful when it's -5 degrees out (Celcius. I'm trying to convert). Most recently it was Rothenburg ob der Tauber and Heidelberg.

Caden still loves all trains, and we sometimes go on "U-bahn" (subway) adventures. He can name in order all the u-bahn stops along any route we have gone on more than once or twice, and for the most part his pronunciation is pretty good. Although I can't convince him that "Rathenauplatz" is not actually "Rattenowclatz". He loves to play with his friends Marco and David, who speak both German and Italian but no English. Doesn't stop those boys. Eli loves to chase after the big boys and mimic all they do as well. Eli has the typical separation anxiety of kids his age as well as being quite shy, but it seems to be especially magnified by the language differences. If someone comes up close to him and speaks in German, he gets really uncomfortable and won't look at them or acknowledge them. Although he will often do that even if they do speak English. If he's not being held, he will generally burst into tears and stand there sobbing until mom or dad come retrieve him. I tried dropping him off at a childcare room in the gym so I could go to a zumba class, and he would have none of that. After making all the other children cry with his screams and repeated attempts for me to return and try to help him, I gave up and never even made it inside the classroom. So we left, thus prompting a fit from Caden who was having a grand time and didn't care to leave. :) Sometimes, I just choose to laugh because if I don't laugh then I will surely cry.

Here are just a couple of pictures from recent weeks. We have far too many pictures and just thinking about trying to truly "catch up" on blogging exhausts me. So, here are just a sample:

 Jess and Eli in downtown Furth, a suburb of Nuremberg

 What a cutie!

 We had a couple of nice days and flowers bloomed like weeds behind our building. Caden loved getting out a riding his bike.

 Eli and I at the Rathaus (town hall) in Rothenburg ob der Tauber

 I love this kid's grin! Behind Heidelberg's castle

 Heidelberg

 Jess and Caden by Heidelberg castle. Look how thick that chunk of tower is that crumbled down!

Along the Philosopher's Way, a path on the opposite side of the river from Heidelberg that looks out over the city and castle.

 Another view of the castle

Heidelberg with the castle and old stone bridge.