Photo Recap of Events

So much has happened and there is so much to tell that I can only attempt to catch-up this blog with a photo recap! Here are the highlights of our departure from the U.S., our arrival in Germany, and our first 1 1/2 weeks in country!

Al, Kelty and I drove from MI to ME to pick up the dogs, drop off the Jeep and rendevous with Al's pareents. We stayed with his parents overnight before Al, Kelty, myself, Pogo and Piper hit the road for Baltimore while Al's parents drove to VT to drop of their dog with Al's brother. We met up again in D.C. while waiting to catch our hop out of Baltimore. Our first flight ended up getting cancelled and we spent an extra day in D.C. waiting to fly out (again). Of course with a military hop you don't know it's cancelled until you show up ... unload the vehicle, load 18 pieces of luggage onto luggage carts, wrangle a toddler and 3 luggage carts into the airport, return the rental car ... and oh! "you're flight is cancelled"!

In front of the Washington Monument

The Lincoln Memorial

My reflection standing at the Vietman Memorial ... I was thinking of your service Dad, thank-you

Arlington National Cemetary

Wheel's up!

Kelty was ready too! I sat next to Kelty and had Pogo under the seat in front of Kelty. Kelty was GREAT! He slept all but 1 1/2 hours of the 7+ hour flight! Pogo on the other hand cried and yelped the first half of the flight until we gave him a double dose of his travel meds! We handed out candy bars to to the passengers around us before the flight and apologized in advance for any disruption we may cause!

It took Kelty about 4 nights to adjust to the time change but it was really pretty painless. Al and I and Al's parents play Spades at night ... Kelty was up playing with us!

Playing with his rainboots ... thanks Nana! He LOVES them!

We hit the ground running pretty hard and after the first week needed a bit of a break. We decided to drive about 1 1/2 hours to see the castle ruins in Heidelburg. This is the inside courtyard.

The castle had beautiful gardens and grounds ... Kelty loved the grass and the flowers.

Picking flowers ... before his temper tantrum that ended up with us leaving hastily!

Playing at the park near our TLF

Finally! Our rental house! The search for a rental home was exhausting to put mildly. This is not a high PCS season so there is not a lot out there right now ... we were soooo fortunate to get this house especially after some miscommunication with the non-English speaking owner/landlord. We move-in on April 22nd .. the house is in Otterberg, Germany which is about 20 minutes from base. We live about 2 minutes away from the Doerr's (a couple that Al knew from Macdill who are also stationed here). The house is about a 10 minute walk from the town center where they have bakeries, cafe's, shops and a little grocery store. I'll dedicate another post to the house once we get some good interior pics, etc.

The view from our 2nd story patio! We have flower boxes!!! The main floor opens up onto a huge patio that almost doubles the size of the living area ... it's also safe for Kelty to explore. i have visions of the doors being open on a crisp summer day, Kelty playing in his little sandbox and Pogo and Piper sunbathing. :o)

More to come ... at least I got a start with this post. :o)