Still working on the vacation blog, but to keep you up with what has been happening this week (today being Oct. 22)...
It turned out to be a busy week! Monday started with Brendan's check up which I mentioned the other day - we return on Nov. 19th to see where things stand.
Wednesday afternoon, Kyla had the Investiture Ceremony for the Girl Scout Brownies troop she joined here at her school. One of the Moms was saying she could feel snow in the air and could see it in the clouds...I was thinking she was teasing me being a Texas girl and all and totally thought she was kidding (the sun was shining that day and the sky was blue with some clouds...) I was totally shocked when I headed out to take the kids to school and do my volunteer duty on Thursday morning to be driving in snow...! Yes, our first snow! It didn't snow for long and it didn't fully stick, but it was big flakes coming down!!! The kids were absolutely thrilled! It was hilarious to listen to them!
I still feel like I am playing catch up from the trip and even though it was just mostly normal stuff, it has seemed a bit hectic. I did finally break down and was the rule-follower I know I am and made it over to the trafikkstasjon to apply for my Norwegian drivers' license. I asked a zillion questions and appealed to the lady's good sense (not that she has any power) to let me keep my Texas DL and grandfather me in on the driving for a year with my US license (the rule changed to 3 months as of July 1 and we arrived July 22). I actually even hand wrote a letter to hand in with my application while I was there to see if that would make any difference...we will see...So annoying - get this! I now have a temporary paper license for Norway, no US license, and have to have a picture ID with me, which means (since they took my DL) that I now have to carry around my passport...how safe...
We also invited our neighbors, Lamonte and Wendy, over for dinner on Thursday evening. Lamonte has been here since shortly after we arrived, however, Wendy has only been here a few weeks. We had a wonderful time chatting and enjoyed their company! They are from Alaska and this is their first international move as well. They have 3 kids all in college!!!
Today, Friday, Kyla's class had their first school party to celebrate UN Day. She desperately wanted my there so I went, of course, but then she barely paid me any attention...oh well, I enjoyed visiting with many of the other moms! From there, I went to a Chocolate Tasting party with the COP spouses' group. Ronda, our fearless leader, had a huge array of chocolates from all over Europe - it was fun to visit and chat with all the other spouses. It is always entertaining to share thoughts, ask questions, and "compare notes."
On tap for the weekend - Kyla has a friend over for the night (sweet little Anouk, whose house she stayed at when we were at the hospital with Brendan,) soccer in the morning to cheer on Brendan's team, Eli coming over to play with Brendan, and then Sunday...a real BBQ at the Darbys! Brisket...!!!
Okay, trip day 5...
We got up fairly early and walked over to Old Salzburg one last time in hopes of doing one more thing before we caught our train to Munich about 11:45. Kyla was dying to take one of the horse and carriage rides around the old town and we were hoping against hope that they would be out by 9:30 or so...but no such luck. We hung out for a little while and found a life size chess set the kids thought was fun, but eventually we had to head back without a horse a buggy ride. I think I saw one as we were leaving a bit after 10:00...bummer!
We headed over to the train station a little after 11 to find our platform. Today, we were bound and determined not to get confused and be sure we got on the correct train! We succeeded and it was an uneventful ride! We arrived in Munich around 1:30 or so and headed over to the taxi area to determine where exactly our hotel was and see if we needed a taxi. Turns out our hotel, the ArtHotel Munchen, was a quick 5 minute walk from the station. We checked in and dropped off our stuff and soon went in search of food - we have kids that are ALWAYS hungry...!
We grabbed a super quick bite at the train station and headed on over to try to catch the city sightseeing bus that we had a voucher for. We made it over there just in time to catch the one departing at 3. This was the "hop on/hop off" style tour that takes you basically all over the city and you listen to an audio guide of what you are seeing! I enjoy these because you get a good overview of the city! The kids were obviously not as impressed...Brendan dozed off and Kyla laid her head down in Spencer's lap...oh well...
After the tour ended, we headed back to the hotel to get a recommendation for dinner. The staff was very kind and pointed us in the direction of a place called Augustiner-Keller. This is one of the MANY biergarten and breweri restaurants all over the city. We enjoyed a very traditional and yummy dinner there and I was then officially in love with Veal Wiener Shnitzel - OMG - I ended up eating it 3 times in Bavaria/Germany!
Anyway, by then we were all worn out and needed to head to settle in for the night - because tomorrow - castle tour day!!!!
