Wild und Wanderpark

Wild und Wanderpark

Today playgroup was at the wild park about 40 minutes from my house. I didn't really know what to expect but was thinking it was kind of like a Lion Country Safari type place (my Florida people know what I am talking about). It wasn't quite that but definitely worth the visit. Playgroup turned out to be a bust, I guess a lot of people weren't interested in driving that far and the others that did show up were very late because of a stau (traffic jam) on the highway. I made it there on time because I live farther away from the base than most people (and much closer to the park we were going to) so I didn't get caught in traffic. So Colin and I wandered around the wild park just the two of us and had a great time. As soon as we went through the gates right away we were greeted by two deer and a couple chickens. Colin was in awe of the deer and just stared at him (he was probably thinking wow that's a big doggie!) I immediately went to snapping pictures of the deer not realizing that there would be ample photo ops with all the overly friendly animals. I realized soon that they apparently sell boxes of food at the ticket counter and the animals know this. I didn't even have to pay for animal food and they were more than willing to come sniff me and make sure I didn't have anything and give me my up close and personal animal experience.

So far the animal parks in Germany have a rather odd assortment of animals (remember the zoo with the raccoons and parakeets on display?) and this place was no exception. They had lots of deer, lots of chickens, goats, more deer, ponies, bison, more deer, wolves, an owl, and more deer. One of the baby goats practically climbed in the stroller with Colin which he thought was fantastic. He petted the goat and pulled his ears just like he does with the dogs and then laughed when the goat made his little baaaaa goat noise. Then the goat started trying to eat the stroller and I had to shoo him off and that made Colin cry. Ooops.

The park itself is huge and you go on quite the hike to visit it all. I was expecting more of a nice ADA compliant type park with nice paths to walk on. Not so much! I've gone hiking in places far less treacherous than this and my platform flip flops were cute but useless. The paths are loose gravel and pretty steep in some places. I almost busted my butt a couple times, thankfully no one was around me so I didn't give the Germans yet another reason to laugh at the stupid American. After my workout/park tour it was lunch time so we sat down by the restaurant to eat. While we were eating I saw the other two people from playgroup who were stuck in traffic. We ate together and Colin and I shared an awesome banana split for dessert. Colin was in heaven, bananas and ice cream are two of his very favorite things! I definitely want to go back (in proper shoes) and take Shelby to the park and spend more time animal watching. They didn't have the most exotic animals but Colin loved seeing them up close and running around everywhere.

Colin is 11 months!

Colin 11 Months

I can't believe our little man is so big! He weighed in at 22 lbs and 6 oz at the ER on Friday. He's such a little ham now. Boy does he know what he wants and have mercy on the person that denies him what he wants, he's become the master of meltdowns and we are a whole year shy of the terrible twos. Shel and I both pretty much ignore the tantrums and refuse to give him any attention until he calms down, he should have caught on to this by now but I think he's got his momma's temper and stubbornness.

He is down to three bottles a day now: morning, nap time and bedtime. He eats just about anything in sight and still loves fruit. I havent found a fruit yet this child won't inhale with both hands when I put it in front of him.

He's still pulling up and standing but no steps yet. He babbles and coos and I think he says "da da" pretty regularly but doesn't know what it means. He throws his arms up above his head when you say touchdown, he gives five and he is starting to wave but that one is still a work in progress. He's become quite the little dancer and bounces up and down to songs he likes. The best toys in the world are still the trash and recycle cans in the kitchen and he laughs hysterically when you tell him not to mess with them. He also loves the dog water bowl and makes a beeline for it if he thinks you aren't watching.

One more month of having a baby and then he'll be one and into the toddler years.

Back from the ER

After trying unsuccessfully yet again to see a pediatrician on base we decided to go to the ER. Stupid Tricare can never get us in on base and wants to keep sending me off base to the same doc who has had the kid on ear drops for the last two weeks that aren't working. We got all registered and the triage nurse told us he would put us in with a fast track doctor...whatever that means but it sounded good to us. After sitting in the waiting room for about 45 minutes and not seeing one single solitary person from the crowd in the waiting room get called back I was a little worried I should have brought a toothbrush and some pjs! Not long after that the door opened and they called our name. As soon as I realized what was happening I quickly hurried through the door to follow the doctor before all the people in the waiting room decided to turn on us for not having to wait. We saw a very nice doctor who, like everyone else in the world, just loved my son. :) She said right ear is still red and left is now infected pretty good. He also has bronchitis on top of it all. With Tylenol and Amoxicillin in hand we left with instructions to follow up with the pediatrician in 10 days when the meds are gone and to ask for a consult to an ear specialist to discuss tubes. Lovely. Colin is happy, he loves Amoxicillin and it must be like candy to him. I bring out the syringe with it and he opens up like a little baby bird. Now if only I could train him to do that with the Tylenol we'd be in business. He must be able to smell the difference from a mile away because getting the Tylenol in him is a whole other ordeal. Thankfully he hasn't acted cranky or fussy with any of this and is still happy as always.

Gardening Gains

Yard & Garden

After spending many weekends in the yard it is looking really good. Shelby spent several mornings of last week in the vegetable garden digging up all the weeds and tilling up the dirt so we could plant. I've been weeding and neatening up the flower beds and we've both been on slug patrol. One night we went out in the yard with a bucket and picked up over 125 of the little demons! They were everywhere. I've since covered all the flower beds with slug bait and the population has dramatically decreased. Now we wait and see if my flowers recover.

Last weekend we really worked hard putting up three fences and getting the garden done. The dogs have been really good about running out the front door and peeing in the first spot of grass they come to and killing it. So we put up a small decorative fence along the walkway so that they are forced to pee elsewhere. Now the idiots go pee in the driveway and lately have taken up pooping there too. They have a huge back yard to go in and yet they insist on crapping in the driveway for the whole neighborhood to see. We also put up a fence around the vegetable garden to keep them (and any other critter that decides to visit us) out of there. And finally we put up a fence along the back of one of the flower beds because anytime we would play with the dogs and throw their toys to the back of the back yard they would cut through it and trample all my flowers. So now all the fences are in place, functional and pretty...sweet!

The vegetable garden is finally done. We dug up all the herbs and relocated them to one end of the garden. Shelby had to saw a bunch of limbs off one of the apple trees (you know he was SO sad to have an excuse to cut down trees!) so that the garden would get better light. Lastly we got everything in the ground. There are all kinds of things out there...corn, tomatoes, bell peppers, carrots, onions, radish, pumpkins, zucchini, strawberries, watermelon, spinach, green beans and probably a few other things that I can't think of right now. We have already had tomatoes and bell peppers off the plants with dinner and they are yummy. The raddish and corn is starting to sprout up too. I don't know what all will make it before it gets too cold but we are kind of using this as a practice season so next year we will be really ready come spring.

In addition to the garden and fruit trees we have several berry bushes in the backyard. We have a huge raspberry bush that will be ready soon and tons of red currant that is ready to pick now. I am going to have to look up what the heck to do with red currant because I certainly have enough of it! On Monday the neighbor brought over a bunch of apples from one of his trees. He had some on his trees that came in early and were ready for picking now. I made fresh applesauce and apple turnovers with them. MMMMMMMM! Both were delicious. Now I can't wait for our apples to be ready this fall. Atlas thinks they are ready now though. He takes the ones that fall off the tree and plays with them like a ball. He will run around the yard with the apple in his mouth and throw it up in the air and chase it around the yard. If I put an apple on the kitchen floor he'd eat it in no time. Yet somehow he can keep an apple in the yard for days on end without actually eating it. Gotta love that dog, that's why we call him special.

It's kind of nice to live someplace where we can actually garden. We've always lived in places that don't abide by the four seasons a year concept and are too hot for anything to grow. It's also nice that it rains regularly here and I don't have to stand in the yard and water every day to keep the plants alive...I was always bad about that. There are plenty of pics in the album, enjoy!

Can I call you stupid?

If you've tried calling us you might have noticed that our phone doesn't work. We use a VOIP through a provider called Lingo. For you technology challenged folks that means our phone runs through our internet connection. Our internet connection is just fine but our phone isn't getting a dial tone. This happens from time to time and usually you unplug the little power cord from the phone modem thing and let it sit for a while to reset, plug it back in and voila, problem solved. This time...not so much. So after trying a hundred times to reset the stupid thing I write to Lingo.Here is how the conversation goes:

Me: I am having trouble with my service, I am not getting a dial tone. I have tried resetting my box with no success. Please reply to this email with another solution suggestion since I cannot call tech support because my phone doesnt work.

Lingo: Thank you for contacting Lingo. Please follow the steps below to reset your router...(insert steps here). If this does not work please call technical support at xxx-xxx-xxxx.

Me: Thank you for replying, as I said in my initial email I have reset my router with no success. Please tell me what other steps I can take to correct the problem as this does not solve it. Also, as previously stated, my phone does not work so I cannot call tech support, please respond via email with suggestions. Thank you.

Lingo: Mrs. Goetzman, it seems as though your problem requires more advanced trouble shooting. Please call technical support at xxx-xxx-xxxx 24 hours a day for help resolving your issue.

Oh My God! SERIOUSLY?!?! Do they even READ the email or do they just reply with some cookie cutter response. What part of I reset my router and it didn't work and I do not have a phone didn't sink in? At this rate I don't know that I'll ever get my phone back! So if you are trying to reach us, email is the preferred method of communication at the moment.

Colin talking

This morning Colin had a nice long coversation with Atlas over blueberry waffles. I caught the end of it on tape to share. I forgot that I can't rotate videos on youtube though and filmed this one sideways...sorry! :)

Morning at the Zoo

Kaiserslautern Zoo

Wednesday Colin and I went to playgroup which met at the Kaiserslautern Zoo. It's a small but pretty zoo with just enough to entertain the kids. They had the usual zoo animals like lions, zebras, a camel and monkeys. Then they had some not so exotic animals that I had to laugh about...things like a raccoon exhibit, pigeons and parakeets in the aviary, rabbits and guinea pigs. The kids didn't care though and Colin actually liked watching the raccoons come beg us for food. It was also nice because the animals were active and up when we were there. The lion was laying down resting and all of a sudden he got up, walked right up to the fance where we were all standing and started roaring and putting on a show. He walked the fence a bit, stretched and roared some more. By the time I thought to put the camera on video he was about done but I did get some of it taped. When he started roaring all the little kids got scared and ran to their moms crying. Not Colin, he laughed hysterically and got excited...I guess he's used to the loud noises from the dogs. LOL

House Pics!

House Pics

Finally the house is all unpacked, put away, organized and clean! I really love this house and the only thing I wish different is that there was another bedroom upstairs but that's no huge deal. The inside is very spacious and I can even live with the white walls :) The patio on the back is great and we eat dinner out there all the time. It's been raining so I don't have pics of the patio or the gardens right now, we've been working on them though so I'll snap some pics soon :) Colin and I have been living out of a suitcase since February so it's especially nice to have all our stuff back and everything put away and organized. I know Shel is glad to have room to spread out too after living in his tiny dorm room for a year. As you can see we have plenty of room and a really nice place so come visit us!!! :) :)

Silly Colin

The other day he fell sound asleep in the middle of his lunch right there on his high chair tray, lol!

He also thinks it's hilarious to play in the dog bed with his puppies. He gets in there and laughs and rolls around with the dogs. Wacko!

Puppy Play

Puppy Play

Sunday night Shel and I were outside playing with the dogs and I snapped a bunch of pictures. I was trying to get some action shots but they are just too quick! Atlas had his Wubba and another ball for a while and then Shelby brought out the remote control Jeep. Atlas went nuts over it but Kalia wasn't giving up the precious blue ball to play with the Jeep. I got some good pics and some are funny action shots or tongue shots when they are all worn out. They had a good time and were worn out when we were done.

Happenings & Updates

I've been lousy at keeping up with this whole blog thing the last month or so. This last week has been especially busy. I started working and had to train all week, Colin got sick, my babysitter quit, and the list goes on. I got hired at the Chili's on base waiting tables. Right now I am just working Tues and Thurs lunch shifts to get out of the house for a bit and also to start getting Colin used to going to day care so that in January when I start student teaching and he has to go full time he won't be so shocked. I didn't think I'd ever wait tables again but when you work on the base you are employed by the federal government, which means I am on the government step pay scale and don't make regular waitress wages. I get paid holidays and over $9 an hour plus tips...yep, I think I can wait tables for that! I finally finished training last night so now I will go to my regular schedule this week of just working the two days a week.

When I got hired I had a home day care person lined up to take Colin and he seemed to do ok there. She called me Wednesday to let me know that after this week she couldn't take him anymore due to base child care regulations and the number of kids she had. So I had to hunt for a new sitter. The old sitter recommended her neighbor and I met with her for a while and Colin will start going there next week. She's a great lady who only has one other six month old baby and is more of a nanny to the kids than a babysitter. She's German and American certified in childcare and she speaks fluent German, English and French so that will be great for Colin. I think she's going to work out really well and hopefully she will work out and keep him when I student teach as well.

Thursday Colin came down with a cold again and has been feeling yucky since then. Today he had a low fever so I may call the doctor tomorrow. :(

We planted some more plants in the garden yesterday and finally got around to putting out slug bait. I'm fairly certain that half the slug population on the planet lives in my garden. We go out there at night and Shelby will pick up 20+ of the little bastards just munching away. I planted three beautiful sunflower plants that they destroyed one night. Hopefully they are out there chowing down on the bait and leaving my plants alone. Unfortunately yesterday while Shelby was out working in the yard Kalia decided to tear up the one of the bags of slug pellets and also a bag of grass seed. Shelby fed her right away hoping she'd throw it up since he wasnt sure how much she actually ate. She didnt and later last night she was all broke out in hives and swollen. We've been doing the benadryl thing every few hours to keep them under control. I read online today that apparently the bait is highly toxic and fatal to animals. Of course the box is all in German and I can't read if there are any warnings on it. The symptoms of what I read online said nothing of hives or swelling though and all the other symptoms it listed she doesn't have. So I am not too worried but keeping a close eye on her.

Aside from working a lot and dealing with sickness we haven't been up to a whole lot. I havent taken any pictures to share either. This week I am hoping to get the house done inside so I can take pictures of it and share. We'll see how the week goes!