Neu Auto und Neuschwanstein

So here are some pictures of our new VW Transporter.  It has 9 seats and it is a stick shift.  It's actually quite easy to drive, just tricky to maneuver in tight spaces.  Notice the lights on the roof in the back.  Those are for when we're caravanning with someone they will always know when we're turning.

Just a few days after we got the van we took everybody to see two castles about an hour and a half from Munich.  The more famous one is the Neuschwanstein Castle, the one the Disneyland castle was based on.  It was really amazing!  The castle is so beautiful in its setting and the views all around from it are so great!!  The inside was wonderful too, although not all finished (the king died before he could finish it), but the outside was the best.

(You can see the castle behind and above us)

The other castle we visited was within view of this one.  It was the royal family home of the prince Ludwig.  When he became King Ludwig he wanted a place of his very own I guess.  It was very interesting but not quite as spectacular as Neuschwanstein.  It's called the Hohenschwangau Castle.

I'm a Lady Driver

So yesterday I rented a big cargo van to go pick up some furniture and things from a family in our ward who are moving back to the states soon.  First I couldn't get it into reverse and had to go ask some mechanics how to do it while another guy in his car was waiting for me to move out of his way.  They didn't speak English.  Turns out there's a ring on the stick shift you have slide up with your fingers while you are shifting into reverse.  (I haven't see an automatic transmission car yet.)  I got all the stuff and brought it home.  Turning into my driveway I creased the side of the van on the fence pillar.  So I had to report that when I returned it.  The rental car insurance I had covers everything except for a 1000 Euro deductible.  That's $1500.  They'll send me a bill.

Then, I drove to a city an hour away because a dealership there had a used van that looked really good and for a great price.  (Leasing a van big enough for our family would be 700-900 euro per month.)  I took it for a test drive and got it hopelessly stuck in mud.  I went down a side street that was paved and (in the dark and rain) the paving all of sudden ended and I was in a field!  So I had to call the salesman and he came to see and then called a tow truck from the dealership.  The Germans are pretty blunt so he was telling me how "Oh, this is bad" and "The tow truck driver is pretty upset and is saying "How did she do this!""  He didn't mean to be rude or offensive, he was just reporting to me what was going on.  It was past closing time by now and I asked him if I was delaying any plans for the evening.  He said his girlfriend was waiting for him but he had already called her. 

He took me back to the dealership before they got the van free so I don't even know how long that took.  I wanted to buy the van so we filled out the paperwork but I can't pick it up for a few days.  I guess they want to clean it up and do an inspection on it (standard procedure).  I was so embarrassed I forgot to be flustered.  Well, I'll never have to see them again, oh wait--I'll have to see the salesman again in a few days.  Drat!!

On a lighter note.  This is what they call a bidet in Europe.  We have one in our bathroom that Jason, Hayley, Lizzie and Miles use.  Jason and Hayley call it the "Butt Scrubber"  None of us has ever used it...

Except Miles.  He thinks it's his personal hand washing sink.

It's Sunday night and we're all in the living room.  We all congregate here at night.  Today we missed our train by a minute and had to wait 15 minutes for the next one.  After 1 hour of commute we made it to Stake Conference but we were late.  Then we couldn't see the building it was supposed to be in.  Everybody said it was right there at the train stop but it was actually a good 10 minute walk.  Then Stake Conference for 2 hours.  After conference we rushed to the train station only to have to wait for 30 minutes for the next train.  But this time there were several people we knew also taking the train so we had people to talk to on the way home.  So we left the house at 8:15 and got home at 14:00.  We still have a rental car that only seats 5 so driving was not an option. 

My goal for this week is to get a car.  We thought we'd lease a car but leasing is super expensive!  So we think we will buy a used car.  I'm a little nervous about driving an 8-seater vehicle around because everything is so small and tight.  I do a lot of 3 and 5 point turning even in the little car we have now.  It's an adventure!  But not the exploring kind yet.  Just doing normal, everyday things is an adventure.  Everything is so different.  But one thing that was not hard to get used to was driving insanely fast on the autobahn.  That's kind of fun!  It feels safe because everybody follows the rules.  You are not allowed to pass anyone on the right.  Everybody moves left if they want to go faster and right if they want to go slower.

Hayley:  Oh dear mom, now you've done it.  You ticked Camilla off, that's not good.  Everything in that post that mom posted is what Camilla was saying to try to get mom to stop.  (Okay, Hayley, what do you want to say.)  Um, I don't really know.  (Here's your chance.)  Okay, so Germany is pretty cool so far.  Everybody is really nice at school and the school is really huge.  The house is pretty big too.  It's really empty though which is pretty annoying.  And really echoey and really loud.  But hopefully that will change once we get furniture in it.  It's been interesting trying to settle in. 

Camilla:  I want a blog!  Eliza has a blog so I want a blog!  That is so not what I said mom.  Delete everything!  Take it away.  Stop mommy.  Can I type my own blog please?  Hey!  No, seriously mom, don't post this.  Mom!!

Internet at Home!!

We finally got internet working at our house.  It was connected on Tuesday but Eric was in Poland and despite a valiant effort by Jason we couldn't get it working.  So Eric got home at 22:00 (10 pm) Friday night and by 23:30 it was working.  I really missed it!! 

The kids are two weeks into school and really enjoying it.  They have made some friends and are doing well in their classes.  They were really worried about being behind in their classes but they're fine.  They go to school from 9:00 to 16:00 (4:00 pm) (this is not typical German school hours but typical of international schools), so they get a lot of work done at school.  They don't have as much homework as they did at home.  Jason, Hayley and Camilla have joined the swim team which only practices 2 days a week.  We're only familiar with a few stores so we were lucky that one of them had swimsuits for sale.  We forgot to pack those in our 21 pieces of luggage or our air shipment. 

Lizzie started school two days ago.  She goes to the same school as the older kids and for the same hours.  She gets picked up in front of our house by a school bus at 8:30 and gets dropped off in front of our house at 16:45.  The older kids leave the house at 7:45 and take a city bus to the train station, take the train two stops up and then catch a school bus from the train station to the school.  They take the same route home and they get home about 17:00. 

Miles and Lizzie's Room

The condensation dryer in a separate room from the washer.  It doesn't have a vent to the outside.  It dries by somehow sucking the water out of the clothes and storing it in a chamber that I empty after each cycle.

Our couches for now are some cots that Eric's brother, Ryan, loaned us.  (Thanks!)  We also got a couple of chairs from Ikea (ih-kay-uh)

I just realized that this post is getting long.  So one more thing for today.  When you go shopping you have to deposit one euro, or a coin or something of that size and shape to unlock a cart to use.  Then when you bring the cart back you get your euro or whatever back.  So you have to always have a euro with you.

McNugget Fi

Sitting in McDonalds speed typing in between chasing Rand and Lizzie because they finished their mcnuggets before I even got my computer set up with the WiFi HotSpot.  Silly me, I thought it would be free.  We won't have internet at our house for a few days and I feel so cut off!  I can't do anything it seems like without internet connection.

That's all for now.