The first week of the school holidays has come and gone. The kids did very little due to the miserable weather. Lara still went to kindergarten as the kindergarten only closes from the 16th July to 30th July.
On Tuesday night, we met Larissa and Cindy at the Greek restaurant for dinner. We had a nice evening together.
On Wednesday I met up with the other S.A. ladies for tea at Heidi’s house. We spent the morning chatting away as we usually do.
On Thursday, I took the boys into town with me. Our first stop was the bank, where Steven wanted to collect his birthday present. The banks are very children friendly and with the kids having their own accounts, they get a birthday card every year and a small gift. Then we parked in the town centre and went to the Vodacom shop to meet Gerard. My cell fone contract had to be renewed and I had been offered a new fone. So we sorted that out and I am now the owner of a Blackberry fone. After that, we went off to our little Doner Kebab shop where we had a lovely Doner each for lunch. These are Shwarma’s in S.A. They are very popular here in Germany and being so tasty, are fast becoming the number one fast food.
On Friday evening, Bell had their Somerfest. The weather had been miserable all day, only to start clearing that evening. The food was excellent, the company was good, so all in all it turned out to be a really lovely evening.
We had arranged for Larissa and Cindy to join us for a breakfast on Saturday morning and then we could all watch the rugby together. Well what can I say!!! The breakfast was good, the rugby …… terrible!!!
On Sunday morning Gerard went off to play golf with Heinz. It was a very hot day and Gerard arrived home absolutely exhausted.
He had a shower and a snooze before getting up and getting the braai ready. We had a lovely braai in the afternoon with our friends and ended off our week well.
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Monday, July 16, 2007
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Some of our latest news.
After Gerard’s mom left us, the house just seemed so empty. To top it off, Gerard left the next day (Sunday) for Spain.
I got together with Roxy and Marcelle on Tuesday for tea at Roxy’s house. Roxy treated us to her delicious scones.
On Thursday, I picked Heidi up and the two of us went off to Fulda for the morning. It was so nice to walk through the shops and look for things without kids moaning and groaning as to how boring it was. We had a nice cup of coffee and some German cake before making our way back to Alsfeld.
The schools were breaking up on Friday 6th, so that whole week was spent winding down with very little homework. Robert took a little gift for his teacher on Friday, as he had spent the last 3 years with her. He said that the whole class was very tearful at the final farewell. He was quite tearful at home just telling me about it all. I just can’t believe that my little boy goes into “high school” in September.
It was also report day of course. Robert and Steven had very average reports and are both going onto the next year - thankfully.
Friday being full of excitement for the kids was even more exciting for Stevie as it was his ninth birthday. I had planned for his birthday to be at Halligalli and I was quite pleased, as the weather had not improved at all. He had a total of 12 children at his party including himself. We had bought him the Bayern Munchen soccer outfit amongst other smaller things, and my S.A. friends clubbed together and bought him some Adidas soccer boots, goalie gloves and socks that all matched his new outfit.
Boy, was he chuffed with all of this!! I will post some photos of his party so that you can see his cake etc.
The last two years, Zelda had been here and helped me out with Steven’s party but this year, I had to go it alone. I was at the point of muttering under my breath “never again” when Heidi walked in. How relieved I was to see her.
Ryan and Roxy arrived a bit later and they were pleasantly surprised to see how many activities Halligalli has to offer. Gerard arrived and both he and Ryan played soccer with the boys. Oh what fun they had.
On Saturday, we had a nice lazy start to our day. I was busy with breakfast, when Gerard walked in and said that Clive (Gerard’s boss from S.A.) and Seni (a colleague from S.A.) would be here soon!!! He had omitted to tell me that the rugby game was starting at 12.00. Well was I caught unawares. Anyway, the two of them decided to go and do shopping in Giesen afterall. Gerard and I watched the rugby and were disappointed that S.A. lost. Clive and Seni returned in the afternoon with all their shopping.
On Sunday, the family had been invited to Gary Bell’s birthday lunch and Cindy’s introduction to Germany. It was great to get out, the weather was quite good and a good time was had by all.
We all left at about 3.30pm as Gary was flying back to S.A. a little later that evening. Well, Gerard received an SMS telling us that the party was continuing at their house in Romrod. Gary had postponed his flight until the following night.
It was a great evening where we met Gary and Larissa’s neighbours.
I got together with Roxy and Marcelle on Tuesday for tea at Roxy’s house. Roxy treated us to her delicious scones.
On Thursday, I picked Heidi up and the two of us went off to Fulda for the morning. It was so nice to walk through the shops and look for things without kids moaning and groaning as to how boring it was. We had a nice cup of coffee and some German cake before making our way back to Alsfeld.
The schools were breaking up on Friday 6th, so that whole week was spent winding down with very little homework. Robert took a little gift for his teacher on Friday, as he had spent the last 3 years with her. He said that the whole class was very tearful at the final farewell. He was quite tearful at home just telling me about it all. I just can’t believe that my little boy goes into “high school” in September.
It was also report day of course. Robert and Steven had very average reports and are both going onto the next year - thankfully.
Friday being full of excitement for the kids was even more exciting for Stevie as it was his ninth birthday. I had planned for his birthday to be at Halligalli and I was quite pleased, as the weather had not improved at all. He had a total of 12 children at his party including himself. We had bought him the Bayern Munchen soccer outfit amongst other smaller things, and my S.A. friends clubbed together and bought him some Adidas soccer boots, goalie gloves and socks that all matched his new outfit.
Boy, was he chuffed with all of this!! I will post some photos of his party so that you can see his cake etc.
The last two years, Zelda had been here and helped me out with Steven’s party but this year, I had to go it alone. I was at the point of muttering under my breath “never again” when Heidi walked in. How relieved I was to see her.
Ryan and Roxy arrived a bit later and they were pleasantly surprised to see how many activities Halligalli has to offer. Gerard arrived and both he and Ryan played soccer with the boys. Oh what fun they had.
On Saturday, we had a nice lazy start to our day. I was busy with breakfast, when Gerard walked in and said that Clive (Gerard’s boss from S.A.) and Seni (a colleague from S.A.) would be here soon!!! He had omitted to tell me that the rugby game was starting at 12.00. Well was I caught unawares. Anyway, the two of them decided to go and do shopping in Giesen afterall. Gerard and I watched the rugby and were disappointed that S.A. lost. Clive and Seni returned in the afternoon with all their shopping.
On Sunday, the family had been invited to Gary Bell’s birthday lunch and Cindy’s introduction to Germany. It was great to get out, the weather was quite good and a good time was had by all.
We all left at about 3.30pm as Gary was flying back to S.A. a little later that evening. Well, Gerard received an SMS telling us that the party was continuing at their house in Romrod. Gary had postponed his flight until the following night.
It was a great evening where we met Gary and Larissa’s neighbours.
Saturday, July 07, 2007
Monday, July 02, 2007
June has come and gone!!!
Hello everyone. The whole month of June has come and gone in a flash. As I said previously, we had Gerard’s mom arrive on the 1 June and she spent a month with us this time. After her trip out here last year, we felt that she can still cope with the flight from S.A. When she comes to Europe, she usually visits us and then goes on to her family in Austria or Switzerland. After a real problematic time with her flight back to S.A. last year, we decided that the Austrian family and anyone else, who wanted to see her, could come to us for a change.
So our first week was spent just relaxing at home. On the 8th of June the Austrian family arrived. Peter and Traute stayed until the Tuesday afternoon and left Tante Hilde here with us. They were attending a business conference in Munich. On Friday 15th I drove Hilde through to Fulda station. She caught the ICE train down to Munich where she met up with Peter and Traute again.
On the 23rd of July, Manfred and Lisabet arrived from Switzerland. They caught the ICE train from Thun through to Fulda and then caught the connecting train through to Alsfeld. They got to spend one night with us and then we took them through to Fulda the next day to go all the way back.
Besides school activities, a few braais with friends and getting together for teas etc. we did not actually take Mom around for much sightseeing at all. She seemed to enjoy her stay here very much, as she said it was a nice relaxing visit for her. She involved herself with the kids and their homework which was great and helped me around the house and garden..
She left on Saturday 30th July and we are all feeling quite lost without her.
I will be writing a few more detailed posts with some photos about her stay here.
Now there will be no excuse for my emailing you all again and getting back on track with correspondence.
So our first week was spent just relaxing at home. On the 8th of June the Austrian family arrived. Peter and Traute stayed until the Tuesday afternoon and left Tante Hilde here with us. They were attending a business conference in Munich. On Friday 15th I drove Hilde through to Fulda station. She caught the ICE train down to Munich where she met up with Peter and Traute again.
On the 23rd of July, Manfred and Lisabet arrived from Switzerland. They caught the ICE train from Thun through to Fulda and then caught the connecting train through to Alsfeld. They got to spend one night with us and then we took them through to Fulda the next day to go all the way back.
Besides school activities, a few braais with friends and getting together for teas etc. we did not actually take Mom around for much sightseeing at all. She seemed to enjoy her stay here very much, as she said it was a nice relaxing visit for her. She involved herself with the kids and their homework which was great and helped me around the house and garden..
She left on Saturday 30th July and we are all feeling quite lost without her.
I will be writing a few more detailed posts with some photos about her stay here.
Now there will be no excuse for my emailing you all again and getting back on track with correspondence.
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
The Last Week of May
The last week of May went much the say as any other week here in Germany. On Tuesday, I played tennis with Gisela. Gisela is ranked in the top 2 women players of our club, so needless to say, she beat me wholesale. It was still nice to get out and feel like I had used some muscles.
On The Wednesday I picked Roxy up and we went into town. We walked around some shops and went to the Asian shop to see if any Milo had arrived. Roxy having pregnancy cravings!!! hehehe.
We then went and had a cappuccino in the market square. As we were getting seated Larissa had seen us and she came and joined us. About ten minutes later, Heidi arrived. So it was really nice to sit and chat with the other girls.
Besides normal sports activities and mom playing taxi, nothing else exciting happened during this week. Over the weekend, the boys had a light athletics day in Schlitz. After arriving in Schlitz and not being able to find anything resembling a sports ground, Gerard drove off in a huff. I got on the phone to Jane and she managed to locate a friend in Schlitz who could advise us how to find the place.
The boys had a good time. Steven came 6th out of 18 kids and Robert came 10th out of 10th!!
Sunday 27th was Pfingstsonntag and we took the kids off to the Pfingst Market which they always enjoy. We have learnt over the years, to visit the market at about 12.00pm because this is when most of the German's are having their Sunday lunch etc. It was great to walk around the uncrowded market, and when we were leaving, this was when the people started to flood in.
This was a great end to our last week of May.
On The Wednesday I picked Roxy up and we went into town. We walked around some shops and went to the Asian shop to see if any Milo had arrived. Roxy having pregnancy cravings!!! hehehe.
We then went and had a cappuccino in the market square. As we were getting seated Larissa had seen us and she came and joined us. About ten minutes later, Heidi arrived. So it was really nice to sit and chat with the other girls.
Besides normal sports activities and mom playing taxi, nothing else exciting happened during this week. Over the weekend, the boys had a light athletics day in Schlitz. After arriving in Schlitz and not being able to find anything resembling a sports ground, Gerard drove off in a huff. I got on the phone to Jane and she managed to locate a friend in Schlitz who could advise us how to find the place.
The boys had a good time. Steven came 6th out of 18 kids and Robert came 10th out of 10th!!
Sunday 27th was Pfingstsonntag and we took the kids off to the Pfingst Market which they always enjoy. We have learnt over the years, to visit the market at about 12.00pm because this is when most of the German's are having their Sunday lunch etc. It was great to walk around the uncrowded market, and when we were leaving, this was when the people started to flood in.
This was a great end to our last week of May.
Monday, June 18, 2007
A Big Apology
Hello to all of you that read my blog. I would really like to apologise for the fact that I have been neglecting my blog of late. Will definately make it up to you and there will be a new entry waiting for you all tomorrow.
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