Germany!

Oh my gosh, I'm so incredibly tired that I simply cannot think straight. My body has not yet adjusted to this new time, not to mention this incredible North Carolina heat (104F, dear Lord!). Travelling standby alone with a teething toddler was pretty much what I expected it to be -- a tad overwhelming, sometimes chaotic, and often very tiring. For the most part, Lily did amazingly well. She is such a wonderful kid and I was so proud of her. I can't imagine how hard it was for her to be so far out of her element and she made it look easy. She greeted family members like old friends and managed to behave in most situations. I love her :)

So, now for what you really want -- pictures!

On the flight over, we sat next to the nicest German woman, who was also a grandmother, so she made a very nice substitute for my own mother. Thank God for nice people in this world! Beth and her kids, Claudia and Keegan, sat behind us, which made lily happy, because she loves "Boff", "Cowia", and "Keegum".

At our hotel room in Kelsterbach (near the Frankfurt airport). We stayed there alone the first night, awaiting the arrival of Devin's Dad. Dev's Dad, Dan, met us for the first leg of our journey, it was his first trip to Europe!

Shopping in Mainz! We did a LOT of walking that day!

We took Dan on a boat tour of the Rhein River, starting from Bingen. Its a 3-story boat and we sat on the top for the best view!

The boat tour features a lot of castles along the way.

A view from Burg Klopp in Bingen. Lily was passed out in the mei tai carrier, check out the droopy head!

My amazing cousin Silvia, who met us both at the beginning and end of our trip and is seriously one of the nicest people I've ever met! This picture was taken at dinner on Dan's last night. We sat outside and had an amazing view of the Rhein and surrounding mountains.

That night, we went driving in Wiesbaden, which is an amazingly beautiful city. We even drove to the top of a hill that overlooks the entire city at night, what a view! Lily kept saying "Hi Ciby!" to the view (meaning Hi City), as she was busy running around in the dark park, having a blast.

After we dropped Dan back off at the airport for his return trip, Lily and I rented a car (mapquest directions in hand), and headed to see my cousin Kristina in Kolitzheim. Here is Lily and baby Melina (my cousins sweet daughter), getting to know eachother. Melina was not sure what to make of Lily. She laughed at first, then cried later...especially when Lily said in a high, piercing tone "Hi BABY!"

At long last, we finally made it Seubrigshausen, to Oma's house! Lily recognized Oma and my aunt Doris right away (she literally pointed and said "Dat's Oma! Dat's Doyyis!" when they opened the door!). She loved spending time with Oma and Doris and was sad each night when it was bedtime

My cousin Jenny came to visit a lot, which I'm so grateful for! Lily knew her by first sight too ("Denny!"). Guess all those hours of looking at family albums was a good thing!

A walk around Seubrigshausen...

And in the garden, next to the house

We took Lily to a local animal park in Schweinfurt, she loved it so much!

Lily even helped Oma cook by stirring her dumplings! The bad news is, that Lily barely ate a thing our entire trip. The good news is, I sure did! My Oma is an awesome cook and makes everything from scratch. I was in food heaven and I even ate a good bit of meat (it was fresh and tasty). For those of you who know I'm practically vegetarian, you'd be proud of me!

I could not get this kid to sit still long enough to pose for a picture! This is the field behind my grandmother's house. This is also approximately the place where Lily went to when she ran away from home....yes, you read that right! My sneaky child was playing in the back of Oma's house and I ran to get her a diaper and clothes so we could head in the bath. Lily slipped out of an open side door, out into the main garden, and then walked out in the road! A nice neighbor saw her heading towards traffic (not that there's much in the tiny town), and carried her back home. I have never been so relieved in my life!

This is the backside of the barn, its such a peaceful place

Lily plays in the church I was baptized in. Maybe next time we go, I'll have her baptized there as well!

More walking around Seubrigshausen...she was only content to stay in the stroller for a few blocks or so

Lily and I eating coffee and cake on the back porch of Oma's house

The kid loves green tomatoes

The trip home went well, but was a lot more stressful! Lily and I awoke at 4 AM to drive back to Frankfurt. It was about a two hour drive and the rain didn't help my nerves any. We met Beth (our generous friend who gave us the buddy passes) in the same Kelsterbach hotel we stayed at in the beginning. My cousin Silvia also met us there and we all had breakfast. It was finally time to turn in my rental car (the tried to charge me $53 Euro bc it was "dirty" --read: just receipts and stuff -- and my sweet cousin Silvia went and cleaned it so I could make my flight and not be charged).

Lily and I literally RAN (well, I pushed the stroller she sat in) to check in to the flight. We were pretty much told that the flight was full and we had a snowball's chance of actually making the direct flight. There is only one US Air flight a day that goes from Frankfurt to Charlotte and I would've had to wait until the next day to make the flight if it was full. It was an arduous process, hauling a stroller, carseat, backpack, rolling suitcase, purse, and toddler through airport security, but Lily was awesome. Especially when I gave her chocolate.

We really didn't know until the last second if there would be room for us on the flight. They even had to rearrange seating so Lily and I could sit next to eachother. Beth and her kids had caught an earlier flight to Philly (which I couldn't take bc that would've required 2 more buddy passes and paying taxes), so Lily and I were alone on this one. She did pretty well, sleeping the first 3 hours and bugging the crap out of me for the next 6. Not even Shrek on DVD could keep her quiet for long. She managed to squish cookies and then spill juice in her carseat (in case you're wondering, that is a nasty combo and turned into an interesting concoction). We were seated next to a very handsome man, whom Lily kept flirting with by handing her half-eaten food to. Luckily, this guy was blessed with infinate patience, so he just smiled at her and took the slimy cheese away. I gave him my extra set of headphones for his trouble :)

Lily's dirty travelling face on the plane ride home:

So, other than coming home to this ridiculously hot weather, we are happy to be home. The house was sort of a mess, but Devin did pretty good keeping the dishes and laundry under control while we were gone. I know he missed his girls, because we sure missed him. I have been too tired to really talk on the phone much. The combo of jet lag, the heat, and a jet lagged toddler have made me rather grumpy and slightly cross-eyed. Luckily, Mom has lily for the weekend and I can sleep and clean and get ready for some serious job-hunting next week! Wish me luck!

A big thank you to my friends, Leslie and Eve. Eve loaned me her carseat (yes, I'll clean it before I give it back to her) and Leslie loaned me her Maclaren*stroller to take with us. I was able to rig the two things so I could push them through the airport together. The Eddie Bauer carseat is the only seat with a bottom small enough to fit in the stroller (which I didn't have a sturdy umbrella stroller, so had to borrow one). I used the latch system to make it sturdy and it worked like a charm! I even attached the rolling lugguage to the stroller arm, so it would drag along naturally. So, other than the backpack on my back, all I had to do was push a stroller. It was definately a funny sight to see, but it held up great and Lily was comfortable, safe, and strapped down.

We're glad to be home and I promise to start returning phone calls soon! Hugs!