My, how time flies...

I notice that blog posts are getting farther apart...
It means that life is in full swing!
Since we last posted, we have had our Appeal hearing with the school on 2 February. The good news is, We won! That means that Gray can attend the school closest to home. The bad news is, he has to have an "induction interview" with the Head of Year, and that person hasn't called us back. Then, she has been ill for the past few days. So, David went up there, and got, uh hem, assertive. Turns out, there is more than one person who can do this meeting. We meet tomorrow (Friday) at 12:15. Gray will be able to start school after the half term break, on 22 February.

The other frustrating thing about school: Uniforms required. Can only get them from the Uniform Shop at the school. It is open from 12:$5 to 1:45 on Monday and Thursday ONLY. David and Gray got there at 1:47, and could not get a uniform. (David had to skip out of court early to get there!) He did find someone who was able to "loan" Gray a blazer and tie. He will have to get the rest (including the "gym kit") when he starts school.
School is year round here, but kids attend school for about the same number of days. They have a one week break in the fall (sometime in October); 2 to 2.5 weeks off at Christmas; one week in February; 2 weeks at Easter; one week in June, and then out for the summer for about the last week in July until the beginning of September. Apparently, all of Europe has similar breaks, because travel fares increase for those weeks. Still, much cheaper than traveling in much of the US.

So, this Saturday, we head to Munich! Munich is where Hitler got his start; it's where the BMW factory is located; it is a couple of hours from Neuschwanstein Castle, which is the castle that is the model for most "fairy tale" castles, including the Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disney World. We will be there five days, so hopefully will get a good feel for it. It's in the Bavarian Alps, so we will be in the mountains as well. David and Gray are still trying to figure out what car to rent so we can take a drive on the Autobahn. Do we rent American Muscle, or Exotic European? Whatever we rent, it's a stupid amount of money to rent a car, because we have to rent something worthy of driving on a road with no speed limit (so I'm told)..... We'll let you know...

As I'm going through my day, I see things that I think, "I need to post that on the blog." And then, I don't remember what they are. When it warms up, I will feel free to take my fingers out of my gloves to keep notes in the phone so I remember...
One thing that I've seen that amuses me: toddlers on scooters. Remember when your kids were ages 2 to 5 (ish), and they didn't want to be in the stroller, they were too heavy to carry around, but they were so slow to move on those short little legs? Well, in a city where everyone walks, parents have found a solution: Scooters. Those two or three wheel platforms with a handle that sticks up? I seen numerous kids scooting around on those! Many of them are accompanied by parents pushing a pram (stroller). Quite creative, I think! You gotta watch out for them, though. They don't all have great control and the ability to dodge or stop quickly.

The other day, I pulled out some sugar snap peas for lunch-- you know fresh ones? My co-workers were aghast that I was eating them raw! This from the people who eat mushy peas and Brussel's Sprouts! I also learned from co-workers that people don't have "mental retardation." (Even when they have an IQ of 55!) They have "learning disabilities. Well, you know what "learning disabilities" means in the US... it's NOT the same! I'm glad I learned that with a close co-worker. I could have really embarrassed myself!

Random stuff:

Gray has started going to the local Youth Center. They have these all over the place. They have organized activities, including a loosely structured "hang out" time for youth ages 10-16. We drug Gray there one Monday evening (which is when they have an open session for kids from 10-13), and he loves it! He gets to play football, pool, ping pong and just "hang out" with kids his age. He says people are always asking him to "talk." You know, he has that cool American accent... He will be attending school with these kids, so that's really good.

Gray has HUGE feet. Not only are they the same size as David's, but they are extra wide. We had trouble finding shoes for him in the US, but eventually did. It is IMPOSSIBLE here! We go into a shoe store and ask about extra wide trainers (tennis shoes), and they look at us like we're from another planet! I can't even find out how they designate wide width shoes. In the US, weuse letters (Gray is EEE.) The only thing we've found here is "extra wide." He's probably tried on 50 pairs of shoes! I may have found a pair for him. We'll see if they fit when they get here! (Risky to order from the internet, when we don't really know the true size, but we're desperate!) Fortunately, we did find a pair of shoes for school (can NOT be trainers!)

I tried a new flavor of crisp: sea salt and cracked black pepper. They were really good, but they sucked the moisture out of my lips and fingers! Haven't been brave enough to try any of the really weird flavors... I'm having a hard time wrapping my tongue around eating potato chips flavored like an entree! Maybe some day.

OH! We went to Kensington Palace a couple of Saturdays ago. It's more modern palace than the others we've visited, built in the 1600's. It's where Queen Victoria lived, as well as where Charles and Diana lived when they were married. It was really set up as a museum (the part they let us see), and they had an exhibit related to "The Last Debutant." I guess in 1958, debutantes quit being presented to the Queen in a formal ceremony. That wasn't really that exciting, especially for our boys. They did have some nice art and collections from former royalty. One of the Queens, (I can't remember who) collected Japanese and Chinese porcelain. A huge collection remains, and that was pretty cool to see. The gardens will be really gorgeous in the spring and summer.

That same day, we also found the place where I stayed when I was here in college! I walked through Kensington Park every day to get to and from school, so we were close. Everything has changed so much! (Except the palace, of course.) I had a really hard time figuring out where to go to find my old place. It is a hotel now, and they let us look around a bit. We may have to stay there some time, just for old times' sake. It is right next door to the prep school attended by the Princes when they were young. We watched Prince Charles and Princess Diana take them to school one morning!
We will have to go back when it is day light so we can get some decent photos.

Okay, it's time for bed now. Will try to post again soon!