I passed the impossible test!!!

OK, so maybe it wasn't actually impossible, but this is only about 3/4 of the signs you are tested on!!!! Germany has so many signs that mean so many different things than what we are used to reading in the states, as well as rules of the road, that they make us Americans take a driving test! I think it is a great idea, but boy was I nervous! There are 75 questions and 25 road sign questions and you can miss 15. I missed 8....this time!!!! Yes, I had to take it twice!!! But, the good news is that I passed and I can finally drive! Woohoo! Wish me luck out on the Autobahn!!!

2008 Heidelberg Volksmarch

Well, we did it!!! We walked our first Volksmarch! Maybe next time we'll do the 10K! We actually felt like we could have gone on, but my heel is still recovering from anouther long walk we ended up making about two or three weeks ago! Here are some pictures to enjoy!

Even Sassy had a good time!

This is the little park where it started.

Thomas and Sassy waiting for Travis and Colin to get us registered.

Little German House

Travis, Colin and Sassy walking through a German neighborhood.

More German houses. notice they are all built together, but they are all different! No two look alike!

This is looking up the mountain behind Heidelberg. We went part of the way up the mountain!

A Vineyard! Germany is known for it's wines and its vineyards! You'll see some grapes on the vines below!

Some foliage that we saw on the walk:

This is a grapevine growing over an arch. These were everywhere!

Pictures of the counryside. We're up on the mountain now....not too far up, but a little ways up!

Some animals that we saw along the way! There was a miniature horse, a sheep and a goat! Oh yeah! And a hedgehog that we came across! He wanted some ice cream really bad!!!

Now, last but certainly not least, we came across this cemetary. Now,
normally cemetaries do nothing for me, but this one was just beautiful.
Notice how close together the graves are and notice the chapel in the
background! this reminds me of a puzzle picture!

Well, that concludes our 5K tour of Heidelberg! More will follow I assure you! We hope to trek up to the castle soon and the river as well! Haley is going that way this afternoon with some of her friends, so maybe she will take some pictures of what she sees! See ya soon!

The "House"!

Our new "house" if you want to call it that! It's actually one of six apartments in our stairwell and there are three stairwells in our building. This is "before we get our furniture" pictures! I will take more after we get in our furniture and I get it cleaned and organized! You may never see those pics!!!

This is the entryway and through the door where the window is the kitchen. For some reason, I didn't get a good picture of the kitchen.

This is the dining area right off the living room and you can see the kitchen some in this one too. The cabinets in the background go through to the kitchen as well.

The main bath in the hall. It's not as nice as this photo gives it credit, that's for sure!!!

The hallway. On the right hand side are two bedrooms (Thomas and Haley's rooms). On the left hand side, Colin's room, the hall bathroom and then the master bed and bath and laundry. At the end of the hall, there is another half bathroom....no tub or shower in that one. We chose this apartment for the number of bathrooms it has. This is what we were basically used to having in Junction City...three bathrooms. The other apartments we looked at only had one, maybe two bathrooms and that just doesn't work well with 4 adult sized people and Colin!

I will send more once it looks more like home!

OK, so I warned you guys when I started this blog that I am not good at keeping up with these things. I think this is my fifth post since that time....ugghhhhh!!! It's not that I don't like to post, I just don't always think about it....even though everyday I read one of my really good friends blog that she is wonderful about keeping updated!!!!!



Anyway, we made it to Heidelberg! That is a picture of an old bridge that runs across the river. I didn't take that pic, but we have seen it before!










We are going to a Volksmarch in the morning. Travis and I have vowed to start walking more and this is one way we are going to take advantage of it. It will get the kids out and about and give them exercise as well! If anyone doesn't know what a volksmarch is, it is a kind of marathon, but you walk. They normally have several distances that you can take advantage of. This one tomorrow has 5K, 11K, 22K and a 42K distances. We will be taking advantage of the 5K! Surely you didn't think we would tackle anything more yet?!? Maybe by the time we leave we can try the big one! HAHAHA! Yeah right!

School is back in session for all of us!!!! WOOHOO! The kids started on the 25th of August and they seem to like it alright. I started back this Monday and I seem to like it! I started a new school that offered more of the degree that I wanted. I am in the Business Management program. Travis is back to work sort of! He is inprocessing right now, so his hours are sporadic. I have not found a job yet, but I am pursuing it heartily!

See you guys soon!