Rain Dance

Last Friday was the first day the rains appeared. No rain, not a drop since we have arrived in early August, then one day it just starts raining. Rainy season is here!


No one in the family was happier to see the rain arrive than Grayson. He doesn't remember living someplace it doesn't rain often. He was only 18 months old when we left Texas. He can remember playing in the rain in Jakarta and of course Germany's winters are long and wet. So when the clouds began to gather on Friday he was ready. As the sky darkened he ran out to the driveway to perform his own special version of a rain dance. It must have worked because it has almost rained everyday since then.

Looking hopefully at the clouds waiting for the rain.

Ok since it isn't raining yet I'll do my special, never-fail, raindance.

It Worked! It Worked!

Never one to be left out Alonzo grabbed his bike and enjoyed riding in the puddles.

Poor Colin was running a fever all day but he climbed out of his sick bed to come watch the rain.

A few minutes later Grayson stripped totally naked and did the "Thank you for the rain dance" to thank God for the rain. This dance apparently involves bathing in mud puddles. I am sure God was duly impressed. Grayson loudly invited me to join him in the dance just as the gardeners came around the corner of the house. "Mommy take off your clothes and dance naked with me." The gardeners disappeared very quickly. I am not sure if they needed to laugh their butts off in private or if they were worried I was going to to start stripping in the driveway. Don't worry I stayed fully clothed. Grayson is one funny kid.

What's with the weather?

It is May. That is late spring or early summer. It should be warm. Last week we had a day that got up to 80. Spring! Yippe! I put on a pair of skorts and a tank top and played outside in the sun with the boys. The next day I went right out and bought water toys for the boys. It hasn't made above 62 since. Today it is 45 and raining. What the heck? Winter is supposed to be over. I am cold and yes, the radiators are all running. I am still cold. I am tired of being cold.

Thank you Germany for making it easy to pack up and leave. I was feeling sorry for myself as I worked on my consumables list. No more frozen pizza, poor me. Somehow right now frozen pizza is seeming like a good trade for year round warm weather. After all I can make pizza but I can't seem to get warm.

More Snow

Saturday morning we woke up to find the ground white and glittering with snow. We groaned a bit and whined about the cold weather. Finally we decided to make the best of it, stuffed ourselves into the snow suits, hats and mittens one more time, then headed outside. After all we may not know exactly what to expect when we move to Malawi but we are pretty sure there won't be any snow, so we better enjoy it before it all melts away.


We threw snowballs and ambushed the neighbor trying to sneak out to the trash bins his pj's. Sorry about that Randy! After a while the neighboring kids came out to join us and we had a grand snowball fight followed by snowman building. I have pictures of the snowmen but not of the fight as it is hard to defend yourself while taking pictures, also getting hit by a snowball is probably not very good for the lens. Sometimes you have to quit taking pictures and participate in life.

A Very Blustery Day

Yesterday was a rather blustery day. OK I am done quoting, or at the least paraphrasing, Pooh. I promise. The wind howled and whistled past the window all day long. Refusing to be trapped inside now that the temps have finally risen above freezing the boys played outside in the wind. They had a blast playing frisbee. The frisbee would catch the wind and and sail far and high. Much farther than the boys have ever managed to throw the frisbee before. But when the roof tiles started flying as well the fun was over. Inside they came to play Wii with Dad and our friend Doug, who is visiting from Zambia. I somehow managed to take no pictures of Doug with the family (sorry Kate!) so I will just post some pictures of the aftermath of yesterday's windstorm.

Surprisingly few large limbs fell down, mostly it was smallish branches an inch or two across. The bulk of the damage seemed to have been done to roofs and BBQ pits. The maintenance crews were out bright and early this morning surveying the damage and getting right to work. I was cleaning upstairs for a little while and when I came down and looked out the window the hole in the roof across the yard was already fixed. I didn't even get to see them working on it. Bummer! In all seriousness I am glad they are making short work of it since the skies are overcast and threatening rain, as usual. It would be bad if it started to rain while the roofs look like this:



BBQ pits did not fair any better than the roofs in the high winds. Our pit survived only because one neighbor went out and tied his pit all together and then secured it to the metal rail on the brick BBQ pad. Brilliant! I quickly tracked down some twine and sent Cody down to rescue our pit and tie it down. He managed to find all the pieces and put it back together. Teenagers are just so handy. Worked like a charm, so now our pit didn't look like these poor pits.



In addition to the roof work the big surprise was the maintenance guy walking around putting BBQ pits back together. A surprise because the pits are all personal property, not really the responsibility of the work crews, but I am sure this will be much appreciated. They are already lined up together awaiting the next cook out.

Gaming on the bahn

Disclaimer: Until we moved to Germany I had never lived any place it snowed, so this driving in cold icy weather is a new and sometimes exciting adventure.

I have discovered driving in the snow is a lot like playing a video game. The goal of this game is not to get where you are going the fastest, nor is it to see how many people you can run off the road. The only goal of this game is to get where you are going, and get there alive.

Like any video game there are lots of challenges along the way. The roads can be so slippery that one wrong move will send you spinning off the road, never mind that stepping on the brakes to slow down doesn't exactly have the desired effect. Sometimes it works, sometimes it sends you sliding and not always in the right direction. So far I have avoided this particular pitfall, but judging from the number of banged up guard rails not everyone has been so lucky.

When there is a lot of snow on the ground it can be hard to tell where the lanes are or even sometimes exactly where the road is. In this case you follow the tracks of the car in front of you and hope for the best. If it is snowing hard while you are driving, well that makes finding the road even more challenging.

By far the most startling challenge is the road bombs. No, not IEDs like the troops have to face, these are less explosive and more icy. They come in two varieties: one white and fluffy, the other black and yucky. The white fluffy one happens when the guy in front of you on the aoutobahn couldn't be bothered to get all the snow off his car before driving. At some point all or part of that blanket of snow peels off, becomes airborne, and generally lands square in the middle of your windshield. It can just about make you about pee your pants. The trick is not to jerk the steering wheel or stomp on the brakes when this happens. Just keep going straight and use you wipers.

The other type of road bomb is black and gross. It forms from the salty nasty slush from the road splashing up on to the underside of the car and freezing. At some point gravity takes over and a huge hunk of hard black ice breaks loose and comes bouncing down the road at you. Most of the time this type breaks up and scatters smaller ice chunks all around. Once in a while one will bounce up and hit your bumper or door panel making a loud thump and if you are very unlucky it drops from a big truck and so bounces higher and lands on your hood. Yikes!

The last challenge is only for those playing the advanced version of driving in snow. This challenge come from within the car, it is the kids in the back seat screaming and fighting while you are trying to remember to downshift not brake, keep a good following distance in spite of the Porsche-driving genius who just squeezed his over priced sports car/coffin two feet in front of your bumper, and watch out for road bombs. All this while preventing he fight from escalating to actual blood shed in the back seat.

Good Luck with the winter road games where ever you are, they sure are exciting.

Forgotten Sun

Late fall/winter weather has settled in here in Frankfurt. It overcast, drizzly, cold, and gray all day everyday. This morning as we were driving to school the clouds thinned just enough to allow dim outline of the sun to barely break through through for just a moment. Alonzo noticed it and blurted out, "Look the sun! I forgot what it looked like. I thought it was a lot brighter."

Things Kids Say

The weather has been pretty for the last two weeks and all the plants have woken from their winter's sleep.  There are flowers everywhere. It is gorgeous.   Today however the weather has turned chilly and the wind is blowing the flowers off the trees and making little whirlwinds of flower petals skip across our yard. Grayson looked out the window and gasped, "Momma it is snowing flowers!"

Wordless Wednesday - This is Spring?

It's Officially Spring!

According to the calendar in the kitchen (from McQueeney Feed Mill - Thanks for the care package Mom I loved it!)  today is the official start of spring.  This morning when I walked the kids to the bus stop it was still cold enough to need a coat, although Cody declared it was spring so he wasn't going to wear a coat.  Teenagers! The weather widget on the side bar declared it was 0 Celsius (32 Fahrenheit) definitely cold enough for a coat, but the sun is shining so at least it isn't another grey and rainy day. I am heartily tired of being cold. I am ready for sun and warm weather, skirts and sandals. Here is the view from my window today.  


No I don't get tired of the looking at that thing. I think it is cool.

The trees are still bare.  The grass is green, but then it stayed green all winter, even with the snow. What kind if grass stays green when it is buried in snow for two weeks?  German grass, I guess.  Where are the new leaves?  Where are the flowers? Are there any signs of spring?   I took my camera and walked around my building looking for hope.
 

Yay!  Spring!!!!

Yuck!

I never tire of watching it snow. Seriously no matter what I should be doing, snow falling means that I have a cup of something hot (tea, decaf, gluhwien, cider, cocoa, whatever!) and am curled up on the couch watching the snow flakes drift about completely ignoring all responsibility. I just love the snow. I know I have complained unendingly about being cold so this is crazy, but falling snow is beautiful. Especially if I am inside all warm and toasty.

Last night when I went to bed it was snowing, big beautiful flakes drifting quietly in the lights outside. I woke up this morning, and just like the kids raced to the window, yanked the curtain open expecting to see lovely clean white snow. What did I see? Rain! Cold nasty rain. It is perhaps a degree above freezing. Just warm enough that my dreams of snow are melting away in mud puddles along with last night's snow.

Arrrgh!

So again we have come to the weekend with great plans to go sledding. Friday morning found Colin sick in bed with a 102 fever and body aches. Poor baby. His fever lasted through Saturday so no sledding yesterday since we thought it would be cruel to leave him behind while all his brothers went off to have fun. Today he feels much better. The weather, however, is not cooperating. This morning it is 5 celsius (41 fahrenheit) and RAINING. You can actually see the snow melting away. I am sure there will be no trace of snow left by this afternoon. Oh well. There is snow in the forecast later this week. Fingers crossed for mountain sledding next weekend. I am so very glad that I dragged the sled to to the duck pond so the kids could sled on the little hill there a few weeks ago. It is beginning to look like that may be the only sledding they get this year.

Go Away Murphy!

Murphy's law has been on overdrive around here lately.  You the law: "If anything can go wrong it will!"

We bought the kids sleds just in time for it to warm up and all the snow in the mountains to melt away.  It stayed that way right through the Christmas break.  The day Cody and Grayson had to go back to school we awoke to a winter wonderland, beautiful snow everywhere.  This is Germany though so there was no snow day and off they went to school.  We promised the kids that we would go sledding this weekend as long as the snow held out.  

It is a week later and that beautiful snow is still here and from my window up high still looks beautiful (up close though you realize that we have far to many dogs here as the snow is riddled with yellow spots, ewwww!) Did we go sledding this weekend?  Nope! Murphy came to visit in the form of a stomach bug.  David spent most of the weekend flat on his back in bed alternating with frantic runs to the bathroom.  By late Sunday afternoon the cramps had eased off and today he is back at work.  Poor baby!  

Today ALL the kids are back at school today.  The Christmas decorations are coming down today and a thorough house cleaning is in order this week.  Winter is still young and I am sure Murphy will move on to someone else's house (sorry if it is your house!) and we will get the sledding trip soon. 

Mother Nature is a Pain!

Quick review: We bought sleds and snow suits the first Monday of winter break just in time for the weather to warm up and all the snow to melt.  In spite of weather forecasts predicting snow there has been no snow accumulation the entire winter break so the sleds and snow suits are sitting unused.  School starts this morning for two of the four kids.  I wake up early glance out the window and what do I see?  SNOW!


NOW there is snow when David has to go to work, Cody and Grayson have to go to school, and Alonzo and Colin are going to whine ALL day because I won't drive them to the mountains so they can go sledding! Why can't mother nature EVER cooperate??!

It's Snowing!

Just barely, but it is snowing. I tried to take a picture but it is snowing so lightly that I can't pick it up on the camera. It doesn't matter though,  the kids are beside themselves excited! They have been outside catching snowflakes on their tongues and racing about.  It doesn't often snow very much in Frankfurt, but in the Taunus it is a whole different story. The kids have already figure this out for themselves.  

Twice they have rung the doorbell to ask if I can check the webcams (tech savvy kids, Sheez!) to see if it is snowing in the mountains yet (Nope, not yet).  When I see snow in Konigstein or Oberursel we will pack up the van with sleds, blankets, and hot cocoa.  With a little luck we will get to try out the new sled this weekend.  Yay! 

Slide Show First Snow

We had a blast today. The Snow here in Frankfurt had melted away by 11:00AM, so we decided to head up to the Tanus Mountains about a 45 minute drive from here. Most of the pictures with a lot of snow you will see in the below slide show are from that area.

We hope you enjoy!

Snow!

About thirty minutes ago I woke up to the happy screams, "Snow! It snowed! Looked at the snow! Wake up! There's snow! Can we go make a snow man?" There is a very light dusting of snow turning every thing white. There isn't enough to make a snowball much less a snowman, but there is snow.

While David made coffee I grabbed the camera and staggered down the stairs, all three flights, to take a picture of the snow before it melts away. David grabbed a bowl and handed it to me as I headed out. No one handed me a coat, and I am not all that functional before coffee. I must really love my kids because without coffee or coat I stood outside in the cold snapped some pictures to remember their first snowfall, and scooped up a bowl of snow from the picnic table for the kids to feel.

Update: It is now day light, the kids are outside playing in the snow. We took pictures of them until the camera batteries died. I will get some pictures up later today. They are too cute.

Snow Watch

There is snow in the forecast. The boys are anxiously watching the clouds rolling overhead. I have repeatedly explained that there is a only a chance of snow this weekend. It might snow, but the again it might not. Colin is insistent that the guy on TV said it is going to snow, so that's that! What do I know anyway?

All morning we have had bands of dark heavy clouds roll in with strong winds and rain and sometimes thunder. In between each wave of clouds is a few minutes of sun shine and blue skies. Even when the sun is shining you can see the next round of clouds building like a dark wave on the horizon. I know this because I am watching the clouds even more closely than the kids. They have never seen snow. I can't wait to take pictures of the kids playing in the snow. I hope there is enough to throw snowballs!

In Case You Wondered

If you set off on a walk to the local market and it is cold enough to see your breath then when you are a long way from home (without an umbrella) it begins to drizzle it will suddenly feel at least 10 degrees colder. If the wind starts to blow along with that drizzle it will feel at least 20 degrees colder. Brrr....When you get home if you make a cup of hot cocoa then stir in a little cinnamon creme coffeemate it will make you feel much better!