It is hard, fun, different, interesting, frustrating, beautiful.... ADVENTURES

 Well we have been in school a few weeks. The kids are adjusting well. Milo has tried Lacrosse and Soccer. He is not sure what he is going to do at this point. The sports here are different, they are not really with the school, but they are clubs, but more recreational, not really sure about it all. Working on figuring it out.  He is making friends so that is great. He rides his bike to school, he seems to like it, but I never really know as he doesn't talk too much about it, just when I ask questions. He is in English, German, Math, Music, Sport, Art, History, Chemistry, Ethics, Politics, (funny I listed those together), Science, Biology, 

Lexa walks to school early, stops at a local grocery store to buy herself a latte from the machine for 1 euro. She likes to listen to music on the way. She is in English, German, Sport, Music, Biology, Physics, Chemistry, History, Geography, Math, Computer Science, Drama, Ethics and Politics She went with friends after school yesterday, so that is fun for her. She will be checking out a local theater today, so we will see how that goes. Well I am behind on posting, so she has gone to the theater class, and enjoyed it. These are photos from the alleyway it is in, beautiful.

 I went with her the first time as it is in Kreuzberg, so I wasn't going to go home as it is about an hour by S bahn. I decided to walk and check out the area. I feel like everyone says they live in Berlin but there are several neighborhoods like this, similar to suburbs. whereas in Colorado you would say you are from whichever suburb it is, Arvada, Aurora etc. 

Cappuccino is a must at the market down the street and one of the many cool building you see while wondering around. 

I walked to a Mediterranean market. I watched as several men shopping picked this up so decided I should too. Still not really sure what it is exactly. It is some aged meat. Lexa and I thought it was ok, Jeff and Milo not so much.

Jeff is trying to get settled in, to say he is frustrated would be an understatement.  

I am hanging in, trying to figure out what my purpose is here and what I should be doing. Working on getting into a routine.  I start my day trying yoga on Youtube with Tim and then time with Jesus.  My main thing each day is going to the grocery store and figuring out dinner. Quite different from the fast pace of claims life. I see the natural disasters going on and am thankful I am here and not on storm duty, but there is a fulfillment that comes with working. Interesting how so much of ones identity comes from work. I know where my identity should be coming from, and working on seeing that. I am thankful for the new people in my life here. I am here a short time, so I figure need to dive in if I am going to get connected.

 Jeff and I go to Uschi for German on Tuesdays and we are learning so much from her and I am blessed by our time together, it may be hard to imagine but we laugh a lot as we learn. (Probably because I sound ridiculous and my facial expressions of scowling help me with the accent) She always has cake (or sweet treats) and coffee. I do enjoy that Germany tradition!

We try to have people over for dinner every couple weeks, so that is fun. This is a couple that came over with us from Loveland CO and a family that is here in Berlin. Silas has become a good friend of Milo's and Holly was such a blessing leaving me voice messages before we even arrived. 

It's the little things. NEW SHOE RACK, oh ya.  The ground we walk on is gross, so taking your shoes off is something we do now. 

We met another friend, who has a 7th grade son, who is Milo's friend and he agreed to take us on a bike tour of Berlin. It was a lot of fun, we ended up going about 20 miles. 

This is the former city hall of West Berlin. It was here that President John F Kennedy gave his famous speech to the Berliners.

Apparently this is a very famous Currywurst place. 

There is such variety when it comes to types of foods here. So fun!

Rainy day out. Have my rain coat so I am set. Although I need to remember to bring it with me. We were riding home from church and got soaked I had to wring out my bra, we were drenched. haha. 

I went on my next adventure to see my cousin Gretchen. I rode my back on a 24 mile round trip. I went through the Tiergarten and saw some cool things, but didn't take many photos as it started to rain and I needed to get there. It was beautiful. Getting into the heart of the city on a bike was a little nerve wracking, but I would latch to the experienced biker in front of me and go where he went worked out pretty well. I will say I was pooped when I got home. Here it is flat and low elevation so my lungs were ok, my body was tired. In Colorado it is the other way around. 

Back side of Brandenburg Gate

Next adventure I went on with a new friend Miya, we went to explore Fredrichshagen which is in East Berlin. We walked the area and had a nice lunch. She also drove, which was lovely!  Below is liquor that you get at a little boutique store, you buy the container to put it in.

In front of Lake Muggel

This was the oldest brewery in Berlin until it closed in 2010

This is the Spree Tunnel from the 1920's. You cross under the Spree from Friedrichshagen to Kopenick/ Pretty cool.

There are so many of these natural areas throughout the city. Makes you feel like you are not in a city. 

Fun restaurant in the middle of the Spree

Jeff and I celebrated our 22nd anniversary at a wonderful Italian restaurant. We brought the kids. 

We had a burrata to start, mmmm. I didn't take photos of everything just a few. It was a fun evening, but it took us awhile to get there. The S Bahn by our house was under construction so we had to take a bus, and we got on the wrong one.... We made it. Lexa had been at acting so we gave her address and she met us there. I think she did better navigating then we did.  On the way home, we didn't have great luck either, we got on a train that stopped for awhile, then went back the direction we had just come from. I thought it was comical, but no one else did. By the time we got home it had been 6 hours.  Everything just takes longer. 

The next day Lexa and I decided to go to Mauerpark. This ended up being a 26 mile bike ride and she was not happy with me. We had a fun time at the market, but she forgot how much fun she had when she had to bet back on her bike to come home.  I would say this was about my limit, I was tired when we got home. We also walked a lot once we got there. We did not take enough photos, next time I will stop more often to enjoy what is around us. These were a couple of things. 

Lexa has been making friends. Makes me thankful when I hear all the giggling, British accents (that they do all the time) and talk of Harry Stiles.  Here's to new friends and new memories. We sure miss everyone in Colorado, but am thankful new ones are being made here too.

I will not wait so long next time to fill everyone in. This was a long one.