Berlin: A Repented City

The girls had their Divisionals Swim meet set for this weekend in Berlin.  Kevin and I talked to the Dahlin's and the Cowart's and we all decided to make a mini vacation out of the swim meet.  We went up a day early, so we could spend a day site seeing in Berlin before the swim meet.  We joined the Dahlin's right after work on Thursday, and drove about halfway to Berlin and stayed in a super incredible Airbnb apartment.  We left early the next morning so we could get to Berlin by 10 AM to tour around.  

We found parking at a super expensive downtown lot, and walked out right across the street from the Memorial to the Murdered Jews.  We walked around the memorial with much reverence.  I am super impressed with Berlin and the German people.  They call history the way it was and used works like 'killed', 'murdered', 'slaughtered', and such.  They don't try to butter up the past, they say it like it happened.  A lot can be learned from the Germans and they way they handle dealing with the past.  The Memorial of the Murdered Jews consists of 2,711 columns of varying heights creating an outdoor maze.  

We had a long talk with the kids before we left the car about how most of the places we are going to see today are memorials out of respect of people that were killed.  We talked about how we expected reverence and respect and we would not tolerate running around.  Little Monster must not have comprehended a single words I said, because he saw the Memorial and immediately took off running and laughing.  This Memorial is super terrifying with little kids that are running and trying to hide.  It was almost impossible to find Monster because there are so many turns and so many columns.  We found him and I immediately put on a baby wrap and carried him in the back like a piggyback ride.  He was NOT happy about that.  He kept laying limp and throwing his head back.  He looked super squished and uncomfortable, but Kevin and I decided it was safer and more respectful to have the Monster contained.  When we got back on the large sidewalk, we let him free again.

We left the Memorial and walked just a block up and found ourselves at the Brandenburg Gate.  This gate is one of the best-known landmarks in Berlin, and it has served a huge role in the history of Berlin.  It was build it the 18th century.  It was originally a gate to the royal City Palace of Prussian monarchs.  It was originally called the Peace Gate.  Peace was not in the near future however.  When Napoleon took power, the gate top statue (the Quadriga) was like a trophy to him and he took it to Paris.  After his defeat the statue was returned.  When the Nazis took over, the gate was used as a Nazi symbol.  It miraculously survived WWII, with bullet holes, explosion holes and statues missing pieces.  After WWII the holes were patched and vehicles and people could pass freely through the gate until August 13, 1961 when the Berlin Wall came up.  The gate ended up being in no mans land and was not use again until 1989.  The Peace Gate sat in the middle of a torn Berlin, just sitting and waiting for 28 years to again be a sign of unity and peace.  If this gate could talk, it would be amazing to hear the history, sadness, joy and stories it could tell.

After passing by the Brandenburg Gate we walked just a few more blocks to the Reichstag Building. We wanted to see if we could get tickets to go inside for a tour.  We were able to secure tickets for our entire group at 5:30 PM tonight, so we decided to see the rest of the sites in Berlin, then come back for the tour. Before we left we saw the Memorial to the Murdered Members of the Reichstag.  This was one of my favorite memorials because it shows that 96 people tried to make a difference when Hitler was trying to take over.  There were 96 members of parliament who opposed Hitler and all those that opposed him were murdered between 1933 and 1945.  It was a very small memorial but a powerful one.  These men are heroes in my book.

 We decided we would hit up the furthest location walkable from the Reichstag Building and work our way back for the tour.  Checkpoint Charlie was the furthest we dare make the kids all walk, so we started our walk in that direction.  As we were walking, we passed by original parts of the Berlin Wall.  It was crazy to imagine a time when the wall spanned the entire city and divided families and friends.  It is such a thick and ugly wall made of rhubarb and cement.

We made it to Checkpoint Charlie without too much complaining from the little people.  There wasn't much to see at Checkpoint Charlie.  It was honestly just a tourist picture.  There isn't anything that is still original about the spot, other then that it was the original spot.  The stories around Checkpoint Charlie were super fascinating though.  If you are paying attention there are small signs all around the area that share stories that happened around the gate.  This location was a Berlin Wall crossing point between East and West Berlin during the Cold War.  My favorite story is when the Soviets and the Americans had a face off in tanks during the Berlin Crisis of 1961.

Our next stop was at the Topography of Terror.  I'm not going to lie, I had the hardest time here.  This is the former site of the Gestapo headquarters.  So much evil happened and was planned in this location.  

The entire building is a museum now that documents the horror of Nazism.  There were very detailed and descriptive writings and very graphic photographs.  It was such a sad and empty feeling that was felt as we walked around and heard the cries of those murdered.  This was another place that raised my respect for the German and their blatant truth of history.  Nothing was hidden and nothing was sugar coated.  The pure terror was laid out for all to see.

After leaving the building, there is a section of the Berlin Wall right outside the building and part of the exhibit.  This was the closest we were able to get to the wall.  It's hard taking a picture by the wall.  We didn't know whether to frown, cry or smile.  In the end we smiled to rejoice in the current unification and growing that has happened in Berlin.

By this point, everyone was starving, so we decided to make it easy and hit up the food court at the Mall of Berlin.  We teased that it would have been funny if it was called Berlin Mall because Mall rhymes with Wall. Perhaps that's why it really isn't called that.  We ate dinner quickly, because we didn't want to miss our tour, and headed out and caught a beautiful sunset over Berlin.

We made it back to the Reichstag Building with about 15 minutes to spare.  We made it though security then were lead on a self guided tour of the Berlin parliament building.  It was super cool walking though and seeing how their government works.  They make everything open and clear for all to hear and see.  The building is absolutely beautiful.  This building wasn't always beautiful, it was set on fire in 1933 and damaged significantly by air raids. It sat damaged in no mans land during the Cold War for years.  The building was restored after the Berlin reunification in 1999.  It is now used as the German parliament building once more.  We were able to go on the rooftop and get a great view of the city.  We then walked all the way up the spiral glass dome while getting a full audio history and tour of Berlin as we watched out the windows.  Monster wasn't patient enough for the audio tour, so I ended up just chasing him as he ran all the way to the top, then back down again. Berlin is such an amazing city filled so rich with history.  I hope to go back soon and see more and learn more.  It was such a treat to spend a day here.

Monster at Landstuhl Library Story Time

When the kids went back to school after Christmas Break, I decided to try out Emma Madsen's gym class at the Landstuhl Fitness Center.  After my first class, all the ladies were asking me if I was going to take Monster to the Landstuhl Story Time.  I actually had no idea that there was a library on Landstuhl.  We didn't have anything else to do, so Monster and I followed the ladies to the library.  I was so impressed with the story time.  Monster stayed focused on the librarian the entire time.  He was so excited to be sitting on his own cushion, but I think he was more excited that two of his friends from his Joy School were also at the story time. 

After reading a few books and singing songs, the kids rushed over to the table area where the librarian had prepared a craft for them to complete.  Every week, she does an amazing job by picking a theme for the day and having all the books, songs and the craft all centered around the theme.  One week she did Chinese New Years, to celebrate the Chinese NewYear.  The librarian read a few Chinese New Year books, and the kids sang some New Year songs.  The kids had a really fun craft that day, where they got to make Chinese lanterns.  Monster was so happy that there was green paper and green stickers.  

Another week for story time, the library put on a big puppet show for the kids to celebrate Dr. Seuss week.  All the kids were so excited for the show.  The librarian played the main puppets and she did such a great job changing her voice and with all the enthusiasm she had in her voice,  it was even fun to watch as a parent.  My little Monster started to just know when it was Wednesdays and he would wake up very excited and tell me today was Story Time at the library.  He loved seeing his friends, so he started asking me in the morning to make sure to call all the moms and remind them it is story time and make sure they were coming.  It has been so great to get a good work out, then head straight to the library so my little man can enjoy some books and crafts and friends.  I really look forward to Wednesdays now, the day just rushes by.

Oh Boy, I've Got Joy... School with Monster

Before school started this year, I started to ask around for ideas on preschools or Mother's Day out programs or something for my little Monster.  He is super smart and extremely social.  I did a playgroup swap in South Korea and it helped my little Monster with his separation anxiety.  He also made some amazing friends and he learned and grew so much because of the playgroup swap.

While asking around, I found a group of ladies that wanted to start a preschool co-op.  Monster was just a smidge younger than the other kids, but he acts about 2 years older and is mature beyond his age.  All of us moms got together and started planning what we were going to do with our preschool co-op.  After much back and forth and talking and discussing and researching, the group decided to do a Joy School and follow the Joy School format.  Most of the moms didn't want to do ABCs or teach numbers, so it was decided to teach feelings, cause and effect and joy. 

There were six kids total to start with.  The best part about all these kids is that they are all the caboose of each family.  Each kid is the last and youngest. All of them had their own cute and adorable personality.  First we had Jessie.  Jessie is a quiet and at first shy and apprehensive little girl.  But after a while, she started to show her curiousness.  She is super soft hearted and she absolutely loves Payton, another one of the kids and she would just follow Payton around and do anything and everything Payton would do.  She would be sitting next to him and play with him, she was a very loyal friend to him.  Sadly, Jessie didn't stay with us the entire year, in December her family had to move, so we lost a dear little friend.

Here is Jessie.  She is a sweet little girl.

Next we have Payton.  Payton is a ball of energy.  He had a really hard time sitting still for longer than 10 seconds.  His mind went a million miles a minute and his body just had to follow.  He is a very happy little boy and loves everyone around him.  Payton was also one the pickiest eaters in the group.  I felt like I was always starving the poor boy, because I never had anything he liked to eat.  He also loved Jessie and was a very loyal friend to her.  He kept me on my feet and always kept Joy School active.  

This is Payton.  He is a ball of energy.

Next is Eliza, the second girl in our Joy School.  Eliza is one of the sweetest little girls I have ever met.  She was soft spoken and shy at first.  It was fun getting to know her and see the real Eliza shine through.  It took a while for her to come out of her shell.  She never said a mean thing, always included the other kids when she played and was kind to everyone.  My little Monster loved Eliza so much and always talked about how he is going to marry Eliza.

One of Monster's favourite friends, Eliza.

Katelyn was another one of the girls in the Joy School.  Kateyln is a very patient and smart little lady.  She was very kind and would always tell it like it is.  She acted very much beyond her years and was quick as a whip.  I always loved hearing what Katelyn had to say, and it always made me smile.  My little Monster said he was going to marry Katelyn after he married Eliza.  He loved playing with these two girls.

Katelyn was also one of Monster's favourites.

Spencer is the second boy in the group.  Spencer was Monsters little buddy.  Spencer and Monster played really well together. They are very similar in their personalities.  Spencer took a little bit to warm up to the group, but once he did he was full of energy and creativity.

Spencer is a super creative little guy.

Last, but not least we have my little Monster.  Monster took a loooong time to warm up to everyone before he let me leave him.  The first few times I had to stay for an hour or so until he was comfortable with the mom and the home.  Once he got to know all the moms and all the kids in the group, he loved Joy School and would ask every day if he had school today.  Monster is shy but super smart.  It was fun watching him grow socially, make friends, and learn academically.

Here is my little Monster.

We had some really fun things planned for the kids during the year.  We had parties, outings and fields trips all lined up.  One of the field trips the kids got to enjoy was the library.  Payton's mom set up a story time at the library with just our Joy School group.  The kids loved going to the library and picking out their own books.  They made crowns and spent time reading together.  Monster was so excited because he found a car book that he checked out.

We also had a big Halloween party for the kids.  The moms all came to my house and we had a big party.  The kids had a costume parade and sang some spooky songs to all their moms.  It was so wonderful to have a social hour with the moms while the kids ate and ran outside and played.  Not only do the kids all love each other and get along, but all the moms do too.

Joy School really did bring joy to my little Monster.  He has made some life long friends in this group.  He talks about his friends all the time and always asks if they can come play.  The kids loved making crafts together.  As a small group, we were able to celebrate all the small holidays with the kids. We made sure to do crafts and include fun snacks. After December, we started including letter writing, practiced writing their names, and number activities.  This is such a smart group of kids.  I am so grateful that Monster was able to find such a great group of friends.