Textbook Pictures into Reality

This is one of those weird little posts that had never actually occurred to me to write and then something came up and metaphorically smacked me right in the face and so I knew right then and there I had to write about it.

So here it is: 

Bear with me, ok? 

Until I married Steve, I had never really thought of myself as the traveling "type". My parents weren't really big travelers and our family vacations mostly centered around visiting family (who all lived relatively close to home, I might add). So other than a trip to Disney World the Spring after I turned 4, we really didn't do much traveling. Looking back on it now, traveling was never really something I ever considered, but I guess as the old saying goes, "You can't miss what you don't have..."

In the 1st or 2nd grade, I can distinctly remember reading a short story in my Language Arts book about a little dog in Pompeii just before Mt. Vesuvius. It was a fictional story, of coarse, but at the end of the story there were really photos of Pompeii and I remember being FASCINATED with it. And I can remember hearing about the Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia on the news and thinking that place was as far away from me as the moon.

When my (much loved and wonderfully awesome) cousins Frank and Joyce came this summer for a visit and we rode in a gondola in Venice, I understood perfectly the tears in their eyes and wonder in their voice when they said repeatedly to us, "I never thought I'd see this".  I get that. And I think it everyday. 

Steve, on the other had, grew up in a family who did do a lot of traveling. His father worked civil service for the Air Force and they spent a great deal of time living overseas. As a child, Steve went to places I didn't even know to dream of. He talks of listening to the 1985 Iron Bowl on a friend's car radio while skiing the Alps in Switzerland and he has a shoebox of communist momentos he picked up on a school trip in 1987 to the then USSR. I remember flipping through family photo albums of his and seeing pictures of Steve in front of places I had only read about. My personal favorite is one of him looking bored and miserable posed in front of The David in Florence, a typical teenager of the 1980's--rock t-shirt, Walkman (tape not CD), zit faced, braces, and oh-so-lovely mullet haircut. (Steve, not David)

Steve caught the travel bug early in life and when the time was right, he wanted to share that opportunity with our kids. 

So here we are today, in Greece--our 11th country we visited in 2013, the 3rd in just the month of December alone. Yep. We caught that bug. 

Which brings us to that smack in the face part of the story I mentioned a million words ago at the beginning of what has turned into a long-winded post. 

We were boarding the plane in Athens today to fly home to Greece and I was walking down the jetway and I happened to look up and see this advertisement on the wall:

Bravo, MasterCard. My sentiments exactly. 

We've gotten to see so many awesome places in the 2 years we've lived here. And I'm so thankful to have memories to go along with those schoolbook picture. 

Home & Family

I grew up in a tiny little town in Virginia that probably wouldn't be considered tiny anymore, yet is still small enough that my oldest daughter had my 1st grade teacher as her 1st grade teacher, and that I taught 8th grade English there with my 8th grade English teacher.  In my opinion, this makes it small enough.  I loved growing up in small town, surrounded by history and people I had know my entire life.  And then I married a military man and moved far, far away and I thought all of that would change--that my own kids would never have that sense of "home" that I have now come to cherish.  It's so true.  Ask any military kid where they are from and they'll do one of three things:

*They'll tell you where they were born (Trey does this.  He says he is from Texas--a state that he was born in and actually lived in for exactly 3 1/2 months before we moved to Virginia, and he spent almost the entire time in the NICU.  And I cannot tell you how many kids I've taught over the years who say they are from Germany)

*They'll tell you where their parents are from, even if they've never lived there themselves (Tory does this.  She frequently tells people she is from Virginia, or sometimes Alabama)

*They'll tell you where they moved from last (Jackson does this. He's from Ft. Campbell, by the way--a place that is super confusing since it actually straddles the states of Kentucky and Tennessee.  We lived on the Tennessee side, by the way)

I frequently wonder if Delilah will say she's from Italy, since it's where she's lived for the greatest amount of time.  Even now, when we ask her if she's an American or if she's Italian, she always says she's Italian. I blame that on the gelato.  And the pizza. 

But here's what I've come to realize over 20 years as a military spouse:  Home really is where you make it.  It doesn't mater in what city, state, or even country that happens to be in.  And you build your own history with your military family that you're lucky to know and call your friends.  They become your family and in a sense, your history.  I'm so thankful to have this opportunity. 

Steve and the brats.  Yes, the Roman soldier came with the house...

Remembering...

Yesterday was Fathers Day and it was a special one for us for two reasons: Steve was home to spend it with us, and my father spent it on a plane on his way to come and see us. Both reasons made it an exciting day for our family.

Being part of a military family is hard everyday, but especially hard around holidays. Often, loved ones are far away and we have to spend our holiday time without them.

Just last night, Steve commented about how he didn't remember any of our other kids being as difficult to get to go to sleep at 3 years old as Delilah is. Tory, our 15 year old, and I both laughed and reminded him he wasn't around when any of other kids were three. Or when they started Kindergarten. Or for the first birthday of three of our four kids. He was deployed for each of them.

For a long time, I worried that our kids wouldn't remember Daddy or Pop Pop or Grammy and Mick after being apart from them for so long. Months or even more than a year would go by without them seeing us, yet somehow our kids remember them. And for this I am thankful. I couldn't have picked a better daddy for myself or for my kids. So on this Father's Day, I am so thankful to have both of the Daddies in my life here with me... :)

Want to see how much life changes during a year-long deployment (that stretched in 14 months)...

Leaving for Afghanistan

In the beginning, we had no idea we would need to add almost 60 days to our original total

 Visiting with Daddy

Daddy's empty parking space

Nighttime with Daddy

Jackson talking to Daddy before his first day of school

Delilah's first birthday

Our Christmas card photo

Christmas Day

Video that Steve made for the kids of himself reading "Twas the Night Before Christmas"--a holiday tradition of ours.  It literally arrived at 6:30 at night on Christmas Eve.  I cried when the mailman brought it...

The video...

Bribing her with ice cream on R&R just so she'd let him hold her

And her remembering....

 Our family waiting for Steve's plane to land...

Steve's boss was holding Delilah when she saw him march in with his soldiers.  I LOVE this picture...

Together again...

Look how much they changed while he was gone...

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Who Pays the Price?

A few days ago, I came across this video on my internet homepage and it really struck a cord.  Steve has been saying this for years--that only a tiny portion, less than one percent, bear the burden of war.  

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It's so different than it was back in WWI & WWII, when the entire nation was asked to pay part of the price, either by serving or supporting the war effort back at home.  When Steve and I got married 19 years ago today, in fact, I was in graduate school and he was only six months away from getting his commission as a Army officer.  It was 1994, and the thought of a war, actually two, and multiple year-plus deployments being in our not so distance future had never occurred to me.  I guess I was niave.  I guess I didn't quite know what I was getting myself into.  I can look back on the past 19 sometimes long years and realize that now.  I am a relatively small town girl, you see.  The child of two people who had almost no connection to the military.  They supported it, but no one in our family has really served, with the exception of my uncle who served in Vietnam. And then I married Steve, and that all changed. It's hard to explain the burden of being a military family to someone who isn't.  And it's equally hard to understand it if you aren't one.   It's not what you see on the news or on Army Wives.  There is a bond between military families that cannot be explain.  I frequently wonder how being a "military brat" impacts my children and I honestly think, though it can be difficult at times, they are better for it in the end. I know that I am. Looking back over all that our family has gone through over the past 19 years, I wouldn't change any of it, even knowing what I know now.  

A Memorial Day--In Italy

"Time will not dim the glory of their deeds" ~ General John Pershing

If I am completely honest, it wasn't until I was an adult, married to a young 2nd Lieutenant in the U.S. Army (almost 20 years ago, 4 kids, countless moves, deployments and duty stations now), that I even contemplated the difference between Memorial Day and Veterans Day.  I feel it's that way with a lot of people, especially those who don't "serve" and especially back then, before our world was so different. 

I was a teacher for a long time also and it was one year, when I was teaching Kindergarten, that I realized MOST people don't know the difference. It was probably 2002 or so, and we were talking about Memorial Day in class.  I'm sure we had a cutesy craft to complete, probably a flag, and I'm sure I read a book to the class about the holiday, or about something patriotic, but what really stuck out in my mind was what one of my students said.  

Her name was Chloe and she told the class about what Memorial Day meant to her.  She told us that she had had a brother who died a long time before who was in the Army. He had died in a car crash and on Memorial Day, her family took extra special time to remember people like him who had been in the military but who had died. 

She went on to tell our class that Veterans Day is when our country honors anyone who has served in the military.  It didn't mater if they were living or dead--we honored their service.  

By that time in my life, I knew the difference, but her words always stuck out in my mind.  She was and is a great kid and is the child of a U.S. Army service member (retired) and one awesome firecracker of a Brit who took the time to teach her difference between these two holidays. And on Memorial Day each year, I always think of her and her story when I take the time to teach my own children the difference and when I remember those service members who gave the ultimate sacrifice for my freedom.

Here's a good article that sums it up as well...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/05/26/why-memorial-day-is-confused-with-veterans-day/

Garmisch & The Zugespitze--The top of Germany!

I promised myself that in order to keep from becoming overwhelmed with blogging about vacations from a long time ago, I'd only post about trips we have taken or things we have done it the last year.

We went to Garmisch, Germany for the first time over Memorial Day weekend of 2012, so I'm just getting this one in under the wire!

It was a trip that I was really looking forward to, but also one that I hadn't had the chance to do a lot of planning for. It was also our first trip OUT of Italy and so we were really looking forward to a change of scenery. I was AMAZED at how beautiful the German region of Bavaria was!  Even a year later, it's like nothing I've seen before.

We stayed at an amazing apartment in Garmisch, right across the street from Edelweiss, the American military resort in Europe. We were lucky because our apartment was actually between The Edelweiss and the Zugespitze. Since we were vacationing with some family friends, The Neumeyers, who also have four children, we needed a place that could fit twelve! This place was PERFECT and still remains one of my favorite places we've stayed in the year and a half that we've lived here. It's owned by Suzanne and her adorable little son, Josh--if you are ever in need of a place to stay in Garmisch, she has several apartments and chalets. I won't ever stay anywhere else in the Garmisch area! Please contact me and I'll be happy to give you her contact info! Here's the view from our apartment:

 All of the windows in the apartment--and there are plenty, have this view.  We woke up to this one morning.

We enjoyed watching the sky divers glide down from the top of the Zugespitze.

With my crazy fear of heights, there's not a chance I'll ever be trying this...

Even at the end of May, the Zugespitze was covered in a lot of snow.

View from Edelweiss--very similar, huh?

As you may have guessed from the title of this post, the top of the Zugespitze is the highest point in Germany.  The mountain itself is actually in two countries--Germany and Austria and at the top, you can actually walk between the two countries. They have an awesome webcam that shows a panoramic view of the peak HERE.

In order to get to the top, it was a short walk down to the train station where we could buy tickets and hop on the cogwheel train that would take us to the glacier (not actually the top).  Buying tickets at the station was super easy and much, much cheaper than buying them at the Edelweiss. 

 Pretty little wildflowers that were along the way to the train station

Our families walking to the train station

Picture of the cogwheel train that I got off the Zugespitze website

 The cable car that takes you from the glacier to the top of the mountain.  I was terrified!

The ride from the train station to the glacier was a slow one but the scenery was breathtaking!  We could feel it getting colder and colder on the ride up there but I had no idea there would be so much SNOW when we got to the top!! Everything was still covered with tons of snow and the amazing thing was that people were sledding!  We were quick to jump right in!  I NEVER thought I would be able to say that I went sledding on the top of a mountain in natural snow over Memorial Day weekend!

Panoramic view of the glacier

Chapel on the glacier

                   

Trey at the top of the glacier

We all had an awesome time sledding down the hill!

Especially Jackson!

And ME!

 Jeanne photo bombing!

It was crazy bright up there! And somebody forgot her sunglasses...

 On the cable car on the way up to the top.  This is looking down on the glacier where we sledded, from the top of the mountain.

 The tiny black dot is a climber!

 Looking down on Lake Eibsee from the very top

The very highest point

Being at the top was awesome and the view was breathtaking but I can't say that I didn't feel a little bit better when we were back on lower ground.  Apparently, we were very lucky to have this amazing view because we have been up to the top on a couple more times and never have we been able to see the lake! We took the cable car all the way down to Lake Eibsee and the dads and kids took the paddle boats out on the lake while Jeanne and I drank beer and ate ice cream.  It was a wonderful day and we were lucky to have such a clear day at the top of Germany!

Tory took all these pictures on the lake!

Jeanne and I took these while we were eating our ice cream and drinking our beer.  

People ate these fish right off the stick!! GROSS!! 

Still one of my all-time favorite European signs! If you haven't read that post, click HERE.

Then Delilah wanted to eat some ice cream too, while she chattered away...to herself...

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