The Netherlands -- Day Two

Day Two: Thursday, 29 April
We got up on Thursday and the boys had Lucky Charms and Froot Loops for breakfast.  We normally only buy Cheerios and other healthy cereals but when we are on vacation we let the boys pick junk cereals as something of a treat.  Sadly, I forgot to photograph the sugar-coated puffs of sugar so you'll have to use your imagination.

I forgot to mention in yesterday's installment that our long-time friends the Greens (who rather randomly moved to Wiesbaden two weeks after we did last summer) came with us to the Netherlands.  They had a separate trailer at the same Eurocamp site so we got to see them a lot while we were on vacation.  Our two families left around 9:30 Thursday morning for the twenty minute drive to the Keukenhof gardens.  We passed some fields of tulips on the way there.

I could smell the flowers as soon as we got to the parking lot.  We had a short walk to the ticket counter and after paying the price of admission, we wandered around the park taking photos and enjoying the absolutely beautiful weather -- temperatures in the upper 60s and only a few clouds in the sky.

Unfortunately, the Daffodils were mostly done for the season.

Fortunately, there were still plenty of tulips to see:

Lunch time...

The boys liked getting lost in the maze.

Not sure what this thing is called. Who can give me a name?

The theme this year was "From Russia With Love". Here is a replica of St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow.

On the way home, all of the children fell asleep.

One of the major attractions at this particular Eurocamp location is that people staying in the trailers get free admission to the adjacent amusement park.  The boys loved going to the rides in the afternoons.  Here is a view of the campgrounds from the Ferris Wheel.

Playing on the trampolines:

The big slide was lots of fun.

We ate dinner at the trailer and then for dessert, we had stroopwafels from the local grocery store.

It wasn't long before the ducks came back to ask for one of their own.

Thursday night brought rain and a cold front. On Friday, we had to alter our plans a bit. I will explain next time...

The Netherlands -- Day One

Yesterday we returned from a three-night trip to the Netherlands. I have a lot to write about so I will blog this trip in installments.  I will write a bit about each day and then add some miscellaneous comments at the end.

Day One: Wednesday, 28 April
We left Nordenstadt around noon and headed for the Duinrell campground where we had reserved a trailer from Eurocamp. Google Maps said it was a four hour trip but I knew it would take us longer than that -- traveling with kids is slow but traveling with a two-month-old baby is even slower.

Gas in Europe is expensive -- €1.48 per liter (that's $7.44 per gallon using today's exchange rate). If you were paying $7+ per gallon for gas, you might drive a Smart car too. Fortunately for us, the US Government sells gas for less than half that price -- about $3.30 per gallon on the military bases. There is a monthly limit on how much gas each car can purchase but we have never come anywhere close to the limits on our cars. The limit is based on the size of the engine (or the weight of the car?). For the minivan, the limit is 600 liters per month (158.73 gallons). The price we pay for gas is set by AAFES. AAFES says it sets prices based on the Department of Energy's monthly average for each grade of gas (plus a local dispensing costs). The local dispensing costs must be expensive because the last time I checked nobody in the states was paying $3.30 per gallon for gas. So our gas is expensive but it is hard to complain when the Germans are paying more than twice as much.

Filling up with gas on the military bases is easy. But when traveling, gas can quickly become a big expense. To help with this, the government has an agreement with Esso (the international version of Exxon) to allow people with military IDs to pay the cheaper prices. The catch is that the agreement is only valid in Germany. So part of our trip planning was locating the closest Esso station to the Germany / Netherlands border. I found one that took us about 20 miles out of the way but it was well worth the trip. The goal was to fill up before we left Germany and then to try to make it back without having to add any gas in the Netherlands.

There was a nice little playground adjacent to the Esso station.  The boys spent a few minutes playing while baby Sara had some milk.  Calvin liked the swing and the slide (not pictured); Oscar liked helping the dandelions reproduce asexually by apomixis.

  When we made it back to an Esso station on Saturday afternoon, we had about 1/8 of a tank of gas left. Here is a photo of the receipt that shows I filled up 63.55 liters (16.8 gallons) at a cost of $53. Without the AAFES gas card, it would have cost €93.99 ($125).

 One of the first things I noticed when we crossed the border into the Netherlands is that they use a different font on their road signs.  German road signs use a modern version of DIN 1451 -- they call it DIN 1451 Mittelschrift.  Here is a photo I took on the A3:

Bonn is the former capital of West Germany.  Köln is better known to Americans as Cologne.  The font is classic, stately, and instantly recognizable -- almost as much a part of the Autobahn as no speed limits (more on that later).

The Dutch signs use a font called ANWB-Uu.  Like DIN 1451 Mittelschrift, ANWB-Uu is a sans-serif font.  But it just looks a bit cluttered and disorganized.  It is harder to read from a distance because the letters get crammed together.  Here are two pictures I took:

The OpenType blog has noted some differences between the German and Dutch traffic signs.

We got stuck in rush hour traffic on the way to the campground so it took longer than it should have.  We arrived a little before 6PM.

We stayed in a two bedroom trailer.  It was not large but we liked it because it was much cheaper than a hotel, the boys had their own bedroom, and the fact that it had a built-in kitchen meant we could bring food and cook our own meals.  Here are some photos of the trailer:

The trailer had a small deck.  The weather was nice so we ate dinner outside.  It wasn't long before we were joined by two very hungry ducks:

We had a conversation that went something like this:

Oscar: Can I feed some bread to the ducks?
Me: Yes, but not too much.
Oscar: I'll just feed them until they are full.
Tina: I think we better feed them only one piece.
Oscar: Why?
Me: Because ducks are always hungry.
* Short pause; I thought that would be the end of the conversation *
Oscar: Daddy?
Me: Yes?
Oscar: Why are ducks always hungry?

After dinner we settled in for a good night of sleep.  We had a big day planned for Thursday...

Oscar turns six!

Oscar's sixth birthday was on February 19th.  Tina's due date was the same day so we decided to wait to schedule Oscar's birthday party until after the baby was born.  We scheduled the party for March 6th and Oscar invited from friends from church.  The menu included homemade pizza, cucumbers, carrot sticks, cheese puffs, and Fritos (milk-free for Calvin).  They boys had A&W Root Beer to drink.

Tina set up a little piñata by wrapping some candy in wrapping paper and hanging it from a door frame.  The boys had a great time swinging a plastic baseball bat at the candy.  Of course, when the candy fell to the floor, everybody rushed in to pick candy off the floor.

Oscar liked opening presents. He got a Nerf gun, a Super Soaker, and some Legos.

After opening presents, it was time for cake.  Oscar wanted a dinosaur cake.  Here is what Tina came up with:

Everybody liked singing Happy Birthday.  Carson liked it so much that he blew out Oscar's candle!

The party was over before we knew it.  Everybody had a great time.  Oscar was glad everybody could come and he is already looking forward to his next birthday party.

A bunch of basketball videos

No time to organize or edit these videos. Enjoy.

Sara's baby blessing

I did Sara's baby blessing at church today.  Here is a photo I took after we got home from church.

"Every member of the church of Christ having children is to bring them unto the elders before the church, who are to lay their hands upon them in the name of Jesus Christ, and bless them in his name." -- Doctrine and Covenants 20:70

Hiccups and a sneeze

The title says it all.

Welcome Sara Jane Narula

Sara Jane Narula was born on 14 February at 3:48AM in Wiesbaden, Germany.  Here is the story of her birth:

Around 3PM on the afternoon of Saturday the 13th we settled the boys onto the couch to watch The Spiderwick Chronicles (which we had received from Netflix the previous day).  Tina popped some popcorn and we started the movie. She started having contractions about half an hour into the movie but didn't think much of it -- they were fifteen to thirty minutes apart and not very strong. We had dinner and put the kids to bed. At 10:00 we sat down to watch the State / Carolina basketball game.  During the game Tina's contractions became stronger and more frequent. At halftime I called some friends from church who had previously volunteered to watch the boys.  I told them things might be progressing and asked them to keep a phone nearby during the night.

A little after midnight the contractions were consistently five minutes apart and increasing in both frequency and intensity.  So we decided to drop the boys of with our friends and head to the hospital. Tina didn't think she was progressing as quickly as she needed to be in order to be thinking realistically about having a baby in the next 4-6 hours but we both wanted to avoid the panicked drive to the hospital that we had with Calvin (he was born while Tina was standing up in the delivery room; she never even got into the bed).  Given Tina's history of quick labors, we thought it would be better to already be at the hospital when things got exciting.  If we showed up too early we could always just walk around or sit in the lobby.  If we waited until it was too late, we could have found ourselves calling an ambulance or having an unscheduled home birth.

We dropped the kids off at our friend's place a little before 1AM and headed to the hospital with everything under control.  Tina was having contractions every 3-4 minutes as we were driving in the van.  We arrived at  the hospital about 1:15AM and then we waited for about twenty minutes to be seen in the initial triage room (there was only one midwife on duty and she was already examining somebody else).  My German is better than most of the Americans here but I learned pretty quickly that my grasp of German medical terms isn't very good at all (who would have thought that the words I use at the bakery wouldn't do me much good in labor and delivery?).  About all I was able to tell the midwife was that I had not yet done the required check-in / registration procedures (Anmeldung).

The midwife hooked Tina up to a fetal monitor and then called a doctor who spoke English when she realized the language barrier was going to be an issue.  Tina was attached to the fetal monitor for about 30 minutes.  Then the doctor checked her cervix and it was only dilated to two centimeters.  Despite this apparent lack of progress, they decided to admit her anyway because of her history of quick labors.  The time was about 2:15AM.

Since nothing was imminent, the midwife sent me away to complete the required registration at the front desk.  When I had been gone about five minutes, Tina's contractions start coming very quickly (less than a minute apart) and with strong intensity.  After about fifteen minutes of suffering alone in the triage room, the midwife showed up and helped Tina waddle 50 feet down the hallway to the delivery room.  The midwife checked Tina's cervix and now it was dilated to eight centimeters.  The time is about 2:45AM.  A little before 3:00AM I return from registration with a handful of papers (all written in German) to find the triage room empty.  Initially I wondered where she went but I didn't have to wonder for long because I could hear the sounds of a woman in labor coming from down the hall.

I kind of stumbled into the room looking the part of the dazed and confused husband.  After a few more contractions the cervix is dilated to nine centimeters.  A few minutes after that it is time to push.  I walk to the bag and grab the camera.  Twenty minutes later Sara was born. She was born at 3:48AM.  She weighed 3690 grams (just over 8 pounds) and was 51cm (about 20 inches) long.  The whole thing lasted about three hours.  The really heavy labor wasn't much more than an hour.  The doctor who spoke English stayed pretty much the whole time (on occasion she stepped out to check on the screaming woman next door).  All of the German hospital staff were extremely friendly and very accommodating.  I tried to speak German as much as I could (it was easier after the baby was born -- the words once again became conversational) and everything worked out well.  Of course, it helped that the baby was healthy and there were no real pressing medical needs for either Tina or the baby.

Another person in labor needed the delivery room we were in so by 4:30AM we had been transferred upstairs to a recovery room.  It is common to share a recovery room with another person but we requested a private room.  That costs more and we aren't yet sure if the insurance will pay for it.  I guess we'll see when I file the claim (I still haven't received a bill from the hospital).

The German approach to newborns is much more hands off than the American approach.  At the hospital in Annapolis where both of the boys were born the nurses were constantly coming during the night and waking them up for this test and that test.  The Germans might have run one test in the hospital.  Other than that they pretty much leave you alone.  The nurses do not generally help with diaper changes (they do supply some diapers but no wipes so make sure you bring your own) or even come and check on you. Nobody came with the supplies they have in the States -- ice pads, etc -- and nobody gave Sara a bath in the hospital (she was born with a lot of hair and it was matted down with all kinds of yuck).  They basically wiped her off with a few washcloths and then handed her to Tina in towels (no cute little stripey blanket with matching cap).  They also do not provide hospital gowns or towels so if you want to take a shower, be sure to bring your own.

This hands-off approach might have been a bit more annoying if the birth had been Tina's first but by the third time it begins to be familiar and we mostly just wanted to go home.  The hospital staff brought breakfast around 6:30 (Brötchen with meat and cheese -- what else would you expect?) .  We were all sleeping when breakfast showed up.  About 10:00 I went home to take a shower and grab a change of clothes.  I returned around lunchtime with the car seat.  Lunch had been served while I was gone.  We filled out some paperwork, promised to come back the next day for a blood test and a hearing test, and then Tina and Sara were released from the hospital around 3:00.  I picked up the boys later that evening and they got to come home and meet their new baby sister.

I learned the next day that Blue Cross Blue Shield will not direct-bill with the hospital because Tina was admitted for less than 24 hours.  So basically they are treating this like an out-patient procedure.  They want me to pay up front and file a claim for reimbursement like I normally do.  I still haven't received a bill so I have no idea what this is going to cost -- it'll probably be several thousand Euro.  I will make a decision about how to approach this once the bill comes in the mail.