Sara at the park

Sara at the park, 30 September 2011.

S is for Salzburg

Starting on October 10th, Oscar had a two week break from school so we took advantage of the time off to go on some trips.

License plates in Germany indicate the city in which the vehicle is registered.  When I see a license plate that starts with "S", I know its driver is from Stuttgart.  We saw lots of "S" license plates during our recent trip to Southern Germany and Austria.  In this instance, however, "S" stood for Salzburg instead of Stuttgart.

London with Tina

Tina and I spent three days in London during the second week of Oscar's fall break from school (in October).  Sara stayed with a family from church and the boys stayed with a different family (also from church).  I cashed in the last of my Hyatt points so we stayed at the Andaz Liverpool Street for free (same as when I took Oscar to London in July).

Calvin turns five

Calvin's fifth birthday was on October 9th.  We had a Lightning McQueen party at the house with some of his friends from church.

Hyandrea buds

Hyandrea plants grow buds in August and September.  The buds lay dormant over the winter and then new growth (and eventually flowers) comes from them when the weather warms up in March and April.  I noticed today that the potted hydrangea plant we have on our front porch has set its buds for next year.

Frankfurt Auto Show 2011

I left work early on Friday and took the boys to the Frankfurt Auto Show.  Tina was not interested so she stayed home with Sara.  The boys really liked looking at the fancy cars.  The show was absolutely huge -- each building was massive and there were eleven of them.

Liquid paint: not for luggage

I spent the week of September 12th in Boston (work paid for me to take a Group Policy class).  Tina needed some primer for a craft project so she asked me to bring some back for her.  She had previously tried to get some primer at Hornbach (a German home improvement store similar to Home Depot) but had been unable to find it there.  It seemed strange to me that this would not be available in the German stores, but I did not have a chance to check myself before I left for Boston.

For the return trip back to Germany, I had a gallon of liquid paint in my checked bag (nonflammable liquid paint is not prohibited from inclusion in checked bags).  When I picked up my bag from baggage claim, there was white paint soaking through the zippers and I knew that the contents of this bag were going to be a total loss.  Things that were ruined in this suitcase:  Tina's paint (there was none left in the can), socks, t-shirts, jeans, swim trunks, my favorite hat, dress shoes, Adidas slippers, my course notes from the Group Policy class, my favorite German/English dictionary, and the small green notebook I had been using to record thoughts and impressions.  The green notebook is the thing I miss the most -- it is the only thing that cannot be replaced by buying something new.

I will probably never know exactly what happened.  It is certainly possible that somebody opened my bag to inspect the paint and then this person did not properly close the lid.  It is also possible that the change in cabin pressure caused the air in the can to expand (this would have increased pressure on the lid, causing it to pop open).  I never approached Lufthansa about the damages -- this was a risk I knew I was taking when I put a gallon of paint in my suitcase and now I have to deal with the consequences.

Lots of people tell stories about travel disasters.  At least mine has pictures.

Apple picking

Oscar walks to school with a boy in his class whose parents own an apple orchard.  The orchard is located just a few minutes from our house.  Last year, Oscar's whole class took a field trip to the apple orchard.  They got to ride on a tractor and Oscar came home with some apples, a large sunflower, and really muddy boots.  On weekends in September, the orchard is open for people to come and pick their own apples.  I took the boys there today while Tina stayed home with Sara (it was nap time).  Fortunately there was no mud this time.  The boys had a great time picking apples (mostly Gala) and we also bought some fresh-squeezed apple cider.  We ate some of the apples tonight after dinner and everybody thought they were delicious.  I expect we will go back again to get some more.

Mattress hopping

Several of my coworkers asked me which hotel I used while I was in the States.  My answer: all of them.  Not really, but it sure was a lot of hotels.  In fourteen nights, I stayed at seven different hotels and I never stayed at the same hotel two nights in a row.

A thunderstorm, an earthquake, and a hurricane

I returned to Germany on Monday morning after spending two weeks in the United States (business trip).  The trip began with extreme of weather at John F. Kennedy Airport (New York City) and ended with extreme weather at Washington Dulles International Airport (Washington, D.C.).  Sandwiched somewhere in the middle was a rare east-coast earthquake that was felt all the way from North Carolina to Toronto.