It's all about the sports in 'Murica

Max's football team he signed up for dissolved- not enough players.  I thought there were plenty of players!  He would have gotten to participate constantly!  Instead he was placed on a team that had played together for years and practiced about 25 minutes away.  When you have almost every day practices this really stinks!  Also they did a lot of Friday night lights and tailgating parties and other things to simulate high school football, but since we had a senior playing high school football we ignored all of those things.  I was either at Sam's game or working so I only got to see 2 of his games.  Poor Max.  He understood, he said.  He played a guard this year.

Joseph ran cross country after much harassing and arguments from us. 

Our cross country team is 1st or 2nd in the state depending on the year, so he was never going to make varsity.  Even the people on the JV team were running 18 minute 5K's, so he was on the C-team.  A lot of people are on C-team.  This is the land of the runner!

Samuel did his senior year on Football.  

 The team mom's made these for all the seniors.  There was a hook on the back for hanging balloons on game day!

He started out on kick off and kick off return team

He ran this ball back for almost 60 yards!

and as an alternate receiver, but since his coach never ever ever changes players, he didn't play receiver very often.  The coach kept trying him in various positions in practice.  He told him that he was too athletic to be sitting on the side lines.  He finally decided to put him in as a nose guard.  Yep all  5'8 140 pounds of him pushing against 250 pounders.  

They had specific plays they used him in.  He was supposed to do specific things, which he usually accomplished despite the huge guy in his way, but usually got crushed in the end.  

We eventually learned to sit away from the main crowd who were loud and rude and yelled a lot.  Our team isn't the greatest.  We have an amazing assortment of skill players!  They always review us well, because of this.  We also get 2 or 3 signed to college every year.  Unfortunately, we have very few big guys for our line (hence using Sam.) So in the end, our season isn't very long.  If we make play-off's we are out the first round.  We didn't even make play-offs this year.  We still got people signed to colleges, however.  When we moved we found out where the main players families sit- like the quarterback's family.  I always wondered if the mom could hear all those negative comments!   Nope!  She doesn't sit by the bench people and the B team families!  

I got slightly more involved this year- only slightly.   These women are a little over the top for me.  But I did help with Homecoming.  They did a great job!

This is Sam going to homecoming... by himself! 

It took almost the rest of the year for me to forgive his friends who caused the rift with the girls that ended with no one going except Sam on his own.  He did find friends there that he hung out for a little while.  

So much for Fall sports.  

Sam and I at the end of year banquet

Onward and upward!

Homecoming 2015- or - Sam's first official Date

Homecoming in Germany isn't quite the same as in the states. 

1.  First of all, it's not on your first official game at home (you know, your Home coming!) Ya, but I think that's mostly true in the states as well, now, because someone has to have their first game at home, right?  And who wants to have Homecoming the first weekend of the football season.  No one!
2.  Also, there are no parades.  I tried to get one going, as I was the cheerleading coach at this time, but with the approval we would need from the Garrison commander and the need for the MP's to block traffic and on and on they said "maybe next year."  Well  thanks- I won't be here next year!  I personally think the Garrison commander would have been fine with it, but sometimes getting a meeting with the commander to discuss something is not so easy!
3.  The king/queen, and court are announced at the pep rally and only the pep rally and there is no running them around the field in fancy cars during half time.
4.  The games are played on Saturdays, because of the travel time involved in getting to your opponent and so the Homecoming game is played Saturday afternoon, so that the players have time to get to the dance that evening.  Even then, it's a pretty quick turn around!
5.  Most of the kids can't drive (you have to be at least 17 and have a valid stateside license to drive in Germany.  Since the majority of people have a 3 year rotation here and most parents try to keep their child from having to only do their senior year here, the kids are generally here from 15-18 years or 13-16 years old.  That equals= not a whole lot of kids with driving ability), so going to and from the dance are a constant stream of parents, dropping off, picking up.
6.  Germans don't make corsages well, so there is always someone making extra money by making them- different clubs, random individuals, etc.  Some kids just don't even bother with them and then there are people like me that find it on Youtube and DIY it!

Other than that it is still the usual display of raging teenage hormones and loud, obnoxious music that very few people actually enjoy.

I got to go to the pep rally the day before,  because I was also on the homecoming committee for the football team.  We had 12 Varsity and 12 JV players hand out flowers to the 12 Varsity and 12 JV cheerleaders and thank them for all they did for the players.  Sam forgot his jersey, like he seemed to do all the time this year, so he quickly borrowed someones, so he could be one of the guys giving out the flowers.  Afterwards the girls kept asking me who it was that gave them their flower- but of course I wasn't paying attention to who was giving whom a flower.  I was just trying to make sure it all went off smoothly.  The girls really liked it though and that was what was important.  Afterward the cheerleaders did their performance, the Juniors and Seniors gave their powder puff performances- meaning the boys dressed up in the cheerleading uniforms and did a dance to a song.  Some of them took the girls flowers to use in their dance and never gave them back.  The performances were hilarious and the Juniors definitely, hands down won, but of course the whole thing is rigged and the Seniors walked away with the trophy.  The pep rally was the most fun part of the whole thing.  I have got to make sure I am on that committee again!

The JV lost their game and the Varsity won theirs.  I helped pin flowers onto all the dads of seniors for football, cheerleading and the band.  I did a horrible job.  I only learned how to pin a flower onto a lapel afterwards, when I pinned the boutonnière I had made on Sam.  Guess I should have Youtubed it!

Sam got face masked in the game and came out with a scratched eye.  That kid messed up my Homecoming pictures- which one was it, which one.  I will kick him in the neck!

 And I can do it too.  You know how I know?  I kicked Sam in the neck in front of the school!  He would not ask Sara out. 

 He kept avoiding it.  He said she kept getting away from him, or he couldn't find a convenient time.  I wasn't convinced though, because they go to church together and are in seminary every morning together. I told him it wasn't nice to make a girl wait until the last minute, because she had to buy a dress.  So I told him if he didn't ask her that day I was going to kick him.  As I was picking him up from football, I asked, "Did you ask her today?"  He said, "no, she disappeared."  So I kicked him- right in the neck.  He knew the consequences!!  His friends just died!  At home I laid down the law.  "No asking tomorrow, no wrestling!"  He knows I don't like wrestling, so he knew I was serious.  Plus, I just proved that I would kick him in the neck with all his friends watching if he didn't do what I told him to do.  The next day she disappeared again on him.  So he found her at lunch and had to ask her in front of all of her friends.  I had scared him enough that he was willing to do it.

Of course she said yes, because I had already texted her mom and asked if she would say yes if Sam asked.  I didn't want to pressure him too much if there was a chance she would say no.  That really would have been mean!  He had a cute little football that said, "want to tackle Homecoming with me" on it, but he lost it, so he just asked- lame!

As far as I know they all had a great time and had lots of fun!

When Sam got home, though, he said, "That was a lot of work.  I don't think I am going to do that again."  Yep- that was a whole lot of work to get dressed up and dance a couple dances with a girl.  Crazy kid!!  He just doesn't understand the power of a throat kicking mom!

School started... American Style

Living in Germany you notice the differences between Americans and Europeans quickly when school starts.  So here are some signs that Americans have started school.

1)  Mom's converge on the bus stop dressed in pajamas and sweats with their hair tied up in a knot on  top of their heads to wave to their kids at the bus stop.

2) Friday's become dress up days.

3) Those Saturday's you used to love walking on the paths in the woods are now crammed with cheering mothers and fathers and racers of all sorts.

4) More traffic on the roads in the afternoons as mom cart kids to soccer this and soccer that.

5) The craft store starts running low on craft supplies.  I hate projects!

Joseph's idea of a sock puppet.  I made him redo it on a paper bag and we actually added hair with yarn and a copy of one of Duke Ellington's famous songs.  

6) Field trips!  We use public transportations and they just love it when we shove 2 classes full of kids on the public buses!

 Pumpkin festival at Ludwigsburg palace

 Fairytale Garden's boat ride

The up-side down house.  The inside swings and then the outside goes around you.  It looks like you are going upside down!  Scary the first couple of swings, but then I was just ready to get out!

 The trick fountains inside of the maze.

Loved these fun use of gourds.

7) More cars on the roads at all hours of the day on Saturday.  We can travel as far as Venice, Italy or Lakenheath, England for some of our matches.  They keep coming to us instead, though, darn it.  I really want to give them a break and travel up to England!  Come on, let us be nice like that!  One of these matches was only 3 hours away by bus, but the team didn't get home until 3 am, because the German's have to get a break after so many hours.

8) The American next door is actually home.  Studiously planning their next vacation, but at least home for the moment.

I would add #9 dances, but ours still haven't happened.  We have the latest Homecoming ever!  It is the second to the last game of the season.  Seriously, do they even know what "Homecoming" means?  We have our first home football game next week.  You would think that would be Homecoming, right?  Um, nope.  Guess we don't believe in the traditional use of the word!

10) Fundraisers!  Love them!  *sarcastic voice*,  PTO, Potlucks, Parents running everywhere doing a million things!

We had the Stake Relief Society President write us and ask if they needed to have an interpreter in the class on helping your kids with school since they weren't sure how involved parents were with their kids in American schools.  If they only knew...!

Our first two European Adventures

Note:  I finally got the computer to upload pictures although at a slow enough rate that I have to do something while I wait.  Love German internet!! *Sarcasm*

Both of our first two European Adventures were very kid friendly and not particularly European.  The first was to LEGOLAND

 (an amusement park owned by an English entertainment company)

 and the second was to the Zoo. 

 LEGOLAND was a lot of fun.  Like Disneyland every ride was made so that even Max could ride it. 

This was one only Max could ride!

 Max is our little wimp child, so making him ride some of them was challenging, but eventually he decided that he liked it all. 

That's the boys at the end of the roller coaster 

 Emma and Sam thought it was a little lame, but we made it fun.  The flying Ninjago were like mini airplane seats with wings that you could control.  They went up and down and around like swings, but if you flapped your wings just right you could turn a complete 360.  Rob got into a death spiral and lost loads of euros out of his pocket while doing it.  Sam also got a crazy spin on.  I refused to spin as going up and down and around were enough for this scaredy cat mom! I can't believe I didn't get a picture of it! 

This was a fun musical set that played music and shot water when you stepped onto the corresponding mats.  Very Cool!

We also found a pirate ship where you shot water at people with cannons

and they shot you back.  It was a huge pirate water fight.  One of the families in our ward went on the same day, so we met up with them to have it out!  We were completely soaked after that ride!  Overall, a great day, I think!

The zoo was nice. 

 Stuttgart, apparently is known for their zoo.

Having lived, recently, near the National Zoo in Washington DC, however, makes most other zoos look small.  I felt bad for the big animals that seemed to be in little enclosures!

We had a lot of fun watching the pelicans trying to pick up the fish.  

"Mine, Mine"

Who knew that they had no power in those huge beaks!  We also loved the giraffes and the eel.  They showed you the volts the eel was putting out and it was close to 200 over and over!

Part of the zoo are the gardens of King Wilhelm. 

We did the terrible American tourist thing and ignored our kids long enough for them to climb on the 135 year old trees. Of course we had a park ranger on us in no time, but surprisingly he was very friendly about the whole incident.  He sat down and told us how the whole park was protected by the state and how old the trees were and how it was like climbing on your great-great-grandmothers back.  When we tried to apologize, he waved us off and said, "I think as long as they understand why, then it will not be a problem anymore.  It is better that way."

  While at the zoo we learned about Pfand also!  Bring your cup back and get a whole euro back!  Yeah for Pfand!!

One of these days, these kids have got to go see a castle!