A little nervous to be on our own Sunday the kids and I decided to try to find a park to play at while Dad was at work, Opps #1. After arriving where the park was supposed to be I discovered the park wasn't a kid's park, but a Horse Track. Epic Fail Mom! So we turned back, didn't school and took a nap. Boring!
Monday still with the fail of the never found park sitting on my shoulder I lugged our families now weeks worth of laundry to the nearest laundry mat. Sounds simple right? Not really. First I attempt to buy a day pass for the family @ 18.40 euro (~ 24 USD) with nothing but coins (because the machine doesn't accept US debit/credit cards) to find I only have 5 euros in coins. Opps #2. Ride the train without paying until we get to the station (in a sweat for fear of getting caught, ask my mom about a funny story about that) where I had to hunt through several machines until I found one that took cash. Then I drag the kids to the right stop for the laundry mat to discover I forgot the address and the soap. Opps #3. Drag kids around Subway stop for 2 hours hoping to find it Opps #4. Finally give up and take kids to McDonalds. Score One for Mom!
My ever hero Matt came home that night and put internet on my phone and I haven't gotten lost since. Wow am I reliant on my Smart phone.
Tuesday we found the laundry mat and reward ourselves (really me) we found a little Konditorei that puts Gerry Frank's Konditorei to shame (wall that is easy Holly Hamlin and Nina McCoy make better cakes). Score TWO for Mom (and Meghan for washing Matt's Clothes for work).
Wednesday was another good day. We grocery shopped, we spent birthday money, we did school, we watched I mean we learned German from watching our favorite Disney Cartoons on TV. Oh yeah we also got caught in a giant hail storm. Way fun, hurt a ton, and got so wet! The hail storm totally snuck up on us. First we take our jackets off because the spring sun is really heating us up. Then the wind blows in a little sprinkle, but it is ok because we are within sight of the Hotel. So we slip on our jackets and walk a little faster a block and a half away the starts hailing harder and harder, so we run. The kids thought it was the funnest thing ever, even though the hail really stung. I really feel like I dodged the bullet there. It would have been miserable to walk home in the condition we were. I literally was able to ring my hair out and it took a good 24 hours before our jeans were dry.
Thursday was a good day too. But after getting caught out in hail like that none of us were really willing to risk the weather again, so we just explored the hotel and stayed in our room until Matt came home. Matt then introduced us to a charming part of Old Town Dusseldorf with all sorts of fancy shops and a huge variety of shops. We find a cute Italian Restaurant were they didn't speak German, but Italian! Imagine that! It was quite the experience for the kids. Whole shrimp (legs, head and tail), Italian style pizza and a whole other culture in Germany.
The picture above if of today. Christian's Birthday is tomorrow and we needed to make a stop at the Mall to find a little boy birthday presents (think US prices plus 19% tax ouch), spend every last Euro of Birthday money, and 1 euro Gelato. Gelato and shopping make the 20 minute walk there and 20 minute walk back all worth it. But I did learn a lesson, buy my own cone because they will eat every last drop!
Hopefully when you wake Saturday Morning there with be pictures of a brand new 6 year old at Lego Discovery Center!
Love and miss you all,
Matt, Meghan, Nika and Christian.
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