Liv Misses Grandma and Grandpa

In seems like yesterday that Olivia reluctantly gave each set of her grandparents a hug and kiss goodbye as we left the US and began our move to Portugal. Both grandmothers cried as Olivia decided she'd rather play than give an appropriate goodbye. How times have changed. How she's matured.

Yesterday afternoon, as I put Olivia down for a nap, she began to cry. When I asked her what was wrong, her reply was this:

Olivia: "Why can't grandma fly a plane here to see me?" (Speaking of Grandma McQuilton)

Mom: "Grandma told you why she can't come see you."

Olivia: "Yeah, but there are workers here. I want her to fly to my house and work here. I want her to stay here and babysit me when you're gone."

I really didn't know what to say. I gave her a hug and told her we would see grandma in a couple of months. Her reply, in a whiny, tearful voice, "No, I want to see her now."

Grandma and Grandpa McQuilton recently sent her a care package. A doll, books, etc. This sparked her memory and apparently, she realized that she misses them (she misses my parents too, however, they were recently here).

While we love our life of adventure and we love that we're currently stationed here in Portugal, it's moments like yesterday that remind me what a crazy life military families have (and many US families, in general, where moving away from family is so common). Here in Portugal, many of the grandmothers babysit their grand kids during the day. Moving away from family is uncommon. As we walk through parks, we are reminded of this.

Olivia doesn't grasp the life here. Recently, as we walked past a grandmother and grandchild, she said:

"Mom, that little boy's grandmother flew here on a plane to take him to the park!"

I just laughed. While she may now be beginning to understand emotions and feelings, she hasn't yet truly grasped the reality of things such as distance and time.

Germany Highlights

I don't even know where to begin! We created so many memories during our Germany trip. We didn't do much shopping on this trip (especially with the U.S. Dollar so weak). We hiked, went on walking tours found in guidebooks, dined at numerous beer houses and enjoyed wonderful, hearty Bavarian food.

Matt and I really enjoyed the time alone to explore while the kids were in "school." We hadn't realized how much that time alone was needed. We are so refreshed!

I will share one funny story: On Friday evening, when we picked up the girls, an employee told us that Olivia had finally "opened up" the prior afternoon. Apparently, our little smartie, decided that she was a baby again. For two and a half days, she pretended that she could not speak and could not feed herself. The kids were so excited, on Thursday afternoon, when she began to talk non-stop, that they circled around her just to listen to her. We all know that Olivia is NOT shy and has been begging to go to school for months. Why she acted this way is a funny mystery!

I don't have enough time to write an in depth post. Therefore, I'll leave our readers with highlights. For more information about the places we went, please double-click on the highlighted words. Feel free to ask questions and leave comments!

Matt and Olivia entering Partnach Gorge

View after exiting gorge

Carillon in the tower of the New Town Hall (Munich)

Viktualienmarkt in Munich

Matt and I enjoy a beer and lunch in the Viktualienmarkt

Inside of Hofbrauhaus. World famous beer house and where first Nazi party meeting was held in 1919.

English Garden: The beer garden in the Chinese Tower

View during our 7.5K hike around Lake Eibsee (hours before we flew home)

Innsbruck, Austria

Golden Roof

Matt and I took a side trip to Innsbruck, Austria. Very pretty, clean city. Matt quickly ached to be on a mountain again. However, we still had a great time exploring and spending alone time together.

Tulip Garden

Pedestrian Street

Dachau

This deserves a post of it's own. What is there to say? As I walked by the posters, I was surprised at the bluntness of this quote (speaking of the Germans): "...repress and forget..."

It's sombering to walk through something like this. To try to place yourself there all those years ago is hard. How could something like that happen in the 20Th Century?

Over 25,000 lives were lost in Dachau. Here are a few pictures:

From top to bottom: Memorial, Crematorium, Cremation Ovens (prisoners were hanged in front of these and then placed in the oven), Inmate bunks, Sculpture depicting symbols inmates wore on their arm bands.