We have made it through another two weeks! I’m behind on posting, mainly because work has been so busy, and we’ve been running around every evening between countless activities. Life’s been stressful, but we are getting on with it!
It’s still early in March, but in the first week, we were treated to beautiful Spring weather: high 50s and sunny. Week two brought us back to typical German weather: low 30s and rain; hail storms on two days, and snow on another. I am so excited though, to be that much closer to the start of Daylight Savings Time at the end of the month.
Brooklyn and Ryan tried out for softball and baseball! The kids were there every day after school until almost 6 p.m. This is Brooklyn’s third year trying out, and she earned her spot back on the softball team.
This is Ryan’s first year trying out for baseball, and the competition was tough! Thirty boys tried out, and only 18 can make the team. He wasn’t feeling very confident at the end of tryouts the first week. But, we got the news that although 10 had been cut, only 14 had been selected for the team. The remaining six were asked to return the following week to continue trying out for 3 days. Luckily, Ryan was on the list of six and eventually made the team! We are so excited and so proud of him! Now they are both at practice every day until 6, and Matt and I are running around trying to get them from A to B every evening!
Over one weekend, we celebrated a friend’s birthday with dinner at a new restaurant, Gentile Gusto. The food was so good, and company even better!
We finished the night by trying out a new wine bar in Böblingen called Vinotek Giarola.
On our second weekend, Matt and I went to Esslingen to meet some friends in the square and enjoy the sunshine! We bought multiple bottles of Sekt from Kessler, which is headquartered in the town, and sipped while we sat around the city fountain.
Ryan had a super busy weekend in week one. Saturday, he was up bright and early to help a fellow Eagle Scout with their Eagle project. That evening, he had his JROTC Dining In, which is their annual formal dinner.
After the dinner, Ryan returned to the Boy Scouts camp out. The following morning they did a leadership training that he needed for his advancement. At the close of the camping weekend, he was promoted to First Class Scout, which is over halfway to Eagle! His scoutmaster had a lot of encouraging words to say about Ryan to the whole Troop, including how he was the fastest advancer this year, and did it all in spite of an insanely busy activity schedule. We are so proud (and happy that those first class requirements are behind us)! Finally, at his most recent meeting, he was elected to Patrol Leader of one of the patrols in his troop. He will really get to practice his leadership over the next couple of months!
After his busy weekend, we let him soak in some time with his new Xbox. He’s been working so hard and has definitely earned some downtime.
The following week, Brooklyn took the SATS and we took Ryan and a friend go-karting at the local track.
We also finally got a family day out for the first time in forever! We didn’t have to go far to find our adventure. We started at the Stuttgart Seilbahn, the last antique funicular in the city, used to transport people up and down the Stuttgart hills. We took the four-minute ride up, walked around for a few minutes, and then took the cable car back down.
The day’s second stop was Birkenkopf, or “Rubble Hill.” After the bombings of WWII, Stuttgart removed the rubble and piled it up on the outskirts of the city, forming a small mountain. It was about a mile hike up the hill from the base, and at the top, we found—surprise! More piles of rubble that weren’t buried. Some of the artsiest pieces were never buried and now “decorate” the hilltop, which also has a small amphitheater overlooking the city.
We are looking forward to a more peaceful and hopefully warmer second half of March!
Gilcrests Abroad 