We just finished up a crazy week, and it somehow managed to include the first day of school for Ryan, a trip to the US, moving Brooklyn into college, time with friends and family, and even a movie! It was a lot packed into one week, but somehow we made it through.
The week started on Monday, which was Ryan’s first day of school. He is starting 11th grade, and he has a great schedule with a lot of good teachers, so we are really looking forward to this school year. That evening, he went into Stuttgart. While he has not officially joined the Stuttgart Reds yet, he has been attending the men’s team practices on Monday nights. He did not get picked up from the train until around 10:30 PM, so it was a late bedtime for him on the very first night of school.
Tuesday morning, I was up early for my flight back to the US. Brooklyn was moving into college on Wednesday, and there was absolutely no way I was going to miss it. I also had two more suitcases filled with her things that I needed to bring along. It was a long day of travel, followed by an even longer two hour wait for my checked bags to finally arrive on the luggage belt. Then I had another two hour drive through rush hour traffic back to my parents’ house. I am so thankful that Matt’s dad was willing to wait all that time at Dulles for my bags and then drive me back. I finished off the evening with dinner at my grandmother’s house before heading to bed.
Wednesday was moving day. Brooklyn’s check in time was not until 2 PM, though, so we had a little time in the morning to get our nails done together before making the drive up to Towson. Once we arrived, she got the keys to her dorm and we started moving everything in. We thought we had brought a lot of stuff, but she actually ended up with quite a bit of free space.
We took a lot of inspiration from her roommate, who had already moved in that morning, and made a list of things Brooklyn still needed or wanted. Then we headed to Target and did some serious shopping. We came back with a ton more things for organization and decorating, which helped make her dorm room feel much more like home. Her room was already looking so sweet, and it was fun seeing everything come together.
One of the things we bought at Target was a flat pack desk. Brooklyn and her roommate ended up building it together that night, and she is using it as a hutch on top of her regular desk. It actually turned out to be a great team building experience for the two of them, and it was fun to see them figuring things out together so soon after meeting.
Thursday was another busy day, and I had a ton of errands to run. Our tenants are leaving our Maryland house, and we need to rent it again, so I met with the real estate agent to work out all of the details and then I had to get a dress altered. When I finally got home, I decided to take a quick nap before continuing with everything else.
That quick nap turned into a six hour nap, and I accidentally woke up at almost 7 PM. By then, I had already missed a scheduled date with one set of friends, so I headed straight to my cousin Amanda’s house instead. We had dinner together, and then I spent the night at her house.
Friday was one of my favorite days of the trip because I got to spend the evening with my best friends at a concert in Chesapeake Beach. There was a cover band performing Chris Stapleton songs and another set of Luke Combs songs. The funny part was that it was actually the same band. They simply took a break in the middle of the show and changed costumes.
You really could not even tell it was the same lead singer. He tucked his long hair up underneath his hat and somehow transformed himself into Luke Combs by shortening his beard. He even nailed the different stage personalities and voices. It was such a fun night, and I realized just how much I miss being able to hang out with my friends on a regular basis like that.
Saturday, we headed back to Towson to take a few more things up to Brooklyn that she had ordered from Amazon. We had one last lunch together at Chick fil A, and then it was time to say goodbye. I gave her a huge hug and tried not to think too much about the fact that my firstborn is officially away at college.
I am hoping to be back for family weekend in October, but it is still hard to say goodbye to your firstborn when you know they are starting this whole new chapter without you there every day. I am incredibly excited for her, though, and I know she is going to have an amazing experience. So far, she is loving school and her roommate and excited for the school year so I think she is definitely in the right place!
From Towson, we took the long way around the Beltway back to Dulles Airport, where I caught my flight back to Germany. This time, my connection was in Zurich, so the trip was relatively short, and I was home a little after 10 AM.
After such a whirlwind week, I took a long nap and then Matt, Ryan, and I went to the movies. Luckily for us, the largest IMAX screen in the world is just outside of Stuttgart, and Ryan had been wanting to see another movie there. We decided to see The Odyssey. We had actually planned to go two weeks earlier, but this was the first date we could get tickets.
Before the movie, we had Mexican food at Joe Peña’s, which is right next door to the movie theater. I had wanted to try it for a long time because Mexican food is notoriously bad in Germany, and I was curious to see how this place compared. I was pleasantly surprised. The Mexican food was actually pretty good, and the margarita was great.
After dinner, we headed into the movie, which is three hours long. The movie has been incredibly popular, and for good reason. It was really good! The theater seats 600 people, and it was completely full even though the movie had already been out for quite a while. There is something pretty fun about seeing a blockbuster on an enormous IMAX screen, especially when you know you are sitting in the largest one in the world.
We finally got home at almost 11 PM. After such a whirlwind week, we were exhausted but ready for the week ahead!
Gilcrests Abroad 