How Terrible of Me!!

Geez, I went from Charlies 5th Birthday to Halloween and totally skipped putting anything in here about Justin turning 8!!! That is not good! Now it is after Christmas and I didn't put anything in her about Reagan turning double digits! Yep, she is a decade old now! WOW!!

So the last few months in a review!

Ocotober, Justin turned 8 and had a GI Joe Sigma 6 themed party! Only a few friends made it,but we had a blast! Here are two pics!

November: We went to a town called Marktredwitz, about a half hour drive from our home. It has a Harley Davidson Store/Shop! The painting on the side of the building was pretty cool! They spoke great English and didn't mind me taking pictures of the bikes they had! Can't reallly tell it is Germany other than anything thaat had any writing on it!


November 24th: Charlies kindergarden class celebrated their 50th day of school by having a 50's theme. Charlie was the only one decked all out! I had fun! Here is a pick taken at home and one his teacher took!

December 13: Reagan celebrated her 10th birthday with a slumber party. Though due to weather (2nd year in a row), not many showed. We were very excited that her friend Gaitlyn was able to attend! They had a blast staying up till just after midnight watching movies and pigging out on junk food! This year for her cake instead of baking it myself, I bought a plain white frosted cake and just decorated it. Still tasted yummy! Here are two pics from her day! The bunny is a common toy here in Germany, a wooden toy on a long spring and you hang from the ceiling and then you bounce the toy! Gaitlyn got it personalized just for Reagan!

Coming next! Eric and I took a trip to Regensberg!

Halloween 2009

This year was the first one in quite a few years since Eric has been able to go out with the kids trick or treating. In '08 he was in Germany; in '07 he was in Iraq; in '06 he had to work.

The boys costumes were pretty easy, they knew what they wanted to be. Reagan on the other hand had know idea what she wanted to do! Then when I went online to order the costumes, poor Reagan everytime she liked something for what ever reason the store wouldn't ship it APO!! I ordered the boys from ToysRus, they have very quick shipping. I started to look at costumes that I could possibly make for her, can be difficult with the limited things the craft store sells. We decided on an idea and I started picking up the things we needed.

This is what the kids were this year: The boys were Transformers, Justin being Optimus Prime and Charlie was Bumblebee. Reagan was a "glow" stick-figure-girl!! We had fun putting it on!!

Trick or treating overseas is a bit different, like it is anywhere else I suppose. We are allowed to trick or treat from 5 to 7 pm. Eric and I had decided we where going to take the kids to where their school is, there are many homes there. More than where we live and most of them where going to the same place too! Just like the name of the kids school, the town/housing community is called Netzaberg.

It was quite cold that evening and we only stayed out for about an hour before deciding to go get some dinner. Plus this was better since Eric still had to go to work that night. The kids got quite a loot of candy this year. Granted, just like every year, the kids and I eat about an eighth of it and the rest gets thrown out, usually the following Halloween!! I try to monitor the amount of candy the kids get anyway, then with Reagans medicine we are to limit it too.

Here are some pics of the kids!!

1st Day of School (2009/2010)

Wow! The summer is over and the kids are heading back to school! The first day is August 31st, Charlie "official" first day is September 8th.

Netzaberg Dragons!

Reagan is now in 4th Grade and her teacher is Mr. Roberts, she also has Mrs.Walker for Social Studies. This year is the first for letter grades! Reagans class is also on the third floor!

Justin is in 2nd grade now and he has the same teacher as he did last year, Mrs. Driscoll. She got to move up a grade with her students! I think it is great, and she is one awesome teacher!! Justin is on the second floor, the same floor as the main entrance to the school.

Charlie, my baby, is in in Kindergarden now! It is just like all the other grades, Mon-Fri all day!! He has Mrs. Dailo (Die-low), and has quite a few kids that are German! His teacher also is fluent in German too! Charlies class is on the bottom floor, it is only half the length of the school. The Kindergardeners and Sure Start (limited Pre-school) have their own caffateria!

The kids school day is very busy! The school does something called "Specials". What it is are a variety of classes the kids all rotate through throughout the week. They are P.E., Music, Library, Computer Lab, Art and Host Nation; each taught by different teachers, and it seperate areas throughout the school! Host Nation is neat, it teaches the kids about Germany, their cultures and a little bit of the language!

School will be exciting this year!! I do have to say that I am completely lonely during the day! It feels weird not having Charlie home with me!

First day!

Reagan looking at Mr. Roberts!

Justin in line talking to friend Junior!

Charlies 1st Day, getting in line!!

Charlie Turns 5!!

August 25, 2009

Charlies 5th Birthday!

Party theme: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Number of guests: 11 (3 were parents), kids ages ranged from 2 to 7

Planned Pin the Tail on the Donkey (actually they were stickers!)

Took me two different ideas to get Charlies cake to look the way I wanted it too! I seriously need to learn how to use fondant!

Got way too many toys!!

He had a great 5th birthday party!!

One child is behind Charlies head!

Summer 2009 (need to start updating this more!!)

I have seriously been neglecting this blog! Shame on me!!

The summer was just like any other summer really. We did spend quite a few days at the schwimbad (German for swimming pool), it is about a block away from where we live. The kids love it, it is inexpensive, 5€ (about $6 for me and the kids). It has three seperate pools, the deep pool (12m, or 9ft), the middle pool is goes from 1m to 3m, this one is the largest and has a huge water slide, and a small elephant shaped one for the smaller kids. The third pool is a large wadding pool that has things for the wee little ones to play on or with.

Charlie started out on the small slide, Eric took him that first day on the big one (with water wings) and he loved it! By the end of the summer, Charlie was swimming without wings! Justin and Reagan loved the slide, by summers end they were going down it every which way they could think of!! There is one downside to going to pools in European countries; it is very common to see small kids naked. Some are probably around 7yrs old too, but they are the ones that parents are drying them off. There were a few times I had to have the kids turn around, because even I was uncomfortable!

My neighbor had bought a large pool (15' across and 3.5' deep), we spent a lot of time there too. We have so many kids in just a few houses that we had quite a few barbeques.

It got pretty warm here, there were just few days where we were in the high 90's. Usually it stayed around the high 80's to the low 90's. No need for any air condionters (we would have to buy a German one, not cheap either!). I just put fans every where especially the 3rd floor where the kids rooms are. The days are long here, sun comes up about 4:45am and doesn't go down till around 11pm!! Makes it hard for the kids to go to bed! So glad that the German shades/blinds can completely block out the sun! Just not the noise from other kids still outside!

We also had bought a 14' trampoline! Even Eric and I get on it. With it being black, it would get pretty hot during the day, so we usually did our jumping in the mornings or in the afternoon!

We went to the American-German Folks Festival that his held every year on base, which is open to the public (the Germans). It was basically a giant carnival with a huge beer tent!! The kids were big enough to go on the bumper cars, Charlie wasn't old enough to drive though. You know you are getting old when you get bumped, it jars every bone in your body and it hurts!! The older two, Eric and I went on this huge ride! The kids had an absolute blast! Even Charlie (with our neighbors) had fun watching us scream and laugh! Towards the end of the ride, both Reagan and I got a little nauseated!

Funnies thing that happened was when I took the kids through the fun house! I'm trying to make it as easy as possible for Charlie. Going through these huge swinging puncking bags, I get Charlie without getting knowcked over, and I got the hit instead! I am getting too old for this!! We get to the maze, which instead of mirrors it is plexiglass. Very clear plexiglass! Charlie was trying to catch up with Reagan and Justin and ran smack into one and fell straight backwards! Poor guy got a nice red bump on his forhead!. I ended up carrying him the rest of the way. Not fun! The kids and I got to ride in an Army Stryker, that was fun. The boys got the biggest kick out of it! We got to eat crepes and a bunch of other fun goodies!! Reagan got her face painted. That was a very long day!

All in all, we had a fun filled summer!

Wow! It's Been a While!

I hadn't realized that I hadn't put anything on here since Easter! So here is a brief recap on what's been happening!

~Eric got a 2009 Harley Davidson Sportster, dark blue in color! Hit or miss if he rides it, due to rain. He doesn't ride in the rain.

~My friend and neighbor, Melissa, we spend lots of time together. She has three girls, Courtney (6), Abby (4), and Katie (2) we all call her Kitty-Kat! Melissa's husband, Chris, was home for two weeks from Iraq. We all had quite a few BBQ's, played Wii bowling and some other games. Charlie and I were with them and we got to eat our first schnitzel sandwich and pommes (french fries)! Yum!

~Our back yard is now quite full! Eric and I bought a 14' trampoline (enclosure included)!! It is a lot of fun! I am on there all the time when it hasn't been raining! First time, I was shocked at how sore I felt the next day! Guess, I hadn't realized how many different muscles we use jumping on it! Unfortunately we had to put a lock on it, due to some of the kids in the neighborhood. Oh, and apparently I am mean! I have a rule about the trampoline, if a kid wants to play on it, their parent needs to come over. So far, no other kids have jumped on it except Melissa's girls. I just don't want to be responsible if a child gets hurt and their parent didn't know they were on a trampoline. I tell these kids it is the rule, they come back , no parent, but telling me their parent said they could. No deal, no parent, no jumping!

May Day pole!

Abby, Charlie, Justin, Katie in stroller, Reagan & Courtney

May 10th~ Mothers Day was so beautiful! Reagan had made me a cute card. Justin had made me a card and had painted a terracotta pot, full of Hershey's kisses! Charlie got me a card and tried to write his name it all by himself! Eric, like always, gets me two cards, one sappy one and one funny! Melissa got me miniature yellow roses in a beautiful ceramic pot. I have managed to almost kill them! I am slowly bringing them back! It finally has new branches and leaves. I can grow petunias and carnations with no problem, first time with roses!

Spent the day working in my front yard, and helping my neighbor with hers. She bought a fountain and needed help. Melissa's yard is so beautiful and blissful! She won Best Area Yard for 2009! I am happy for her! A lady up the street was competing against her, even bought the same fountain! She didn't even stand a chance as far as I could tell! My yard looks nice too, but I wasn't competing, I just wanted my yard to look nice for myself. I have red and blue pots along the fence line with white and deep purple with white carnations. I also have Petunias, Impatiens, New Guinea Impatiens, Geraniums, Nicotianas and a few more that I have no idea what they are! I found this really neat bird feeder on a stand! I kind of have a theme, birds, with feeders, birdhouses, and a few birds (not real).

May 17th~ My 33rd birthday, just hung out at home for the day. Got some fake hanging plants to hang above the balcony. Don't get much sunshine, and just looks nicer to me. Went out to a restaurant, "Portofino's" with Melissa and her girls. Ready for this? It is an Italian restaurant, in Germany owned and ran by Hungarians! Weather was really nice.

May 29th~ The 506th Military Police Ball. I went to a city "Weiden" (pronounced "Vi-den"), and went to a dress shop to find a dress. They had a very nice selection in all colors! The best thing, they hemmed the dress for me and it was ready in three days! Saved me for having to go to alterations on base and taking forever! The place where the Ball was being held was an hour away from base, and we live another 30 minutes from there! At least they provided childcare. Downside to this whole day is that Eric didn't get off of work and home till 4pm! Then he was scheduled to work the next day, which starts at 4:30am and better yet, first day of 12 hour shifts! Because of this, we didn't stay longer than we had too, actually, until his unit let him leave. We got home just a little after 11pm. Needless to say, the next day was really hard on him.

The Kids~ All three just had dental exams, No Cavities!! Reagan had her palatal expander removed, no more orthodontic care till she looses more teeth and the permanent ones are in. Well in the past 5 days, she has lost 5 teeth! Two in one day, then three just on Friday (6/5). She has no teeth!! Well just the front eight, and her back molars!

June 3rd~ The city we live in, Erbendorf, is celebrating its 900th Birthday! It held a medieval festival in the downtown area. it was so fascinating! Got picture of the kids in a guillotine, not real of course! Got pictures of two men sword fighting, and listened to a medieval band! All the costumes were very authentic!

I am also sorry that I have not been keeping up with this blog! My laptop is down for the time being, so I am on Eric's.

Easter 2009

Easter day here was so beautiful! We couldn't have asked for better weather! The kids had fun, I hid their baskets and had tied a string to each and wrapped it all around the yard. It was like a crazy collision course!

Eric and I even dressed up and had our neighbor Melissa take pictures of us.

We had planned to eat dinner with Melissa and her girls, Eric unfortunately got called in to work. The rest of us had dinner outside! It was so nice and really delicious!

Here are some pics of our Easter Sunday.

Happy Easter from Erbendorf Germany!!

Staatliche Schlosser und Garten

Heidelberg Castle and Garden

Being that this is the first place we have taken the kids too, we only toured the main parts of the castle and the Apotheke (Apothecary = Pharmacy). They did really well and the next "tourist-y" thing we go to, we will see all of it.

A little history

Built sometime around 1214, has housed many Royalties through out the centuries. Has survived several German wars to include World War II. It has been in ruins for many centuries also. It has still survived even after being damaged by lightning! Many people have, through the years have done writings and pictures of Heidelberg castle, such as Mark Twain and French poet Victor Hugo.

Check out this link for some great history and information on the Castle.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heidelberg_Castle

We took well over 250 pictures! Here are some of the castle, and a few with us in them.

1.) Heading onto the Castles grounds (Reagan now gets into her posing).

2.) The turret ruined by a gunpowder blast.

3.) Inside the courtyard of the castle (Eric and Charlie).

4.) Eric and the kids looking at the turret.

5.)The kids looking through a tree in one of the gardens.

We really had a great time exploring here, and will be doing more in the near future! Regensberg will most likely be next.

Updates

I know, I have been awful about not putting much on here lately! Sorry!!!!

The weather has been really nice for a while now! It is supposed to get to 70 degrees tomorrow! I have already pulled out some of our summer clothes. Hey, being from Washington, when it hits 60, its time to pull out the shorts! Although I won't be putting away all the winter clothes just yet! From people who have been here a long time, tell us that this time a year changes constantly. Sunny a few days, then rainy, then could drop drastically enough to try and snow again!! Guess that's what happens when you live on a mountain!

The House - All the boxes are emptied and gone! Yahoo!!! Glad that the packers were able to come back and pick them all up! We also had our furniture and the government furniture all squished in here! Two couches, two chairs and two desks was getting really bothersome! Housing came and picked it all up too! Now I have a living room back, and arranged! Finally getting things set up around the house! The only room that is absolutely completely done is the dining room! Done in my birdhouses again! Really all that I have left to do is put pictures and what not on the walls.

Eric and I went and bought an elliptical! We don't really get a whole lot of options over here, but the Exchange got one that we both liked! The box it came in, we couldn't get it up the stairs to get in the house. We ended up taking parts out of the box and lugging them in! Took a few days for Eric to get it all together, between working shifts. I am all excited about it and come to find out the computer part of it does not work. Eric checks all the wiring, replaces batteries and it still didn't work! Thank goodness for warranties! The Exchange is just going to replace the whole thing versus shipping out for a replacement part. We set it all up, they are to come out with a new one and pick up the defective one. They didn't bring a new one when they picked it up, they told us we would have to go get it. This thing is really heavy! Eric is not happy! I guess when he handled all this, he made sure that they were to deliver another one. He will be speaking with them today! Fingers crossed! Maybe by next week I'll be able to finally being working out on it!

We went to Heidelberg this past Friday. It is a three hour drive! Eric had an appointment in the morning there. A three hour drive for a twenty minute appointment! Luckily I had been looking through a Germany travel guide! With planning on seeing something since we all came this way! We did! We went to the Heidelberg Castle and Gardens.

We are all doing well, save for allergy season kicking in for a few of us! The kids are on Spring Break this week.

Later,
Robbin and family

Our Stuff Finally Arrived!

Ok, I know, it has been a while! Sorry! It has been crazy around here lately! We got all our stuff finally here on February 25th from Washington. It took over two months for it all to get here. We had nine crates worth of stuff! Picture a wood crate that is 6ft wide, 9 ft deep and over 6ft high, crammed completely full! We have come across a few broken things so far. The worst of it is they stuck a shelf (matches our computer desk), on top of our brand new dryer and the shelf broke and marred up the dryer. The dryer is fine, the shelf is useless now.

Our living room is very long and our half circle sectional looks funny in it, doesn't help much that the coffee table is rectangle! Eric and talked about saving a bit extra and buying new living room furniture, then we decided that as long as we are back in the military and knowing this won't be our last move. Buying new furniture is just not worth it, not with the odds of something happening to it during another move.

I am having to make some major adjustments to other things. For one, the kitchen is small, so I am trying my hardest to downsize! Do we really need so many cereal bowls? Coffee mugs? etc. etc.... Then there is the issue with closets. There aren't any! We each have wardrobe type things that are about 4 ft wide! It is a major challenge when I have had walk-in closets! Lets not get me started on shoes!! Organizing is nuts! The doors here are different in the top, so anything storage wise that could hang off of them, is out of the question! Our "basement", more of an un-carpeted, long bedroom, now is still full of boxes still! We bought a couple of those metal wardrobe things, with the zippered plastics covers for the clothes that we just don't want to store in boxes. Like for my dresses and Erics suits and dress shirts. Then there is the extra fridge we have in there. We also have shelves in there with boxed and canned foods! Thanks to our small kitchen! We will have to go shopping in our basement before actually going to the commissary!!

Did I mention that the packers took apart all the beds, the table, a cabinet and a few other things? Well, they didn't exactly keep the nuts and bolts with each thing they disassembled! We still haven't found any!! Sure glad they Army lends us furniture! Otherwise the kids would be sleeping on their mattress on the floor! Yes, our kids beds are not put together! The boys have captains beds, and Reagans bed rails can't be attached! They are happy to have all their toys now! Eric and I are lucky, we just have a bed frame! That is one thing I am truly happy about! We are in our own bed, and it's a queen. No more thin, foam, double bed!

On a lighter note, our tv channels here are awful, so I have been getting some of my favorite shows on dvd. I never watched Grey's Anatomy till I got here, and now I am totally hooked! Maybe it's because the show is in Seattle! Now I have to wait till Season 5 finally makes it to dvd! I am still a major night owl, so I watch these after everyone is in bed.

So, I haven't forgotten about my our blog, just been busy! Eric has a four day pass coming up soon. We are still deciding where we want to go! We are thinking about going to Prague! Then we are thinking that we need to see more of Germany, before going to the Czech Republic.

Oh, yeah! The snow! Well it is pretty much all melted, except the mound in our front yard! Winter is not over though, it has been known to snow here into April! The few rivers we have around here are flooded over, Germany does have flood plains around them though.

This is just a jumbled blog! A little bit of everything! Hope everyone is doing well!

It Just Keeps On Coming!

Ahhh, more snow! Sure glad here in Germany they plow before the sun is even up!! For the most part! The kids had school on time today, which was nice, for me!

It has still continued to snow off and on today and according to the forecast it is going to continue like this now through Sunday!!

The wind has also been blowing so it makes it a bit colder! Plus some areas now have more accumulation than others around here!

Our backyard has anywhere from 7 to 10 inches. Our front yard has around 10", with a huge mound from the snow plows. When they clear the roads, they have to have some place to push it. Right through our fences into our front yard. It took forever for the last pile to melt! That was only about 12" to 16". Now it is upwards up 4 & 1/2 feet!!!!

Here are some pics taken today!

The snow plow mound, "Mount Stock"!!

The front yard also, close to the master bedroom! That is my ruler! What's left of it!

I'll keep letting you all know about our snowing ons!! Not sure what I'll use if we go above 12"!!

Snow and My Big Mouth!

Ok, so on Saturday (2/7/09) I ws telling Eric that I wanted it to either melt already or snow again! On Sunday the sun came out and things started to melt. Eric, the kids and I went outside and played at the park for a bit. It is still cold out though. When we walked back to the house we started to break up the snow that had been plowed up to our fence, from the street and in our driveway.

Well me and my big mouth, it started snowing yesterday evening and hasn't stopped yet and it is 10am on Wednesday! We have between 8 and 9 inches already. It is not supposed to stop till Saturday! Accumulating 2 to 3 inches a day, yeah right! The kids did have school today, two hours late. They already have a four day weekend this week, they have Friday and Monday off. At this rate, it'll be five days off!

So here are some pictures of the snow!

The front of our home taken from the street.

The front and side, the ruler is by the fence. Eric left at about 3am this morning and had shovelled the steps for us before leaving for shift. That is also our driveway, and you can't really tell where the car was parked!

This is taken by the fence, over 7 inches! Some areas are even deeper because of the wind.

This is Charlie and Reagans window, 2nd floor (3rd floor, from the street). Far left is the garage roof.

This is Justins window. The sideways ladder looking thing is for the snow. It keeps the snow from falling off in huge sheets as it melts or gets too heavey.

This is in our backyard, that is my step to stick the ruler in! It is just at 9 inches.

Weekend Free From My Kids To Meet The New Kids!

(Be Forewarned!!! This is VERY long and VERY detailed!!! )

I get the whole weekend to spend in Frankfurt Germany, to attend a New Kids On The Block concert.

This is how my great weekend started!

Friday, January 30, ‘09

Reagan and Justin didn’t have school today, due to parent/teacher conferences. Eric had to work today. But we still managed to get over to the base so I could get my rental car all ready. After I did the typical rental stuff, there are a few other steps that need to be done when you are military in Europe renting a car. We are given a ration card for any fuel we buy, but to get this for a rental car, I had to go to customs. From there I had to go to the PX (Post Exchange, like a department store) to the customer service to actually get the ration card. I also picked up a few things for my weekend, earrings, necklace to match my blouse, and some new lipstick. I had also ordered online some clothes that got here earlier this week, so I pleased and bummed at the same time. Only one of the three pants fit (way too big), one was a pair of black slacks that I got to go with the blouse I got from online too. That was ok though, I actually got jeans that weren’t six inches too long!!

When the kids and I got home, I got my suitcase out and started packing for my trip. I was hoping that Eric would be able to be home before dark. My rental car is a stick and I haven’t driven one in a few years. On top of that I had a three hour drive to Frankfurt. Did I mention that I also just got my German drivers license on Tuesday? So I only have driven a few times and it was only short distances. My suitcase is packed and I got a few things to make a poster or two for the show tomorrow. I got all the necessary papers that I need for my 5 Star VIP ticket when I get to the venue. Got phone numbers written down and addresses already put into the GPS earlier today. I fed the kids dinner and just waited for Eric to get home.

I left shortly after Eric got home. It was dark and I am still a bit nervous about driving on the infamous Autobahn. Not so much the speed, but those who are speeding faster than me! I am so stoked!! However it is going to be a boring drive, apparently the rental cars here disable the cd players! We only get one radio station here. Every once in a while I would hit the scan button to find and American song on the German stations.

The Autobahn was fine, actually better than fine. The Germans really know how to build their roads! They bank the right ways and they are so smooth! It took me a few minutes to get used to the GPS and the fact that everything is in kilometers! I am glad it is dark on my drive, this way I am not distracted by any of the sights I may have seen. I know that I did pass one city that was lit all up with white Christmas lights. I also know that I did cross a river that was pretty wide.

I got to the hotel around 11pm; it wasn’t quite what I had expected. It has a security fence and gate guards. That is all that was there, not like it was a full blown military base. Luckily I managed to get parking inside the secured area and didn’t have to park on the street. Got my room that was huge! It actually has a living room completely seperate from the bedroom! I also had a TV in each room! I unpacked and began to make my poster and my Donnie towel. The poster was fluorescent orange and I put on it “Lets Get This”. This is what the New Kids have been saying at all their shows. Since the beginning of their tour Donnie Wahlberg mentions how much “Face Time” he wants with his fans! So I took a small bath towel and wrote on it! Really big it read “Face Time” in black and down the right side I wrote “I Want Your” in green. I am really glad that the black ink that was all over my fingers and down my arm came off! My blouse I am going to wear is short sleeved. I went to bed at about 2am.

Saturday, January 31

I got up and got dressed so I could go get my breakfast, complimentary with my room. I then went back to my room to eat it. I flipped through the hotels guest services book. I noticed that they had a beauty salon in the hotel that opened at 10! I thought it would be great to get my hair cut and some highlights since it has been a year and half since the last time!! When 10 am rolled around I called, they couldn’t get me in till 1pm! That would not work and got rather bummed. I had a 20 minute drive to the venue and I had to be there by 4:30 sharp! I know how long it takes to do my hair, there was no way this was even remotely feasible. They did take my name and room number just in case there was a cancellation. Oh well! I called Eric and the kids to say good morning and right after my cell phone dies! Great! Now that is one less thing to take pictures and video with! That and I need it for emergencies while three hours away from Eric! I could have sworn I packed it! I searched everywhere!! Then at about 10:30 the beauty shop called! Her 11 o’clock hair color had cancelled!!!! Yippee!!

I love my hair!! I got two colors put in, a caramel and a California blond! Then my hair went from half way down my back to a few inches below my shoulders, with long layers! I absolutely love it!! I got done there at about 1pm. I needed to find a charger for my phone, get back to the room, get ready and out the door by 3:30 the latest! I wasn’t taking any chances of being late or getting lost going to the venue!

I went to the base here in Wiesbaden (pronounced “Veez-bah-din”), couldn’t find a charger, topped my gas tank off and then tried a local shopping strip that was near by. Still no luck finding a darn charger! Crap! Hopefully my camera battery will hold up through the whole show tonight!

***The venue: Jahrhunderthalle, Frankfurt, Germany

I got there and got parking in the VIP spot and there was already a crowd there! This place does not look that big, but it looks like it will have great sound by the looks of the “dome” in the center of the building. As I was standing there, and it started to get more crowded and I did start to feel a bit weird. I couldn’t understand a word that anyone was saying other than the occasional “Jordan”, “Jon”, “Joe”, “Donnie” or “Danny” I heard in the crowd. When I looked at my watch I realized it was 4:35 already and it seemed odd that nothing seemed to be going on. I then tried to ask a lady next to me if she knew about VIP. Turns out I was standing where everyone had regular tickets. I managed to squeeze out of the ever growing crowd. I walked further down and noticed a smaller group of people going into a door that seemed to lead to nowhere! I asked some one standing there if this was for the ILAA VIP. (ILAA stands for “I Love All Access” the company that handles all the NKOTB VIP shows). Yes! I was in the right spot and more were showing up so at least I wasn’t late! I had met a few people online that were going to this show that were VIP and were going to meet up, but could not locate them. (Sorry Devin, glad we finally met during the show. Dunja? Sorry…). I stood there in line when I heard English! I met three people right there next to me! We talked the whole time while waiting in line.

There is Amy; she flew in from California for the show. This was her fourth or fifth concert, but her first 5 Star. Yolanda, she is from Belgium, and spoke absolutely great English! Maria is a real tall blond, from Sweden. I couldn’t believe how many people flew to Germany for this show! When we finally got to the door, I was bummed that I couldn’t take my poster I made. Luckily, the towel was folded up in the back pack purse I brought. They also took the two large Sharpies; they didn’t see the too smaller ones. Hey, I was going to try for autographs! Even if they said it wasn’t possible, I was still going to try! Once we got inside, we stood in another long line. We were standing next to a coat check, so we all decided to check ours in. To tell you how many had already been there that had checked coats, I was ticket number 245! Now the four of us are starting to get a bit antsy! During our conversations, we are all in our early 30’s, which was nice. We were all about the same age, when the New Kids started back in the 80’s.

We made it to the VIP table. Showed our IDs, showed our confirmation emails, signed next to our names and got our VIP gift bags! We got a fleece blanket with the New Kids logo embroidered on it, a pair of fleece gloves also embroidered (first time heard of the gloves, previous shows it was a coffee mug), three postcard size pictures (2 current, the third was from back then). Then we got our VIP Passes to wear. Groups were already decided and I was group “M”. Out of the four of us, I was last. We then got led to another room that had tons of people, well, women. They had complimentary drinks, from soda to alcohol! There were appetizers on different tables too. I was hungry and I did eat a little sandwich, I know it had egg and tomato. I am not sure I even tasted it. After mingling a bit, and met more Americans from Minnesota, then some one came in and spoke to the crowd (in German, of course), luckily Yolanda could translate for us! They were getting ready to for the group photo shoots! We didn’t catch all the instructions but the “No scratching them!” I thought, are you kidding me? Scratching them? Yes, I want New Kid skin under my nails….come on now. Were people that bad at our ages? By this time, I noticed other peoples group letters, I saw “S” and I think I saw a “U”. Out of the gals I had met in line, I was the last one left for the meet and greet. When “M” was finally called, ten of us stood there. One lady turned to me and said they were nervous, and since I was pretty much the first one there, they wanted me to go first when we were to walk in! I was said “Great, send the American in first!” They all laughed! Then I had to ask, who they liked, dreading that I would not get the chance to get to either Danny or Donnie. I was in shock when the nine women there named only Jordan, Joe and Jon!! None of their favorites were Danny or even Donnie’s!!! Could this really be happening?? The two I wanted to see the most didn’t have groupies!!! Our turn to go!! We walked down this long hall, I am starting to get butterflies and my hands are starting to shake…this was it!! Well, no it wasn’t, we got up to the rest of the groups that were ahead of us. There is a table up a head where we had to check our cameras in and leave our belongings on a table with security. When our group got to the table, group “L” went in. I could see Danny!!! He was right there! OMG! OMG! OMG!!!! This was it! One gal got to go first because of being disabled, but she liked Jon, so that was fine with me!

Here is my moment!!!! I am not even nervous, I am actually excited! I am going to meet the guy that I have liked since 1988!! The guy whose face was plastered all over my walls for years!! Not just that, I am going to meet the guy who my best friend loved for that long too! This was for her just as much as it was for me!

*** The Meet & Greet***

Walking in, I quickly noticed that Donnie was standing just to the left of Danny! Perfect!! I walked up to Danny; he opened his arms right away for a hug. I said, “I have waited a long time for this”. He then said “You don’t sound German”. “I’m not; I am American living in Germany”. He said, “Cool”. By the way he was wearing a black jacket, didn’t notice anything else, just his face and his gorgeous stubble! I then moved to Donnie, he was talking, so I was being polite and wait so I could get his full attention. He just opened his arms for me!!! I couldn’t believe it!! He hugs absolutely nice!! Then we stepped apart with his arm still around me. Then I leaned in, he followed, I gave him another hug and said that this is a special hug, from my best friend, you were her favorite and she passed away a few years ago. He hugged me even tighter and said “awwwwe” and at this point I am not sure but when he said that I felt him hug me tighter and briefly kissed my temple!! By the way…he smelled really, really good!!! Right then the ILAA people shouted pictures! All my dreams came true!!! I had both Danny and Donnie with their arms around me!! I got my picture taken sandwiched between to of the sexiest men!!! The two guys that I and my best friend Mylinda used to drool over, dream about and write crazy stories about. Attended their concerts together way back when!!

***The concert!!

I had general admission, and by the time we (met back up with Amy and Yolanda, couldn’t find Maria) got inside the concert hall it was already fairly crowded. There is an area “supposedly” roped off for the VIP, but there was no way any of us could get up there. People were not letting us or anyone else for that matter, get in front them. So we headed towards the back of the general admission area. This is where I bumped into Devin (also living in Germany, but from S. Dakota). There was an area that had a fence around a round platform and had security; there was a camera crew on it. No piano though, so I was bummed that it didn’t seem there would be a Stage B like at their previous shows (I attended the one Tacoma back in November with my best friends daughter, Kristen).The three of us decided to stand there anyways, not as crowded, yet. While waiting for them to come out on stage. We started to notice a few of the camera crew moving off of the platform. Another guy stepped up there and started to move around on it bouncing and shaking the platform. Then a few more guys went under the platform and started tightening straps!!! Could this be??? No way…this is Stage B without the Piano??? Could my night get any better???

They came out on the main stage. It was fabulous! The German fans are just as loud as the Americans!! From where we were standing were really weren’t that far from the stage, just harder to see if you are short like me!! I did get some great pictures and even some videos too. Then after a few songs, the lights got fairly dark, then I looked at the door near what I hoped was Stage B, there was a man shining a flash light on the stairs! OMG!!! This is Stage B!!!!! I was right there!! I snapped a few of Donnie and Danny, but not many, because I wanted to see them with my own eyes performing rather than through my camera. I did get some really good pictures of the others, which was fine since I didn’t meet them. It was amazing seeing them perform right up there!!! Not close enough to touch their hands, but enough to get personal smiles!! I got to show Donnie my towel! He smiled and nodded!!

The whole show was just great! I am so glad I got to attended two Reunion shows, Tacoma and here! I didn’t lose my voice this time! This VIP and the meet and greet were everything I hoped it would be and more!! I know that these guys meet thousands of fans and hundreds at their shows. They may not remember any of us after the next group comes in. I am ok with that. I got to meet them, I got to hug them. Only Danny and Donnie, but I am just fine with that! Those two were the most meaningful for me!!

I got back to the hotel around midnight. I spent an hour looking over the soveigners I got from the VIP and the ones I bought! I am glad that I bought the New Kids black jacket, it is not available online and it is the same one that Danny wears when he break dances during the shows! I also got the heart keychain and the concert book which was sold out of in Tacoma.

Sunday, February 1st

On my drive home, like I mentioned in the beginning, the Autobahn

isn’t that bad at all! On the way home is also headed in the same direction as Berlin so I thought I would get a picture. I did this while driving, at about 130k! I do know that at some point I did get up to 180k!! Next time you are in your car, look on your speedometer, the little numbers below the mph, and are the kilometers. Yes, I was driving that fast, and no, it doesn’t not feel like it!!

Hope you all enjoyed reading and letting me share my experience with you!!

Here is two pictures of me, one with Amy and one with Yolanda!

(Once the company who sponsors the meet & greet posts the pics, I'll add it too!)