WATER TOWERS
One of the nice things that I like to see when I am out riding my bike is the water towers that some towns have here in Germany.  I am not sure if any of them would still have any water in them.  Some are now residences.  It would be neat to be able to live up in a water tower, nice views of the the village below.

Freudenheim Water Tower

Wallstadt Water Tower.
I think a Dr. or Dentist now lives in this one.
Built in 1905, 40 meters high.

Ladenburg Water Tower.
Built in 1903, 42 meters high, shutdown in 1991.
Sold in  2003 for one euro to an architect from Seckenheim.

Strassenheim Water Tower.
Built in  1905

Edingen Water Tower.
Built in 1908.
40.25 meters tall.

WHAT I MISS AND DON'T MISS
We are making progress on our plans to move back to the U.S.  People always ask what I will miss about Germany, ...  answer - A LOT.  I also miss things from the U.S. and there are things for both that I will not miss.  Here is my lists so far.

What I miss from the U.S.

Family and Friends Warm California weather in the winter Mexican Food & good Pizza bike riding all year chocolate chips crushed pineapple in the can luxury of a car when you need it graham crackers canned pumpkin clothes dryer DWTS

What I will miss from Germany

Friends in and outside of church and church free time for me The beautiful seasons The lakes in our back yard The view from our apartment Bike riding/ great bike bike paths fresh bread local stores in walking distance trams and trains fresh wild blackberries you pick yourself Ice Cream"Eis" and Gelato shops all the farm land and vineyards the thermal roller blinds on all the windows seeing new places and other countries

What I don't miss in the U.S.

working

Los Angeles traffic

What I will not miss from Germany

so many people smoking

so much litter

trying to learn German

so much graffiti/tagging

German TV

PLANE CHANGES
We are getting ready to move also.  We had things arranged for a long time to leave on August 30th.  But now, we will fly into LA on Sept 2nd instead of Aug 30th.  


We had to move our flight because the airlines sent us an email yesterday that told us we could not fly with the cat on the same plane as a dog.  Someone had called before me to reserve a pet flight.  If it is a dog, then a cat can't fly too.  You would think they could be smart enough to figure out how to put two animals on a plane and not be afraid they would kill each other.  I had to scramble to move all the flights around and pay a lot more at this late date.  There are no direct flights that we can afford.  We fly to Seattle on Sept 1st and have to stay the night in Seattle then fly to LA on Sept 2nd.   We had to buy another ticket from Seattle to LA.  It was a really stressful day.  I had to find a hotel in Seattle, close to the airport, that would allow pets.  All these changes will cost us more than $1000 extra and more, I am sure, with the things we will have to do in LA and to find someplace to stay in Germany for 2 days before we leave.  I still have some arrangements to do today because since we told all the German entities we would leave on Aug 30th, our utilities, water, phone, everything will be turned off and I will need to turn over the keys on Aug 30th so we have no place to stay right now with the cat and our luggage for 2 days.
The holiday that Steve had for Monday Sept 1st is now on an airplane rather than moving into our rental.  That is the only day off Steve had available for us to move our stuff out of storage in Temecula.  So we will have to wait until we come back from Montana to think about that and move on a weekend.  We will need to find a place to stay with the cat, in LA, until our Sept 5th flight to SLC, and when we come back from Montana until a weekend when we can get our stuff.  

All this trouble because of PATCH!
He doesn't realize how lucky he is to have me as a parent.

WATSON'S MOVE OUT
August 5th was the last day here for the Watson's.  They are flying to the U.S. today, August 6th.  In Germany, when you move out of a rental, you have to take everything out including light fixtures, and the entire kitchen, cupboards, sink everything, down to the just the walls, paint and clean really good.  So several friends went over to help.  I brought lunch for everyone and watched Ivy so she wouldn't get wet paint on her and she could walk around outside with me.  I am very thankful for this family.  I will miss them all SO MUCH.

This was actually a few days before the move when I watched Ivy for a little while while Christie was packing.
Macy, Ivy and I went with the stroller around Wallstadt and looked at flowers and found a small playground.

Ivy tries on my bike gloves and looks pretty serious about becoming a bike rider.

Ivy wore the gloves to go see the Tortoises next door.

WATSON'S GOING AWAY LUNCH AFTER CHURCH
August 3rd was the last Sunday for the Watson's here in Germany.  The church had a pot luck after service.  It was a happy but also sad day.  We will all miss this family so so much.  We are happy for them that everything has worked out so well for them and they will be able to see their family and start their next adventure in life together in California.

Imke always does a great job at decorating for the church activities.
German and American colors and flags.

Ivy (age 1 year, 3 months),  and Robyn.

Eilene and Ivy

Eilene and Rebeka

Rebeka, Eilene, Macy

THE WATSON'S

Robyn and Ivy

Ivy and Carly

Ivy can be quick

DINNER IN THE TOWER
July 28th was our wedding anniversary.  We had dinner in the Mannheim Tower in Luisen Park.  If you live here and have not done this, I recommend it highly.  Even if the weather wasn't real clear, at least it didn't rain and storm like the forecast stated.  It was fun and relaxing to slowly rotate around in the restaurant and see all the things we are now familiar with in Mannheim.  The place wasn't crowded when we went at 6:30pm but was getting filled by 8pm.  The food and service was very good too.  We had a lovely time together.

Built in 1974 with a total height of 212.8 metres, the telecommunications tower is Mannheims tallest landmark.

Looking toward the center of town, Lusien Park is below us.

Looking west, the Nekar River

Looking at the Nekar River with the Hospital next to it.  Looks more like a place than a hospital to me.

Looking over the Haupt Friedhof (main cemetary) and kleine (small) gardens

Looking at the Nekar River and barge canal, kleine gardens, toward Vogelstand and Weinheim.

Looking at Vogelstang where I have our apartment buildings in an ellipse.

Steve's work building is behind the white building shown with the circle, his building is hidden.

Looking down into Luisen Park at the Flamingos and boats.

Looking into downtown at the Water tower

DINNER WITH THE MISSIONARIES
On July 26th we had the missionaries come over for dinner.  Sister Shipton and Elder Brown will be going home from their mission the following week.  This is probably the last dinner we will have guests over because I am starting to pack up everything including most of the kitchen stuff.  I made beef bourguignon, gravy, jello salad, green salad, rolls, and cheese cake for desert. I picked wild black berries for the cheesecake and made a sauce out of them also.  I saw a really large bunny on the farm road on the way back from the dairy.  I also like the 6 toddler stroller that a local pre-school uses to bring the kids down to Vogelstang See for a picnic.

Road my bike to Ladenburg and found all these berries in one location.
It was SO HOT I had to buy a little ice cream from the EIS truck.

Smart bunny, he has lived to grow up very big.

The preschool has two of these neat strollers that carry 6 little ones and some backpacks.

 The sister's arrive early so they took some pictures of themselves below our apartment.  I took some from above.

Vi, Sister Lehman, Sister Shipton

Someone had some fun decorating the paving stones next to the sand box below our window.

The apartment before starting to pack everything up.
We put the table in the living room when we have more than 4 people.