Laguna!

Today was our once a month trip to the Laguna Badeland. This was our 2nd time going this year and it was, as always, a TON of fun. Of course Miss Stroud likes to pretend she is still 12 and so there is this rope climb up a water wall and I figured I could do it...not so much. I definitely fell and ate the wall hard!!! I was (and still am) a bit sore but that didn't stop me from still playing with my kiddies! They were all a little disappointed today because the "blue slide", which is the most fun slide there, didn't open until we left. However, we still had a great day. I enjoy this day so much, mainly b/c I L-O-V-E water parks and it's also a great day to bond w/all of the kids at once. And since German school is back in again we had the whole place to ourselves until about 10:30. Laguna days should be fairly interesting once it starts getting really cold. The whole thing is indoors but walking back w/wet hair today I was a bit chilly due to the cooler weather.

Tomorrow a few teachers and I are going to the Rheinfelden Hot Baths just outside of Basel. I am REALLY looking forward to relaxing and starting off Fall Break that way!

Pumpkin Festival and other pics

Here are a few pics of the pumpkin festival and some random shots of me and some of my kids. Tomorrow is the last day of school before Fall Break (or Holiday as Europeans would say) and I am SO ready! It's getting cooler every day , a sure sign that Fall is here :)

Have you ever seen squash that big?
Me and Tiffany today at the Dragon Park



My precious 2nd and 3rd graders

It's definitely fall in Miss Stroud's room!

Fun at the Apple Orchard

Yesterday was our trip to the apple orchard. Here are a few fun pics from that day. I haven't forgotten about the pumpkin festival, but these pics were much cuter ;) Enjoy!
Some of the kids posing w/a scarecrow

Blaise and Dominika showing off their bucket of apples Joe helping out AnnaLuca How bout them apples?

I think I'll try this one! Our finished product! MMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!

Washing out the garbage and pumpkins

One big thing I forgot to mention was that we have to wash out our garbage. Yes, that's right. Anything plastic or in a container has to be properly washed out and thrown into the Gelber Sac which is the recycling bag for plastics and aluminum foil. There is also a separate container for paper and cardboard. I can just see it now--I'm home for Christmas, Mom comes into the kitchen and I'm washing out the garbage!

Yesterday was the Pumpkin Festival in Bottmingen right outside Basel. Anne and I went after church and had the best pumpkin soup EVER for lunch. We also had the most delicious pumpkin pie ever made and I don't think I'll ever eat another one unless it's like the one I had yesterday (sorry Village Inn!). Anyways, I left my camera at home so I will be posting pictures tomorrow.

Hope everyone had a great weekend! Tomorrow we're going to an apple orchard for a field trip. We will be picking apples to make apple cider!!! I LOVE FALL OVER HERE!

When in Germany...

Here are a few cultural rules (and just fun things!) I've learned since being in Germany:

-- Grocery stores close promptly at 8pm on weekdays. The only reason I know this is because I was shopping one evening and a cashier came up to me and said "Excuse me, my english not so good...we are, how do you say, gechlossen?"

--EVERYTHING closes up on Saturdays at 6pm. If you need groceries on Sunday you either have to wait until Monday morning or schlep to the Basel train station where there are two grocery stores always open.

--Walking 3 miles to the grocery store, town center, or train station is nothing.

--Carrying around 2 types of currency (euros and swiss francs) is the norm

--Schmuck in German means "jewelry"

--To get to Lörrach, Germany which is just 10 min from Weil, you have to cross into Switzerland and then BACK into Germany

--Dogs are considered people and are pretty much let any and everywhere

--Steak means pork

More to come soon!

Open House at R.I.A! (and one more pic of the kids from the potato picking!)

Last night was Open House at R.I.A. I can honestly say I have never had as much fun at an Open House as I did last night! The kids had a play room set up and were back and forth in the atrium and their play room. It gave teachers a chance to mingle and get to know other parents. We also had a prospective parent visit who wants to enroll her 4 kids asap! I would gain 2 more students which would bring my total of 5 2nd and 3rd graders to 7!!! Anyways, here are a few pics of last night. Might I just add-I LOVE THIS SCHOOL!


Your friendly R.I.A. staff :)
Ramona and Elisabeth
Me and one of my 4th graders, Ashleigh
I loved this pic from the potato picking the other day!

Potato Harvesting!

Today we spent the morning harvesting potatoes at Truz (where we also did the bread). Here are a few fun pics from that event. It was pretty cool to dig up the dirt and find potatoes there! The potatoes here are not as big as the ones from the States but are quite delicious!

My group: Roberto, Jamie, Chelsea, Sam, Dominika, and Elisabeth

Digging up the grounds and Sam showing off his potato! The finished product

Me and my girls: Odile and Gaby (1st grader Ramona look on behind)

Brainwashing...what are you talking about? haha

My 2nd/3rd graders KNOW who to root for in American college football!

A tour of my apartment and a pic of my church..

My church the Anglican Church of Basel



The entrance to my apt..The door on the right is the den, the left is Anne's room
















T

And finally...the loo!

The next time you start complaining that your refrigerator isn't big enough...

This is our refrigerator...It is stuffed to the max with food. We miss American style refrigerators, needless to say!

Last weekend in Ramlinsburg w/my old aupair fam!

Me and my kids I au paired for 2 years ago. That's me and Coleton who is now 9 (he was 5 when I started!) and my girls Margaux, 8, and Lucia, 5 (Margaux was 4 and Lu was just a year and a half when I got there!!)

Just a sample of a Saturday in Weil..

This is the open air market in Lörrach which is just outside Weil. I went today w/my friend and coworker Catherine. I particularly liked the pic of the older man in the green hat...very German or as we say here "Sehr Deutsch!"

Some pics of the school...The entrance and the outside of my classroom

The staff of Rhein Int'l Academy takes over Starbucks!

Nathan reading Tolkien and Lewis at the same time!!

Catherine and I were so engrossed we had NO idea this pic was even being taken...haha

Allison, Catherine, & Andrea or Hear no evil, See no evil, Speak no evil...

The staff of Rhein International Academy and our awesome action on Friday night!

His strength is perfect

If I've learned anything since being over here it's that God will never give you more than He knows you can carry. I've seen it in the instance of my roommate and her father being taken off a heart and kidney transplant list. And I thought "I could NEVER go thru with that...I'd be on the first plane home" and God immediately spoke to my heart and said "That's why you're not dealing with it" Anyways, today we learned that Diana, our director at RIA, had to have a hysterectomy (I have NO idea if I spelled that right) and although she knew it was a strong possiblity, I always like to believe that a miracle will happen and didn't think she'd have to go thru w/it. We just found out a few minutes ago that she had just gotten out of recovery and had to have it. And again I said "I could never go thru having major surgery and not having my family around" and God again spoke to me and said "My strength is perfect." Perfect for a person a zillion miles away from their family to go thru something so big. Perfect for a person's father to be so sick and to have to deal with it alone. And I know if anything happens to me or my parents God's strength will be perfect enough for me to deal with it.

Included in this post are the lyrics to that song Held that I have become enamored with. I think it rings true with everything that's been going on over here myself:

Two months is too little.
They let him go.
They had no sudden healing.
To think that providence would
Take a child from his mother while she prays
Is appalling.
Who told us we’d be rescued?
What has changed and why should we be saved
from nightmares?
We’re asking why this happens
To us who have died to live?
It’s unfair.
This is what it means to be held.
How it feels when the sacred is torn from your life
And you survive.
This is what it is to be loved.
And to know that the promise was
When everything fell we’d be held.
This hand is bitterness.
We want to taste it, let the hatred numb
our sorrow.
The wise hands opens slowly to lilies of the valley
and tomorrow.
This is what it means to be held.
How it feels when the sacred is torn from your life
And you survive.
This is what it is to be loved.
And to know that the promise was
When everything fell
we’d be held.
If hope is born of suffering.
If this is only the beginning.
Can we not wait for one hour
watching for our Savior?

A few pics taken in the last month..

Konigsbourg Castle in Riquewihr, France




The view from the top of the vineyards. The orange topped buildings are of the apts I live in. The view behind that is Basel.







This is me looking out on the top of the Munster Church. The calm and serene look is definitely an act. I was freaking out because it was so high!

The view of Barfusserplatz atop the Munster (translated it means Bare Foot place)

This is me and one of my 5th graders, Joe

Held...Being Locked Out...and PLEASE PRAY

I don't know if you all have heard that song by Natalie Grant called "Held" but it is just an incredible ballad of the way God holds us during the tough times. (Temple, if you're reading this you should think a/b doing a liturgical dance to it...ooh maybe I can sing it and you can dance to it...We'll have to run this by Sonny before I get home..haha!)

Not too much to report today, though I DID forget to mention something that happened LAST Thursday. Anne and I had hosted tea for our neighbor, Nina, and afterwards we went into the hallway to say good-bye. Normally, my roommate and I have excellent communication but this time we didn't. Well, I ran back into the apt to get something and came back out, but left the door open thinking we'd walk right back in. Anne thought I had the keys and shut the door. As I watched this unfold, I felt as though I was moving in slow motion. "Noooo!" I suddenly squealed at the LAST minute. Needless to say, we had to schlep to our director's house, which is a good 15 minute walk. She wasn't home (more a/b that in a sec) so we then had to walk to our coworker's apt which was another 15 minute walk. By the time we got keys in our hands and got back to our house it was nearing 8:30 and we hadn't eaten dinner yet (if we were European it wouldn't have mattered since they all eat at 9pm anyway). It was a good lesson in communication skills...and also a good lesson that we have a spare key for a reason!!

Our director Diana was in the hospital recently having her gallbladder removed. Unfortunately, the doctor's found more that was wrong w/her. She was released but had to go back in 2 days later for a blood clot that had formed in her lungs. Then they found a cyst on her ovaries and so she is having surgery on Friday. She will be out for the next 4 weeks at least. Please pray for her quick recovery!!

Oh yeah, I almost forgot to mention that Anne and I took a CPR course last night for our German driver's license and they do CPR COMPLETELY different over here. Instead of mouth to mouth it's mouth to nose!!! And they have a law here that is basically translated the Good Samaritan law in that if you see someone on the side of the road it is your duty to stop and help them and if you don't....well, just don't let a Polizei catch you!

My kids are just now returning from Library and it's almost time to go home. It's been a long day and I'm exhausted. God continues to do amazing things here in Deutschland! Now, if He could just make it a teensy bit cooler....

CHRIS TOMLIN!

I just love Chris Tomlin. I think he is the best praise and worship song leader EVER!!! That's it. Chris Tomlin is the best. That's all I wanted to say.

Postcards ...

I was wondering if any of my readers would be so kind as to send me a postcard of the town or state you are in presently. The reason being is that we are studying different regions in Social Studies in 4th and 5th. Most of the kids in that class are from the US but have never actually lived over there so when I ask them about different States I get blank looks. You can mail the postcards to the school address:

Allison Stroud
c/o Rhein Int'l Academy
Mattrain 8
79576 Weil am Rhein
Germany

Also, I know that today is September 11 and I wanted to offer my condolences to any of you who might have lost a loved one on that terrible day. It's hard to believe that has been 5 years ago. I can still remember watching it unfold on the news my senior year of college. Doesn't seem possible that so many years have passed...

Fun weekend

This has been quite the relaxing and also eventful weekend. Friday night began the Altweiler Strassenfest (translated means the Old Weil Street Festival). This is the beginning of many fall type festivals to come in the next few months. There were live bands and a ton of food and drink stalls. I had some delicious racklette, a traditional Swiss delicacy. It's melted cheese on top of bread topped with onions and relish. It was REALLY good. Supposedly, Strassenfest is a lot like Oktoberfest in Munich but cheaper and smaller.

Yesterday, Anne and I left Weil and came to Ramlinsburg, Switzerland to the home of the family I used to au pair for. We've been babysitting since last night and relaxing as well. After we put the kids to bed we took advantage of the jacuzzi in the backyard that overlooks the mountains. It was a full moon last night and so pretty. This morning we slept in and had a nice breakfast of fresh bread and eggs from the farm behind their house. Then Margaux, Lucia, and I took Anne on a tour of Ramlinsburg and then headed over to the farm to buy some ice cream. Before lunch, Anne taught the kids a really neat blessing song to the tune of the Superman theme. It's so nice to be back near my Swiss family again. Of course the kids are all getting so grown up and I can't believe it!! In a few minutes we're heading off to McDonald's to get dinner, which will be nice since I haven't had American fare for a while now. Even if it is McDonald's!!

The pic above is from Friday night at Strassenfest. It is of me, Anne, and another teacher at the school, Andrea. Oh and just so I'm clear on something--Andrea's drink is NOT a pint of beer...it is actually an Apfelshöle which is apple juice and bubbly water mixed....SOOO good!!

EVEN MORE PICS...I'M ON A ROLL!

Me in front of (and in!) Lake Lucerne



The Dreilandereck (Germany, Switzerland, France)


Me and Anne in Alt Weil (Old Weil)
Cleaning the kitchen the first week...I'm being overdramatic of course! haha







If my supporters don't give I have to go up to the vineyards and eat dinner like this...JUST KIDDING OF COURSE!!!!