Home sweet home

Several of you have asked for some photos of our house and neighborhood as well as updates on school for the kids.

School is going really well. Ellen attends a high school here in Heidelberg. She bikes or walks to a city bus and takes it about 4 stops to her school. She is taking several AP classes so is staying academically really challenged. She is making some nice new friends. The boys attend another school (also in Heidelberg) and have also made the adjustment really well - making friends and enjoying their teachers. We walk to a main public transportation hub (about 10 minutes), take a tram/streetcar to their school (about 10 minutes) and the tram stop is just 1/2 block from their school. Ellen and Joseph are taking Spanish. Joseph and Daniel are taking German. The German class Ellen needed conflicted with AP Chemistry so she will pick that up again next year.

Right now I am taking German lessons - they were 4 hours per day, every day. Now Jeff goes for one hour alone, we are together for one hour and then I am alone for another hour. Everything is in German so explanations of German grammer is in German, the meanings of German words I don't know are in German, etc. Jeff was also taking German lessons almost every day but because of work committments, his were a bit more sporatic - he usually went about 3 afternoons per week. This new schedule allows him to get more time in at work and helps us do some German speaking at home to reinforce what we are working on in class. Jeff's commute is shorter than it was back in Iowa by about 1/2. He drives past 4 or 5 castles each way.

We live in the Altstadt neighborhood of Heidelberg, within easy walking distance of the Necker River, the castle, the Alte Bruke and the Hauptstrasse. It is an ideal location because of easy access to public transportation, easy access to the old parts of Heidelberg but it is fairly quiet as well. We have met several of our neighbors and they are really nice. Most speak pretty good English so we have been spoiled. We asked our next door neighbors to try to speak German with us when possible. We want to practice!

We climb 50 steps to our front door and then our house has 6 levels (or 1/2 levels) so we are getting in really good shape. It has 4 bedrooms and 2 baths, a kitchen, laundry/utility room, living/dining room and 2 open spaces we use as a breakfast nook and an office. It has lots of windows and the stairs are very open. The boys share a room and we use one room as a guest room/TV room (come visit!). We also have a nice covered patio for eating and grilling. Our backyard is up the mountain and there are lots of wild blackberries, stinging nettle and ticks (ugh)!

Here are some photos of our house and some daily routines...





The boys are getting ready for school.
















Playing in a park near our house.











Ellen in her new Homecoming outfit in the breakfast nook outside the kitchen. We use this area a lot - for breakfast and after school snacks, for homework, etc.










Jeff in his office at work.







Feeding the ducks, geese and swans at the Necker River.











Ellen's bedroom. When the leaves fall in the winter she has a view of the castle! She loves her room - so much that she is actually keeping it quite neat!










The boys and some friends having an after-school snack on our patio.







The dining room...














A couple views of the living room...


















A view of the breakfast nook from just outside the living/dining room. We really use this space - snacks, homework, etc.







The kitchen -- small but unbelievable efficient. When my sister was here Ellen, Ann and I were all working in here and not stepping on each other!









The guest room/TV room. Ann said the sofabed slept pretty good!









The office which is just outside of Ellen's bedroom.









This is just outside of our bedroom and the master bath and just upstairs from the office.









Joseph and some friends at a birthday party - this is actually at a Kentucky Fried Chicken!









Ellen and some friends she ran into at the Heidelberger Herbstfest.





I hope this gives you a little taste of our daily lives and environment. To get a real feel you will have to COME VISIT!!! :)