Forster's Adventures in Europe: October 2013

This past weekend Erin and I packed up the kids and loaded the bike trailer with gear and took a ride to the oldest man made climbing formation in the world. The climbing area is set on the side of a hill in a huge forest on the Western side of Berlin. As an interesting historical side note, the park we were going climbing in is called "devils park" because it was built from the rubble of all the buildings that were destroyed in the war. It was a perfect Fall day with the leaves falling as we biked our overloaded trailer filled with climbing gear to this man made climbing area.

This was going to be Addies first time on “real rock” and it was really cool to see her so excited about it.

Climbing was what you would call a watershed moment for me, the first time I went climbing everything changed, I know that sounds corny, but for me it really changed who I was. It showed me a different way of life and a style of living I had never know, it was the first outdoor sport that I was able to use to explore the world, and for a long time I was hooked on it. My passion for climbing has fallen away to other passions, but I still value the lessons the sport can teach and look forward to the time I hope to spend with my kids climbing. That’s why it was so cool to see Addies face when we were 50 feet off the ground as she was taking in this new view on the world, I felt honored to show her that view. It was also a high point for me when you could see the excitement in her eyes, she really enjoyed it and as her feet touched back to the ground her first words were, can we do it again!

Owen was also busy during Addies first climbing trip trying to find a way to get up the rock, the little man was very upset that he could not go climbing like his big sister; he may also have the climbing bug, but if he does he might need to lay of the bratwurst for a little bit.

I love seeing passion and excitement in her eyes as I think those are two very important ingredients to a happy life. I am excited to show my kids the world around them and hope that this weekends trip to a climbing area was just the tip of the ice burg!

Please check out the from Halloween at the bottom of the page!

Thanks for reading

Patrick

Addie wondering if the rope really works

Excited!

Owen wanted to climb sooo badly

Kate, helping him to climb

I think this could be my new happy place

Halloween!!

Owen´s teacher

My little Tinker bell

Fall is in full effect in Europe. There is a smell that reminds me of growing up in Pennsylvania. I think it´s a mixture of leaves, German cooking, and the type of light you can only get when the sun sets in the fall. This feeling of home was augmented by two visits over our fall vacation by my family. My mom came out for the first part of the vacation. This was filled with lots of quality grandchildren time, a trip to Dresden, and a nice boat ride on the Elbe. My brother and father came over for the back half of the vacation, this was my dad’s first trip to Berlin so I got to play tourist in my own city, something I had not done in a while. It´s always good to explore the city through new comers eyes and I feel like everyone I show around the city helps me see a different part of this city I have learned to love.

I think fall is the shortest time of year in northern Germany, but it might be one of my favourites, the air is crisp, the leaves are on fire, the weather for running is about perfect, and you still have the hope, however naive it might be, that winter in Berlin will not last for 13 months.

Since we are on the subject of falling, I should mention that Addie took a good fall yesterday. Erin was home with her already, because Addie had lost hearing in one ear due to an ear infection, I was at work getting ready to eat lunch when Addie tripped over a her bike and landed head first on a square piece of wood that joins the floor to the wall in our house.

Dresden with Nana

Now some might say there was a time in my life where getting stitches was a hobby for me, but things are a little different when you have to hold your little girl down to the table so the nurse can stitch up her forehead. She took it like a champ, and gave me several more reasons to be a proud papa. The first new reason came when the nurse asked her if she wanted her to speak English or German to her, Addie said she could speak German to her. How cool is that, my daughter has blood running down her head and she is telling the nurse in German that she can speak German and English? They went on to have a conversation about what happened and the nurse filled her in on what they were going to do to her all in German. The next new reason to be proud of her is how she yet again did something that made her very uncomfortable, getting stitches, and was able to work through that discomfort both physically and emotionally.

On another note, Erin and I turned in the paperwork, Germans love paperwork, that stated we would be returning home after this school year. We will land in Denver on July 3^rd, 2014, just in time to celebrate the 4^th! We are excited to return home to family and friends, but nervous about all that we have to do to re-establish

a life back home. I have already started filling out generic applications for school districts (even though the hiring season does not start until April), planned what cars we are going to buy, and started to makes lists of the hundreds of things we need to do to get back home.
We hope you are all enjoying fall, and for our Colorado friends have been able to get back to some kind of normal since the flood. We love hearing from you and are starting to look forward to seeing you in a few short months.