texans on the autobahn

Spring Break in Deutschland & Dallas

Hi everyone, wilkommen to our new BLOG site. I don’t know what BLOG means, but it is a great way to keep everyone updated with our European adventures. You are invited to comment on what you see; ask questions, tell us when you’re coming to visit, keep us updated on Dallas happenings.

For those of you who haven’t heard, we had a bit of a medical emergency about a month ago. Joe went sledding and had a rude introduction between his mouth and the sidewalk. . . city boys, they just don’t understand the physics involved with a sled and concrete. . .Joe understands now! He broke his 2 front teeth significantly. Fortunately, our German English speaking neighbor, Nicky, was home and made a phone call to a local dentist. After describing to the dentist what Joe’s mouth looked like, the dentist told us to wait and come in the morning. While waiting for the morning to arrive, we e-mailed a digital photo of Joe’s mouth and then called our wonderful pediatric ortho/dentist, Dr. Plunk and consulted with him over the phone. We met Dr. Claudia who speaks some English as well as her receptionist the next morning. After taking an initial x-ray, Dr. Claudia sent us for a more extensive x-ray as she was concerned that Joe had fractured something in his face. Imagine my continuing panic! After the x-ray of his head, it was determined that yes, Joe has a brain and that no, there were no fractures and no sutures were required. I had already made an agreement with Robin that if Joe required surgery that I was taking him home to the US. Fortunately, that wasn’t necessary and a few days later Joe was given his new German composite bonding teeth. Joe had a few comedic comments during his ordeal. . .one, “Look mom, now I have an upper lip”, referring to the fact that his top lip is so slender it often looks like he doesn’t have one, and second, “Mom, I like my new teeth better than the originals”. Go figure!


This is what happens when young texans discover snow.



On Saturday, March 11th, Sam and I headed back to the US for Sam to participate with his team, the North Texas Strikers, in Dallas Cup XXVI. As this was our first time to fly BACK to the US, we had not realized how long the trip would be and feel! After an early morning flight from Munich to Gatwick in London followed by a 5 hour layover, 3 bad movies, 2 bad airplane meals, and Sam getting fidgety legs we finally arrived in Dallas. The good things were that Sam and I had 3 seats for the two of us, and that the jet lag was easier to deal with going back to the US. Upon arrival in Dallas, we immediately went to Chili’s for a big, juicy hamburger, something that is incredibly hard to find (we haven’t found a good one yet in Germany!)

I had a long shopping list for the US and I wasted no time as I was at the mall with my mom on Sunday. One of the first things I purchased (I would consider it a “covert” purchase) was a new king sized comforter. Robin had told me not to ship the one we had at home b/c the beds were different sizes. However, all that is available in Germany are duvets and duvet covers and I have grown to dislike duvets very much – they move around in the duvet too much. Sam and Joe have even take to sleeping inside their duvet covers, without the duvets, like a sleeping bag! Once I purchased the king size comforter set I was concerned about how I was going to get it back to Germany. How lucky could I be? My salesperson was from India and she had experience in this very thing! She told me to get a space saver bag and suck the air out of it making it small enough to get into a suitcase. So, I made sure to get that done, and get it packed before Robin arrived in Dallas. I finally told him what was in my suitcase once we were in flight back home! He laughed and was glad it wasn’t all clothes in the bag! There were a lot of new spring clothes and lots of new sandals though!!!!


My purchases continued as I hit a few grocery stores and of course, SAMS, to purchase hard to find and expensive in Germany, items. We are now happy with a stock pile of Campbell’s tomato, cream of mushroom, cream of chicken and chicken noodle soup, not to mention Ranch seasoning, taco seasoning, and a variety of other items that helped to exceed our 70 pound weight limit per bag on most of our 8 pieces of luggage. But you know, it’s the small things that matter the most in life, and sitting at the table having Campbell’s tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches is something you can’t take for granted. I didn’t even mention all the Creative Memories products I brought back to Germany! Fortunately, the attendant who checked us in at the airport must have liked us and didn’t charge us for the extra weight! And luckily we didn’t get stopped and checked with German customs or we could have been in lots of trouble!!!!



A proud moment for Sam as he enters the field for the Dallas Cup opening ceremony.



The Dallas Cup was a lot of fun and a great experience. Robin and I have been going to see Dallas Cup games since before the boys were born, so it was really exciting that Sam got to play. The Strikers tied their first game, lost the 2nd game and really lost their last game. Competition in this tournament is of the highest caliber, and the Strikers had nothing to be ashamed of. They hosted a team from South Africa which was also a lot of fun. Sam spent many nights with his friend Blake and two South African players, Sebastian and Kareem. The South African team taught the Strikers a pre game chant and dance. Before the Strikers last game, the South Africans circled up with the Strikers and all 30 plus of the boys were dancing and chanting on the field! It is a memory not soon forgotten.


The North Texas Strikers and the Arch Bishop Tutu-Ikapa United teams
rally before the game.




Robin and Joe arrived in Dallas on March 19th and we immediately headed to our favorite Tex Mex restaurant in Mesquite and took along friends including our friends from South Africa. Tex Mex is something we really miss in Germany. Don’t get me wrong, there are some Mexican restaurants here, but it’s just not the same! During our stay in Dallas we managed to eat at all our favorite restaurants. Nothing beats Chick Filet, Chipotle, Pei Wei or ribs at Houston’s just to name a few! I think we’re satisfied for the time being. . .

When Joe arrived in Dallas he spent a lot time with friends from soccer and school. Once his soccer club found out he was in town, the white team of the club asked him to play in a tournament with him. Of course, Joe had his Texans uniforms with him – he’s always prepared! Fortunately, the Saturday games were rained out and we got a break from soccer. With Dallas Cup and all the extra games we watched, we had had enough of soccer for while.

We had a great time visiting with family and friends, but are now back in Lohhof. It wasn’t easy getting here though. Our flight from DFW was diverted to Chicago with air conditioning/pressurization problems (must have been our extra heavy suitcases) so once we landed in Chicago we boarded a different plane. By that time, we knew we wouldn’t be making our connecting flight from Gatwick to Munich. Let me tell you that dealing with AA/British Airways was not easy. The next flight once we arrived in Munich was not for 4 more hours and we were only on standby. At least they gave us passes to the Business lounge and we spent our time there. We got on the flight but when we arrived in Munich, our driver had not gotten the message that we needed a van for the four of us and 8 suitcases. Robin put me in the taxi with the bags and sent me home and he and the boys were going to take the train home. But as luck would have it, our dear German friends, Tom and Vera, were at the airport eating (apparently there is a good Sushi place there) and they ended up bringing all the boys home!

The boys have already been back to soccer practice with their Lohhof teams and Joe just finished a game that ended in a tie, 4 - 4. He didn’t score but he had about 3 assists. He started out at forward and then one of the trainers for another team told Joe’s coach to move him to center mid! Back to where he belongs! The trainer had many nice things to say about Joe afterwards, but the most important was that he could tell that Joe had a great heart for the game. . .maybe playing for Arsenal isn’t such a long shot! A kid can dream!!!!!

Joe has another game on Sat and Sam also has a game. But, they are at 2 different fields and we only have 1 car. Joe will play at the home field, so since we just bought our new bikes, Joe and I will probably ride our bikes to the game!!!

Germany is so beautiful now. All the grass is green, and the flowers are planted and blooming. The trees are soon to follow, and the restaurants are setting up all the biergartens! I can’t wait. We’ve recently discovered gelato and we’re excited for the really warm weather to get here and stay. We have had many beautiful and warm days, but today, though sunny, had a cold wind blowing in from Russia.

The boys are back to school on Monday and I’m back to my little routine. I realized many things when I returned to Dallas for 2 weeks. I realized that I really miss my friends and family and the confidence that comes with being comfortable in your surroundings. However, I also realized that I don’t miss the hurried and hectic life in Dallas, driving all over the place and just having too much to do! I enjoy the slower pace of life we have here in Germany, I much prefer driving on the autobahn – Americans can learn a thing or two about highway driving from Germans. I also prefer restaurant dining here in Germany. It’s nice to have time to finish your appetizer before your main course arrives, which happens all the time in the US. I enjoy the really good inexpensive wine in Germany and my cappuccino machine – my cappuccino tastes better and is certainly less expensive than Star Bucks!

We are looking forward to a short trip to Prague in April or May with our neighbors and visits from family and friends in July, as well as a weekend trip to Austria with the players and families of Joe’s soccer team!

posted by stuckinthemiddle @ 5:02 PM