Reader Survey: Voldemort is Dying

We weren't going to let Tess read Harry Potter until she was a bit older. Too dark for a 9 year old. Too scary. We're too protective. You get the idea.

Last winter, we caved and let her read the first one because all of her friends were doing it. Also, if we'd waited any longer, one of her friends would have told her that Voldemort was Harry's father and that would have spoiled the whole thing.

Tess is now starting the last book. Soon and very soon, Voldemort will be dead and it will be time for her to move on to something different.

Hence my survey. What should she read next. She's read the Narnia books a zillion times. Most of the Little House books. Everything ever written with the words "American Girl" in the title and more than enough Nancy Drew's to be bored with that formula.

So please weigh in, dear readers, with your recommendations. Her literary hunger cannot be sated.

Raising the Next Generation of Obsessive Compulsives

On Thursday, 5fordhams will spend nearly 20 hours (door to door) travelling from Germany to California. In preparation today, I added all the Harry Potter audio books to Tess's iPod. She proclaimed me the best Dad ever. She can't wait to leave.

Not sure what to do with Micah. I hear good things about Benadryl.

Facebook

Over the course of the last week, I grew increasingly frustrated with watching Piper's ever growing friend count on Facebook. By Thursday, I was covertly logging into her account to see whether my old college friends were online.

On Friday, my condition took a turn for the worse and I began to consider asking Piper to "friend" people so I could check up on them. Lame, I know. Early Saturday morning, I caved.

First impressions. Facebook is almost as big a time waster as google or slate.com. It's a train wreck that I can't look away from.

Endless Light

In my minds eye, Germany always looked like Pennsylvania. Only quainter with cottages, clocks and lederhosen. I've shifted my mental comparison to Maine. Without the lederhosen. Sadly, German fashion has moved on.

This comparison is particularly true with the latitude. The sun is a constant reminder of how far north we are. This month, it rises around 5am. It's not dark again til 10:30. This has advantages. I can go jogging in the evening, my vitamin D count is up and informed sources tell me that the first offensive of the vampire apocalypse has been delayed until the fall. Unfortunately, it's wrecking havoc with my kids' bedtime.

Time was when I could have the kids to bed by 8:30 (as all good and right thinking parents do) and maybe read a book, watch TV or stare at the wall. This month, the sun is still high in the sky at that point and the troops refuse to budge. Last winter, Tess would be under the covers with her flashlight reading Harry Potter by 8:45. Now, flashlights aren't even required til well after 10:00.

I'm looking forward to the fall. Vitamin D supplements aren't that expensive and there will be plenty of time to sharpen the wooden stakes after the kids are in bed.

Stuttgart 1/2 Marathon

I celebrated my birthday today by skipping church to run a half marathon. It was my first 1/2 marathon and my first race in Germany. I learned lots of cool things.

1. Everybody here is named Wolfgang. This fact gleaned by reading people's names off their race #'s. I also saw several Jan's (not women).

2. Being European means being able to drop your pants in public. I showed up already dressed to race. A newbie mistake. It turns out, you can strip in public and change right in the stadium. Ditto for using the bathroom along the racecourse.

3. Long races are all about managing your blood sugar. I had a (very) light dinner and no breakfast so that I could avoid the need for bathroom breaks along the course (see point #2). As a result, my body crashed at the end.

4. Other than the blood sugar, a half marathon is no big deal. All you have to do is read the training guides and mindlessly follow instructions. The ability to repeat boring repetitive tasks is one of my gifts so this isn't a problem.

The race was disappointing. Since this was my first long race, I'd been advised to run slow and have a good time. I ran at the slow pace I used on my training runs. At the 10 mile mark, I wasn't breathing hard and was on track to finish in 2:00. Then my leg seized up and my blood sugar evaporated. I wound up walking a good bit of the last 2 miles. Final time was roughly 2:11 (adjusting for the crowd at the start).

I need to do another one to get it right.

And then I got to come home, eat lots of sugar and sleep.

Salzburg

Four days, four adults, six kids, four scheduled events. Great weekend. We went with our Volksmarch buddies, Scott, Bonnie and their kids to the German/Austrian border for the long weekend. The motto for our Salzburg section of the trip might as well have been: Here Come the Americans!. Thursday afternoon we descended into one of the region's salt mines, which provided the area with its wealth hundreds of years ago. Train ride in; long slide deeper into the mine; leisurely stroll several hundred feet under ground as we learned about how they pump fresh water into a section, dissolve the salt and pump out the saline slurry from the bottom. Takes 30 years to get all the salt, leaving a lake the size of a football field. Electric boat ride across an underground salt lake. More slides and trains and a glimpse at a giant bronze antique pump.

Then Fraulein Maria's Sound of Music bicycle tour. We took a grueling seven-mile ride through the city around some of the famous parts of the movie past statues, gardens, convents, castles and mansions. The kids and moms sang and sang. For some reason, I think the two dads were quiet.

Saturday night was dinner in the Hohensalzburg Fortress. One of the restaurants has a program with medieval games (no wild boar hunting though) and waiters in costume.

We spent Saturday on the Konigssee, which is so beautiful it made my heart sore and soar to look at it. It is rare that a spot on earth is everything you could want it to be. This is. No motorized vehicles on the lake so it is quiet, clean and mirror smooth (only one set of electric boats). One of the boat attendants pulled out a flugelhorn and played it (badly) facing a granite cliff. The sound came back to us in fuller, rounder tones.

Highlights:
Coming off the boat at the Konigssee shore to find a group of traditional German dancers performing on the peer.
Listening to the kids sing "Do a Deer" well, shout "Do a Deer" as we biked along the river. We sounded *just* like Julie Andrews
Listening to the clang of cow bells echo off the mountainside as we walked through Bertchesgaden,
Hearing Micah brag that he shot his first crossbow.
Riding a wooden slide deep into a salt mine
Trying to convince the three older girls to get out of the car to see one of the most famous cities in Europe (they were listening to The Westing Game on tape in the car, and that book is always at an exciting part).
Nutella for breakfast.

Facebook Update

We are nearly 48 hours into Facebook. Piper's friend count has crested 50.

It's mildly disconcerting how quickly they're piling in.

I've gotta run. The Bower's mailed a package of junk food. Based on the sounds coming from the other room, I need to get there quickly while there's something left for me.

Too late (these last 2 words typed by Tess)

Friends

As Andy noted, I joined Facebook.
I looked at my first Facebook transaction.
It told me, "Beth wrote on Piper's wall. Piper wrote on Beth's wall. Piper and Beth are friends."
It gives something of a preschool clarity to our relationship (Billy shared his graham crackers with me. I shared my goldfish with Billy). Actually, Beth and I have been friends since we used to climb into her tree house and pretend that we, along with James Harriot, were country vets. But it's nice to have Facebook codify things.

Oh, and I am recently married, according to Facebook. I guess checking the relationship status box made it official.

Piper is on Facebook

Piper has signed up for a facebook account.

I confess that I've been secretly wanting her to break. While the exclusivity of facebook (you can't view anything until you join yourself) has held me at bay, it's also made me curious. The innards of facebook hold the same mysterious fascination that the inside of the girl's bathroom held when I was 12.

Now I get to see what all the fuss is about.

Adventures in Tire Repair

Our friends the Brown's flew through Frankfurt last night on their way from Morocco to the US. We took a detour up that way to visit with them on their layover. Because of time zone impacts, overnight layovers are a standard feature on multi-leg trips from Europe to the US. (Trips going to other way can be done in 1 day).

Anyway, we met our friends for some quality overnight bonding in a nearby hotel. During the pick-up, I discovered a flat tire in our van. I suspect their 3-year old of causing the flat while we were loading their suitcases. His father is an engineer so he has a genetic affinity for small, sharp metal objects. His mother proclaims his innocence and has threatened me with bodily harm if I print anything in the blog. Here's to you Miska. I dedicate this entry to you.

In the end, we had a great visit. The kids got to reconnect with friends. Piper and Miska got to chapperone that (very loud) connection. Luke and I got to visit a German auto-mechanic. There was truly something for everyone.

As they drove away, Maddie sat on the curb and cried. She asked me if she'd ever see her friend again. Of our 3 kids, she is the first to realize that each goodbye is potentially final.

In the end, we successfully limped home on our spare tire and we're all well. We're still looking at our repair options. Thus far, we're looking at a 1-2 week wait to order 2 new tires. Price quotes for that repair are more than what we paid in the US last year for 4 tires.

We need to find something before we go to Austria next weekend for the "Sound of Music" tour. The hills are alive.

Grandmother

My grandmother, Joyce Evelyn Gordy, died yesterday. She had chugged along, seemingly changeless, through her mid-90s. Then last December she started to decline. My aunt Joyce Lynn and her family took beautiful care of her. She was the last link to that generation in both of our families.