Strasbourg, France

I know I have barely touched this thing all summer, and I'll go back and make a few posts about summer happenings just for my own memory, but right now I figured I would go ahead and post about being in Germany! I still can't believe I got the opportunity to come all of the way to Europe. Not really something I had planned on doing this young, but I'm definitely not complaining.

Thursday night I flew out of Dulles International Airport and landed in Germany around one in the afternoon on Friday. After I found the Shields in the airport, we looked for about an hour to find the car. The Frankfurt Airport is definitely a tad bit confusing, especially for someone who is as horrible with directions as I am :)

Saturday morning we went to Strasbourg, France. So in the course of a few days, I have now been to four countries: USA, London (just the airport, but we'll count it), Germany, and France. I'm pretty pleased with that list, and hopefully it will grow throughout my life. Anyways, we drove about two hours to Strasbourg, and the drive alone was beautiful. Frankfurt, where the Shield's live, is a big city and they are really close to downtown. During the drive, I started to see more of the green, rolling hills, which I loved.

Some of the scenery from the car window driving along the highway. We passed a few fields where you could see groups of farmers and workers. Also, it was exciting to start and see road signs for Strasbourg and other areas of France. We also passed an Ikea--apparently they started somewhere over here in Europe. They are everywhere.

When we got to Strasbourg, we parked the car and started walking around. For a city, it was extremely clean and it was so pretty.

There were tons of little houses and buildings like these lining the river and streets everywhere.

One of the bridges crossing over the river. Flowers are a big thing over here, and so you see flowers everywhere, especially lining the sidewalks and hanging on people's window sills. It makes everything look so pretty.

Aubrey in front of a miniature door. I guess people were a tad bit shorter way back when :)

Just a view of some of the buildings in Strasbourg.

For lunch we decided to grab some pizza in one of the many restaurants. We walked in and the owners and workers didn't speak one ounce of English. We managed to sit down and point to pictures well enough to order a cheese pizza, an everything pizza, and a Hawaiian pizza for everyone to share. When we tried to ask for extra plates, however, we got nowhere, so everyone just gathered around and ate off of the serving plates. And we got about 2 paper towels for 7 people as napkins :) It must be frustrating not being able to communicate very well with people on a regular basis. The pizza was really good, and as we were walking out, the guy just started saying goodbye in every language he knew.

Yummy lunch!

After lunch we kept walking around and taking pictures of everything we saw. So many neat things to look at and beautiful things to try and capture.

I would love to just live in one of those little apartments above the water, with people all around and the river running below me. So pretty and calming.

Being in France, we had to take a few pictures of some French Pastries through the windows of some of the restaurants and bakeries. Yum!

A train/bus. Some sort of public transportation :)

We walked by this old and ridiculously ornate building. It was such a pretty church and the detail on it was crazy. Can't imagine how long it would take to build that.

Some of the little details around the city. A door handle, an "access forbidden" sign (in French and German), street signs, an old lamp post with a cross on it, a creepy looking dog, old Kodak film thing, and a trashcan that reminded me of a fire hydrant.

The post office

Me in France :)

I'm not really sure why I took a picture of people collecting trash and cleaning up, but I saw them a few times, and their outfits were just so bright that they deserved a picture. Keeping the city clean in style.

I guess if all else fails in the United States I can transfer my job over to Frankfurt. It's funny seeing McDonald's and Burger King all over the world, and it's funny to see all of the changes in their menus. Different from the United States.

This man had some homemade looking saxophone instrument, but when he blew in it, it didn't make any noise. So he just walked around Strasbourg with that held up to his mouth and he hummed. Whatever works.

John pulled Jocelyn and Andrew along in the wagon, and it was crazy how many people would stare at it and even take pictures of it. I suppose wagons are not very common over here in Europe, and not many people had seen them before. Not sure, but that's what it seemed like.

After we walked around, and had a little trouble finding the parking lot again, we headed on home. It was so neat to see yet another area of the world, and I'm so glad I had the opportunity to travel out here.

Andrew and Jocelyn outside of the parking garage

The parking garage was right next to an art museum, so by the entrance was this little statue. Weird, but interesting looking. So I snapped one more picture, we loaded up, and we were off. Back to Germany.

Climb On.

Right now my uncle is working in DC for a short period of time while the rest of his family stays back in Connecticut. Many weekends he heads home to see them, but sometimes he comes down to see us, which is awesome. It used to be a lot harder to see Uncle Carl, especially because he was often somewhere out to sea, so it has been pretty neat and the little boys have really loved having him so close to us. This weekend Uncle Carl drove down and brought his rock climbing stuff along with him.

Over the past few years, Uncle Carl has accumulated quite a collection of rock climbing gear, and has taken a few classes so he knows everything to do. I guess a few weekends ago when he came down they were talking about rock climbing, and he found this little place called "Rappahannock Rocks." This is the rock face, and on the other side is the river, which was beautiful.

Bryce was the first one to start climbing. There was a little area on the side to start climbing up, so all of us took that approach. However, once Bryce got to the actual rock face, he couldn't quite figure it out and got frustrated and wanted to come down. Also, he was super nervous.

So then we sent Rachel on up to give it a try, and turns out she is afraid of heights. She was so afraid that she was going to fall and wasn't strong enough to hold herself up, so down she came.

Uncle Carl belaying everyone

Ryan wanted to go next, but because they were all having trouble I went climbing next to try and show them a few different ways you could find holdings in the rocks and how to use your body to push yourself up and around. I ended up at the top where we anchored the ropes, and came back down. It was really fun.

Climbing back on down

Then we sent Ryan up, and he was actually pretty fearless and got pretty far for his age, I thought. He needed a little boost in the beginning in order to get from one rock onto another because his poor legs are pretty short, but after that, he did a lot by his self, and he seemed to be having a pretty good time. Once he got to this big crack in the rocks where you put your feet and hands to climb, however, he wanted to come down.


After he watched a few more people try it out, Bryce tried again. He got farther than he did the first time, but he wasn't able to get past the rock ledge because he was scared he was going to fall, so he came on down and was done climbing for the day.

Rachel tried again, too, and got as far as Bryce did. She stood there for a while, but then she wanted to come down. I think if she wasn't afraid of the heights, she would have climbed right up without a problem :)

Uncle Carl also taught me how to belay, which was pretty cool. While Rachel climbed, I controlled her ropes so he made sure I knew what I was doing. A little test run, if you will.


Then once he was confident in my belaying abilities, Uncle Carl climbed up the rock face. However, it was nice and easy for him. He takes his four boys climbing in Connecticut when he goes home, so they have a little bit more practice with the rock climbing :) Once he got to the top, he switched onto a repelling rope and repelled himself down.

Once Uncle Carl finished climbing, he hooked himself onto the white rope while I belayed Ryan, and he tried to climb a little beside him in order to help him get over some of the rougher parts to where he could keep climbing by his self. He got the farthest of the other kids, but still was a bit small to do the whole thing.

Rachel wasn't so sure about it! Ha!

Rachel and Ryan in front of the rock face

The river was right by where we were climbing. If we had known, we would have brought our bathing suits because people could have been wading in the water while others were climbing, but when we started today we had no idea where the rocks were or what they looked like. It was beautiful, and there was nobody there, either.

I climbed up to the top once more, and this time I just stayed on up there to break down all of our anchors and wrap everything up. We packed up, hiked the trail back to the cars, and headed to Wawa on the way home. Near the end of our day, Uncle Carl was saying how hot it was and Ryan said, "Yeah, it feels like a good day for some 44 ounce slurpees from Wawa, right?" One time when Uncle Carl came down he took the boys to Wawa and got them huge slurpees, so I think the boys feel it is some sort of tradition now. Well, we went and Ryan got a 32 ounce slurpee, of which he probably drank about 10 ounces before he was so full, but it was definitely a fun way to end our first outdoor climbing adventure!

Strawberry Picking

At the beginning of May Mom decided to take the kids down to the Strawberry Patch to pick some berries for canning jelly. We've always gone to Westmoreland Berry Farm ever since I was a kid, and the farm is really cute. We went down and picked more than enough strawberries. It was Evan's first time to the berry farm, and he really loved eating the berries!

Rachel and Evan

Mom picking berries

The crew... a few from the family didn't come!

Bryce

Mom and Ryan

Harrison

Rachel and Evan are such pals. Other than Mom, she's probably his favorite.

Camp Rainbow 2012

Four years ago when I was a sophomore in high school one of my good friends told me about a volunteer opportunity with Fredericksburg Hospice Support Care called Camp Rainbow, and both her and I went. The camp basically offers a child who has lost a loved one a weekend to remember him or her and to have fun with other kids who have also lost loved ones. The little kids who attend the camp are all called "Little Buddies," and the volunteers are "Big Buddies." They pair us up, and then we play and talk together all weekend, and get to know other pairs of Big and Little Buddies.

This year I was paired up with a little girl named Savannah. She lost her Mom a few years ago, and we had an awesome time together at camp. We got there on Friday night, and went to choose our bunks in the cabin (we stayed at a site called Westview on the James). We played soccer outside for a bit, and then it was dinner time. The first night we also had a little Magic Show with a guy who comes down from Fredericksburg for the kids. It was cute and cheesy, but kept the little guys entertained. The first night we also always have a camp fire where all of the Little and Big buddies introduce each other and share why they are attending camp (who died in their families). The campfire is usually a very respectful and quiet time, which is nice. Then we walk back from the fire and pass out in the bunks :)

Savannah and me

My friend Megan and Me... she's the one who told me about Camp Rainbow and we've known each other since 6th grade

On Saturday morning the kids have the option to get up and go fishing, and every little buddy I've had always wants to go on both Saturday and Sunday morning. So Savannah and I got up bright and early Saturday, hit the showers, and headed to the lake. Saturday morning we didn't catch anything, which is always unfortunate, but we did have quite a few fish nibbling on our worms that we couldn't hook! We headed back from fishing, and went to breakfast. Saturday mornings the camp always has stations that involve various activities remembering the kids' loved ones or expressing themselves. This year they had a music station, skits station, outdoor games with a parachute, and arts and crafts. They are always fun, and then it was lunch time. After lunch we had three hours of free time/buddy time, which is always a favorite for the kids. The campsite has a lake with canoes and kayaks, a swimming area, and a zip line over the water called the Zip n' Dip. Savannah and I spent most of our time in the water :)

Early morning fishing--finally caught something!

The water always looks so pretty in the mornings

Rachel, Stephanie, and their little buddies at lunch on Saturday

This year Rachel and Gray's friend Stephanie also came as big buddies so it was a lot of fun having them there, too. Rachel and I hung out by the water with our buddies and got to do some canoeing!

After free time we did some team activities with the staff at the campsite, and then met up for dinner. After dinner, we had a little bit of free time still, and then headed to another camp fire for the night. This campfire is another time for anyone to share who hadn't yet, or for anyone to share any experiences they had had over the last few hours. After everyone shares, we also enjoy some S'mores :) By this point, all the kids are often really tired, so bed time Saturday night is pretty easy!

Second Campfire

Sunday is the last day of Camp Rainbow, and Savannah and I started off by going fishing. We had a great time, and actually caught two fish this time around. We headed off for breakfast, and after that was the camp's final group activity: Balloon Ceremony. Every kid chooses a balloon and writes a message on it for his or her loved one, and then we all go outside and send them up into the sky at the same time. The kids get some more time to play with each other and hang around before we go pack up the cabins and wait for all the parents and families to arrive around noon. When the parents arrived, the kids performed their skits from the day before, and then the Big and Little buddies each lunch with their families together and talk about the weekend. The family picnic is always really nice and its always fun to meet the families of the kids you've been hanging out with all weekend. This year, Savannah's grandparents came to the picnic and they were very nice and we had a great time. After lunch, camp is over and we swap goodbyes with each other as we all head out.

Lake in the early morning

Balloon Ceremony. It's always fun to watch those balloons soar into the air.

I've been a big buddy at Camp Rainbow for three years now, and each time has been such a great experience. I really love volunteering with such a great camp, and I'll keep doing it for as long as I can. The kids that attend camp really are so genuine and sweet, and I love spending a weekend with them in the woods just having a great time. Fortunately, I have never lost anyone close to me in my life so far, and I admire the little kids that have and how they've been able to cope with their own loses. As part of the camp, kids are reminded that they are not the only children to have lost important people in their lives, and I hear about many of the loses during the weekend. Kids have lost brothers, sisters, cousins, aunts, uncles, best friends, parents, grandparents, and more, and volunteering at Camp Rainbow is always a humbling experience.