Friday night Jay was watching the Iowa State basketball game on his phone. I asked him why he hadn’t tried to set up the VPN yet, and he said he didn’t want to get annoyed, just wanted to relax and enjoy his beer. Well Ty has become pretty good with all of the electronics stuff, so I challenged him to set up the VPN. Ty did most of the work, Jay gave moral support and did a little brainstorming with him, and wah-lah!! They got it figured out! Don’t ask me how to turn on the TV though….

On Sunday Ty played in an indoor baseball tournament. The game looks so fun to play, and we all enjoyed watching it. It is really fast paced, only 12 minutes long, drop dead. There is no inning break at all, so teams sprint on and off the field. If the batter is ready before the fielders are ready, doesn’t matter, hit away. If a kid is lucky enough to hit the backboard of the basketball hoop, it’s a home run. If a fielder catches the ball off the wall, it’s out. Ty caught one of those! If the batter doesn’t drop their bat in the bat box on the way to 1st base, they’re out. 

For the pool play games, they played on small courts, and then in the single-elimination bracket play they doubled the size of the courts. Ty’s 15U team had to play the two 18U teams, so they lost more than they would have liked, but everyone had a lot of fun. It’s a great group of players and coaches. For those coaches back home, it would be a fun game for winter indoor practices. High speed, lots of fielding practice, many reps at bat. Get some of the softer baseball/softballs and play ball!

Check out this little one-person truck! We saw a little one-person car this weekend, which is kind of like a 4-wheel moped with a cab. I don’t know the whole scoop, but Jay thought it was a vehicle that kids can get before they have their actual license. It doesn’t go very fast, and no passengers can ride with. It would be kind of a fun way to zip around town. 

Carrying on with the one-person vehicle, our little snow plow came through the courtyard this morning. I should have snapped a photo, but it was like a little riding mower with a cab and a blade that plowed the snow and put salt down. We definitely did not get as much snow as the Midwest got this week, but this is the first measurable snow we have had. It’s so pretty! We have to walk down to the store today and get some ice scrapers for the cars. They are talking about maybe getting 8″ on Wednesday. Ty is really hoping for a snow day. 

Observation. German radio stations do NOT filter bad language from English songs. This particular one was dropping F-bombs left and right. Thankfully my kids are old enough to know better than to repeat them, but I can’t help but picture little German kids singing along, not knowing what they are saying. 

We had dinner with Kovar’s on Sunday night and met their neighbors. They were great. It’s been so nice to meet new people. I remember when we were in Australia it took us quite a bit longer to make new friends. I think having the kids at an older age and more involved in activities helps a lot. 

I hope everyone has a great week! Auf wiedersehen!