As we are wrapping up our final days in Germany, I have been reflecting on our 2 year adventure. There are so many amazing memories, and more than a few things that we are going to miss. Here’s a summary.

Sundays. I thought I would hate not being able to shop on Sundays. I have grown to love the day of rest, long hikes, and spending quality time with my favorite humans.

Forest Biergartens. The Germans know how to motivate you to go for a long walk in the woods – beer. In the middle of nowhere, perfectly situated to give you a little rest and fuel for the return trip.

Festivals. If there is a reason to throw a festival, the Germans will find it and throw a fantastic party, complete with adorable little fest huts and an alcoholic beverage that pairs perfectly with the fest theme. This weekend’s festival – the Königstein Christmas market.

Having a castle in my backyard. The most idyllic 2-mile loop over the river and through the woods, along the castle walls, with an occasional spotting of a deer or wild hogs – going to be hard for Bettendorf to compete with that.

25 minutes from an airport that flies everywhere direct. Not exactly MLI…

Train travel. Since Jay loves to drive, we didn’t take as much advantage of the train travel as we could have, but it is SO convenient.

Language immersion. And language-friendly. I had big goals of being fluent in German at the end of 2 years. HA!!! I tried. And I’m going to keep my 800+ day Duo Lingo streak going. But aside from the few crabby old German ladies, most Germans speak perfect English. They appreciate attempts to speak broken Deutsch. This is the exact opposite of how most Americans treat people that come into our borders but cannot speak English. The next time you encounter someone who doesn’t speak English, give them some grace. Learning a new language is very difficult, you have no idea what their situation is and why they are there, they suffer frustration every day by not seeing & hearing their native language everywhere.

The Redwings. We were fortunate to find a baseball and softball club that allowed the kids to continue to play ball. Yumi, Chris, Frank, Sonja, Laura, and others coached the kids through 2 years of skill development.

Königstein small town living. We walk everywhere. We have an amazing Italian restaurant in our front yard. We can walk to a dozen amazing restaurants. We have multiple grocery stores a short walk away. We see smiling, friendly, familiar faces everywhere we go. Our funny little home tucked in a cobblestone nook off the Main Street has been our perfect German haus.

The Autobahn. I like to drive fast. I also like to obey the law. So being able to legally drive 200 km/hr is perfect. One of our favorite road trip games was placing bets on how much time Jay could cut out of a road trip.

Dog friendly country. I love that Kaycee is welcome almost everywhere we go, and often gets offered a fresh bowl of water and a pat on the head.

Towel warmers. One of life’s simple luxuries.

Church bells. There is something soothing about hearing the bells around town chiming, like clockwork, throughout the day.

Vivalda’s spoiling of Kaycee. We have been blessed to have been connected with Vivalda, who allowed us to explore this part of the world without worrying about whether Kaycee was miserable without us. He was opposite of miserable. Vivalda spoiled him rotten – giving him so much love that he didn’t even know we were gone.

Everyone asks “how are you feeling about the move?” We all have mixed feelings. We have all loved our time here. We have made a million memories, lots of friends, and are forever grateful for the adventure. But it isn’t home. And home is where we must go. Stay tuned for Things I Am Looking Forward To.