Happy Birsday!

Today is Casey's birthday! He is 28 years old. We all celebrated by going breakfast before Casey had to report to the hotel where he is required to be on game days. We had a "lovely" time, as Ellie says. :)



The best part of the morning was being able to witness Ellie's rendition of "Poker Face" first hand. The song came on the radio in the car, and Ellie sang every word! Her actions are the best. She puts her hands up and shakes her head for the lyrics "can't read my, can't read my" and then pokes her face on "my poker face" (as if the lyrics were "poke her face"). So funny! Again, you can read more on Britt's blog about her little routine.

Our second big excursion today was to Ka De We, a huge department store on the Ku Damm. It is the largest department store in continental Europe. Harrods in London is larger, but like Harrods, Ka De We is huge, amazing, and expensive. We had crepes on the gourmet food floor, and they were delicious. We almost made it out of the store without Ellie spotting the balloons, but we weren't quick enough. Since it is Casey's birthday, we went ahead and got a bundle of balloons to take with us to the basketball game tonight.




The Alba Berlin game was once again very fun to attend. I enjoyed watching Casey, eating all the great food, and hanging out with Brittney, Emery, and Tori. (Tori is Adam's girlfriend. Adam is Casey's best friend on the team.)



During the game I got to hold Micah, the son of Tanya and Ansu Sesay (Casey's teammate). He is so adorable!



After the game we all ate cake that Brittney had baked and sang "Happy Birsday" to Casey. (The th sound is difficult for Germans to say.) Britt handed out cake to all the players, coaches, and wives and children of the players. Casey even got a birthday song and presents from fans as we left the arena.

Adam (Casey's teammate), Tori (Adam's girlfriend), Emery, Katie, Casey, Brittney

When we got home, we hung out and talked with Christine, the baby sitter, and eventually managed to all crawl to our beds to sleep.

See Emery's blog post for more fun stories from the day!

Change of Plans

After visiting Sachsenhousen in the morning, we picked up Ellie from kindergarten (preschool) and all headed back to Britt's apartment to take naps. The morning was pretty exhausting, and I got quite car sick. We slept for a few hours!

When we finally got up and played with Ellie for a bit, it was time for dinner. Emery and I went across the street and picked up some sushi. It was very good!

Tonight was supposed to be the night we all went to the P¡nk concert. Unfortunately, the team "guy" who was going to get the tickets for us was not successful. Oh well. Casey's practice actually ended up being scheduled later than origianlly planned anyway. So, instead, we three ladies went to a movie at the Sony Center. We had a babysitter, so we made the most of it.

The Sony Center is very cool. Its tent-like, open-air roof was designed to look like Mt. Fuji coming up out of the glass walls of the surrounding offices and resaurants. At night it is lit up with changing colored lights.
It houses a movie theater that shows many American movies in their origianl form - no dubbing or subtitles. Lego Land is also located underground at the center.

I enjoyed watching "Confessions Of A Shopaholic" with the girls and walking around the Sony Center and Potsdamer Platz (pictures coming soon) with Casey after his practice was finished. Another fun night!

See Emery's post for more fun details!

Sachsenhousen

This morning Brittney, Emery, and I traveled about 40 minutes outside of Berlin to visit Sachsenhausen, the German concentration camp. I have obviously learned about the Holocaust over the years. I have visited the Holocaust museum in Washington, DC and the British War Museum in London, among other sites. I have read novels and books and had many lessons in school about World War II. Knowing the atrocities that took place helped me understand what I was going to see by visiting Sachsenhausen, but none of those experiences compare to actually standing on the ground where prisoners lined up for roll call - where they were forced to endure freezing temperatures, humiliation, and pain, often for 24 hours straight.
I walked where innocent people were forced to march every day with cold wind going through their thin clothing, not understanding why they were there or what was to become of them.
I looked through the peep holes in the cell doors where prisoners were kept in solitary confinement for weeks and months at a time.
I stood inside Barrack 38
and looked in on the infamous bunks, the washrooms where prisoners were given a trickle of water to bathe in, and the bathrooms where prisoners were so desperate to use the facilities that they trampled each other to get in.
I walked through rooms where SS guards tortured and killed prisoners. I saw prisoner uniforms, torture devices, and mass graves now marked by cement slabs.

At station Z I looked down on the trenches built to simplify mass shootings,
then the ovens used for cremation.

I passed the guard towers that were once manned by SS guards with machine guns, listened to eye witness accounts of the cruel beatings inflicted on prisoners by SS officers.
I read the ironic words on the iron gate at Tower A: "ARBEIT MACHT FREI" (Work makes you free).


I read about the death march that occured as officers tried to clear the camps of prisoners - witnesses - before liberation by the Allies. I was inspired by stories of Red Cross workers who risked their lives to try to help those who fell before they were shot for not keeping up with the evacuation. My heart broke for the Jews, the Russian soldiers, the political opponents, the Poles, the "social outcasts", the religious leaders, and the resistance fighters who were all sent to Sachsenhausen by order of the Fuhrer and murdered by hangings, shootings, beatings, exposure, illness, torture, starvation, medical experiments, exhaustion, gas chambers...

At the camp today I was reminded once again how vital it is to love all of God's children. One quote I heard today that stood out to me was one from a former prisoner who survived his time in Sachsenhausen. When he was asked if his imprisonment was really that bad he replied, "It was a thousand times worse."

It is unbelievable that the atrocities that took place there actually happened, that people could actually treat other people as they did. It is hard to believe and impossible for me to understand. It was important for me to go to Sachsenhausen today. The world must not forget what happened. We must not ever let it happen again.

Pickin' Up Dinner & Men

We slept in a little bit this morning. (Thank goodness this has actually been a relaxing vacation. I needed it!) Then we spent a little time at the zoo with Ellie.

We had fun! We arrived just in time to watch the elephants get their hair brushed. It was very entertaining to watch them kneel down on the ground so the zookeepers could sweep all the dust off their backs with push brooms. The baby elephant was making all kinds of loud noises, which I think surprised Ellie a little.



We saw the giraffe, a turkey vulture, polar bears, hippos, and (thankfully, or Ellie would have been quite upset) the monkeys. We fed animals at the petting zoo and even managed to have time for a couple trips down the slide on the playground.





The only problem we encountered was that the zoo, for some strange reason, closed the entrance we came in and left only one exit open on the opposite side from where our car was parked. Since Casey needed the car to get to practice, we got our exercise by running through the zoo to get home in time. Ellie was bothered by this, not because of the extra long trip to the car or the bumpy stroller ride, but because Mommy wouldn't let her get out of her stroller so she could run too. :)

This afternoon Emery and I visited Kaiser Wilhelm church on the Ku Damm. It is only about a block or two away from Brittney & Casey's apartment. The church was destroyed from bombings in Berlin during World War II. Most of the church was demolished and irreparable, but one section still stands. Rather than being rebuilt, it was left in its damaged state to remind the people of the horrors of war and that we should all be striving for peace.

A new, modern church (which Lindsay, Emery's cousin, refers to as "The Neon Church" because of its blue glass walls) was built along side it.


After visiting Kaiser Wilhelm, Emery and I once again ate curry wurst and crepes sold at the stands next to the church. Yum!



This evening Emery and I took a walk down the Ku Damm again. Although it's been cold, we have had sunshine (rare here during the winter) and clear, crisp air. Berlin is a very clean, safe city, and as I said before, really doesn't seem foreign. It is new and interesting, but not scary or intimidating. I really enjoy being here.

Tonight we picked up dinner and men from the Hard Rock Café. You can see for yourself what a rockin' time I had.

And check out my new hottie boyfriend. What can I say? I know how to pick 'em. ;)


We ended the night by once again talking for a while with Brittney and Casey. It's hard not to stay up late when I'm enjoying great conversation!

Tour of Berlin

Today we took a bus tour of Berlin.
It was a great way to get a brief look at the city and it's famous monuments, buildings, and sites. I learned many things about Berlin. For example, I learned that the colored pipes you see going over the streets near construction sites are not, according to our tour guide, to bring beer to the construction workers. They are actually to pump ground water away from the construction sites. I also learned that there are a lot of ducks in Berlin, in the summer there are a lot of Turkish barbecues in the Tiergarten, and the man who was in charge of building the new train station stopped construction before it was finished because he wanted to watch the world football (soccer) tournament on television. (To this day, the roof does not reach all the way across the walkway the passengers take, so many get rained on.)
On our tour we saw:

Remnants of the Berlin Wall

Stones have been placed around the city where the wall used to stand.

Brandenburg Gate
Until my 6th grade year (1989), I would not have been allowed to walk through this gate. The wall was directly behind it stopping travelers from going between East and West Berlin.

The Tiergarten

Checkpoint Charlie

We saw many other buildings and monuments as well.

Ellie gets home from kindergarten at about 12:00 on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Helping her get ready for nap time after she gets home has been a fun treat. We read a book and sing a song - usually "The Alligator Song" (where I get chosen to be eaten for lunch) or "Head Shoulders Knees and Toes" (sung in several styles, including "SUPER fast" and "CRAZY!").

Brittney took Casey to a spa today to celebrate his birthday which is on Thursday. Emery and I got to babysit the girls. Peyton is a pretty fussy baby. She just has tummy trouble that makes her uncomfortable a lot of the time -- something I completely understand. :) She is absolutely adorable, though, so I didn't mind babysitting at all, but clearly it was an exhausting day for us both.

Later that evening, Casey took Emery and me to look more closely at a few of the sites:

The TV Tower

The Egyptian Museum
which houses the bust of Nefertiti
(By the way, a bust is a statue from the shoulders up.
Confusing for some, I know. ;)

This is our "casual conversation" pose.
Casey's facial expression is the best. Very casual.

The Berliner Dom
(The Berlin Cathedral)

The Holocaust Memorial

After our exploration, Casey bought us Doner Kebabs for dinner. They are another famous food item here because of the large Turkish population in Berlin. Tasty!

Harley is always hoping you'll drop some food for her.

We ended the night babysitting again so Casey and Brittney could enjoy a nice birthday dinner together. It was a great day!