November 2023 – Home here and there

NaBloPoMo recap

I can’t believe how fast November went by. I am glad I did NaBloPoMo again this year and enjoyed writing, sharing and getting to know new and old blog people.

I do feel a bit bummed that I did not quite make it and missed out on a couple of days in the end (that’s why the shattered mirror). Surprisingly enough not because I did not know what to write about but because I ran out of hours in my day. That is also the reason why I have not commented as much as I wanted to on other blog posts but I am so looking forward to catching up on those in the next couple of days hopefully. The exchanges make the whole blogging experience so much more enjoyable.
Considering that I went to Germany for a week to help my dad pack and that we were traveling for another during school break I did more than I thought I would.
I did finish some more knitting and have the socks, scarf and hat for my dad finished. He even asked me if I could make him another scarf sometime on our last phone call (surprise dad). The other one is for my FIL. I bought the orange a while back and for some reason could not convince anyone about it. I think he may like it – I hope he will

Also in good old German fashion I made an Advents calendar for my kids. This year it’s ‘just’ 24 self wrapped small presents. They don’t like chocolate that much and the options here are limited. I held an Haribo one in my hand at the supermarket in Germany but that would have been all bend out of shape by the time it got here. But that was pretty much my evening entertainment the last two nights – wrapping 24 packages times two.

I hope I will write more in between this time around. Someone asked about Christmas Markets in Germany and I hope we can go visit one when we go this December. And I sure hope to be back next year for another NaBloPoMo.

Podcast suggestions please

I am not really so much into podcast but I keep wondering if that has something to do with the fact that I have not checked out the right ones? I can listen to an audio book no problem at least if I like the narrator and the story is not to bad. I even can make it through nonfiction that way, but with a lot of podcast I tend to zone out after a short while.

There are some exceptions to the rule:

Up First – “NPR’s Up First is the news you need to start your day. The three biggest stories of the day, with reporting and analysis from NPR News”
The roughly 10 minutes are short enough that I make it through and just the right time to keep me company while making school lunches.

The Daily -“This is what the news should sound like. The biggest stories of our time, told by the best journalists in the world. Hosted by Michael Barbaro and Sabrina Tavernise.”
Only sometimes but interesting enough on a longer car ride by myself.

All Songs Considered “Hosts/nerds Bob Boilen and Robin Hilton are your friendly music buddies with the week’s best new music discoveries, including conversations with emerging artists, icons and more.”
I discovered quite a few artists I never heard of before this way.

The shortness of my adult picks gets way outnumbered by the kid’s podcasts that are on my playlist. It is one of our favorite past times when I am on a longer ride with the kids and I approve of all of these. I learned quite a sizeable amount of random facts myself and was looking forward to new episodes of ‘The Alien Adventures of Finn Caspian’.

Brains on – a science podcast for kids and their adults.

Forever Ago – “A history show for the whole family! Every episode explores the origin of just one thing — like sandwiches, video games, clocks and more — while teaching listeners to think critically about history.”

Smash Boom Best – “Smash Boom Best is a debate show for kids and families from the makers of the award-winning podcast, Brains On! Every episode takes two cool things, smashes them together and lets you decide which is best. Our debaters use facts and passion to make their case – teaching listeners how to defend their own opinions along the way.”

Million Bazillion – “A podcast about money for kids and their families. We help dollars make more sense.”
Especially my son like to learn about money.

Wow in the World – “The #1 science podcast for kids and their grown-ups. Hosts Mindy Thomas and Guy Raz share stories about the latest news in science, technology, and innovation.”

Tai Asks Why– “Tai Poole is trying to find answers to life’s biggest questions. What happens after we die? What is love? How can we fix climate change? He may not solve them all, but give him a break … he’s only 11 years old.”

Greeking Out – “Greeking Out from National Geographic Kids features fun Greek mythology tales. Families can enjoy listening to tales of heroes and monsters. Each episode is an adventure filled with Greek gods, sea creatures, and flaming chariots.”

And two story podcast we liked:
The Alien Adventures of Finn Caspian
The Unexplainable Disappearance of Mars Patel

And for the parents out there who are wondering if these are appropriate choices for the kids: check on Common Sense Media! It has all the ratings a parent heart could wish for and will tell you way better then I could if these are right for the family (good choice for checking movies, too).

Do you have any podcast suggestions for me that you think would convince me to give the adult addition another try?

Grocery finds

I already mentioned yesterday that we went shopping at ALDI. That I mention it again today should tell you how excited I was about the whole experience. We don’t have one close by so this was really a treat for me. I do find some of the German products at World Market or other fancier grocery stores but the price tag often times is a little painful to look at. Not so at Aldi. Even in Germany they are particularly known for their good prices.
I thought it particularly funny this morning when I picked up a USA today newspaper in the hotel lobby and they had a big article about “Aldi deals”. There was a whole section about how to shop there. One difference is that you have to put 25 cents in the cart to unlock it before you can take it into the store. You will get it back when you bring back your cart and attach it to another one – so they don’t need to pay anyone to collect carts. They will also not bag your groceries. I think my husband is officially Americanized because he was very confused at check out. They had an empty cart waiting at the end of the register and everything goes straight in there – so your cart gets exchanged with a different one. From there on you are responsible to carry your groceries away. This is a step up from the German Aldi experience. You are responsible for getting your groceries in the cart and the cashiers there are so fast that it can get quite stressful as your groceries pile higher and higher in front of you and before you know it you will be asked to pay.
It’s basically the exact opposite what you are used to in the US. I still remember one of the supermarket chains tried to introduce bagging but no-one wanted it in Germany. My mom was one of the very appalled shoppers, too.

The good news is that the drive home today was fairly quick. I already washed three loads of laundry and tomorrow it is back to work and school. I hope that you all had a lovely Thanksgiving and were able to spend some quality time with family before the holiday season really kicks in. I am going to spend the week reminding myself that I have everything under control.

The Way Home

To day was our last day in Las Vegas. It was even not really a day in Las Vegas as we were heading back after breakfast. We made a short photo stop at the Seven Magic Mountains what some of you might remember from our trip last year. It’s not much of a detour and it’s a long drive back to the Bay Area so any time spend outside the car is good. It’s easy parking and a short walk to the sculptures.

There was some traffic due to an accident but luckily no dust storm this time.

The kids downloaded movies while we were listening to music and I made some progress on my knitting (a hat for my FIL for Christmas). Knitting is fine but I can’t read or I get car sick. I would love to listen to audio books or a podcast but we can’t seem to all agree on something – sigh.

Bakersfield is our halfway stop today. We were able to use Marriott points for both stays this time what made for a very affordable trip in that regard. Also: Bakersfield has an ALDI what got me very excited. It’s not quite the same as a German ALDI but I was happy enough shopping there. They had a lot of Christmas goodies I know and love from Germany like Gluehwein, Spekulatius cookies, Chocolate covered Gingerbread, Schogette chocolate and cinnamon stars. We also bought some more responsible snacks like cheese, humus, pita bread, crackers and yogurt.

Hopefully the drive tomorrow is equally uneventful and we make it home early enough so that I can do some grocery shopping for the week.

Hoover Dam

At least part of my family always feels the urge to do something during vacations. To spend a day just hanging out is not a vacation day apparently. Since the only thing my daughter asked for during the whole trip was a visit to her favorite bookstore in Las Vegas (The Writer’s Block) and a shopping stop at Fergusons, we started with that.
The Writer’s Block is a small independent bookstore with a cafe area in the front. It’s a little cramped and has lots of decorations hanging from the ceiling like marionettes, mobiles and bird houses. There is even a bunny. I love it.
Fergusons is a shopping area filled with little artsy shops and a cafe. It has a cool truck sculpture at the entrance and the building used to be a hotel back in the day. It’s a quick visit and parking is easy in both locations.

Next we headed out of the city to visit Hoover Dam. It’s about an hour east of the city and in my opinion worth the drive. We have been a couple of times already but the size of the dam always leaves me breathless. First time we went in 2007 when we did a roadtrip through the National Parks and after that when the kids were maybe 4 and 6. Make sure you get of the highway in time or you end up driving over the very impressive Mike O’Callaghan–Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge. Especially my husband was very concerned about it since he is not fond of heights. Right before you get to the dam there is a parking lot that leads to a pedestrian access up to the bridge. No-one wanted to come along and I did not want to go alone so this is left for another day. I imagine the view of the dam and the Colorado river being quite magnificent. Parking in the garage is $10. You can also buy your tickets for the dam online and I was a little concerned that we would not get in because it would only let me buy tickets for the following day but it turned out not to be a problem as we were able to buy tickets onsite. Just the visitor center is $10 for an adult and if you add a short movie and dam tour (what is 1 hour total) it is $15. There is also a longer tour but it was already booked out for the day.
The movie talks a bit about the history of the dam and the tour takes you a couple stories down inside the dam itself.

You get to see one of the pipes which carries the water to the turbines and the turbines on the Nevada side. Afterwards you get to explore the visitor center on your own and walk around the dam outside.

It actually sits right at the border of Nevada and Arizona and the time zone line. There is one tower with a clock on the Nevada side and one with a clock that shows an hour later on the Arizona side. The kids were very impressed.

Water levels in Lake Mead are pretty low currently. It was already low in 2007 when I visited the first time but it is even lower now. I still remember how surprised I was that the color difference in the rock surface is so obvious.

Another thing that always surprises me is how openly proud American’s are of their achievements. I don’t mean this in a bad way. It’s just that Germans tend to be more critical of themselves. You definitely leave realizing what an architectural marvel and great achievement the dam was. I love the resources that are so often provided through American sights and parks. I found the kids facts quite interesting myself and there is a whole learning package I only discovered after the fact.

View of the Colorado river and the Mike O’Callaghan–Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge

In the end we all had a really good dam day (with lots of dam jokes). I was almost a little sad driving back to Las Vegas. I love roadtrips and was ready to head further but that has to wait until the next vacation.

How do you feel about roadtrips? Any places you visited multiple times?

Desert Days

Las Vegas is still a town that does not quite make sense to me. That someone would see this spot of land and think it is a good idea to build up a city in the middle of the desert – mind blowing. And it’s growing every year we come visit, too. We went on a pre-turkey hike today and had to walk through a construction site before hitting the actual trail.
Our kids are still very impressed with the fact that our friends have a mansion (at least compared to the house we have in the Bay Area) and paid less than we did. After initial ideas to move here, too, they were pretty much cured of that after spending a 4th of July weekend in town. It’s just way to hot during the day to be outside. We can always be outside in the Bay Area. I think that is one of the things I appreciate most – the weather is outside weather all year long.

I did learn to appreciate the desert though. It has something very meditative about it. I like the calm and the big open space. The colors feel very calming to me.

I could live here for a while but probably not to settle – until I get enough of the heat. I have been thinking about this more and more. I do not mean moving to the desert but just where I would like to live. Maybe it’s because my dad was selling his house? Where would I go if kids and work were not part of the equation? If you would ask me if I would rather live near the ocean or near the mountains, I would pick ocean every time. I like seasons even though my migraines tend to be worse in changing weather. Small town or city? Somewhere in the middle would be my preference. Close enough to the city that you have all the amenities in driving distance but far enough away that you don’t have all the bustle. Maybe at some point I will figure it out.

How do you feel about the place where you live? Would you want to move somewhere else or are you happy where you are?

Wordless Wednesday

Lazy day

I fell asleep on the couch. It was just meant for a second to rest my eyes. Sometimes I don’t realize how tired I am.

So for today just a quick post with a view over Las Vegas and the Sphere.

Game Day

After arriving fairly late last night, we spent the morning catching up with our friends and settling in. Some pre-Thanksgiving shopping was done and in the afternoon we scheduled the “Lost City” escape room for some of us with Escapology. We had to find the lost journal of some long lost explorer, find the treasure and escape the lost city. I thought it was really well done. Have you done an escape room before? It’s something I really like to do with the kids together and mostly we complement each other well when it comes to solving the puzzles. It gets easier the more escape rooms you do and I think we only needed two of the three hints this time around and made it out within the hour.

Random decoration in the escape room place

After doing some more grocery shopping we made pea soup and played Hitster while waiting back at our friends place.

It was pea soup weather today. Even though it was warm during the day, it was really windy and it definitely felt like fall. It was a bit confusing since there were already so many Christmas decorations up at the mall.

Do you know the game Hitster? A German friend was recommending it, since it worked so well for the whole family. Basically you have a stack of cards with a QR code on one side that will connect you to spotify and play a song. You have to guess where the song belongs on your timeline (the release year, artist and song name are on the other side of the card). The goal is to fill your timeline with 10 cards. It’s so easy to understand and so much fun. The adults were singing along and even the kids recognized some songs and learned some old favorites.

I guess it’s more a card game than a board game? Do you like playing games with the family? Any favorites? I think this was a good compromise. I like playing all kinds of board games but not everyone in my family does. Since there was the music component there was lots to talk about that was not game related.

We did transition to play something together on the Playstation after dinner. The game was ‘Overcooked’ and you have to move cooks around the kitchen and deliver specific dishes. I am apparently incapable of understanding how to move my fingers fast enough on the remote. The little characters never do what I want them to. Oh well, at least I tried. Watching has its entertainment, too.

Long day on the road

It started really well. We left at 10am and had 4 hours to drive – I thought maybe 5 with stops. Little did I know that dust storms will close freeways. 9 hours later we arrived. Note to self (and everyone who will want to hear): Google does not know everything. Maps tried to send us on a dirt road over the mountains. It was all good until the real road suddenly ended and cars already came back telling us we should turn around (which we did). At least we were not the only ones listening. The good news was that we made it safe and sound to our destination in the end.