I think we were packed up on a Thursday. I could always check, I suppose, but I don't feel like trying to track down my phone to look at the calendar right now. So, we'll go with Thursday, Thursday the 22nd of August (sounds about right to me). Though, it probably is not of very much importance anyhow as all the days leading up to us hopping on the airplane for Canada are in one very big blur. For that reason I am very grateful that I stopped to take a few photos while in the midst of that crazy blur.
I will be forever grateful that we picked a moving company who packed our things for us. With such a tight schedule I have no idea how I would have done it all on my own. I did pack quite a bit already and we sold several things, and I had to organize the lingering items that needed to be given/returned to others so that they didn't accidentally get packed. Once the movers arrived I had to give a run down of what went and what stayed then they got to work. The moving company was an absolute pleasure to deal with. Very pleasant. Very efficient. And gave their very best efforts to entertain the kids while in the process. They set up an elevator outside our bathroom window that went to the ground and sent up the boxes. Our apartment was being packed in no time.
The kids and I hung around for about an hour before things just got a little too crazy and we venture out for a walk. Milayla and Atticus did not want to leave. We made it as far as the Rossmann before I admitted defeat and we went back, with bakery goods in hand to give to the movers. We hung around outside and chatted as Atticus demanded to go upstairs and sit on the couch. The morning was not going well for us, or at least not for the kids and I. I would have loved to take them to the back yard area and let them climb the ladder or play on the swing but I couldn't as that had been torn out and the ground flattened in favour of putting in a dog-activity playground. I guess the irony of that serves me right because I often joked that it sometimes felt like people cared more about dogs than children in that city...maybe there is some truth to it after all. So in lieu of the back area, the kids and I headed for the park and stopped to get what would be their last german Brotchen on the way. Brotchen is awesome. It takes forever for the kids to gnaw through and they love it.
Unfortunately, there was a downside to our pleasantly warm Bremen Summer - wasps. Lots of them. And those wasps love checking out food in any form. So we didn't last long before we headed back in time to see everything packed up and ready to head out the bathroom window and out the elevator.
The kids were so fascinated by the elevator and were practically glued to the window in Milayla's room as everything went down to the truck. We did manage to get them to sit down long enough to give Grandma a call though.
And before we knew it, our things were loaded into the truck and we were calling for the taxi to come take us to our hotel for the last of our time in Bremen. I've learned first hand, that empty apartments are way more fun for children to play in that full ones.
I must say, getting the kids to sit in full 5-point harnesses after riding in booster seats in the taxi has been a battle, especially when they are used to just the little straps in the bakfiets. Safety first, of course, but I'll be interested to see what kind of fun we get ourselves into once winter gear enters the picture.
By the time everything was sorted out at the hotel we were all pretty hungry and I really had to fight the urge to introduce our kids to McDonalds and we hopped on the tram and headed downtown to try a new restaurant that we had never been to. It was the best choice EVER. The restaurant was empty. The service was great. They had a ton of vegetarian options. And, the best part, a big play space for the kids to play while we waited for our food to arrive. Not to mention, it was nice being able to stroll downtown one last time because we knew the very full weekend ahead of us would not afford the time for another trip downtown.
We barely made it back to the hotel before we all fell fast asleep. The weekend ahead of us was full of a lot of errands. Thankfully, we had some visits with friends in there as well, so even though it was a very full weekend it was also very nice to see so many people in our last days in Bremen. We had a visit with Charmaine; lunch with Caroline, Ian and Harry; dinner with the Wekerle Family (Michelle, Martin, Henry & Niko), and a lovely little summer/farewell party with our church congregation. I am so grateful to have so many wonderful people in our group of friends. Can't wait for our paths to cross again soon!
The party at church had a large, inflatable slide for the kids and oh, how all the kids (and some adults!) loved that thing. The kids just adored this thing and would take turns taking Jason and I up it. Milayla insisted on going down the slide on her own. Her face is priceless. She has a very concerned look on her face as she is going down, then is all smiles as she reaches the bottom and is begging to go back up again.
It was fun getting time to spend with everyone.
We also managed to squeeze in a hefty final clean of the apartment as well. We aren't exactly messy people, but there was definitely some dust to clean up after everything was packed and loaded. Thankfully, we had some very enthusiastic helpers; some friends and the sister missionaries. It was lovely to have some extra hands to help out.
Sunday wasn't exactly the day of rest that we were used to. We were able to say goodbye to those that were there and it was really nice. Atticus was sad when he realized that his Primary teacher wouldn't be his teacher in Montreal (though he has really warmed up to his great teacher here, as well!). I'm a little sad that the picture I have is blurry, but you can still see them all - Atticus, Maria and Zoey.
I'm so glad that we grabbed a picture with Sofia as well. It isn't the greatest picture of us, but we are all there and I will have a picture to show the kiddos. Sofia is one of the sweetest, most thoughtful people that I know. She was also nursery leader to both the kids in the time that we were in Bremen. She was also a great friend; she reached out to me when we first moved into the ward and was always checking in. We loved having her over for visits, especially for Christmas and other holidays. We will definitely miss seeing her smiling face every Sunday at church.
After church, it was final wrap up time. We hunted down some food which led us to the parking lot which reminded us of the very first time we came to Bremen and got lost and ended up in this very parking lot. The kids didn't quite understand why I was taking a picture of them in a parking lot, but it even has the Messe in the background.
I snagged a picture of the library as we were passing it because I still can't get over the beautiful building that the kids and I got to go to every week to take out books.
And then it was on to the longest apartment handover in history - 2.5 hours. Yeah... after all that effort to clean the place the agent didn't even remark on the cleanliness. Instead we got charged for 2 missing keys (which were missing before we moved in, but in our naivety we didn't realize that was something we needed to put in the contract...ugh...hindsight.). Anyhow, our landlord had no qualms about the place and thankfully, the kids held up pretty well.
As we closed up the apartment to head downstairs, thinking we were done, we had one last picture. Milayla was exhausted and Atticus was so happy to finally be leaving that he couldn't even hold still..
Then it was still some time more downstairs before everything was actually done. The kids and I enjoyed the sunshine outside while we waited.
It was a packed weekend. Thankfully, despite pretty massive exhaustion, we were mostly all in good spirits. Though, after so many days in a row without naps the kids were prone to more melt downs than usual. I felt terrible as we had to just push through to get things done and those little ones just wanted a little bit of down time. Thankfully, it's done now! And we made it through! Yay!!!
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