Day Trip to the Baltic Sea!

Thursday morning found us on the road to the Baltic Sea just after 9am.  It ended up being an absolutely wonderful day, though our morning did not allude to the great day to come.  Obviously, we left later than I would have liked, but what led up to our late leaving is something for Christian and me to work through.

On to the gorgeous, gorgeous day at the shore.  It's about a 2 1/2 hour drive from Berlin.  Once we decided to go ahead and go we got everything loaded up, Tate strapped into the carseat in the Mini Cooper and we were off!   It was a quiet ride minus Tate playing with his Leapster hand-held toys and reading his books out loud to himself.  I dozed on and off the entire ride;  I was just physically and emotionally exhausted.  But it was a lovely drive.

And O.M.G. freezing cold (to this Texas girl) when we arrived around 11:20 and got out of the car.  I only had on capri pants, a tank top and a thin sweater.  Thankfully I had brought one of Tate's warmer jackets for him, and we had towels and blankets.  Christian had about 2 sweaters, 2 jackets, a SCARF! and a pair of jeans for himself (ummm I missed the pack like we're going skiing at the beach memo).  I scampered off with Tate in the stroller to try to find a sweatshirt or jacket for myself in the gift shop right near the parking lot.

As soon as we walked in the store there was a turnstile that I had to navigate with the stroller (Christian was outside changing his clothes :) ).  3 very nice people offered to help by way of saying "Oh honey, is that thing going to fit through there?  Can we help you?"

AMERICANS!!!!!!!

In that 10 second exchange I felt so comforted, so content, so calm.  I felt like I had just seen my mom.  I burst out with "You're American!"  They said yes they were, and wasn't it nice to run into each other. And they wandered off.  I half-heartedly looked around the store for something to wear all the while pondering why that little interlude was so very important to me.  Even today, I am trying to understand why it stands out so much.

As I work through it, I think I was lonely, overwhelmed and I was just plain homesick.  And though Christian speaks absolute perfect English; he's not an American.  I had not seen another American other than my 2 year old in 8 days.  And I was in a vulnerable position with all that was going on with us, and I had the huge responsibility of this precious child of mine in a country where I did not speak the language and the culture is 180 degrees different than mine.  The past 3 times I've been in Berlin, I've always stayed with my best friend and her family...American, so though I would spend the days out in the city, I always came home to her, my fellow American.  To American food, to American television, to American ways of life.  And when I spent those 17 days traversing Europe in 2001 (France, Italy and Great Britain) I was with a dear friend, an American.  Even when I visited David in London in 2007, he had lived in the states for almost 20 years and had only returned 4 months prior and well uh...they speak perfect English in London.

So, that brief moment in time almost brought me to my knees, it meant so much to me.  

Christian found us in the store and we opted to try to find some lunch since it was obvious Tate was hungry and tired (he didn't sleep in the car at all!)  But first he showed me this sand extravaganza!!

We meandered around the pier, which was just gorgeous and navigated yet more steps down, then up to walk along the boardwalk in an attempt to find someplace with french fries for Tate.  I had brought along our usual staples of cheerios, pretzels, yogurt and milk. (sigh).  We stopped at the first cafe that offered fries.  I was surprised by how very kid-unfriendly all these places are.  No kid menus, no milk in kid-friendly cups, nothing for them to draw on while waiting.  It's the beach!  And there were kids everywhere.  I do not get it.

Here's Tate playing with his trains while we waited for our food.  As you can tell he was a bit grumpy...tired and hungry do not a happy Tate make!  Christian and I were not the happiest of two people either...we were also hungry and tired.

Sadly, the fries were crinkle fries.  Tate would have none of them.  Ugh.  We got some milk and yogurt in him, finished up our food and moved on.  I bundled him back into the stroller with his hippo and Sue-Y Bear in an attempt to get a nap out of him.  We walked and walked and walked (and warmed up!!!) for about 30 minutes trying to get him to fall asleep.  He'd whine, ask for me or something else every couple of minutes initially, frustrating Christian, but he finally fell asleep.  This is our view as we walked him trying to get him to go to sleep.

Finally...asleep!!  Christian and I re-grouped...he had been lagging behind walking a bit more slowly than I was pushing the stroller.  And we found a bench to sit on and just be.  

Exhale.

And again.  Exhale.

Because a toddler is alot of work.  A whole lot of work.  And Tate is a relatively easy child;  if he gets his sleep he's usually up for anything with minimal fussing.  Don't get me wrong;  he has his BIG TANTRUM moments, but he's really a sweet, cooperative, little boy.  And when someone is not used to that kind of 'on' behavior 24/7 it can be daunting.

So, we sat back and just relaxed, the two of us.  Just us.  We just took in the view, the calmness of the ocean lapping against the shore behind us and just reconnected in the silence of how much we do love each other.  And it felt just great.

We decided to enjoy the shore, the two of us, until the sleeping short person  joined us again.  We found a hotel restaurant that sold rotisserie type chicken with the hope that Tate would eat some of that, since he loves it here at home.  We got some fries, the non-crinkle kind!, as well.  We then headed out to wander

around.

I think this is just a great, great picture of Christian!

Walking through the sweet town.

Tate woke up a little over an hour after he fell asleep, and we decided to head out to the beach.  And funnily enough, I was having such a fabulous time, Christian and I were so relaxed and reconnecting that I mentioned that maybe we should go ahead and stay, not having anything with us could not be that big of a deal.  That's what stores are for!  We decided to go down to the beach and see what we thought after that.

Let me tell you...pulling a stroller through the sand is not fun.  Except for the person being pulled in said stroller enjoying the icee and french fries that were bestowed upon him...

And then the fun ensued.  Words are not necessary to see the joy, excitement, fun and love, absolute love on that beach between the 3 off us.  And I am so blessed to be able to witness how very much Christian loves this boy, and this day I was able to capture it.  How lucky is Tate?

LOVE

And then....

How much I love these two makes my heart ache sometimes!

 I love how he runs to me in the second one demanding "Mommy spin!" :)  We did let Tate go down to the water for just a bit and splash around as well as play with the sand.  But as is evidenced by him in his coat it was quite chilly and you can hear the wind whipping around in the videos.  It was just a bit too cool to stay on the beach more than the 45 minutes or so that we did.

It was just a fabulous afternoon and all three of us had a wonderful time, especially sweet Tate!

We packed up our stuff and decided to go back to Berlin for the night.  It was sorely tempting to just stay, but we agreed Tate would sleep better at home.  So we lazily returned to our car.  Along the way I took a few last pictures of this beautiful place.

We got Tate buckled in all grins and smiles and by 5 we were on our way home.  Once we were home Tate fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow practically.  At 8:30!

What a happy sweet little boy!!!