Kur

In fall of 2019, I had a conversation with a friend that went like this:

Nicole: "Sorry we won't see you for awhile, I am taking the kids with me on a three-week Kur."

Me: Consulting my dictionary - Leo is the best - Kur = Cure. "Cure?"

Nicole: "It's usually a three-week program, paid for by health insurance, to help parents who have burn-out, stress, or need extra support. The kids will be in school and kita at the Kur while I will be getting fresh air and taking lavender baths."

Me: "Are you ok?"

Nicole: "Yes, it's preventative."

Me: "Are you sure you're ok?"

I thought to myself, "Wow, that's great. But three weeks away from Paul would not be restorative." 

Fast forward to now, and this is how fast I was driving to our Kur.

187 km/hour = 116 mph

You don't have to be too deep in my inner circle to know a couple things have changed since 2021. This mama is no longer in the, "Kur as prevention" but more like "Kur as intervention" camp. Thankfully with the help of a Kur consultant, we were able to find a place that would allow to Paul come along to help. We even got a discount for having three or more kids. It would be 1200 Euros/$1370 for Paul if we had 1-2 kids, but 600 Euros/$685 because we have three. Some places we looked even let you bring another adult for free if you had more than four kids.

Paul took a lot of photos of the kids in the back of the car because we thought they were adorable. But all our friends in the US are probably like, "yeah, that's what our life looks like everyday."

Carmen slept the entire 3.25 hours to Zingst on the Baltic Sea north of Berlin.

Crosby enjoyed showing Hugo how to use his water-wow (coloring book that uses water instead of markers).

The sticker-by-numbers sticker book. (Thanks for the recommendation Anna.)

Crosby was the last man standing. Our last road trip in the states we listened to The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. We couldn't get the next book in the series at the library or in English on audible so we're getting into this Spy Series.

Our clinic had this spot open up six days before check-in. As such, it wasn't possible for Paul to completely clear his work schedule. But, he was able to rearrange his meetings to join for meals and our time-slots to use the pool. He also already had some scheduled time off as he was supposed to be at a reunion with his college friends this weekend. Sniff. I asked him to make the plan for our free Saturday and he found this gem.

Forest strip with rascals = Kind of like Vegas strip with college friends?

Sadly this epic slide wasn't open. But, cold weather = no crowds. So I'll take it. These tree top walks are the jam. Speaking of which, we had to stop at another one of our favorite spots along the way for Crosby to get a Corona test before we could go to any public places - restaurants, nature walks, etc.

Corona test for Crosby - check. Hugo in his happy place at Karl's Strawberry Farm - check

The major win of the day were these slushies AKA "A little piece of Tropical Islands". The plan for Crosby's upcoming birthday was for him to head to a water park with Grandpa and Abuela while I was in Sacramento for Connor and Ashley's wedding but alas, Omicron foiled those plans. PB^2 with the help of Grandparents are trying to find ways to make Crosby's birthday still feel special. A little taste of Tropical Islands helps. Paul got the worst brain freeze of his life - again, just trying to bring a little Vegas to Germany.

I've finally finished all the mountains of paperwork and I have my schedule for next week to work on my mama skills. I'll have some exercise classes, some observation sessions with one little Biggs, a massage, as well as some free time to really work through this book and gather strength for the big and small challenges ahead. I'll circle back with a recap in February.