Wiedenhof-German apartment

As I mentioned before, I am trying to add some extras to my blog to help those near where I live know some tips...
We are a military family stationed in Germany.  This is our 3rd week here. 
If you are military, you may know that when you PCS (permanent change of station-i.e.  move to a different base) you have a limited time to stay in the base hotel before being made to move out.  But, where do you go if you have not secured a home?  Or, where do you go if you have secured a place to live, but it is not ready for you to move into?
This is the place that we are at in our transition from moving from the states to overseas.  We were blessed to find a fantastic house our first weekend of house hunting and were able to sign a German contract on it to rent it.  BUT, we aren't able to move into it until the beginning of June.  Our 2 weeks in the base hotel was almost up so where were we supposed to go in the interim?
Well, there is a fabulous place in a village called Speicher called The Wiedenhof  Palace (pronounced Veedenhof). 
It is a place that offers fully furnished small apartments.  We are a family of 4 having to stay in a one bedroom apartment here at the Wiedenhof.  It is small, but functional and the staff is great.  They speak pretty good English and supply all linens to you, there is a laundry room in the basement for tenants to use, a small playground for the kiddos to play on, and an in house Greek restaurant.


The Wiedenhof playground

The attached Greek restaurant.  Open for lunch and dinner

 
They also have rooms that allow pets and there is a wonderful field and picnic area as well.

So, if you find yourself in the situation we were in and need a place to stay, the Wiedenhof Palace is an option.  You can pick up one of there pamphlets at the base housing office. 

Their website is:  www.wiedenhof-palace.com

Hope this is helpful to any newcomers or travelers. 

(I was told there is also a place similar in Bitburg called the Eifel- if I can find out more about it I'll post it).
(I was not paid or asked to endorse the Wiedenhof)

A new time...a new Country

So, we moved to Germany 3 days ago!  After months of preparation we are finally here!
Therefore I'm revamping my blog a bit.  I'll still include DIY items, recipes, and tips, etc.  but I'm also going to be including things to do here in Germany.  In my research I found a lack of information and tips for things around our area to do, especially with kids.  A lot of stuff is 'word of mouth' so I thought I would provide some things written down as we are living here for the next 4 years:)
Our biggest thing is adjusting to the time difference.  We previously had to do this when we lived in Japan but that was without kids. 
We are 6 hours ahead of eastern stateside time.  My biggest tip to adjusting to a new time zone is to keep your kids on schedule.  Wake them up at their normal time, or as close to it as you can.  keep the same sleep, nap, feeding, and activity schedule.  Get out during the day and get as much sun and vitamin D as you can to try to reset your body's system. 

 

We have been very blessed with a great spot to stay on our military installation, while we find a place to live, that is surrounded by parks.  the kids and I are in absolute heaven!

 

 

 Getting some sun and exercise has really helped with the kids adjusting to Germany.  They are still waking up around midnight and staying awake until about 3 a.m. but I still make them stay in bed during that time and try to sleep.  Each night their awake time is getting shorter. 

My best advice is to be consistent and things will fall into place after a few days.