Ellie's Visit from Germany

This summer Ellie came to visit us for a month from Germany. Ellie became our au pair when Nastya left us unexpectedly. Ellie was already in country and was in transition from another host family with only 5 months left of her au pair year. We had to find someone quick since we needed help and Katelyn was barely two weeks old. We couldn’t be happier when Ellie arrived. She was a great help with new-born Katelyn on a heart monitor and a super jealous 2 ½ year old Ashley. Ellie returned back to Germany in December of 2009 after Indira got here. We loved the five months that Ellie spent with us and were very excited when Ellie asked if she could visit this summer. It’s been a year and a half since she saw everyone.

When Ellie arrived here, it was as if she never left (other than the kids being older). It was cool to watch her get to know the “big girl” Katelyn and our four year old going on 13 Ashley. When Ellie left Katelyn was a little baby, and now she’s a walking-talking toddler monkey girl! And Ashley’s changed quite a bit as well; she talks like she could be a teenager, she likes to have long conversations, and is very particular about her clothes. She can also write and draw real pictures of stuff.

Ellie came here with a suitcase full of food for us from Germany, everything from pounds of chocolate for me and beer for Mike, to German mulled wine, canned corn and even bread! It was like we got a taste of Germany right here in our house! Ellie had a long list of foods that she wanted to have while she stayed with us so she kept me busy cooking up her favorites, including cedar plank grilled salmon, Thai curry, chicken fajitas, chocolate chip pancakes, breakfast turkey sausage patties, just to name a few! Apparently, in Germany, they don’t have frozen yogurt, so that’s another thing that Ellie missed a lot.

We spent an awesome month with Ellie. We went to the beach, peach picking, birthday parties, swimming to neighbor's pool and to see my mom. We all enjoyed her company, and I especially appreciated all of the help Ellie provided with my house projects. Thanks to her, we now have a new powder room on the first floor! (More about that in another post) And I think Ellie enjoyed being here as well, besides having fun with us, she also got to do a lot of shopping! Also, another au pair, Geli, who watched kids one town away was also here during the time of Ellie’s visit. So, it was like an au pair reunion. Ellie and Geli were friends before, and now they got to see each other again!

Ellie left to go home right after Natalia arrived here. For a weekend, we had three au pairs in our house – Ellie, Indira and Natalia! When we went to drop off Ellie at the airport, Geli came along as well! Wow, four au pairs in one minivan! We definitely made some great memories!