Munich

Tuesday was an event filled day. After the kids came home from school we headed to Munich for an appointment at the US Consulate. We needed some closing documents notarized for the sale of our home in Utah. We left a few minutes late and then were stuck behind some slow traffic for a while so we were late. As we pulled up to the building Seth dropped me and the kids off so he could go and find a place to park. I guess he dropped us off behind the building. I was just going to step over the little gate thing that was there but then thought better of if when a man with a machine gun started approaching us. Another guard seemed to materialize out of nowhere and asked if he could help us. I said we had an appointment and he told us we had to use the sidewalk and go to the front of the building. When a guy has a gun, you do what he says. Especially a man in a military uniform with a heavy German accent.
The visit to the Consulate was pretty non-eventful. We signed the papers, but had to pay a pretty penny  for it. $50 a signature. Good thing we only needed four signatures notarized. You can do the math. I told Seth we should send the receipt to the real estate agent and make her reimburse us for it. I  don't know, can you make them do that? For all the money they make off the sale you would think it wouldn't be that big of a deal to her.
Then we needed to find a UPS drop location. Plus a place where we could buy an envelope and some tape so we could put it all together. Luckily we found that all on one street, right where we wanted to go sightseeing. After we found a place to park, we were trying to figure out the parking meter, (We realized we had parked right in front of a sex shop. We tried to keep the kids looking away in another direction.) and as we were loading the kids in the stroller a man that was walking down the sidewalk stopped. He just stood there looking at all the kids. It didn't bother me, until he turned to Seth and said something. Seth is getting pretty good at saying a few things in German and said he didn't understand. So the man said in English, "Little children are the worst kind of people." What??? We shrugged it off and went on our way.
We walked into the old town and saw some pretty cool buildings. The town hall where they have a super old glockenspiel. Too bad me missed the show by about half an hour. We were busy taping a label to an envelope. Then we walked over to a huge church to look around. After we carried the double wide strolled up the stairs we went in to find out they were having a service and there was no looking around. Darn those religious people. Who goes to church at 6:30 on a Tuesday evening anyway?
So we walked around some more. Some kids were tired and wanted to go home. Some kids were hungry and only one kid was actually enjoying herself. I had left the guide book I was so carful to bring with us in the van so we didn't even know where to go next. As we were walking we passed a little nut stand. Yummy. So we got some to share. So much easier than sharing just one ice cream cone.Grace decided she was done with the stroller so she got out. As we were strolling and munching on nuts we were deciding what to do. Our parking meter was about to expire...do we just go home, do we put more money in and stay for dinner? Do we want to eat in downtown Munich which will cost a fortune, do restaurants allow families with six kids in? As we were debating we realized that Grace had wandered off. There was an elevator from the subway by where we were standing and we assumed that she was on the other side, just out of sight. As Seth ran over there and saw that she wasn't there and that she wasn't visible in her little pink coat he started shouting. I was not too worried yet, but I was also trying to keep an eye on all the other kids so we didn't misplace another while we were looking for the first. Seth shouted a few times. I was thinking, "How do we even ask for help? Not everyone speaks English. I don't even know how to call 911!" I guess there were some people that pointed Seth in the direction they saw a crying little girl. So he ran off with Sariah and Arch. As they started running there were a group of "interesting" looking guys, (mohawks, tattoos, chains and piercings) that started running after them. I hoped they were trying to help and not take advantage of a very scary situation. I followed Seth with the stroller and Caleb and Ada. We got to the next little opening and she was still not there. Seth had started off in one direction. A lady approached me. She was holding a phone and I heard her say "kinder" "rosa jacket" and she pointed toward Seth and then said "man leuften" I said in English, did she go that way? At which point she replied in English. "The man ran that way." I asked again, "Did SHE go that way?" I wanted to make sure I was following the child and not the running man who may or may not be following the child. She replied, "Yes, a little blonde girl in a pink jacket. She was crying and running and I tried to stop her but she just kept running." A few seconds later I saw Seth carrying her back toward us. All was okay in the world again. It couldn't have lasted for more than a few minutes but it was terrifying. I have had kids wander off before but not in such a big foreign city. So scary. As I was putting Grace back in the stroller I saw the group of punks give the thumbs up and all head back to the park where they were hanging out. Of  all the people to jump into action it was the least likely, in my eyes. Just goes to show. I felt badly that I had judged them as they were the first to help.
After that fun time we decided we needed to sit down for dinner.
We headed to a brewery and ordered some authentic Bavarian cuisine. I ordered half of some poor old farmer's duck and Seth got the pork knuckle. It was expensive and the kids barely ate. Part way through dinner Ammon knocked Seth's expensive small lemonade (with no free refills) all over his pants and shirt. The old men sitting at the table next to us were playing cards and one of them had a little dog on his lap. Ammon was so excited. He loves dogs. I'm not sure the old guys were comfortable with all our children staring at them. I know I wouldn't be. The servers were kind and patient as we tried to keep our kids in line. After we were done one of the servers asked if all the kids belonged to us. We said yes. He just nodded. I was almost expecting a response like the man on the street gave us, but he just gave me a grin.
We left Munich, made it home about an hour and a half later and crashed into bed.
All the crazy anxiety I should have felt after losing Grace I have felt today. It's been a hard day.

(Sorry about all the typos, it's late and I don't feel like proofreading this thing.)