Our first weeek home

Time really flew by while we were home, and now that we're back in Germany, maybe I can start to figure out where 3 weeks went.
Once I got through the $100 name change on my ticket fiasco, we arrived safely and comfortably in New York on July 5th. As I said in my last post, it was so very kind of my aunt and cousin Elizabeth to come pick us up at the airport. Our first few days home, it was visit, visit, visit. Then, well, it all became a blur. I know sometime, maybe Wednesday, we headed to Riverhead on Long Island, to go to the outlets. Joern walked out of Williams-Sonoma with an entire cart full of grilling tools and pans all 50% off! We left with two more pieces of furniture for the house too, both again from Restoration Hardware.

The Camden 11 Drawer Dresser
for our room.
AND

The Hutton Extra Wide Vanity Sink for the children's bath.
Both pieces, of course, were scored at an incredible discount. Hurray!
We went to a lobster dinner cruise out of New London, CT on our first Friday at home. It was a really enjoyable evening, and something a little different. I haven't been out on the water since our whale watch two summers ago, so I was really happy to spend a few hours sailing out on the Sound out towards Fisher's Island, New York.
We went out on the Mystic Whaler, which is a schooner. Although we certainly didn't have a schooner growing up, it was enjoyable to feel the familiar rocking along the water with the wind in your hair.

The weather was perfect for the three hour sunset cruise. It was so beautiful!





During the cruise, we also enjoyed a delicious dinner of Rhode Island clam chowder, steamed lobster with cole slaw, and cheesecake with coffee for desert.


The whole evening was really relaxed. The captain was very cool, and all the people working on the boat were helpful and easy to talk to. On the way back in to the harbor, the crew sang some songs as the sun set. It was so fun!
Joern and I liked it so much, we have even talked about going on one of their 4 night cruises!

Saturday became a crazy day. We started off at a sports bar to watch the Germany- Uruguay in the 3rd place World Cup game. It was fun, and something different. Germany won, which of course, made the experience even better :)

On our first Sunday home, we went to my aunt's house to watch Spain beat the Netherlands and claim their first World Cup title. Then, while my cousins and I enjoyed our Aperol Spritz, we met up with my aunt's brother and wife. Unfortunately, we did not have too long to chat with them, because we then had a cookout at my godparent's house with my dad and sister. We enjoyed good food and even better company.
Looking back, I guess our first week was filled with finishing up last minute furniture shopping for the container that was to come the following Thursday. Unfortunately, we found out it was not meant to be, but that's a story for our second week's recap!