A Rainy Day and a Bike Race

While my family was in France we witnessed a few stages of le Tour de France (which is italicized so as to be said in a heavy French accent :P).  We camped road-side for about three hours outside of the town of Moydans.  Rain came and went and it was, over-all, a dreary looking day.  But!  That did not kill the "race-goer" spirit! No, it most definitely did not.  And what, you may ask, did we do to occupy ourselves for that seemingly-never-ending wait?  We did what anyone would have done ....

We played soccer.

Well, most of us played soccer, some of us had to watch from the van and criticize her siblings' awful technique.

Nearing the arrival of the racers, the caravan came by.  The caravan a.k.a.: car after car after car that throw food, candy, hats, and many types of cheap advertisements at you at high speeds. 

It was at this point in the excitement that we all learned ...

What death by sugar means.

A moment of silence was observed for this poor victim...

Among other exciting news: Bear met Eeyore.  He didn't quite trust him enough to look at the camera, though.  That would be inviting an attack.

And, finally, the big finale!  The fantastic finish! The moment that we had all been waiting for!

... That literally lasted a minute (or less) ...

But! It was worth the experience and lots of fun! :)

~RM

A Story Long Belated...

Last month, our home was blessed by the visit of some good friends from Hawaii.

Which meant that we got to 'show them around' ... Though, that can be kinda difficult when it's your first time visiting some of those tourist-y sites as well.  We had a ton of fun, though.

The Astronomical clock in Prague.

One of the places we visited for the day was Prague.  A beautiful city.  Once you get out of the subway station.  We have been quite spoiled by the cleanliness of Germany. 

For some strange reason I had a strong urge (that I supressed, of course) to poke him.  Or say something so amazingly clever and funny that he just HAD to laugh.

That would probably have got him fired though .... He must enjoy his job so much.

Oh yes.  This is my:

'WOAH!-I-think-I-just-may-have-zoned-out-for-the-first-half-of-your-sentence-please-repeat' look.

And the reason this lovely expression was caught on camera is because my father doesn't love me.

I am so mistreated and unloved.

And I am not even going to mention the photo that happened when my dad said, "Hey Micaiah!  You've got something on your nose."

Gullible?  Who, me? Nooooooo.

One of my favourite outings was the Nurnburg Zoo.  And I think it was one of Bear's too. :)

Ah, the joys of the petting zoo.  Little boys crying hysterically while running from some poor, misunderstood animal who only wants to be loved.  Attempting to feed one goat (are they goats? I don't even know...) while another, obviously pregnant and hormonal, keeps butting you in the leg.  An unholy stench. 

Yes, there is no place to equal it. 

And yet another individual that is obviously overjoyed with their situation in life.

I pity the fellow.

The dolphin show was tons of fun.  Besides the fact that we couldn't understand a single word that the trainers were saying.

Well, I take that back.  We understood the "Ja!" and "Nein" and "Danke" portion, but other than that, they could have been encouraging the audience to "Be sure and try this at home in your swimming pool!" or "Try this with your goldfish!  They aren't nearly as smart as these dolphins, but with the help of a low-watt taser they should be accomplishing these tricks in NO time."

Overall, it was a joy to host our friends here in Germany! (And we wouldn't mind a second visit *hint-hint*).

~RM

Campfires, Minor Internal Bleeding, Group-hugs and Simple Math.

This weekend was Crew 303's first camp-out.  Which happened to be my very first camp-out as well.  

And I am alive and (mostly) unharmed!!

Amazing, I know.

We camped at Camp Freedom in Ansbach, which is about two hours from Lupburg.  The weather was quite chilly both Friday and Saturday (it didn't rain, thank heaven) while Sunday was beautiful, warm and sunny.

  By the end of the weekend I had:  Learned how to tie a bowline knot and a few different hitches and lashings (which I can still tie almost a week later :D).  I 'helped' set up and strike a tent (depending on how much interaction is needed in order to be considered 'help').  Minor internal bleeding and a small concussion were the results of a very exciting campfire skit.  I was given both my Totin' Chip and Fireman's Chit (meaning I am now licensed to carry and use a knife, saw, and/or ax and start a fire .... kinda scary ;P).  I completed both IOLS and ILSC training.  We stumbled upon the fact that an aluminuim-foil ball and a campstool can be very entertaining.

AND, to round it all off, I made some new friends.

Ansbach Crew 97 + Hohenfels Crew 303 = The Big Cheese Crew 400. 

A.k.a.: Pure Awesomeness.

I had an amazing time and learned so many new things and I would gladly do it all again!!

~RM

This is the Title of my Amazingly Creative Blog Post.

Today I found that, suddenly, after my span of writer's block, I have so much to say.  So, here I sit, typing till my fingers are numb, thumbing through our thesaurus for acceptable adjectives, editing and uploading pictures, spinning in my desk chair and racking my brain attempting to fit the word "discombobulated" into my post somehow.  Yes, blogging world, I am back.

Over the past few weeks nothing very exciting has happened. Besides our trip to Italy.  So that is the purpose of this post.  To "sum up" our trip to Italia.

Day #1 was spent driving through the Alps.  It was about a six hour drive that took us around a bazillion (or seven) and a half hours.

Day #2 was spent touring Venice both on foot and in a gondola. It is a beautiful city, but both my mother and I agreed that if all the crowds would just disappear, then it would be even more wonderful.

Day #3 we didn't do anything big.  Just shopped at the market in Citadella (I bought some snazzy sunglasses that look VERY european *cough* :P).

And then there was "Cooking with Giancarlo".  My dad had arranged with Francesca (the owner of our rental) for Giancarlo to come over and teach us how to cook some real Italian food.  I learned how to skin a tomato. :P

Day #4 we went to Verona and visited Juliet's balcony.

Day #5 (our final day in Italy) was spent puttering around some of the smaller cities near Citadella.

Every three years there is a huge festival held in this town in September.  Everyone dresses up in medieval costumes and one of the many activities is the "human chess game" that they play here in the square.

^My Italian sunglasses :P^

Saying goodbye to (in Bear's words) "Italy's house".

Day #6 was our drive home with a little detour to Salzburg, Austria.  We got to visit several of the 'Sound of Music' sights while we were there.

This is a photo taken at the 'trick fountains' of Hellbrunn castle.  The trick fountains can be summed up as a 400 year old water park.  Abi was brave enough to volunteer for this activity and was rewarded with a shower.  See the holes in the benches?  Water shoots out of those holes when a certain switch is flipped by our all too willing tour-guide.

This is the music theater which is operated by water.  In the words of our tour-guide, "No pumps! No power! Only water pressure!!"

And then the last stop before home.  The "I am sixteen, going on seventeen" pavilion from The Sound of Music.  Unfortunately, they had the doors locked.  If that had not been the case I would have been jumping from bench to bench singing at the top of my lungs. ..... Maybe it was a good thing the doors were locked ....

~RM

Photo credits to my dad :)

That's It. Where's My Sharpie?

Funny story.  Today, while my family was out and about, we stopped at Vielseck's PXextra to purchase a few things that (amazingly) our PX doesn't carry.  During this shopping excursion I offered to hold Belle while Mom and Dad were making monumental, world altering decisions like which carpet to get for the living room.  I am all about self-sacrifice :P
  She and I walked around, made funny faces at ourselves in the mirrors, wondered how comfy those beds where, watched some Night at the Museum 2 on one of the flatscreens, and generally had good, sisterly bonding time.
  I got more than a few strange looks while walking around with a five-week-old.  And when I joined my family in line I met an elderly couple who were cooing over "my baby".  Our conversation went something like this:
Elderly woman exclaims, "Oooh look at the cwoot baby!"
I smile.
Elderly gentleman asks, "How old is he?"
I answer, "She is five weeks."
Elderly gentleman corrects himself, "Oh, excuse me, she.  What is her name?"
I reply, "Cristabel."
Elderly woman admires, "Cristabel, what a beautiful name!"
I smile.
Elderly woman continues cooing over Belle.
Elderly gentleman continues conversation, "Is she your first?  Second?"
Realization dawns.
I answer, "Fifth, actually." (hehe :P)
Elderly gentleman is taken aback, "Fifth?!!"
I clarify, "Yep, she's my sister, there are five of us." *Smiles at Mom*
Elderly gentleman and woman laugh.
Silence.
Elderly woman states, "She looks a lot like you and your mom."
Elderly gentleman agrees,  "Yes, very strong resemblance."

After having experienced multiple situations like these I have created a solution:

There wasn't enough room to write "for heaven's sake".

~RM

Bendy Straw vs. Spoon...Life is SO Complicated...

Case for Bendy Straw --

Pros: They are awesome and they bend

Cons:  They require very strong jaw muscles in order to end up with any shake in your mouth...

Case for Spoon --

Pros:  Holds a whole mouthful of shake and is easy to use

Cons:  Cool factor of about -2 and does not bend...

-- Before and after pictures of our Skyscraper at Winsteads.

~RM

Kansas City!!!

We have finally arrived!!  Here are just a few pictures of the Plaza...

~RM