Starting the celebration early!

It was starting out as a lonely Saturday. Not much planned - Chris is still on injured reserve as his shoulder is in immense pain (he is sleeping in the recliner) We went to the Mercedes museam during the day just to get outta the house. Again, I hate museams, so as Chris and Nick toured the cars, I caught up on some emailing. I sent an email to Farrah suggesting we join them for Church Sunday morning. She wrote me back saying she would be hungover - so maybe another time. Needless to say I was crushed. Where was she headed that me and my 18 pack of miller lite couldn't join!!?! Well.......

Its never too early to start the celebration right?? I was totally shocked Saturday night when Tate McCullough rang my doorbell. He was holding this sign with two balloons.

Around the corner came Farrah, Brian and Macy. Farrah said, "get dressed, we're going out!"

Ready to tear up some drinks in Neuhausen!

After two drinks, we decided we needed a little substance in our bellies. So after checking out the menu we decided NACHOS! Well, check out the plate - yup that is a bag of Doritos (old bag and the end of it) with a small cup of salsa. Of course we devored it, but needed something else.
That night we sat at the bar and watched it snow! We also chatted so loud that our babysitter heard us =) (the bartender never did - we had to shout at him!) She was at the same cafe and popped by to say hello. We felt so cool and trendy to be approached by a teenager in public!

We walked home around 10 (late night right!) to see what the guys were up to. I couldn't believe the munchkins were all in bed by 8:30. They were trying to show us up!

We made them play Apples to Apples - which I am still convinced Brian was being favored.

Chris is actually smiling in this photo. Can you see the tube sock heating pad?!? This one's for you Chelcy. Gotta love the home remidies!
The partying couple!

Farrah made fast friends with Pauli. Pauli (and Farrah) apparently were loving the attention =)

Shane woke up around midnight and was super excited with all the attention.

having a few too many miller lites always makes you want to break out the camera

Yup, you can bring a girl to germany - but you can't take away the miller lites - Thanks brian - what a sport!

That is the birthday girl (soon to be)

One more shot - or beer I mean Cheers to finding the friends that make life not only worth enjoying - worth being hungover the next day!

And its bed time!

Fasching! - its a week long EVENT!

Fasching is a HUGE celebration in Germany. Especially in our Town of Neuhausen. Its rather similar to Mardi gra in New Orleans - but maybe a little more kid friendly - maybe....

To gear up for the celebration, Nick dressed up Thursday, Friday, Monday in Kindergarden. They will have their own kindergarden parade on Tuesday.

The mom's of the kids got together on a week night to make their scare crow costumes. That night as I sat in the room with a handful of German wives I got a taste of what daily life must feel like for Nick. I have a general idea of what they were talking about. I followed along the costume making steps. They practiced their english with me. I wish I could put into better workds what that feels like. Maybe someday Nick will.

This was the first day of dress up

Fireman Nick - in honor of Grandpa Roy!
Can you tell he is pretending to have a hose in his hand?

Fireman Nick! Onto Texas Ranger Nick - this was his Friday's costume - but we will be using it on Monday since he never made it to Kindergarden on Friday. He was too sick and we hit the Doctor's ofice instead. He chilled the rest of the day Friday and ended it by watching the Little Mermaid (one of mom's favorite movies)

This morning he woke up using all his stored up energy! Its snowing again today - but we are getting outta the house! Even it that means dragging the sled through the downtown. Now its time for the Annual Neuhausen Fasching Parade as well as the newly chrisened Stone Party! Shannon, Bernie, Erin and Kristen decorated their home and cooked lots of goodies to start the day out right. They also had a great location to the parade. You could see it from their window (so we could sneak in if it got too cold - or wander back for more beers and a potty!)

Shane got to fashion his SUPER SHANE costume that was passed along from Evan Carson - he surely fills it out =)Nick requested a scary face.... GrrrrrrrrrrrThis is a photo of what Chris's hair would look like if he opted not to cut his hair.... ever......Onto the parade.... As I was looking back at my photos, I started to think that parade photos can start to look like those dancing photos. Fun as you are taking them, but kind of lose their luster as you are looking at them the next day. So I will try to spare you and only point out the highlights.

First - the Cabage men!Yes, they tossed out REAL cabage - sauerkraut - Bernie literally begged them to target Shannon. She was a good sport - but hid during the next parade. Smart girl!They had a band full of only ladiesThey had a kick line full of only men (yes, they are dressed like ladies - but I am convinced their kick line was better than anything I ever did in Cheerleading!)A viking boat!Even Frosty made an appearance.Nick, Erin, Eve and Anna were targeted numerous times for candy drop offs. This was a goat of sorts filling their pockets. I was VERY proud of Nick. He stoof in the front the entire time and was never spooked! i guess as long as Anna was by his side....Even a pig needs a beer every so often! Just a little song and dance to get you in the German mood =)

Tuesday was the Kinder parade. It was JUST as crowded as the regular parade and super cute (they just marched along at a bit of a slower pace)

Here is Nick in his scarecrow custome. His teachers did the face paint. Super cute!Nope - we couldn't scare away the wild boars
This costume was titled 'Virus' Maybe the HINI?Yup, even dogs got into the festivites. Whether they wanted to or not!

Here comes our little man! Here's a cute video. Let me know if your stomach can hack it. its tough work hugging your muchkin and filming at the same time. Odviously he was thrilled to see us, but motored on to the finish line.

Happy Fasching!

Super Bowl Weekend and Castle Lichtenstein

Superbowl is many things for many Americans - but for those of us living in Germany - it really means a LATE night. The kick off is 12:30AM! Yikes. Well - embrace it right?? We were lucky to have super super friends who were able to spend the night with us. Shane and Macy were out by 10, Nick and Tate were down at 11, Farrah made it until 3 and Chris, Brian and I saw it til the bitter end at 4:30 - Great game. Our hearts go out to you Peyton Manning! You will be back, promise!Shane is showing off his new cuddle suit from Oma Sue - warm as a bug in a rug!As far as Shane developments. He is still waking up 2-3 times a night. You would think his bellie is full -but maybe its time to move to the next level. We started with Carrots - YUM YUM. He actually ate them pretty well. The second time the spoon came close to his mouth he opened up! I was thrilled and I guess he is ready.

He is sitting better in the bumbo and loves the walker and excersauser. Its almost impossible to capture a Shane photo without getting a few extra chin rolls.

Here's Shane's lady friend Macy - She is teaching him how to sit up - obviously, he is having non of the lesson.

On the Saturday before Superbowl Chris and I went exploring. We need a few awesome easy day trips for when our friends and family come!

This is the Litchenstien castle. Its beautiful. They say at one time it was use as the back drop for sleeping beauty. Its only 40 minutes from us. It has a huge beer garden and ropes course (random, I know)
The castle is just amazing. Draw bridge and everything! Here you go friends and family, one more reason to visit the Leadbetters!We had lunch at the castle (I am still in search of the Swabian pork pot - this one was close...) Nick and Shane held hands threw dinner.

Back to Shane - yes, we still have those baby blues. No rolling over yet, but we think his bellie is prohibiting it (not adding to momentum)

Remember I sad he loved the excersauser??
Did you see this one coming? Nick has the same photo in a Jumperoo. its amusing just watching him as he runs outta batteries and just falls asleep.

Good night all!

From the bowling alley to Sensapolis

It was the weekend of the birthday parties! We started out with Eve's party on Saturday night at the Panzer bowling alley. She turned 5(featured in pink!) There were quite a few munchkins enjoying the evening together. I am surprised there wasn't a bowling ball on the foot incident.

As you have seen before - Nick LOVES to bowl. Well..... he really just loves watching the ball come back through the shoot. but hey, its entertainment right??This photo is hilarious - Farrah is trying to organize chaos, Brian is amusing Macy and I am loving the cake - Yum Yum!
Sunday we expirienced Sensapolis. Its a HUGE indoor play ground. Darion turned 13 and was super excited about the ropes course. Of course Tate and Nick could get enough of the ball room.

At one point I caught the two munchkins steeling the ammunition (foam balls for the air pressure gun) from a german kid. Of course Tate and nick thought he was a rude german - even stuff like that gets lost in translation!

This was a difficult photo to capture - but they LOVED the slide. Needless to say, the photo opt ended with me getting my ankles hit by the munchkins!

Climbing to exhaustion

Now sure if you can appreciate how high up this ropes course is..... I would say 50+ feet. Brian went up with Darion. Darion started first and absolutely raced through the course. Brain was left wondering why he was up there for moral support as he was the one behind!

Shane decided to strip down for the event - it was warm in there. They had quite a few slides in the space ship that Chris and I tried. They were very steep and caused me to scream a few times - it was really just to tell Nick I was coming...... ya right!