Birthday bash-

This weekend was a rehashing of our greatest hits. Saturday was rainy, so we went up to the technical museum in Sinsheim again. I did the crazy boat ride and the kids did some of the little amusements, then we briefly looked at the tanks and cars and airplanes. As luck would have it, they were having some sort of model train convention there. These were large trains, like 2 inch rails with a 18 inch long locomotive. Some of the trains were priced at $5,000. Crazy. I thought model trains died out in the states years ago, but maybe I just grew up and out of it. We did not see anyone under 40 there, so maybe it will not last in Germany either.

That afternoon we drove around along the Rhine on the Berg Strasse (Castle Road) and saw a few castles and drove through Heidelberg.

Sunday was my birthday, and the weather was threatening again. Since we still have a bit of a cough, we decided to not go swimming and hit Legoland. Again. I thought maybe they were losing money on us since we have been so much, but everytime we go we manage to buy more legos. This time, we justified it as "for my birthday." They have a great selection of pick-your-own blocks here, so we always see something we "need." The big news for this trip: Drew is tall enough to ride all the rides, including roller coasters! A month ago we swear he was too short. This time, he appears fine. I think our last event in Germany will be a trip to Legoland again.

Andi drove to and from Legoland, so I had a nice relaxing day. And a couple of their beers.

Autenrieder Hefe Weissen - Good.

Becks Green Limon - Light and fruity.

Lazy Sunday-

So this writing a blog entry every Sunday is starting to sink in...

Friday was the Fourth of July. We took a "bank holiday" to celebrate. The US military won't let US nationals on base here, so we were out of luck for organized activities so we carted food and beers over to Max-Eyth-See (a local lake) to grill out. When we got there, there were already a bunch of people out grilling and playing that traditional American pastime: soccer. While I patiently waited for a turn at the grill, I saw confirmation of another Germanic trait: a new group showed up and just took over the grill. They did not ask me if I was in line or ask the guy with food on the grill if they could share. They just started doing their thing. Anyway, the place was great. Man-made lake next to the Neckar river with Vinyards across the way. Some shade and room for frisbee and soccer. We invited toytown (english speaking german website) and one guy showed up with some crazy beer.

Thanks to a baby waking up at 1 AM and screaming for a few hours Friday, we once again did not make it to Munich on Saturday. Saturday was slow, with just a trip up the TV tower (Fernsehturm) and an afternoon in the park playing soccer near the biergarten (no beer!). Sunday was also lazy, with a trip to the Wilhelma (zoo) and potentially a trip out to see the Kung Fu Panda movie in English at the Corso in Vaihingen tonight. I saw Hancock last week (by myself) and it was ok. It is pretty depressing to go to a movie all alone, in my opinion, although beer with your popcorn helps. Becks Green Lemon.