Revenge of the Doner Kebab...

To the man (or woman) who thought President's Day should be recognized as a national holiday... I thank you now. I am especially thankful for President's Day because for some unknown reason the Army always recognizes our civilian "3 day weekends" as "4 days." This "4 day" was especially productive as you will see in the following blog. Please enjoy!

Friday: House cleaning, sleeping in, walking dogs, trip to the PX followed by impromptu tour of IKEA, Chinese Dynasty, McDonalds, and Burger King (Chad's newest and proudest achievements thus far in Germany include remembering how to get to specific "landmarks" without the use of TOMTOM (GPS), which also means that he MUST take me to each landmark and I MUST respond with excitement and enthusiasm), made Julie's Jello (my family will without a doubt know what this means) for Valentine's day dinner, friend's birthday party at their flat.

Saturday: sleeping in, making coffee cake (added twice as much milk as necessary and forgot an egg... but miracuously... it tasted good), snuggles, house cleaning (again), dog park, Valentine's Day Dinner (spinach salad, enchiladas, Julie's Jello... delicious).

Valentine's Day in Temporary Housing!

I tried folding heart napkins... that skill apparently left me after the age of 13.
JULIE'S JELLO! No more needs to be said.

Sunday: woke up early because our friends talked Chad into going to church, went to church, decided to go for a drive to Esslingen to watch the Fasching Parade (German Mardi Gras). I will elaborate more later...

Esslingen is a small town about 15 minutes from downtown Stuttgart. It marks the beginning of the Swabian wine trail and was once a walled medieval town. They are now known for their Gothic Church of Our Lady (see pictures).

Gothic Church pictured above.

Chad, myself, and his beverage of choice... Fanta.

Our good friends... Kendra, James, & Daisy.

Chad and his favorite meal... the Doner. For more information and opinions regarding the Doner, please read this blog.

I knew I had to deliver an image of the Doner eventually and here it is folks. Shaved mystery meat w/ cheese.... uhuh.

And if you're not already thinking how cooky these Germans are... please view these few photos from the Fasching Parade...

Wow, they sure are family oriented in Germany. KID FRIENDLY TOO!

They say American children are
desensitized but look at that pirate kid in the background... totally un-phased. Does anyone else find these masked creatures (some even kidnap you and run you down the street) frightening? Craziness.

Sunday (continued): napping, leftovers, bedtime.

Monday: sleeping in, driving to PX (two times this weekend), test driving a new car, grocery shopping, eight loads of laundry, movie, sleep.

It's amazing how much two people can accomplish in four days.