The calendar claims...

...that it was the fourth of July, but it feels a little different when not living in the US. To make up for lack of fanfare, we took a trip to Stuttgart, Germany to visit our good friends.


We had such a great time with the perfect mix of sightseeing and staying home doing our favorite things together...such as eating good food, playing games and watching So You Think You Can Dance. Sounds like the perfect weekend to me! Oh, we also had fun acting out parts of our favorite dances...


Aside from losing Clara's booster seat in the airport (don't worry - we found it) and having a blow-out diaper just as we were to go through security, the flight went well. After getting settled and seeing their beautiful apartment we grabbed an ice cream cone and headed to a local indoor market. It was huge and amazing. Meat, cheese, fruit, spices, fresh pasta, bread and many other specialty stands were everywhere (along with a TV playing the current World Cup game). We had fun wandering the aisles and selecting food for "abendbrot" that night.

The next day we walked downtown on our way to the train station. We saw an antique market and passed by a park with a lake. Clara wanted to look especially European today - well really, she just stole my sunglasses since the sun hurt her eyes.


Then we trained (in an un-airconditioned train) to Bretten where there was a renaissance festival. Apparently the whole town comes together to put this on every year and everyone was dressed up in authentic looking costumes.


We had fun wandering around and Clara had fun being a mother hen to Fiona - which was a role she relished and Fiona perhaps resented the entire weekend. You'll see more pictures just like these...

However, due to the heat and perhaps the Germany World Cup match, it wasn't as happening as we had thought. I don't think this deep fried piece of food was the best ending to the festival either.

Once on the platform to take the train back into Stuttgart, we looked back and saw a huge ferris wheel. Hmmm...how come we never saw that at the festival we asked ourselves? After asking around we realized that we had only seen a small part of the festival and had missed the entire city center. We were too discouraged by now to go back so instead we looked forlornly at the ferris wheel as we left. Of course we still had a lot of fun and it was more a humorous mistake than anything. The train ride back was equally humorous. Megan managed to get Clara out of a pouting session with a funny imitation routine.


Then Jonas finally got Fiona to kiss him:


and he looked so pleased as he told his dad all about it!


For the 4th of July itself, we had a great BBQ. There was a crazy storm the night before and it had been raining on and off all day. When it looked like a break in the clouds, the guys set out to grill the meat. Turns out they only had time to get the grill set up before the rain started again so they got to do it like this.


We finished the day with fun games and delicious dessert. Plus an angel food cake eating contest between the couples. Can you guess who won?

Our last day was spent in Heidelberg.


It was quite a bit cooler so the train ride was very nice. We enjoyed wandering around the castle grounds. And Clara enjoyed following Fiona around some more - I told you this would be a familiar sight...



Before we left the castle grounds, we found this stone wall with a perfect picture taking spot that was a little high off the ground. It took a lot of convincing to get them all in there and even then, I only have a few pictures where Clara's worry isn't written all over her cute face. I think they turned out really cute though and the kids were all good sports.


Before heading home, we enjoyed a delicious German meal at an outdoor cafe downtown.


As we trained back, Clara had a comfortable nap. She must be her father's daughter to be able to sleep anywhere and in that position!


That night Megan had a fun game planned in honor of Clara's birthday along with a yummy ice cream cake. Unlike her actual birthday, she was even able to blow out all 6 candles without the wind interfering. It was a fun last evening together.


It was hard to say goodbye for all of us. It was a great Hendrick-Osterhout American Independence Day Celebration Abroad (as we liked to call it)! We can't wait to do it again.