Elmo.

Disclaimer: I forgot to mention that while in Mannheim, Robert and I were looking EVERYWHERE for a shirt with German text on it to get Valaree, but ALL of them were in English. ALL. We probably went to at least nine major and gigantic stores. Nothing to be found. Because of this, I am very disappointed but even more so confused. The funny thing is that half of the shirts didn't even make sense with what they said! The search continues.


Sunday night, we went out to dinner (for my first time!) in the town with Andrea and Stefan. Andrea is the world rower, and Stefan is the rowing coach. They came over for dinner once a few weeks ago for the fondue. We went to a place called Weinstube Fridrich, and boy was it ever so traditionally German! It was in an old building with an old couple cooking every meal. There were approximately six normal sized tables inside. Everything was just how you'd figure an old, traditional, German couple's home to be. The meals were equally as expected and also delicious.

I got to Skype with Andrew and Julie and played them in lots of Sea Battle...even stayed up pretty late just to do so! That game is seriously amazing.

Yesterday, Benji and I woke up, had some breakfast and a snack, started the laundry, and then walked into town. We got all the way to Weingut Theis Heissler, so we went in to see everyone for a few minutes. There's a cat there that I love, and his name sounds like the English pronunciation of 'pony'. Still trying to figure out that one. We walked back home in time for lunch with Klaus and Arved. Arved is a praktikant here at Isegrim-Hof. This means he's in his last year of high school. When you get to this point, they make you take two weeks to go experience working in a normal and real job. They feel that, without this, the kids will be dumped into society with no idea of the real world if they have simply sat inside classrooms all day and done book and busy work. I think it's a pretty neat idea, actually. He's a nice kid and has been with us since last Monday, so his last day is this Friday.

This morning, we had gymnastics, KleinerKinderTurnhalle? Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's it... Anyway, Benji had a blast! He kept wanting to go down the part that was made into a slide. At the beginning of class, the moms and me always make these big obstacle course for the kids, but Benji just loves sliding. He was cracking up every time, and it was making me crack up right back at him. Every time he'd get to the bottom, he'd jump up and say, "noch!", which basically means 'again'. This went on for probably 30 straight minutes. After, we went to Weingut Theis Heissler again to wait for the Opa to pick up Benji. Since my class was canceled, I rode my bike back home for another lunch with Arved and Klaus. Then, I went on a bike ride because today was a very beautiful day. When I got back, it was time for the supermarket! My favorite place. We went to the vegetable and fruit market first and then the big one in the big building. We spent about an hour grocery shopping. Awesome.

I also introduced Hoyt to Sea Battle today and beat him gloriously, but I'll give him some credit for two good games and a fair attempt at destroying my ships. After all, it was his first time!

I got a package today from my mom! It was probably the coolest. There was stuff to make muffins, which I immediately made, and some black beans and rice, tortillas, wraps, cook books, books for Benji, and Elmo in Grouchland on DVD! So I made black beans and rice for dinner with some red pepper, salsa, and quark. Benji loves the books on animals, colors, and first words. We then tried to watch the DVD, but every time we put it in, it said, "wrong region." WHAT! So we watched it in my computer instead. Everyone loves Elmo! We're watching the movie in increments over the next couple of days. I'm proud to say that Benji's first exposure to TV and 'characters' is Elmo.

Then, the rest of the mail came. I got a birthday card from my parents and a sunshine card from my mom. THEN I got a superbestfriendawesome card from Valaree. Thanks for making my day, guys!