Monday to Monday!

SO last Monday was the first of a week full of beautiful days, and boy was I ever glad for that! Benji and I took a long walk in the morning and stopped by the post office to get some package paper and stamps. I'm trying to figure out what I should mail home before I attempt to come back with everything--it was too heavy coming here in the first place! We had a good lunch with Klaus, and he put the kid's seat on my bike at night. Mira's friend Anna came over and helped her cook dinner, and then we all hung out together for a while.

Tuesday was gymnastics again! The theme was "Luftballoons", so we had to blow up a bunch of balloons when we got there to play with. I was pretty much already tired of balloons since Benji's birthday was the Saturday before, so we still had them all over the house. Not to mention I don't like balloons in the first place...anyway. It was lots of fun. The teacher was talking to me about tattoos for a good bit of it. She said she wants her next one to be a snail...hm. She also said her husband wants a Snoopy...hm again. After gym, Opa picked up Benji at W.TH, and I ran back to Ungstein from there. It wasn't far enough, so I had to take a couple of detours. My key was sticking in the door, so we had to ring upstairs to this Opa. He came down to let me in and was just laughing--then he proceeded to tell me that door is difficult, especially is it's locked from the inside rather than the outside. I'm just glad there's a bell up to his lair! After lunch, I headed out to go to class, but my bike had no air in the tires! Luckily, Mira was in Heidelberg for the day, so I just took her bike because Klaus was gone at a seminar. I left class a bit early so Mira would have her bike to go to her mom's house when she got home. Sib was home late because she had some important meeting to attend, so we had dinner without her--some tasty tomato and cauliflower soup.

Wednesday was another beautiful day. We got some air in my tires first thing in the morning, and Benji and I headed out for a bike ride. We went into town to the supermarket and the shoe store and had lots of fun in both. It's so great to finally be able to bike anywhere with him as opposed to just being able to walk! After lunch and nap, we went to W.TH to celebrate Sib's 41st birthday! I baked a German Chocolate cake (it's not actually German--my mom sent the supplies from America!) and brought it over. Her parents, Lutz, and Angie joined me, Benji, Sib, Mira, and Klaus for tea/coffee and cake...only I just had water because of my fast! Lame. Is Easter here yet?! Anyway, I went back home with Mira and Klaus in Moritz's car. Moritz came over in the morning and borrowed Klaus's van to go get stuff from Ikea since he's moving. Let's just say riding in a tiny car with Klaus is hilarious! He hates "modern Autos", haha. When we got back, a couple of friends came over, and we had a big spaghetti dinner.

Thursday, we tried to go for another bike ride in the morning, but five minutes into it, Benji said it was "too windy" and that we had to go back to the "Hause", haha. So we just drove around on his birthday tractor instead. Opa didn't come this day because Heide (Klaus's sister/Peter's wife/Moritz's mom) was coming over to play in the afternoon. I left when he was asleep for class. When I came home, they were playing outside on the tractor once again! I went for a run while she was still there. I made a pretty tasty Asian dinner. Sib was late coming home because she was hosting a wine tasting for 45 Finnish men...glad I missed that one! We got a package from my mom for everybody--Benji's birthday presents and some treats for the others. Mom sent some Sesame Street tattoos, and we put on of Bert and Ernie playing soccer on his cheek! Sib got hot sauce from Tijuana flats. When we got home, she tried them immediately--even though it was like 10 at night and didn't go with the food at all! Nonetheless, she loves them.

Friday was another beautiful day. We played outside all morning, and Opa came to get Benji (since they didn't on Thursday) around noon. I had class a bit later, but it was a short day (as all Fridays are). I went for a nice run when I got home. Sib and Klaus went on a date to the movies for the first time in 3 years! So it was just me, Mira, and Benji at night. We had a pretty good time just hanging out, and I think Benji enjoyed having two young girls to himself! He's always, always pointing out girls everywhere we go...and I'm not exaggerating. He's such a ladies man already.

Saturday morning, I woke up early at 6:30 to go running with the sunrise. It was REALLY cold for some reason, but I warmed up halfway into the run anyway. I ran along the Weinstrasse because I wanted the sun to be on me the whole time! Robert came and picked me up around noon, and we headed to Speyer for the day with two of his twin friends. We had lunch outside and then walked around. We went to the Rhein and hung out for a while, watching some rowers and ships go by. I'm still determined to row on the Rhein one day. The bad part was there was a dead bunny on the shore, which I definitely didn't like at all! We headed back home after a couple of hours, but Robert got lost on the way back, so it took like twice as long to get home. When I got back I took a nap and woke up when Benji and Sib got home. We all got ready and headed out to dinner at an Italian place in town, which was pretty delicious. They're friend Christian (the motorcycle guy) was there by chance, as well. I mean, I guess it's not that crazy since there are only 20k people in this whole town. Anna met us there, and then her and Mira left to go to their friend Tobi's for a sleepover party (didn't know you could sleep over with boys at the age of 15!). The rest of us headed home later. I finally got to talk to Luke for a while, and then I crashed early in bed.

Sunday, I woke up before everyone, as usual. When Klaus woke up, he made the pancakes from the mix my mom sent for him! He loves these "American pancakes", as he calls them. We headed out just after 11 to a Bioland farm and forest about an hour southwest of here but still in the same region. We picked Mira up on the way. When we got there, we ate lunch at the restaurant and had some really good Flammkuchen. We set out around 2 to the forest and didn't come back until around 5:15 or so. There are all these rock formations jutting out of the mountains that are really cool. Apparently, they're well-known, and lots of free climbers come from all over the place to climb them. We saw some on one rock, and then Klaus told us a story about how he was climbing it 10 years ago and fell off. He was the first person in the group to go up, and the first person doesn't have a rope, so we got pretty messed up. We happened upon lots of farms and horses along the way and ended up in a random town that wasn't where we were supposed to be, so we went back the same way we came instead of finding the new route back. When we got back, we had some hot drinks, and then Sib and I headed up to climb one of the big rocks. It was an easy one, and the view was amazing. We could look straight down on the Bioland farm, and Klaus and Benji saw us. We all waved and then yelled through our hands and could perfectly hear one another! When we got back down, we checked out the farm animals, said our goodbyes, and headed home. We had a quick dinner when we got back, and then we all crashed in our beds shortly thereafter.

Today, I did a bit of cleaning in the morning. Benji and I went outside and, of course, played on the tractors (his and Klaus's) and in the trailer. Mowgli was driving the tractor for us while we were in the trailer! What a good cat. We also did a bit of coloring and making object out of paper (like clowns and dogs) from a book that shows you how to do them. Right now, he's sleeping, but he'll probably wake up soon, so I must bring this post to a close. The weather today is back to being overcast, windy, and looking like it's about to rain. No good!