So Many New Experiences

It was a little nicer out this week so I feel like I was able to come out of hibernation and explore a little bit! This week I got to see my first pinewood derby, met my first Mormon missionaries, and had my first German adventure. It was a crazy week/weekend!

Amy and Jeremy had to work overnight in Stuttgart and the boys were off of school the next day so we stayed up late and made a big bed of blankets to watch a movie.

They really wanted to make it dark like the movie theatre, popcorn and all.

Kayla joined us too :)

Friday was warmer out so we decided to go for a bike ride. Whitney has got it made riding in this little seat all bundled and fully equipped with snacks.

The boys stopping for some "fuel" just before they decided to lead us into a huge mud pit. They thoroughly enjoyed watching me get all flustered about my muddy tennis shoes. Aiden soon followed by wiping out into the mud pit, but we all decided despite the rain and the mud this wasn't the worst bike ride because it still made for a good story.   

That night Amy, Whitney and I went to a nice restaurant by the lake for some of the best schnitzel! 

If you don't know what schnitzel is, it's basically a fried piece of pork (right?). Mine had onions, two eggs and hollandaise sauce on it...with potatoes & a couple glasses of wine. It was so so SO good! This is how I'm going to tempt people to come visit me...I will take you here. Ugh, I'm hungry just thinking about how good it was.

On Saturday, the boys had their pinewood derby races. Aiden was very enthusiastic, as you can see, cheering on his little car. 

Aiden getting his first of two trophies. He was in the youngest group but actually got first out of everyone. He was so proud! 

Connor setting his car up and a proud dad making sure this lady doesn't sabotage the race, which she did! Connor ended up first in his group and second overall. The Cates took first and second, watch out.

The missionaries from their church came over for dinner that night, three 20-something yr old guys. I'm seriously going to be the Mormon expert by the time I'm done here! 

Sunday I went into Heidelberg because it was such a nice day. Amy dropped me off at the castle so I wandered around there for a while. This is a view of the city from the castle. 

The cable car you can take up and down the mountain to get to the castle. 

This seemed to be the main square, not sure, but it was surrounded by shops and little outdoor cafes packed with people. If I had more time I would have posted up for a while. You can kind of see the little crepe shop on the left corner where I stopped for lunch. This is part of the Old Town, a really cool place to walk around!

The famous monkey? I figured I should get a picture.

View from the Alte Brucke or Old Bridge overlooking the river.

The Old Bridge

My crepe. So good.

While I waited for my ride, the sun started to set over the river. Perfect end to the week.

It was of course Super Bowl Sunday, so we had a mini pre-game party with buffalo chicken dip and drinks. The game wasn't going to come on until early morning so we decided the pre game was good enough and went to bed.