Graduation and Memorial Day Weekend ...

It has been a busy past few days for us. First, and foremost, Vic is home!! His graduation from WLC was awesome! He learned a lot, and had a good time (even though he won't admit it), but he is glad to be home. 

Elliott and I drove to Grafenwoehr for the ceremony, and it ended up being a beautiful day - but so hot! Eli did great the whole time, even through the smoke bombs and grenade launching.

This is the entrance way that the graduates walked through ...

Previously mentioned smoke bombs ...

Very dramatic ...

Vic is nowhere to be seen in this picture, and actually, I didn't see him the whole ceremony ... but this is during the recital of the 'Soldier's Creed' ...

Again, no Vic in this picture ... but this is the 'NCO Oath' ...

Elliott patiently waiting ...

After the ceremony ... so happy to be back together!

Love this picture! The crazy kid in the background spent the whole ceremony kicking me in the kidneys and pulling my hair. Karma came back to bite him when he flipped backwards off the bleachers, and cried for 20 minutes. I can't say I felt bad for him ...

Vic opening his graduation present from Eli. Look how chunky he's getting!!

The next day we decided to take the short drive to Wurzburg. The weather was perfect, and we had a great day. 

Fountain outside of the Wurzburg Residenz ... we went on the tour of this castle, but there were no pictures allowed. It was pretty amazing though.

Another shot of the Residenz ...

Gate leading into the castle gardens ...

Statue in the garden ...

Fountain with the interesting trees ...

Residenz and the gardens ...

The boys hanging out in the garden ...

This is from the Cathedral and it was so beautiful. I'm always scared to tour churches because they are so quiet. At any moment Eli could have a meltdown, which would send blood-curdling screaming echos through the place ... ruining people's prayers and what-not - but, like always, he was on his best behavior.

For those in Indianapolis ... this is the real Ratskeller!

This is from the Saint's Bridge ... which is apparently where they filmed part of the recent Three Musketeer's movie. I only know this because our waitress at lunch referred to it as the 'Orlando Bloom Bridge'. Side note ... the movie sucks.

One of the saints ...

View down the bridge ...

I think Elliott had enough sight-seeing at this point ...

 Today we went to the lake here in Schweinfurt. This is my new favorite thing, and probably the closest thing to the beach that we will see for awhile.

View of the lake, and Eli working on his tan ... 

These may be my favorite pictures of these two. So cute.

We went to the doctor this week and E is doing great. He is in the 91st percentile for height, which is shocking considering that Vic and I are both vertically challenged.

We are going to venture to the swimming pool in town tomorrow. Since Eli loves the bath so much, I can't wait to see how he does in the pool! I'm a little homesick missing the Indy 500 and my little brother's high school graduation, but it's nothing a little fun in the sun ... and a German dessert ... can't cure!

My run-in with the Belgians ...

Well, it's been a pretty boring couple weeks without Vic around. The weather was amazing for a couple of days, and then turned back to typical Schweinfurt. We finally found out that we were moving in July, then found out that we are not moving at all, and now it seems that we could be moving in October. I've decided that it will probably change a couple more times ... so, stay tuned. I have found that with the Army, no move is certain until your household goods are on a truck.
Last weekend we were able to drive a couple hours east to visit with Vic. He is currently at a Warriors Leadership Course, which is a pretty big deal ... in my opinion :) He is working really hard, and doing great on all of his tests, presentations, etc. Anyway, we spent a few hours hanging out with him - shopped at the PX, and ate lunch at a cute little Greek restaurant. We will be going back a week from today to see him graduate, so that should be exciting. It was Mother's Day, so I was just happy to be spending it together as a family!
I did get slightly lost on the way home, and accidentally drove onto what appeared to be a firing range, which was occupied by the Belgian Army. I was following our crazy GPS and ended up deep into the woods, then the paved roads turned to dusty roads, then those roads turned to gravel ..... annnnd, then the road disappeared. At this point I stopped to get my bearings, and to my right were several men shooting large weapons. To my left were signs that read, "Danger: High Impact Zone". Perfect. But, the ultimate sign that I was in the wrong place was when a man in full sniper gear ... ghillie suit and all ... crossed in front of the Jeep. Now, I'm fairly certain when sniping practice is taking place ... the public is not welcome. Just as a few Belgians were starting to take notice of me, I was able to quickly reverse and make my way back to safety. As I was driving back towards post, I was certain I was going to be pulled over, and Eli and I would be detained for coming across some secret foreign territory ... we had seen too much! I have never been happier to see the Autobahn and I raced, as fast as the Jeep allowed, back to Schweinfurt.

Dusty tires from the Jeep's first off-roading experience ...

Whenever Vic is away, I try to send him a picture a day. I have manage to get a few pretty good ones ...

We've added bubbles to bath time, and Eli is a huge fan.

I love this picture because he looks so cool ... just chillin' in my Bumbo seat ...

He has finally started acknowledging the dogs. He will reach for them if they come near him, and loves when Lola lays next to him. I think Roscoe preferred being ignored, because after he got his ear pulled - he has kept his distance.

He's still at it with the burp cloths. He will laugh for hours if you put on on his head. Weird, but at least he's easily entertained.

Speaking of entertained, Mimi Heath sent us a couple Baby Einstein DVDs and he loves them. He will either sit in front of the tv or swing, and will watch them two or three times through. This is great news for me because I am able to get so much done around the house. It is also bad news for me because they are horribly annoying, but - I'll take the good with the bad.

Picture from Mother's Day ... after we got home from visiting Vic!

After Vic's graduation, we will be able to drive home together, and that will start a four-day weekend. We are planning on visiting Wurzburg and Munich. Munich will be by train, so that should make for a couple interesting stories. Either way, next time I should have some great pictures to post!

Sunny Days are Here!

It is finally nice in Schweinfurt! With the exception of the past two days, it has been rainy and grey, the weather has been beautiful for the past week and a half. Last weekend we went to the zoo, and  at almost 80 degrees -  we were loving it! We walked the zoo, got some ice cream, and found a little outdoor restaurant.

You can tell from Eli's face below that he was thrilled to be there ...

Since the weather has been  so great, Eli and I have been taking little walks every morning. We go outside of post, and walk along these trails that run behind a German high school.

It's so nice to not have to bundle him up anymore. I love the two pictures below ... the hat took some getting used to for him ...

We're still working on the whole 'tummy time' thing, and he'll last about five minutes before he starts screaming.

His new obsession are his burp cloths ... he loves them, and always seems to have one in his clutches. If you are rocking him, he has to have one to fall asleep.

He also watches TV with them ... (they are both really into whatever they were watching) ...

Sleeps with them ...

Swings with them ...

Gets way into snuggling with them ...

He also makes hats out of them. I walked into his room and found him like this after a nap ... hilarious. I keep trying to offer him the nice comfy, silky blankets, but he wants nothing to do with them.

Vic is getting ready to leave for the month, and our house was taken over with Army gear this week. We will miss him, but I'm excited to see him graduate at the end of the month!

Here's a video of Eli's latest trick. I wouldn't call it 'rolling', it's more like a flop ... but I'm sure the real thing is coming soon! This is my first try at using a video, if it works, I'll upload them more often.

We were going to head to Wurzburg this weekend, but the weather kept us stuck around Schweinfurt. Last night our neighbor friend, Jennifer (whose husband went to AIT with Vic) babysat Eli so we could go to dinner. We ate at an Italian place, and then got a couple drinks at the smokiest bar in Germany. It was fun and so nice to get out! Jennifer did great with Eli, I'm pretty sue the dogs gave her a more trouble than the baby!

Anyway, Eli and I don't have much planned while Vic is gone, but I will update this thing if anything exciting happens!