April & May - Visit back to the US

March 30 – Barb (our neighbor from Houston) came for a visit for a week.   I took her on a train trip to Salzburg where we did the Sound of Music Tour.  This is my third Sound of Music Tour.  I think I can almost give that tour now since I know all the jokes they tell.  In Munich we went on the Hop on Hop Off bus tour; Olympic Park, where we went to the top of the tower and that is where Barb told me she didn’t like heights (I guess that would have been good to know before we got to the top) and the famous Hofbrauhaus.  Barb and I went to Neuschwanstein by train, which is the inspiration behind Disney’s sleeping beauty castle.  Jay and I took her Rothenburg.  Rothenburg is a medieval town from over 1,000 years ago and it is still surrounded by the original walls.  The streets are mostly cobble stone paved streets and we went to the top of one of the churches.  We found a great shop with some reasonably priced cuckoo clocks. 

Neuschwanstein

Rothenburg

April 6 – I left to go back to the states today for about 7 weeks.  Kevin graduates from college in May and he is getting married too.  I went to two showers for Mandi when I returned to the US.  Jay will come to Houston at the end of April for business and for the graduation and wedding. 

April 22 – Jay arrived for a few days in Houston, before he headed to Chicago for an NFPA meeting and to see his mom and family.  He came back to Houston on Friday, and then left for Baton Rouge on Monday for a survey of a chemical plant.  He was at the plant on our 30th anniversary.  We are planning to celebrate after we get back to Germany by going on a Scandinavian cruise.  He flew back to Houston Wednesday evening before we left for Rolla, MO on Thursday for Kevin’s graduation. 

One of the first things we did when we got to Rolla was to try to clean out Kevin’s room at his fraternity house.  He had lived in it for almost 5 years and I don’t think he cleaned it the whole time.  There was a dumpster near the house and I think we nearly filled it.

May 8 – Graduation day!  Amen!!!   That night we took everyone out to eat at Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse in St. Louis for dinner and had a GREAT meal!!!  Our original plan was to go on a river dinner cruise, but the Mississippi River was at flood stage and all river boat trips were cancelled.   Jay’s mom and my parents also came for graduation.

May 9 – I flew back to Houston and Jay flew back to Munich for a week of training.  He then flew back to Houston the following weekend and was in Houston for a week.

May 17 – Tonight was the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner for Kevin and Mandi’s wedding.  The wedding will be at Heather’s Glen.  The rehearsal dinner was at Mama Juanita’s.  There were about 50 people and we all enjoyed the Margaritas and fajitas.

May 18 – Kevin and Mandi’s wedding day.  The weather was perfect!!  The groom even got there on time, which was amazing since he didn't get home to take a shower until about 4:15 and we needed to leave the house by 5:00.  The chapel setting was beautiful and the reception was in the hall next to the chapel.  They looked very happy and everyone had a great time.