This idea is from Melanie: She suggested that people leave memories -- whether happy, sad, embarrassing, whatever -- as a comment. The memory can be about Luke or I, it doesn't matter.
Here is how you play: 1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember! 2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments.
Luke and I decided to fight the madness this year. We had been told the the fireworks show in Houston is amazing and that it was supposed to be the 2nd best show in the U.S. behind only Washington D.C. We debated whether it would really be worth it to join 100,000+ people just to see some cool explosions, but we decided that we'd try it out and see. We decided to get a hotel close to the park, so we could walk there and walk back without having to fight traffic. GREAT IDEA... I can't imagine how long some people waited in traffic that night.
The celebration itself was a lot of fun. They had concerts by some pretty famous country music stars such as Miranda Lambert, Jo Dee Messina and my favorite, Sara Evans. We also got to see a bit of a volleyball championship, which was very entertaining as well.
The fireworks show was amazing! It lasted about 1/2 hour and it really was cool. We didn't bring the camera because the flyer said they weren't allowed, but when we got there, everyone had cameras...so I wished we had just brought it. We could have got some pretty fun pictures.
I'm not sure if we'll go to all the trouble again next year, but we had a great time. An extra plus was that the weather was great! Not even that hot!
The next night we had Heather and Troy come up for dinner and we did a cheese fondue. Luke's favorite way to celebrate a holiday? With cheese!!! We had a good time and Eva showed off her standing skills. I think she's going to be walking here in just a few weeks -- I can't believe she's old enough already!
Windmills on the way to the Schopau Chemical Plant. Germany has many, many windmills
Week 2
During the second week of training at Leipzig there was some intense class room work, I was even more exhausted this week than the first week, but the activities made it fairly exciting.
Rafting
One of the rafting groups, in a little bit of trouble
On Saturday we went white water rafting on a man-made course. I wasn't sure what to expect, because rafting on a real river is pretty awesome. Turns out, this course was perhaps even better, there were level 3 to 5 rapids, and they were in quick succession. This course is used to train Olympic athletes, so the intensity of the course can be varied by adjusting the water level, thus increasing the flow through the course. My group did pretty well, we only lost a few people in the rapids.
The course with the water shut off
And with the water turned up a bit
The crew in the full rafting get up. I think I may wear this outfit to work when I get back . . .
The Germans liked calling us to attention while we went over rapids. Apparently this is the safest way to hold your paddle when you are not paddling.
Trip to Porsche
The mothership has landed, and the view is great! This is the Porsche Leipzig reception center.
Tuesday night we took a trip to the Porsche manufacturing plant in Leipzig. Turns out the plant also has a world famous test track too, which we got to use. When we arrived at Porsche, they had cars on display everywhere, I have never seen so many nice cars all in one place. After a presentation from Porsche they announced that we would all get to ride along with a professional driver on the test track in a Cayenne Turbo, Porsche's off road vehicle. Not only were these guys professional drivers, they were all professional racers, one of which won Tokyo Drift, the biggest competition in the world for "alternative" racing styles. After the test drive, we had dinner in Porsche's sweet reception center and got to see some of their special cars. I will let the pictures do the rest of the talking. . .
Some of my little friends
They wouldn't miss just one . . . would they?
The Porsche Cayenne Turbo, aka. "The Scream Machine"
A little video showing the drivers taking one of the more visible turns on the course. This turn takes your breath away, or scares you spitless.
Dinner at Porsche
Cutaway of a 911 Turbo, I'm glad I wasn't there when they did it
I think I had a matchbox car that looked like this . . .
I would like to take this one to the test track
This is a $250,000 Porsche that I kind of got attached to, but I couldn't get it through customs
