I got to join Matt’s family for their family Bethany Beach vacation, which was a lot of fun!

We:

• Went to a carnival
  • Rode a gravity ride: standing, no security but gravity while your feet lose the ground
  • Mastered the swinging pirate ship
  • Did not cry
  • Just screamed a bit
  • Finally had the great stomach feeling again
  • Sat on a kid’s horse and received irritated looks
• Played (Surprisingly, I won most of the games, which turned me into the “star” for the kids 😉 )
  • Catan, Clue, 4 wins, Minigolf…
  • Pirates against girls (= Sarah and I)
  • Hide and seek
  • Water-sand-vehicle toy
  • A Video Game
• Walked the beach and the boardwalk
  • had good ice cream
  • A bonfire with smores (not me, just chocy & Grahams)
  • Beach photo shootings
  • Had a bird poop on Jaden’s shoulder (who was not amused at all!)

 

• Stopped by at the Rock State Park to see the waterfall on the way back
  • Took nice pics
  • Experienced exposing couple interactions
  • Had a romantic time
  • a lecture by the park officers

More pictures follow!

Time is running – in Lichtgeschwindigkeit – so I did not really get to write blog entries lately. Now, 4 days before my departure to the BIG adventure, I will take some time to report about the latest happenings.

My hosts took us camping! Their super cute granddaughter Kammy came along and their grandson Blaze joined us for 1 1/2 days, too, it was so much fun! However, it was not a hard-floor, bugfull, sleepless camping vacation! My hosts have a luxus RV with kitchen, microwave, 5 sleeping spots and TV, which enabled us to have a lovely family time in nature.

We went to the beautiful creek a couple times, rode our bikes a bit, had a camp fire with smores (not me though) and just relaxed. We had great weather and I had a great time chalk drawing rainbows and trains (or busses) on the road with Kammy! She even wanted to sleep with me in one bed, how cute is that?! She’s 5 years old and very talkative! Her 9-y. older brother Blaze is rather quiet and serious though but I really like both.

We made it! After a couple attempts to visit the Civil-War-history-loaded Gettysburg, we finally explored it. We went to a museum with a short film and 360 degree show, the Battlefield, Roundtop Mountain and we climbed the rocks to have a nice view.

Afterwards, we explored the city a bit and had dinner in the Dobbin House, where we dived into the Middle Ages. They serve old-spelled Sandwiches, Dishes and whole chicken parts in a dim-light, rustic atmosphere with waitresses in Middle Age dresses. It was neat!

Exciting weekend: First Friday, Gettysburg & flying LED Helicopters!

First Friday started with Olha and me recording “Radioactive” and “Numb” (Linking Park, not the Jay/Z Version) in Studio 117, which was fun! It is weird not to hear yourself only the music though, I fear I sounded terrible haha. I also got to play the drums again, which is so cool (but loud)! Afterwards, we explored Central Market, the Marketview Arts Gallery, where we met a nice lady from New Zealand, who played Irish piano music! I, as Olha’s promoter, of course advertised her so that Olha sang for her which impressed her so much, that she also wants to work with her! (But only if she can do Irish). #opportunities  Free Indian food, smoothie, Live Music & Cornhole at White Rose as well as Truth or Dare completed the fun night.

My first Baseball Game! In fact, my first live Sports Game ever! On Wednesday, Jo and Mike took Matt and me to the Orioles Game in Baltimore with their Life Group from LCBC.

I don’t know a lot about Baseball, but I think I got the Basic rules. So I could mostly cheer when I was supposed to. If not, just follow the crowd (but watch their team!) ;-). It was fun but very long, it started at 7 and when we left around 11pm they were still playing. It was fun though! And it is not something you have to follow all the time, people chitchat, walk around this huge space full of Food & Beer places, shops and play areas. 

In between, there are always little funny distractions for the crowd like animated sausage races on the screen or Kiss Cams! (I didn’t even know that those really existed!). The baseball frequently flies into the crowd, so better wear a hat! One time, a man caught the ball and threw another one of the opposite team in the field. Some people were not amused xD

Thank you for taking us, Jo & Mike!!

As we came back from Disney, FL, on Sunday, we got to spend Memorial Day with Jo and Mike’s family & friends. They came to our house to inaugurate our new Back Patio, eat great food and get together! I got to meet a lot of new, very nice people, kids and dogs – it was a party!

 

Kammy loves her brother Blaze, they are so cute! Tiny Kamden did a bunch of Kart wheels with her friend, the dogs had a blast  and everyone had a lot of fun!

Oh SNAP, it’s already his birthday! Not really actually, but Giuliano celebrated a week before so that Han can celebrate with us before she leaves to Vietnam for the summer.

We went to the fancy Heritage Hills Resort and spent time in the Restaurant downstairs with 90% Brazilians. After dinner, we had smooth Brigadeiro desserts & cake and fooled around a bit.

 

Matthew and I went to the Shewsbury Farmer’s Market recently and discovered some nice Amish shops and places! (Not hard if you stop at every single item). And of course, we bought Pretzels. Soft and hard ones. And bread. And orange juice. And (…) But not the colorful sprinkles, no. Amish sounds really funny to me, knowing English and German. It sounds like taking a German word, mix with 20% of English and pronounce it with a half Colonian, half Dutch accent and verniedliche everything in the end:

Guder Daag – Guten Tag – Hello

Guti Nacht – Gute Nacht – Good night

Sehn dich schpeeder – Bis spaeter – See you later

Ich bin arrig schlecht – Mir geht es sehr (arg) schlecht – I am doing bad

Sis kiehl – Es ist kalt (kuehl) – It’s cold

And, my favorite:

Die Sarah iss die Glapperbax am schpiele – (Die) Sarah spielt Klavier – Sarah plays piano