Panzer and the "Beloved Stuttgart Wine Village"

September 3rd was still a work day for poor Chris, a 1/2 school day for Nick, and the Carson's - well we didn't know if we were "coming or going" given the jet lag, but we had a good tour guide and occupant in Shane.

We filled the day with errands to the nearby Army Post - yep we have decided that is going to be our "Schtick" since we our now out of the Army and yet we keep going to the posts we have decided that all future vacations will require a pop-in to the nearest Army installation. I guess we better keep our ID's (ha-ha yeah right!). Deakon made the first purchase of our trip at Panzer, go figure. He went all the way around the world to buy some Italian sunglasses in Germany on the US Army post. Be sure to look for them in later pics :0)

We spent the afternoon enjoying the day and company before heading out to the festival in downtown Stuttgart.











I should set the tone that until now we had not seen "Stuttgart the city" so I really thought it would be similar to the quaint towns we had seen along our errands etc., but in reality it is a beautiful city and very big compared to my expectations.

The city was vibrant and full of life. There happened to be a protest going on that day, not sure for what though. Nonetheless, the Wine Festival was calling our names for food, wine and experience. There were over 120 wine alcoves with traditional decor and they offered over 250 wines from the regions accompanied by some traditional German cuisine. I should note that they trick the tourists though with free entry which sounds great until you have to use the potty and well then that will be a small fortune as the night progresses.

The food was so good and sadly I didn't write any of it down to tell you what we ate so you just better go to Germany. Some of it was reminiscent of what my grandmother cooked and other items were knew to me. The best meal of the night ironically came shortly after the 1/2 meter wiener as we were making our way to the car. Yep that would be the Turkish Doner Kebab we snagged on the way to the car; OMG was it good and it was a family affair as was all the food for the night. Ah good times. 

To end the night, Chris tossed me the keys and I got to drive us home on the Autobahnen (to us Americans we say AUTOBON). Within minutes I had the Passat up to 115MPH - All I can say is EXHILERATING!!! I can report now that since we returned, Chris got up to 125MPH and confirmed our theory that the dashes turn into one big line the faster you go. Keep it safe "Mario Andretti" and thanks for the experience, I can check that off the bucket list!

September 1, 2010; and we're off...

The day we thought could not get here fast enough arrived and we were packed (proficiently if I do say so myself). Granny T. arrived the night before and we all took the kids to daycare that morning so we could say goodbye and she could know the route to pick the munchkins up later. We only called 3 times before making it to the airport which I think is pretty good considering the OCD tendencies I have (no need to list them all).

Austin check in and departure was a breeze and my anxiety wasn't too bad considering we recently discovered that our well laid plans of sleeping pills for me was a big backfire (let's just say Ambien amnesia is real!). Our flight was great and our check in with Chris and Sara while at the Atlanta airport was a hilarious lead up to what would be a terrific reunion for all.

We boarded the plane by 5PM Atlanta time and next time our feet touched land would be in Germany. According to Deakon my seat selection on the way over was less than stellar (middle row on a full plane), but I didn't mind too much. If you can imagine shortly after take off, the elder lady next to me pulled out the same book I brought for reading (The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo) so we instantly started talking and Agnes became my new BFF. Turns out she was 82 and headed home to Ulm, Germany for her high school reunion and was giddy with excitement. She had not been home to Ulm since she left shortly after the war and yes her stories of being a teenage girl during Hitler's reign were very entertaining as well as how she came to be in the US, but that's for another time. None the less, God put her next to me for a reason and I enjoyed every minute visiting with her and hope her trip was as great as mine.

A special note - Aggie and I were seated near each other for comfort and we were seated in those seats to be a comfort to the poor woman in front of us who was traveling solo with 3 children. Her kids were great the entire time, but there was one mishap. About 2 hrs out from Stuttgart, her 2 yr old daughter tossed her cookies so that was a little less than pleasant and again Aggie (new BFF) and I weren't bothered by it and tried to comfort where we could. Props to that mom for doing the travel so well!

SISKELL & EBERT AKA CARSON & CARSON MOVIE REVIEW Part I

1. The Karate Kid 2010 - totally different take on the original and recommended for kids, but pass for adults
2. The Bounty Hunter -  Poor Jennifer Aniston needs to stick to television and comedy preferred
3. Quantum of Solace James Bond - not for those of us who get motion sick easily, but Daniel Craig looks great and drives awesome cars

9AM Stuttgart, Germany time we land a little less perky than when we left 9hrs earlier, but we quickly perked up. We get off the plane and of course are cold b/c we left 98+ temps to arrive to 48 degrees and sunny, but it was so cute when we get into the airport and Deakon tells me to go look for Sara's face somewhere along the glass wall and sure enough she was there. Even now I smile because I miss my friend so much and seeing her waving so enthusiastically was heartwarming. Plus she had that little adorable dude Shane who is a super chill baby with the best skin coloring, but I digress.

We made the super fast trek to her house which is literally 20 min down the Autobahnen (yes the fast one with no speed limits) and settled in for food and catching up. They have a beautiful home with a garden so lush I swear Martha Stewart would be envious. But the neat part for the liquid connoisseurs is that in Germany instead of water deliveries they do beer and juice deliveries which peaked Deakon's interest quickly. Lunch was exactly what we needed to refuel before our afternoon nap; it consisted of fresh deli meat, delicious brots and fresh brochen and we washed it down with a cool beverage.

Same day just fast forward a bit and we have gathered more friends; Nick is home from kindergarten and Chris is home from work - woot woot! We walked that night to one of their favorite restaurants and dined al fresco on some delicious German cuisine and watched the airplanes take off and land at the nearby int'l airport.

Interesting tidbit, the Airbus 380 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airbus_A380) was doing some practice touch and go's there and when we finally saw that thing in the air it was like looking at a cruise ship with wings so clearly this picture does not do it justice.



What a great night to catch up with friends and experience some of their every day life.

Europe 2010 - finally, posting!!

As all of you (all 5 of you) know by now we went to Germany and Italy Sept 1 - Sept 10th and I am finally going to blog about it. Now you might wonder why it took me so long when others (um - Sara) have already posted and well that's b/c those Europeans got us Carson's sick and we have been ailing ever since we got home and it turns out our PC was sick too so although this may sound like excuses...well it is, but whatever, I finally got the darn PC working and I can actually sit up straight without the room spinning and well I am too damn tired as it is 10:10PM and I have to work tomorrow so consider this the warm up (ha-ha!)

No, really, we had an amazing time and will share some great pictures - it will just have to wait one more day :)

Thanks for checking though!

I am married to a PILOT... woot, woot!!

I cannot believe I missed this, wait yes I can b/c my kids take the biggest chunks of my focus and now that our pending vacation is on my mind I am cataloging every moment for fear of missing something (signs you need a vacation are abound in our lives, but that is another conversation!)

Deakon Carson is an amazing man. He has a study ethic that I am so envious of and so wish I had now and even back in college b/c when the man decides he wants something he gets it. He has been working fastidiously on his pilots license(s) for the last few years and on Friday he completed his IFR rating and he passed it on the first time in a twin engine airplane (for you flight enthusiasts you know that is impressive). We are so proud b/c you need to take into account that for the last few years he has been all of the following: husband, father, provider, Army Reservist, student pilot and friend and in that order so the fact that he did this in the time that he did and knocked it out of the park is AMAZING. If you see him, be sure to congratulate him b/c he earned it and we are so proud!!!

First day of school and NFL Sunday night returns

The weekend is wrapping up and although we did not get to go bowling as hoped, we had a lot of "quality time" with the munchkins before our big trip. There aren't any pictures to capture the moments sadly so I will do my best to paint vivid pictures of the few weekend blurbs.

• Saturday Deakon thought he would take the kiddos for a cool treat before lunch since it was 92 at 11:00AM, however Chloe was slow to finish so he let her take it on the road. Mind you I was not with them and did not know where they were since I was at a party in the AM, but I was pretty tickled when Evan comes knocking on the door and immediately says "I'm clean mom!" Soon after Deakon emerges from the car holding Chloe who has somehow managed to dump her entire ice cream float on herself starting at her head and went all the way down. Of course she is crying and screaming for her "shake" and Deakon is holding her an arms length out. The end result was Chloe getting dunked in the tub while Evan threw water at her to "get clean" and she cried the entire time and Deakon treated the carseat to a much needed bath.
• Sunday started out unassuming and looking like a good day to be a Carson. We went to church and Evan was so pumped to go he said "hello church" as we pulled in. We had a lovely social with our life group, and the kids went to their respective classed without incident, but then we headed home for what was to be the battle of bunkerhill all over again. Seriously, whoever said terrible 2's must not have survived to hit the 3's b/c it has brought me to my knees numerous times. Today was a battle of the wills and you can mark the score board with parents 1, kids 0. The only way to put a picture on it, is that all things not bolted down in Evan's room were moved out and me, mommy, made camp for about an hour outside his door until he finally fell asleep. I know there will be more days like these and they are never fun, but when your kiddo goes to bed and realizes his stuff is back in his room and he is so thankful is beyond words. He is a character, but we sure love him. As for Chloe today, she was rocking an awesome rockstar outfit and enjoyed some grilled chicken liver (gag!) with her daddy.

That brings us to Sunday night NFL and yes for all those enthusiast it is back baby. I am not an NFL fan, but I love college football and the fact that you literally have something to look forward to every weekend from now until the superbowl so bring it on.

Okay one more for fun

What is wrong with this picture? I mean we have Chloe with adorable pigtails sitting in daddy's lap eating something yummy and mommy behind the camera, but wait, where is Evan? Look closely people, the banchee is on the patio table ...NICE!!!

Let's catch up ...

It's been a busy and fast few weeks since I last posted and lots of fun stuff has happened. To start with, I went on a much needed girls weekend to San Antonio to see Michael Buble. We girls had a wonderful time and of course Michael was terrific, but the best part of the trip was all 3 mommies got to eat their delicious meals HOT and when they were set before us and we only had to pack for ourselves and we slept all night - it was AWESOME.

We dined at a terrific restaurant called Azuca that came highly recommended by friends and coworkers - 5 stars in my book. While there we did befriend some other local diners and thankfully we did b/c through their recommendations we had the best breakfast the next morning at the Guenther House - Make a note folks - if in San Antonio, TX you must have breakfast there!

I forgot to mention that a friend of mine surprised us with a Limo at the hotel to drive us around and what a wonderful treat it was; yep, we were sipping some lovely wine while we passed everyone else sitting in traffic and let out at the front door - yep that is another must do!

We had great seats and MB walked through the crowd to sing to all of the crowd.

After the girls get away, life went back to normal and the fun was then found in "daddy's backyard garden" and if a picture says a "1000 words" then you can fill in the caption as you see fit.

This is for Grandma Babs - Chloe still loves her frog and she rocks on it regularly and will drag it around to where she needs to be and this day she needed to be in the kitchen while mommy made dinner. She is so stylish!!!

Other fun stuff, Deakon went to NYC for this FIRST TIME on business - I was so jealous, but so glad he got to have some fun while away from the family. He was only there for 3 short days, but in typical "Where's Waldo" fashion he hit all the major spots to include a great chop house called Keen's where he enjoyed a great meal and got to listen to Ja Rule ask the waitress about espresso (insert Chelcy's paparazzi jealousy even if I don't know Ja Rule!).

Below is a view from his hotel, what do they say...New York's Finest, yep he got to see 'em every morning; thankfully this is as close as he got.

I am so proud of his eye for detail even if he did have the cool camera while the kids were at home doing amazing things that mom could not capture (ha-ha!). This is a great picture for sure!

"Where's Waldo?"

I think this picture is awesome too since he has a clipper ship sailing below the Statue of Liberty - kudo's again to the man behind the camera. For those that haven't been, this was taken from Battery Park while Deakon watched the comings and goings by land and sea!

And finally, we have closed out the last few weeks with a great and albiet fast visit from "ganpaw & gigi"...aka Tom & Cindy. I think Evan's shirt and face say it all..."My Grandpa Rules" Yep, just before "ganpaw & gigi" left they sliced up a delicious watermelon which is one of the kiddos favorites and they dove in head first.

And that's all folks. Enjoy until next time!!