Kickstart Summer

Once again, I have been negligent but that just reflects how busy things have been! A nice and much appreciated change of pace from the winter months. 

The first thing I'll inform you all about is the Showtanz party. It was at the end of June and was so much fun. It was a lot of work for Anja and all the dance groups helped out as well so that included me. It was my final performance with LaBoom and it was on our own turf. The party was in the Florianshütte which is a wooden hut on the edge of the woods in Ramersbach that people can throw parties in and whatever else. It was all decorated and it looked great. It was a shame that by the end of June it was still so cold but a good time was had by all regardless. Dance groups from all over came and performed as well as all the Ramersbach groups. They have this show every summer so the Showtanzgruppe can sort of debut their dance for the next year's Karnival. This year their theme was Rocky Horror and the dance was so great. Their costumes are awesome and I really think they are an up and coming group in the area. It's very exciting. 

Everyone in the dance groups had duties throughout the night and during mine it seemed that I was only needed behind the bar so that is where I stationed myself. After a while, I realized that my shift had been over for a while but I was having so much fun back there helping out and getting to talk to and meet new people. As I drank more, of course my German got better and I spent the rest of the night jumping back there when I felt like it and helping out. It was so much fun. 

Dancing with LaBoom

This was right as the showtanzgruppe started their einmarche to start their dance. You can see the crazy looking people with the glow sticks sprinkled in the crowd. This was taken from the stage looking out onto the rest of the place. The bar was in the back left corner there and the kitchen with all the food we served are the windows on the left wall in the back. 

Also at one point in the night, we did a flashmob that was so much fun. I learned the dance in one day and jumped in to do it as well. It was such a blast. 

This was the end of the flashmob when we all got on stage. I'm on the left with Anja and Nina is on the right side. 

The next Thursday was the 4th of July and of course Tina and I decided we needed to have a party! We made tons of food and had some people over and it was a nice time. 

I was really proud of the fruit salad I made...

We both were. 

Benni was the appointed grill master for the evening.

And therefore got to be fed by Andre

Things got a little weird with the decorations. 

We had sparklers but no fireworks. 

Tina and I got really excited about them :)

The party ended with smores, the jankiest smores Ive ever had but it was still nice. 

Of course then we had to play some flippy cup. This was very dangerous with German beer I will say only that much. Bit Burger is no natty light.....

It was a really nice party and I'm happy that we did it. 

That weekend, I had been invited to coach the youth Lacrosse camp at the club in Köln which was an interesting experience. It was really hard with the language barrier as I did most everything in English. They were more there to have fun and not really to learn but with 16 teenagers it's hard. There were only a couple that were really into learning and playing. It was all Saturday and Sunday so it was a long weekend in the sun but full of lacrosse so I enjoyed that. Saturday, I had a teammate from DePaul come coach with me! She's in Frankfurt for the summer and came for the day and it was so great to see her and coach with her. 

Julia and I by the Dom

We accidentally stumbled into the gay pride festival on our way to look for dinner. It was a crazy weekend in the city, little did we know!

These are all the kiddos that Brian and I coached.

That week, I went with Oma and Florians sister from Berlin who was in town and her husband with the kids to the Sommer Rodelbahn, which is basically a little luge tucked in the hills about 20 minutes from here. It was a fun time and the kids really enjoyed it. I got to ride with them as well and with them driving, we went really fast!

That weekend was Anja's Dirty 30 and she had a huge party planned and it was a great time. There was yummy food, lots of beer and sekt and it ended with Oma and Opa dancing the night away to some house music which was great. 

It was a beautiful sunny day and a really nice party. 

Das Geburtstags kind (birthday girl)

Liv loved the decorations

Me and Tina enjoying the sun. 

The following day, a friend from middle school came to visit! She was studying in Frankfurt for the summer and wanted to explore so I invited her to see small town Germany and it was hilarious! We went on a walk and stopped to enjoy the sights of the Eifel and then I took her to the Halfen Hof that night and she really got to see the essence of Ramersbach! It was a nice night and the next morning before she set off to Düsseldorf she got to see Ahrweiler as well. 

So the summer has been great, if only the weather was better!