Happy **th Birthday!

So, my beautiful wife had wonderful plans, as she always does, for my birthday.  Because my birthday was on a Monday, when I had to work and she had to be in school, we began celebrations on Saturday after Sid got out of class.  She told me to meet her with a jacket on and to bring my camera...

First she took me to meet our friend Evelyn for some yummy lunch at Alex: a really neat restaurant that overlooks the Alster (a big lake at the heart of town.)  If you come to visit, we'll take you there! ;)

Our friend Evelyn

After our yummy lunch at Alex, Sid took me shopping for sunglasses (my pair at the time was bust-ed!)  So we walked around the Europa Passage shopping center and looked for some sunglasses while Evelyn ran an errand.

After finding some super-cool shades for a reasonable price, we met up with Evelyn again and were joined by Lara.  We all went for a self-propelled paddle boat ride around the smaller portion of the Alster!  (There are two parts, the larger of which allows motor boats and the smaller of which is for sailing etc!)  It was SO much fun!  There was a pretty strong breeze, so it was a little nippy, but quite a lot of fun!

Our windy boat ride!

Our boat: Hugo! (I called him "Hoo-go" which all of you Lost fans will appreciate!)

We spent half an hour or so on the lake, having a ball looking at all the sail boats and swans!  On the way back, I found some more things to take pictures of! ;)  

And Sid decided to take a picture of me taking pictures!

After that, we met up with some friends to have a BBQ, but as it turned out, the place we were going to go didn't work out, so Sid and I went home for a relaxing evening.

On sunday after church, we headed out for another adventure!  We visited the beautiful town of Stade - about an hour from HH and one of the oldest surviving towns in the area (during the war, most of the downtown area of HH was destroyed, so you have to venture into the countryside a bit to catch a glimpse of old Germany.)

Town Square

A WAY-COOL cathedral we found in Stade!

So, these old buildings look kind of like the "antiqued" buildings in the states, only the were "antiqued" by time and not chemicals - crazy, huh? ;)

Sid by the cathedral

There were, of course, also beautiful natural things to photograph...so I did! ;)

Another Cathedral

This building was literally COVERED by these vines!

The very-old town hall!

This portion of town looked almost Parisian to me...

This is apparently someone's dwelling...

...as evidenced by their SATELLITE DISH!  This is the ultimate combination of ancient history and modern technology!

On my birthday proper, we didn't get to see each other until the evening, but when Sid came home, she brought yummy vegan Thai food! (Yes, we found a restaurant!!!) and we watched a movie together - all around, it was a WONDERFUL birthday weekend.  Thanks, Baby!  I love you!

For Mom:

We found a bookstore in Stade (closed, of course, because it was Sunday) that had a huge Eric Carl display!

Apparently, it's some kind of anniversary...

For Jared:

I thought you'd get a kick out of the  bicycle painted PINK!  Totally something I could see you doing!

I haven't taken a lot of pictures of it, because most of it's hard to get to, but there's a TON of graffiti all over HH - you'd love it!

For Dad:

They were doing construction on this building, and had apparently torn off a portion (which I'm sure is easier said than done) but take a look at the size of those beams - wild, huh?

Love and hugs to all, and to all a good night...OK, so it's really mid afternoon, but how uninspired does: to all a good afternoon sound...?

Until next time! :D