Yesterday was Pioneer Day -- something of a holiday (official in Utah, unofficial everywhere else) for the Mormons. We celebrate the entry of the Mormon pioneers into the valley that forms what is today Salt Lake City. Although some members of the church today are direct descendants of those who walked to Utah in the 1840s and 1850s, many others have traveled different trails of faith. Pioneer Day is thus a day to remember the original Mormon pioneers but also to reflect on individual pioneer heritage.
We drove an hour to Kaiserslautern to attend a church-sponsored Pioneer Day picnic. Calvin found some horseshoes to play with (thankfully they were plastic).
Looks like he got four ringers. It must be the impeccable technique!
Baby Sara enjoyed being a lady of leisure.
Look at those teeth!
We ate lunch -- hot dogs and hamburgers along with chips, deserts, and lots of tasty side dishes.
After the picnic was over, we drove to Ramstein Air Base to go to the "mall". They were having a blood drive so I stopped in and they took some blood. I donated blood pretty regularly when we lived in the States (the Red Cross would come to work so it was easy) but this was my first chance to donate blood in Germany.
The blood donor center was based out of nearby Landstuhl Regional Medical Center (LRMC). Many of the soldiers wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan are flown to LRMC for treatment. Hopefully my somewhat-rare AB+ blood will find a good home in another AB+ body (people with AB+ blood can only donate to another person with AB+ blood -- Wikipedia has a compatibility table).
After the blood donation was over, we wandered about the PX for a while (the boys wanted to played with the Wii) and then we headed over the bookstore to find some early reader books for Oscar.
Oscar liked several of the books in the Magic Tree House series. They seemed to be on his level so I bought a group of 16 (gently used) on eBay when we got home -- it was a lot cheaper than the bookstore.
This got saved as a draft and then I forgot to come back and publish it. So here it is a month too late...The boys got me some Snickers for Father's Day.
Oscar made me a "shirt" at school.
Here is a video where he tells me all about it:
Calvin made me some hands so I would always have a hug.
Tomorrow afternoon, the German soccer team plays Argentina in the quarterfinals of the World Cup. Prior to the 2006 World Cup, the German rock band Sportfreunde Stiller wrote a song that has become something of a fan hymn for the Germans. The title of the song was "'54, '74, '90, 2006" (Germany won the World Cup in 1954, 1974, and 1990). After the 2006 World Cup ended with Germany losing to eventual champion Italy in the semifinals, the song was reworked with a different title: "'54, '74, '90, 2010". Here is a YouTube video that shows the band performing (lip-syncing) the 2010 edition of the song during the congratulatory party that Germany threw for the team in Berlin following the conclusion of the 2006 World Cup. The words (with a rough translation in brackets) follow the video.
Vierundfünfzig, Vierundsiebzig, Neunzig, Zweitausendzehn, [54, 74, 90, 2010]
Ja so stimmen wir alle ein, [Yes we all join in]
Mit dem Herz in der Hand und der Leidenschaft im Bein [With the heart in the hand and the passion in the leg]
Werden wir Weltmeister sein. [We will be world champions]
Wir haben nicht die höchste Spielkultur, [We don't have the best playing culture]
Sind nicht gerade filigran, [We're not even lacy]
Doch wir haben Träume und Visionen [But we have dreams and visions]
Und in der Hinterhand die Masterplan [And a master plan up our sleeve]
Für unser langen Weg aus der Krise [For our long way out of the crisis]
Und aus der Depression [And out of the depression]
Lautet die Devise: [The slogan is now:]
Nichts wie rauf auf den Fußballtrohn. [Nothing but the soccer throne]
(Eins und Zwei und Drei und) [(One and two and three and)]
Vierundfünfzig, Vierundsiebzig, Neunzig, Zweitausendzehn, [54, 74, 90, 2010]
Ja so stimmen wir alle ein, [Yes we all join in]
Mit dem Herz in der Hand und der Leidenschaft im Bein [With the heart in the hand and the passion in the leg]
Werden wir Weltmeister sein. [We will be world champions]
Die ganze Welt greift nach dem goldenen Pokal, [The whole world reaches after the golden cup]
Am Kap der guten Hoffnung versuchen wir nochmal [At the Cape of Good Hope we will try one more time]
Wir als Gast in Südafrika [As guests in South Africa]
Wird unser Traum dann endlich wahr? [Will our dream finally come true?]
(Eins und Zwei und Drei und) [(One and two and three and)]
Vierundfünfzig, Vierundsiebzig, Neunzig, Zweitausendzehn, [54, 74, 90, 2010]
Ja so stimmen wir alle ein, [Yes we all join in]
Mit dem Herz in der Hand und der Leidenschaft im Bein [With the heart in the hand and the passion in the leg]
Werden wir Weltmeister sein. [We will be world champions]
Beim ersten Mal war's 'n Wunder, [The first time it was a miracle]
Beim zweiten Mal war's Glück, [The second time we were lucky]
Beim dritten Mal der verdiente Lohn [The third time was deserved reward]
Und nächste Mal wird's Sensation [And this time it will be a sensation]
(Eins und Zwei und Drei und) [(One and two and three and)]
Vierundfünfzig, Vierundsiebzig, Neunzig, Zweitausendzehn, [54, 74, 90, 2010]
Ja so stimmen wir alle ein, [Yes we all join in]
Mit dem Herz in der Hand und der Leidenschaft im Bein [With the heart in the hand and the passion in the leg]
Werden wir Weltmeister sein. [We will be world champions]
Vierundfünfzig, Vierundsiebzig, Neunzig, Zweitausendzehn, [54, 74, 90, 2010]
Ja so stimmen wir alle ein, [Yes we all join in]
Mit dem Herz in der Hand und der Leidenschaft im Bein [With the heart in the hand and the passion in the leg]
Werden wir Weltmeister sein. [We will be world champions]
