Freeze! Put that camera on the deck...

Last night I took a bike ride to get out of the house and take some shots of the Heidelberg sunset. I'm not overwhelmed by the pictures, but it was nice to get out. I rode down 535 not too far from the A5 on ramp. I rode up a pedestrian bridge to get a nice view of the sunset, set up my tripod and put on my headphones (and lit up a Cuban cigarillo). I must say the smell of freshly irrigated fields in the Spring does an Oklahoma boy good (wheat, no less!).
Next thing I know, an MP (military police) has pulled up behind me and is telling me that "they" had gotten reports of "an individual illegally taking pictures of a military installation". Heidelberg is chock-full of America's finest and they are obviously on high alert. I quickly swallowed my camera's CF card and told him I wouldn't be taken alive. Just kidding. The guy was really polite. I promised him I wouldn't take pictures of the base (wherever it is) and he was on his way.

By the way, with the long flights and relaxing day yesterday, I've listened to more music in the last week than I have in the last few months. Yesterday I almost made it coast-to-coast through Pink Floyd's "Animals". That one'll take you back...

Thought I'd throw in another few gratuitous shots from yesterday. Is it just me, or does Robert (who's 8) already look like a teenager? We're seriously considering feeding him less nutritious food.

Brutality in the skies...

The flight back from Orlando was brutal. I arrived in Frankfurt at noon or so on Friday thoroughly stomped by the 10 hour experience. We picked Sophia up at school, grabbed some quick lunch and I was out like a light. I slept most of the afternoon and all night. Saturday was a pretty slow day. I took the kids to the park and then read.That's right, I'm reading two books (I may be the worst read person on the planet). Between The Catcher in the Rye and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, the fragile pretzel that is my mind has been wound significantly tighter. I had never read the former but just finished it today and loved it. I really did. I'm not kidding. (It killed me if you want to know the truth). I had read Fear and Loathing on a flight years ago, straight through (without blinking, I believe). What a short strange trip it is.
Anyway, today we decided we'd go to Thermal Schwimmbad. The management of the same showed utter disregard by our plans by failing to open today. We decided we'd try the Schwimmbad in Walldorf. As much as I love Thermal Schwimmbad, the Walldorf joint blows it away.
Firstly, there's a pond in Walldorf. There's also a great pirate-themed play area for kids that's fairly well closed off. On the other side of the pond (literally), there's a big pool with a huge slide. Add a reasonably good snack bar and Italian restaurant, and you've got the makings of a sure-fire Prickril hangout this summer.
By the way, all three in our brood seem to be locked in a mortal battle with concrete. They're all sporting pretty nasty road rash from separate incidents. While the girls may end up wearing camouflaging hosiery the rest of their lives (unless I spring for cosmetic knee surgery), Robert can take some solace in the fact that chicks love scares.

Greetings from Orlando...

While I'm glad I get to come to the States once in a while (especially to spend Euros), I can't figure out why I only make it to "plastic" cities like Las Vegas and Orlando (my apologies to folks who have different opinions about these cities).
Anyway, the flight over went pretty quickly and the trade event I'm attending has been pretty mellow so far. The weather couldn't be better so I'm looking forward to getting some fresh air tonight.

As promised...

A few more pics from what I consider a banner day in Schwetzingen.

Mucho HDRs...

Spent the afternoon in Schwetzingen taking 4 gigabytes of pictures (and I have a mild {German} sunburn to prove it). For those that aren't computer literate, that's a lot. For those of you from Texas, it's a veritable S-load. Here are a few of my favorites. Will post some more tomorrow.

I find the first pic unbelievable (I don't have the skills to fake this kind of thing even if I wanted to)... I seem to be on a bee kick lately. Can you find the little bugger below?

Springish...

Today is the May Day celebration in most of the world except for the country that gave this tribute to workers its birth, the United States. I was definitely needing some down time so I welcome this 3 and half day weekend (I fly to Orlando on Sunday). The weather essentially cooperated, but with low temperatures in the shade, some random showers and lots of clouds, it didn't exactly put itself out.
I got up and futzed around with the kids, eventually deciding that we'd have a picnic while B took care of some errands. After many false starts, we finally headed out at around 11:00 so the kids could play at the park and enjoy the reasonable weather. Sophia seems to be developing a refined fashion sense. She went into her room by herself and couldn't have come out with a more appropriate (or cute) ensemble.
Later in the afternoon, B got back and I headed out with Robert on our bikes. He's getting the knack of street riding quite nicely, but can't take more than an hour. I therefore headed out on my own. There's a statue of Jesus not far from the autobahn exit that I've always been curious to see up close. I think these things are pretty common in Germany. This one isn't particularly accessible by car so I thought I'd make the 20 minute bike trip out to see it.
On the way, the sun, clouds and burgeoning fields made for some better than average scenery. I've always wanted to take pictures near a field of a bright yellow crop that seems to be cultivated all over this region. Must admit I'm not sure what it is. {I should have said I have no idea what it is! Benny informs me it's rapeseed).
The kids really liked the macro shots of the bees. Me too. Finally, Sophia seems to have inherited her mother's sweet tooth. Miraculously, she cleaned out most of a jar of Nutella without sullying anything but herself. I still wonder if any of it made it inside her. By the way, she seems to have inherited my iron constitution and indefatigable pancreas as she didn't go into a sugar coma.