Stuttgart

July 3rd -- We left this morning for Stuttgart (actually Leonberg, a small town outside Stuttgart). It was our nicest train ride by far. We had a private compartment in first class, so the 2 hour train ride went by very quickly. For those of you that don’t know, Amy’s sister, Lisa, is married to Gabe Harcrow. Gabe is in the Army National Guard and was deployed to Afghanistan back in January. They live in Austin, TX with their 2 boys, Chance (age 2) and Cole (age 1). Gabe’s brother is in the Army and is also deployed. He is stationed in Stuttgart with his wife, Anne-Marie and their 2 children, Emma (age 2) and Kaja (age 1). Lisa and the boys came over to Germany in June to spend the summer with Anne-Marie and the girls, since both husbands are deployed. We arrived at the Leonberg train station a little after noon. Anne-Marie picked us up and drove us to her house, which is only a few minutes away. The kids were immediately excited to have both toys and other kids to play with. The rest of the day was spent watching the kids play, the Mom's going to the commissary to buy groceries and a spaghetti dinner.