Happy Birthday Mommy!

September 8th adds another benchmark year to the life of my wonderful mother. She's lived in three countries, visited many more places, raised four children, and been happily married to one man during those years. This year in particular, she watched me (her youngest) graduate from high school, moved from Italy to Germany, and will help me move to college next week. She never ceases to be helpful and supportive to her family and the friends she'd made along the way.
And what does she decide to do today? Go on an 11K Volksmarch with Dad and me. To each her own, right? It was amazing, actually, to get out and walk through the German countryside/quaint towns/forest trails. It was also the final Volksmarch that Heidelberg will hold; I couldn't figure out if it was the last one ever or if it's the last one in conjucntion with the base here.

The only place I've seen anything like this is in "Stardust"

Here's something cool that I saw on the trail.
There were actually a bunch of them to point people in the right direction, and I can't help but wonder, "Do people here still use these or are they just fun to look at?"

Yes, in case you're wondering, she was the person I had to buy a present for when I went downtown the other day. Now I can tell you that I got her a pair of cheetah print leggings. I refuse to let her buy cheetah print shirts when I'm out with her but I figured that leggings would be a good compromise because they're always covered partially by a dress/skirt. That and a couple white chocolate Crunch bars (which are made by a German company and, therefore, not available in America. At least, as far as I know.) Dad got her a book around German road trips to take, which will be awesome for her because my mom's one of the those sight-seeing types. I seriously think that she should've been a travel agent because she always has everything so perfectly planned out when we go places.
Now we're about to head out to dinner somewhere and I know I'm going to be too tired to post this after we get back so...

Happy Birthday, Mom! Make a wish.