Our "4th of July" Weekend.

I don't know about Mark, but the 4th of July is my favorite holiday back home.

I was kind bummed that I was going to miss my annual tradition of Chuck Wagon Breakfasts, parades, illegal trips to the border, cookouts, and fireworks. I just had to remind myself, "You're only going to miss one year!"

Unbeknownst to us, we ended up having our own little 4th of July celebration, German style. No American flags were waved, but we did manage to sneak in a parade and an amazing fireworks show.

In the World Cup, Germany played Argentina and blew them out of the water, 4-0. So now they are in the semifinals. As is usual, the Germans took to the streets; wearing flags as capes, brandishing a bottles of beer in one hand and vuvuzelas in another. Oh, the crazy Germans!

We could hear a lot of commotion coming from the street behind our apartment, so we went outside to see just how crazy it was. (You can click to enlarge)

People flying up and down the streets, hanging out of their cars and holding flags!

There was a huge crowd gathered at one of the biggest intersections in town, totally shutting it down!

One crazy loon hoisted into the air while holding a flare. I love this picture, because you see the two drunks sitting in the middle of all the madness (at the bottom of the photo), kind of looking depressed. Haha!

Traffic was backed up on all the side streets

This group of kids was hilarious. They would sit in the middle of the street and cheer. There's also a video of them rocking cars back and forth below.

Mark insisted that I take this photo for my father, so here it is, Dad! Probably the first truck I've seen here in Germany. :)

Mark and me in the middle of it all

Even our downstairs neighbor decided to get a little patriotic and drape a flag out her window.

Mark and I have decided that we love how Germans (and probably any football fanatics) celebrate a victory. Makes me want to hop in my car, take to the streets, and start honking the next time my favorite team wins back home!

Alright, you have to click on this photo to zoom. Look at that crazy German in the car!

Now for some videos, hope you enjoy!

Later that night, we headed to a town north of Stuttgart, Ludwigsburg. Mark's boss told him there was a fireworks show set to music. We decided to check it out and we weren't disappointed!

Ludwigsburg is home to a huge castle that is right in the middle of the city, and the gardens surrounding it are huge. Pay a little, and you can go sit in the gardens of the castle and watch the fireworks.

You can't see it in this photo very well, but there were tons of lanterns around in the gardens.

Better view of the castle

And now for some videos. (This is probably video overload for you, but I just can't help myself!) :)

The last song set to the fireworks was "Time to Say Goodbye" by Andrea Bocelli. Love, love, love. Plus, it reminds me of my nephew, who happens to be obsessed with a Bocelli and Elmo skit on Sesame Street, in which Bocelli sings a modified version of this song to put Elmo to sleep. It is adorable.

We didn't get to celebrate it back home, but we still had an amazing time celebrating our nation's birthday with the Germans!