Outside of Matt’s birthday, we had another quiet week at home. It’s been cold and rainy, with interspersed periods of snow and ice. I think we’re getting the leftovers of the storm that hit the US last weekend. We had three days of delayed arrivals for work and school, and it was heaven!
We happily celebrated Matt’s birthday on Wednesday. Despite my best efforts, all he wanted was a cozy night at home with takeout and TV on the couch. We ordered our favorite Thai food and settled in for a TV marathon once everyone was home from work and school. Brooklyn made Matt’s favorite cake, vanilla with chocolate icing, and we even let ourselves stay up late since we’d already been granted a two-hour delay the next morning. It was pretty perfect, and we all agreed we enjoyed his birthday so much. He said it was his best one yet 😂.
On Friday night, we had homemade pizzas and prosecco with a few friends to continue celebrating Matt’s birthday.
We stayed up way too late, especially since 3 a.m. came very quickly; that’s when Ryan needed to be dropped off at the bus so the team could head to Vilseck, in Bavaria, for the Sectionals Wrestling tournament, which is essentially the semi-finals.
Somehow, Matt got him there on time and then came home to go back to sleep. We dragged ourselves out of bed at seven, rushed to get ready, and hit the road for the three-hour drive to Vilseck. We were flying and somehow made it right at the 10 a.m. start time.
At the risk of sounding like a major complainer, this wrestling tournament turned out to be a very long day. Even though we rushed to get there for 10 a.m., the tournament was delayed and didn’t start until 11. By then, we were starving and waiting for Ryan to have his first bout so we could grab some food. As luck would have it, they wrestled for about three hours before breaking for lunch—and Ryan still hadn’t gone yet. The rest of the day followed the same pattern, and we didn’t leave until after 8 p.m.
Ryan had three matches during the day and, sadly, lost all three. He was up against some really tough competition, including a senior from his own school in the same weight class. This year has been especially challenging for him after moving up to the 120-pound weight class. Compared to the others in that division, he’s about six inches taller. Most of his competitors carry their 120 pounds in solid muscle, while Ryan is mostly height and bones 🤣.
He was really upset to be eliminated from the European Championship next weekend. Still, he’s also looking forward to eating whatever he wants, and as much as he wants, so he can put on some weight and move out of the 120-pound class next year.
Even though Matt and I left by 8 p.m., the team had to stay until the tournament ended and then stop for food on the way home. They didn’t get back until 3 a.m.; a full 24-hour day of wrestling!
Everyone slept in on Sunday, and then we had a lazy day. To celebrate a friend’s birthday, I went with a group of friends to a local Mexican restaurant. I haven’t had Mexican food since we moved to Germany almost five years ago because it has such a bad reputation. I also didn’t realize that I’ve only lived about eight minutes from this charming little spot. It’s definitely a German restaurant, just decorated with a tiki-style roof and a few sombreros, but we really appreciated the effort!
We had a couple of margaritas, which were amazing after such a long break (though we’re still not sure if they used tequila or vodka 🤣). We also ordered fajitas, which were actually pretty good. I’m planning to bring the family back soon. It was a fun outing, and the food definitely deserves a second visit.
Gilcrests Abroad 