Yesterday was Rosenmontag, the last big day of Karneval (it officially ended today but the partying pretty much ended last night) so I put on my pirate costume and celebrated again. First we just went down the street to Jörg and Barbara's house for brunch. There were 6 little boys running around of all different ages (but all under 6), as well as Pauline and Lena. It was a simple party, just a ton of delicious food and beer and Karneval music. We didn't stay too long because Gustav's still sick and had a fever, but we were there for a few hours. I like hanging out with that family.

After we left and brought the kids home for a nap I headed off to Köln to really celebrate. I had been in the city on Sunday to meet up with a friend for coffee, but there wasn't anything really going on in the streets at the time, so yesterday was really my first taste of Karneval. Everyone that I had tried to get a hold of either didn't answer, wasn't celebrating, or wasn't in Köln, so I was alone when I went into the city. Right outside of the Dom there was a parade that was seriously going all day long. We had been watching it on the TV at Jörg's in the morning and it was still going late in the afternoon. They actually covered the streets along the parade route with dirt, I'm guessing to make it easier to march on the uneven stone streets. The floats don't even come close to what you see in the Rose Parade, but they were fun, and the people in the parade were throwing candy and roses to the crowd (unlike New Orleans were men throw beads to chicks who show their tits). I didn't get to see much of the parade because it was so crowded, but it was still kinda cool to see the floats and stuff.

Right in front of the entrance to the Dom there was a group of 5 guys drumming (like a drum circle, but without hippies and pot) and they were really good. Two of them actually had drum kits and the other 3 had bass drums, like they use in a marching band. I hung out there for a long time because they were amazing, and it was cool to just hang out there and listen/watch them. It started snowing, too, so that made it that much cooler in my opinion.

I met a few people that were there watching the drummers with me, and when the show was over the 3 of them and I headed into the streets to find something to do. It wasn't hard, because there were little parties everywhere. Even a lot of the coffee shops had converted into pubs for Karneval. For whatever reason we decided to go hang out in a gay bar called Zum Pitter in Altstadt. Two of the guys were really uncomfortable at first (the third one fit right in) but I think they ended up having a good time. I had fun, because gay bars are fun and non-threatening, and I wasn't really in the mood for partying with a bunch of drunk guys that were all trying to grope every female they came near. I didn't stay too late because I already knew that today I had to take care of Gustav all day and I needed to sleep. In the end I didn't exactly have the same experience that Olaf had at his first Karneval in Köln, but I'm quite alright with that.

Today was a pretty easy day, just folding laundry and taking care of Gustav. He's not really all that sick in terms of symptoms, but he's had a little bit of a fever for several days now and he's tired because his body is fighting so hard to kill whatever he has. But this morning Esther gave him a new toy boat with a trailer that she's been hiding in the cellar for a time like this, and he played with that literally all day. While I was folding laundry Gustav found my bra and, of course, decided he needed to wear it around the house. He had a good time with that for a little while. When he told me he wanted to take a nap I warmed him some milk and put him in bed, but he ended up not sleeping. I think he looked at some picture books for a little bit and then played with the boat some more, but I was sleeping so I don't really know. I think tomorrow maybe we'll bake some cookies.

And before I forget again, last week Pauline had a total Homer Simpson moment. She and Gustav were both in a mood where they would rather play than eat dinner, so Gustav left the table and Pauline kept going back and forth between the table and the sofa to eat little bits. This one time she hopped off her stool and started walking around the table when she said, "Jetzt claue ich Gustavs Würstchen," (Now I'm going to steal Gustav's sausage). Esther was just about to tell her no when Pauline reached up and grabbed the sausage off the table, and as she did she said, "Claut!" It was basically like saying "yoink" when you jack something from somebody. It was freaking hilarious. We couldn't even tell her no or to put it back because we were all laughing. She's too funny.