Christmas Market Tour

 My mom joined us this season to enjoy the Christmas Markets. I planned out a Christmas market itinerary for us around the girls' school schedule. Tuesday afternoon the tour began with a visit to Mainz. The weather was cool and misting, but we did not let it damper our outing. 

We first indulged in fresh roasted nuts as the aroma could not be resisted and then numerous other seasonal foods to warm us up. As we glanced at the booths, Adeline found a new purse and my mom found some gifts. I found my Christmas present from my family, a beautiful natural wood three tier nativity scene pyramid. After inspecting the pieces over, the lady carefully packaged it in a box for me to take home.  All of us girls were grinning on the way home with our treasures we had found in Mainz.

Wednesday, we quickly picked the girls up from school and caught the train to Cologne. Since Emmie fell asleep as we arrived in the big city, we let her continue napping which gave my mom the opportunity to tour the large cathedral. We then proceed to the first themed market in Cologne which was next to the Cathedral. The wood booths were classically decorated with red roof awnings outlined in lush green garland. We were looking forward to our return in the evening for an amazing sight when it would all be lit up.

Our stroll then continued over to the old city market. This market area, definately gave you the feeling  of  a historic market and the numerous decorative wood figurines scattered about added to the atmosphere. We stopped for a snack and then afterwards we took a ride on the carousel. Since the sun had set and it was getting dark out, the view was spectacular from above with the festive lights glowing throughout the market. We made our way back to the Cathedral and strolled one more time through the Cathedral's market, enjoying the festive beautiful atmosphere. We stopped in a little cafe before catching the trains back home. 

1st Advent

The Advent season began this weekend, so our days were filled with many Christmas spirited activities. Saturday afternoon, we met up with our friends in Bad Homburg to enjoy the first Christmas market of the season. We strolled inside the castle grounds and around the little park enjoying the tastes while browsing the booths for gifts. 

Sunday morning the children sang, "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands" in church before attending Sunday school. Adeline and Emmie were excited to sing and act it out as they have been practicing it all month.

Sunday afternoon, Adeline's school choir was one of many participants in a benefit concert for the Hofheim Music school. The concert was held in an old church in Marxheim and consisted of songs, instrument pieces, and a few musical acts. It was longer than we had expected, but it was nice to listen to the children sing and hear the various instruments.

We finished the weekend festivities by lighting the first candle on our Advent wreaths and reading the first day of Advent devotional.

Sleepover

Last spring, Adeline's class began a reading program online. Antolin's website is set-up so the children earn points when they answer questions about the books they read. Throughout the summer, the children continued to accumulate points, so when school began in the fall, the class had over 3,000 points.  Her teacher informed the children that if they reached 10,000 points, they could have a sleepover. At the beginning of October, the class reached this goal; however, it was fall break, so the event would be held after they returned from break and after St. Martin festivities in mid November.

The evening had finally arrived for them to spend the night in the school. At 7pm, we took Adeline to school with her sleeping bag and packed overnight bag. She picked out her spot in the classroom where all of the girls had already started to settle in and quickly put her bedding next to Clara's. While the dads were setting up the bedding, the girls were showing each other what doll or stuffed animals they brought with them.

Eric and I took Emmie out for pizza while Adeline was with her class. Emmie enjoyed her pizza!

The class first walked up to the Meisterturm in the dark and had some hot chocolate in the cold evening with her teacher and a few parents. They then returned to the school for pizza. Afterwards, they put on their pajamas and read a book. When it was lights out, twenty one children slept in one classroom while their teacher slept in the library, which was next door.

In the morning when Eric arrived at 8am to pick up Adeline, all of the sleeping bags and overnight bags were in the lobby and the children were dressed and ready to head home. Adeline arrived home a little tired, but had enough energy to participate in basketball. We did notice a few of the girls and boys from her class did not make it to basketball for practice. 

In the afternoon, she took a quick nap to catch up from the previous night's excitement.

Advent Wreath

We kicked off the Christmas season on Thursday afternoon by making our family advent wreath. Karolin invited us over to show us how to make our advent wreath. This a tradition she has been doing since she was little  and we are very happy she wanted to share this with us. 

Karoline and Adeline first cut the fresh evergreen branches into small pieces and then we carefully wrapped them around the straw wreath with twine to create our main piece. Adeline made her own while Emmie and I constructed the family one. The kids then strategically placed the candles and decorations around the top to complete them. 

We finished our afternoon with hot chocolate and tasty Christmas cookies.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Adeline's cold was passed full strength to me, so a kleenex box was my buddy throughout the week. I am thankful it was a slow week, so I could rest and save all of my energy to prepare our Thanksgiving meal.

Aside from their normal activities, the girls found ways to keep busy while I was getting better. Wednesday afternoon, the Hofheim Spielmobile, a local traveling activity group,  held a Kidkino. They were showing the princess movie, Rapunzel. It was a perfect sister outing for Adeline and Emmie. I escorted them to school and then Adeline took the lead in paying and finding their seats for the show. Upon returning home, they were very excited to share with me the storyline along with their friends who disturbed the room to get a snack or do something else while the movie was still playing.

Friday morning, I was on a turkey hunt for our dinner as it is currently goose season here. I lucked out at the big market a few towns away and found a 5.7  pound turkey. This was the largest bird they had and I did not get any holidays deals on the price as it was about $2.70 a pound.

Saturday morning, the bird went first into the oven and then the potatoes followed. Emmie had fun watching the turkey cook and then rolling the croissants as they were the last item to go in the oven. The German turkeys are not juicy butterballs, plus it did not have much fat as the turkey drippings were scarce, so the gravy lacked a little flavor, but I tried. When Adeline returned from her basketball program, the aroma was wonderful throughout the apartment, so we did not hesitate in beginning our feasting. Overall, the meal was delicious and we celebrated another year to be thankful for.

We spent the afternoon at the mall as they just opened up a new shopping section this week. It was like a Black Friday experience for us as we had to scout out a parking spot and then we were one of hundreds of people strolling through the numerous new stores, but we also had live entertainment and acquired some free give-away items during our outing.  

We finished our holiday with off with pumpkin soup as I did not have all of the ingredients for making a pumpkin pie. 

We are thankful to the Lord for the many blessings and opportunities we have been given this year, for our family and friends who are near and far, the love and support from everyone as we have taken this journey, and the everyday goodness that comes our way to brighten our day. We wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!

St. Martin's Day

Friday evening, we celebrated St. Martin's Day with Uschi and her husband in Diedenberg. We had a delicious afternoon treat before heading downtown. With the girls' lanterns lit, we marched in the parade around the town and ended up back in the center of town.

We gathered around the large bonfire and sung traditional St. Martin songs while everyone admired St. Martin on his horse. Afterwards, we warmed up for a little bit back at Uschi's house before returning home.

Unfortunately, Adeline has passed her cold onto me, so I rested on Saturday while Eric and the girls entertained each other. 

Sunday morning at church, the girls dropped off their christmas shoeboxes they made again for Operation Christmas Child sponsored through Samaritains Purse. This year we knew exactly where to go shopping for the various items needed for the little boy and girl we packed our boxes for.

Monday afternoon we celebrated St. Martin with Emmie's school. First, the girls sang in Emmie's classroom before we paraded around the streets with her school. 

The parade had a few standing moments as they stopped traffic at each intersection and then had to detour due to a minor accident when someone was trying to turn around to avoid the wait.  Eric and I ended up carrying the lanterns half way through the route and when we looked around, we realized we were one of the many parents holding them. When we ended up back at the school, I picked up the goose shaped rolls to go along with some warm beverages around the large fire on the playground while visiting with friends.

Anything Goes

Tuesday afternoon, we attended, Alles Erlaubt, a children's puppet play, at the local city center. The storyline is from a classic German children's book about etiquette. While learning manners and testing the rules of etiquette, the raven has fun with his friends in the process. It was very entertaining and made for a good time as there were also some school friends who attended the show as well.

In Emmie's kindergarten, a student that is currently in her teaching program is in the classroom for the next four weeks. She is very interactive with the children and Emmie has already engaged her daily with playing games and doing puzzles.

Adeline has not been feeling well this week and has been sleeping much more than normal. I am not sure if it is because she is teething as her second set of molars are coming in, she is growing, or has caught a little virus. The bonus about her having only half days at school is she is able to attend in the morning and then she can come home and nap all afternoon and not miss any instruction time. 

The temperatures have dropped, so we are feeling winter come quickly. What seems to make it even worse, is the sun is setting before 5pm so it is dark and the street lights are on by 5:15pm.

Thirtysomething

Eric feels we are now officially part of the "thirtysomething" crowd because he celebrated his birthday on Monday. Just remembering the show from when we were just a little older than Adeline and our parents watching the tv show, it is hard to believe we are now at this stage in our life from the small bits we recall.

We celebrated his birthday with local favorite Taunus Apple torte slices. When I ordered the torte, I did not realize I was not getting a whole torte as I thought I was asking for a smaller version of the regular size as I had done in the past. The girls still had fun singing to Eric with a candle in the slice and the torte slice was tasty.

A few more gray hairs appearing this year makes him part of the mid thirties club now, but I am blessed and grateful to spend another year with him as my husband and enjoy watching him interact with Adeline and Emmie every step along the way as they develop into little ladies. 

He has created for us numerous warm memories full of joy and happiness to cherish. I do not know the opportunities that will arise this next year, but may they be part of the hopes and dreams he is wishing for. 

Happy Birthday Eric!

Fall fun

Sunday was another beautiful fall day. We spent the afternoon at the local park. After some time on the playground and then on the basketball court, we played in the leaves. The pile was large as the workers must have just gathered all of the leaves on Friday. The pile was big enough for Adeline and Emmie to jump into at the same time.

The numerous rounds of gathering and jumping in the leaves was tons of fun for the girls. When they got tired of it, it was even better that we could just walk away and did not have to dispose of them.

Fall tour

This weekend we had the opportunity to show our friend, Chad, the fun we are having while being here. Chad was in Europe during the week for work, but on Friday afternoon, he met up with Eric in Frankfurt. After a tour of downtown, the guys headed to the old part for some traditional food and drinks. When they got back here, the guys then went to downtown Hofheim and hung out in the old underground wine cellar at one of the restaurants. 

Saturday morning, I took Chad shopping with me around town to give him a tour of Hofheim in the daylight.  Afterwards, I helped him pick out many tasty souvenirs to take back to his family. We then snacked on a few sweet treats from the bakery before heading to the Rhine River.

We spent the afternoon at Schloss Johannisberg. It was perfect weather for sitting outside the castle and enjoying the atmosphere while sipping on Riesling. The girls wandered among the grapevines, while we were admiring the scenery. 

We then stopped in Eltville for dinner at a quaint local family's winery and restaurant. The small menu did not have spätzle as Chad was hoping for, but the tasty seasonal meal was a good alternative.

After a late lunch, we headed to the Hochheimer Markt. The fair has been a tradition for over 500 years and last year it was raining when we attended so we only visited a small portion of it. This time, we caught a bus to get to the fair as I learned it would be easier than trying to find a parking spot close to it. When we started walking into the festival, we found one could buy anything here: a basketful of fruit to dress shirts and even tractors. 

It did not take long and we found ourselves enjoying some Gluhwein to consume as the sun was setting and Chad was consuming the popular currywurst, a sausage with a special sauce poured over it.  This pleased our guest as after an afternoon of great wine, he was ready for sausages and beer. The girls spotted crepes being made, so of course we did not pass this booth. After strolling around and seeing more things one could buy at the festival, I spotted a chocolate covered apple. It was good, but did not satisfy my craving for a caramel apple. We then came across a beer tap, so we stopped. We managed to get a few seats to rest and enjoy the atmosphere.  

On our way to the historic town of Hochheim, Chad spotted a Thüringer Rostbratwurst, a traditional sausage that is bigger than the roll they serve it on, so he enjoyed one. As our stroll continued on, we found a vendor making fresh pretzels, so Chad talked Adeline into sharing one with him. We toured the old town and rested at one of the local family restaurants while sipping on another glass of local wine. 

The fair had become three times as crowded since we arrived, but we managed to find our bus stop to head back. We just missed the bus when we arrived, so we waited and then waited some more for the next bus. By the time the next bus showed up, there was a mob of people wanting to board. We told Chad who was in front of us to push his way onto to the bus as we know the Germans have no sense of lines or order when it comes to these type of free for all situations. He grabbed us a few seats as we had to push to make sure we just made it on the bus even though we were in the handful that was initially waiting. This was an eye opener for Chad since the people here are very orderly and precise about everything else. We all made it back to the car and the girls were fast asleep on the way home. The guys picked up a döner on the way and topped the evening off with  their "fastfood" and beers. 

It was a fun full fall day with Chad and the family. We hope he had a good time with us in doing a few  things we are enjoying during our stay here: wine on the Rhine River and festivals.

Der Herbst ist Da

Wednesday afternoon, Emmie's class had a afternoon gathering with the parents. Her class put on a performance for the parents consisting of playing musical instruments and singing fall songs. Emmie played rhythm sticks during a few of the songs. 

The fall songs are becoming familiar now as we hear them for the second year. Adeline is also joining in when she knows the songs and they are both singing clearer since they understand the words better as well.

After the performance, we enjoyed some sweet treats brought in by all of us parents. I made a batch of white cookies with sprinkles in them and everyone knew right away we brought them in because they were so colorful. I chatted with the other parents while Adeline and Emmie played for the rest of our time at the school.