Dortmund

Saturday morning we drove north to Dortmund to meet up with Eric's cousins, the Komnik family. After we checked in, we ventured to one of Germany's biggest Christmas markets. Our train stop dropped us off right in the main shopping area and it was quite busy with everyone doing their holiday shopping, but we managed to find a quieter area at the large pyramid booth for festival drinks and food. 

We then strolled over to the Christmas tree attraction. It was not hard to miss as the center tree is made up of 1,700 Norway spruces, rises 45 meters high, is topped with a 13 foot angel, and has over  40,000 lights. It was huge and made for a nice area to put many booths around. They created a hole in the tree for a trumpeter to appear on the hour and play a tune. Hearing him play was a nice addition to the market atmosphere.

After some more delicious food and drinks, we continued our way through the market. The girls found a fairy tale themed attraction before we grabbed another hot drink to keep us warm in the chilly air. 

Eventually, the children tired, so Christiane and I returned to the hotel with the kids while Carsten and Eric grabbed some festival food to tame their hunger. When we returned to the hotel, the kids went swimming in the pool while we relaxed. Afterwards we grabbed a quick bite at the hotel's bar before heading to bed. 

After breakfast on Sunday morning, the children took another dip in the pool. We then walked over to the park and went up the TV tower. It was cold and breezy at the top, but the view was nice looking out over the city and it's surrounding area. We did spot the large tree from the market. We returned in time for the Komniks to catch their train.

It was another great weekend with the Komniks and we are looking forward to our next visit with them.

There was a huge soccer match in the afternoon at the stadium next to our hotel. We left just in time as the traffic was beginning to get heavy and they started closing down roads, but Eric talked his way through a few cones and we were heading in the right direction away from the traffic.

Christmas Party

Friday evening, Eric and I attended his company's Christmas Party, so we hired a babysitter to stay late into the evening. Adeline and Emmie were super excited to have a babysitter for the night. We were not even out the door and they were already making plans to watch a movie. 

The party was held at Tigerpalast in downtown Frankfurt. We dined at the Palast Bistrot, which is an ancient vaulted cellar that is decorated like a French Bistro. The four course meal was delicious and the unique atmosphere enhanced the occasion. 

Afterwards, we attended the international variety show that was held in a venue above the restaurant. The numerous talented performances accompanied by a live orchestra made it an excellent show. The orchestra was great as they never seemed to miss a beat even if the actors did in their performance.

Höchster Kreisblatt

When I dropped off Emmie at school this morning, one of the mother's informed me she saw me in the  Höchster Kreisblatt newspaper today. I was not surprised by this because last Tuesday afternoon, a photographer asked me to point to the mall on our city map at the bus station when we were taking Emmie to her nearby music class. It took about three minutes for him to take a few shots and we were on our way.

What I was surprised about was how large the picture was when I bought the paper later in the morning. The picture is 6.5"x7"! The article is on the fifth page of the second section and is not headline news, but it is the novelty of living in a small town and being in the news that makes it exciting for our family.

The article is not a very interesting article, but to sum it up it is about how the map still shows the mall under construction over a year later and the reasoning why. According to the article, the map has not been updated because the same map is also in rotten wood display cases in the forest and a committee's approval is required for the wood displays to be repaired, so it is a financial and timing situation before all of the city maps can be updated. 

Here is a link to the actual article:

http://www.fnp.de/hk/region/lokales/main-taunus/auf-den-neuen-stadtpl-nen-ist-das-chinoncenter-baustelle_rmn01.c.9423280.de.html

Nikolaustag

The girls have had a fun filled day celebrating St. Nikolaus. When they awoke, they checked their boots outside our door and found numerous goodies and treats tucked inside each one along with other chocolates next to their boots. They compared with each other what was in their own boot as they emptied them and then selected a treat for school before putting the rest of the goodies in a basket.


At school, St. Nikolaus visited Emmie's class. They sang songs together and then each received a stocking filled with fruit, nuts, and little chocolates. 

In the afternoon, we visited the Wiesbaden Christmas Market. While we were strolling around, we saw St. Nikolaus by himself. Even though he was heading in another direction, he stopped when the girls approached him and talked with them for a few minutes. Afterwards, he gave them each a little bag filled with nuts, chocolate, and a carousel ride token. Taking a ride was a great surprise for them to end our time after walking around another market.

In the evening, the Wendel family invited us over for a holiday gathering. After we indulged in delicious homemade holiday treats, the doorbell rang. When they answered the door, it was Eric who just arrived from being out of town. A few minutes later there was a loud knock on the balcony shades. This caught the girls by surprise and when the blinds were opened, St. Nikolaus was standing there. This instantly brought screams of joy and excitement along with many smiles as all of the girls recognized him. 

When he came indoors, he chatted with the girls and then informed Adeline and Emmie he has been to Michigan and then Stuttgart and he was happy to finally find them here in Hofheim. Adeline, Emmie, and Hanna just stood and listened to him in awe. He then brought out his book that keeps a record of each child's behavior. 

Adeline's name was first as she was the oldest. He discussed the good things she has been doing and some areas she needs to improve upon. She listened very intently while he spoke to her. When it was Emmie's turn, she shied away a little bit while he was addressing her, until he discussed her thumb-sucking habit and then she had to come and show him her thumb. Hopefully, St. Nikolaus can help us stop this habit. Hanna was a trooper and immediately gave him her pacifier when he asked for it, so we hope this be a clean break of her habit. 

The girls sang a song for St. Nikolaus when he was finished reading in his book. When it came to handing out presents from his large sack, little Marie understood this portion very clear and was so excited with each present that sometimes she forgot when there was more than one given to her. Before St. Nikolaus left, the girls sang one more song and then all of them hastily opened their gifts.

The Wendel family hosted a fabulous St. Nikolaus gathering.  We had a wonderful time sharing in their holiday tradition and are very grateful and thankful they invited us to partake in it with them and experience one of the joys of the season.

Case of the Missing Boot

Sunday afternoon, we walked to downtown Hofheim when it was misting to enjoy our town's Christmas market. We also had some boots to find as an organization partnered with various city businesses for a children's boot search on the eve of  St. Nicholas Day. We gave the organization one of each girl's boot the previous week and now had to search throughout the display windows for their other one. 

When we reached downtown, the rain was still light and we carefully searched in each window for their boots. We listened to the Jazz band while taking a break from our search. We walked through town  in the mist that had turned into a shower inspecting the windows and over to the mall to find out it was closed. It was not until the last street on our loop, we found Emmie's boot in the bookstore. 

Her boot, #272, was filled with candy and nuts and there was a wrapped book next to it. She was super excited to pick it up on Monday, St. Nicholas Eve. On our way back through town, we stopped for a some festival food as the rain had finally stopped. Eric then took Adeline over to the mall to try to get inside to see if they could find Adeline's boot as she was in distress about her boot being lost. They entered and exited through the parking garage for the movie theater and searched the interior, but did not find it. 

Monday morning, while I was in class, my mom searched the downtown again and could not find it. On our way home, we marked off each business on our checklist as we checked out the displays and still did not locate it. It was not until late in the afternoon on one final round of searching, I checked the hair salon at the mall that had a window on the outside of the mall away from the main entrances did I find Adeline's boot. She was so thrilled and happy to know her boot was not missing and enjoyed the treats inside. 

Amongst the Rain

The rainy days have continued, but we have not let it dampen our holiday spirit. Friday evening, we pushed our way around Frankfurt's Christmas Market. We knew it was going to be crowded when we crossed the busy street and saw the lines of buses, but then we felt the crowd as we quickly found ourselves amongst the tour groups when we turned a corner after browsing a few booths. We did locate some good food and glühwein served in collector boot shaped mugs out of the main traffic to make the most of the chilly evening.

Saturday, we traveled to Michelstadt, a historic old town deep in the forest that has a quaint Christmas market. On our drive there, the weather was clear, but as we parked the car, the drizzle began. Under umbrellas, we walked around and stopped for a beverage to wait the downpour out, but it only seemed to get heavier. We then had lunch with hopes  the rain would clear, but even after an hour wait for potato soup, the rain appeared to be coming down heavier. We weaved our way through the rest of the neat timber framed town and journeyed back home. 

Advent Outing

Emmie's kindergarten class celebrated the beginning of Advent with an outing. In the afternoon, the teachers planned for the children to decorate a tree in the forest with food for the animals, so we met near the edge of the woods at a restaurant. Fortunately, it was not raining; however, the ground was muddy because it has been raining for the past week. The teachers, children, their parents, and even a family's dog, along with the wagon filled with tree decorations and drinks in tow started down the path to kick-off the event. 

We had walked about 75 yards when the group came to a halt as a rope was across the path. Apparently, very recently the city decided to start cutting down trees in the area as it was not marked off earlier in the week when the teachers came to select the perfect tree for this activity. After some discussion, the plan was to find a new tree to decorate. This now meant hiking through the forest, climbing over downed trees and through piles of wet leaves. After we made our way three quarters of the way around the restaurant grounds, a tree was found. As the children began decorating it, the dog began eating the carrots and apples, so the dog was quickly leashed as the food was intended for the forest animals.  When all of the animal food was dispersed, the children sang a few songs and we munched on cookies the parents carried out with them along with some of the hot orange juice to keep us warm. The girls played for a few minutes on the playground, before we concluded the activity.

In the evening, the girls were excited about starting their advent calendars and opening the first door. This fun task seemed to mark the official start of the countdown to Christmas for them.