Oppenheim & Wiesbaden Weinachtmarkts

Oppenheim & Wiesbaden Weinachtmarkts

Saturday we were looking forward to going to a Christmas market in Oppenheim, a town about 90 minutes from us. It wasn't supposed to be the usual Christmas market stuff, instead it is a medieval Christmas market. When we got there we were kind of disappointed, as it was really, really small and there wasn't a whole lot of anything too interesting there (unless you count the oddly dressed "medieval" people). It appeared to be more of an organized excuse for the medieval lovers to get dressed up, hang out together and make a little money at the same time. The booths were all selling medieval goodies, but nothing we hadn't seen before or that really interested us. There wasn't much to choose from in the food department either. The town has a really neat underground "city" that we thought about checking out, but the tour was an hour long and the only way to see the underground stuff was on the tour. Since Colin was in full on terrible two mode that day we decided we better try that another day. The market was so small it didn't take us long to go through it and wonder what we should do next. We decided to head north about 30 minutes to Wiesbaden, a much larger city that was supposed to have a nice market. That market turned out to be a nice surprise, one of the best ones we've been to yet! Beautiful scenery, loads of booths to browse, great food choices and lots of kiddie rides! We spent a couple hours there and loved it.

Sledding

Last minute schedule changes at work got Colin a day with Daddy today. I had to work (Finally! Darn snow had me home all week!) so I didn't get to see Colin all excited when he woke up to Daddy, but I know how happy he is when he knows Shelby is home in the mornings.

The snow was already starting to melt some since our temperature got up to 34 today, so Shelby decided to try taking Colin sledding before the snow is gone. Colin got a new wooden sled for Christmas, but since the snow came before Christmas he gets to have it a little early. They headed out to the big hill in our village and Colin had lots of fun trying out his new sled. The snow wasn't as deep or packed down as it usually is when we go out there, but it was good enough for Colin to have a good time on. I'm sure he was good and tired whhen they got home.

Winter Wonderland

Walking in a winter wonderland

Yesterday we had crazy weather. It snowed Tuesday all day and night and then Wednesday morning it POURED rain all day long. Early evening Wednesday it turned to sleet and then all of a sudden, blizzard! It came down hard for a while and it didn't take long for us to have 4+ inches on the ground. We woke up this morning to lots and lots of snow and of course, another snow day! I haven't worked at all this week because of the weather, every day I've been scheduled to sub it has turned into a snow day. I like a day off every now and again, but I'm ready to go to work! My paycheck is going to be pitiful! I had to get out of the house today so Colin and i bundled up and went out to enjoy the snow. We took our road down to the end where it turns into a dirt road leading to pastures. I brought along a couple carrots in case any of the animals were out. Sure enough we got to see a couple horses and they were pretty excited to have carrots. Colin did pretty good on the walk, it was really long for him. He was really interested in breaking through the ice to get to the mud and slush underneath on all the potholes we came across. The walk was gorgeous, I got some good pictures and Colin was sufficiently worn out when we got home...mission accomplished!

Wordless Wednesday

Karate Colin

During dinner tonight we were watching The Amazing Race. At one of the challenges the contestants visited an Army base close to the North Korea/South Korea border while the US soldiers were practicing Tae Kwon Do in formation. Colin was glued to the TV and was sitting in his chair karate chopping away. He was cracking us up so of course we had to get the camera. He stopped briefly when we turned the camera on, but he started back up again and we were able to catch a little of it.



Here he was all about hamming it up once he saw I thought he was funny...

Nikolaustag

Each year, on December 6, Nikolaustag is celebrated in Germany. It literally means St. Nicholas Day in English. On the night of the 5th children put a boot or shoe outside their door and, according to tradition, Nikolaus will come during the night and fill it for them. If the children have been good all year he will leave apples, oranges or special candy, and if children have been naughty they get birch twigs in their shoe. Colin doesn't quite understand all this Santa stuff yet but I thought it would be fun to do it anyway. We put Colin's boot by his door and told him Santa would visit him that night. When he woke up he found his boot stuffed with an orange, a chocolate Santa and a some gummi candy. He was excited and a little confused to find a shoe full of goodies outside his door.








We've also been doing an Advent calendar and counting down the days unitl Christmas. Again, I don't think he really understands the concept other than that every day he gets another piece of chocolate out of it, lol.

Nikolaus!

Today at the BX mall we stumbled across Santa Claus and there was no line to visit him. We pointed him out to Colin all excited and asked him who he was. Colin was very excited to SEE Nikolaus (he calls Santa by the German name, hey at least he's not calling him clown anymore!) but getting within 5 feet of Santa was a whole different feeling.

We tried to coax him into sitting on his lap but that was just NOT happening. He only showed a slight interest in going over to him when Santa tried to bribe him with a candycane. Colin did reluctantly go over to him and quickly snatch the candycane out of Santa's hand, but then he literally leaped backward into Daddy's arms after he had hold of his treat. The part he got most excited about was telling Santa "tschüss" (ciao in German) when it was time to leave, lol.

International Fest

Luxembourg International Market

Each year in Luxembourg they hold a huge international festival where booths representing various countries set up and sell the food and other items their countries are most famous for. We got Colin a babysitter, went with a group of friends and had a fantastic time. We ate all kinds of amazing foods from various countries and shopped a little too. We had Hoegaarden Rosé beer in Belgium, yum! Chicken samosas from Pakistan, French crêpes, paella and sangria in Spain, shortbread and tarts in the UK, and I can't remember what all else! It was very neat to go around to all the booths and see what each one had to offer for sale and the things they are most popular for. We bought a cheese wheel from Holland and a handpainted ornament from Russia. We saw Russian, Pakistani and Spanish performers doing their thing to entertain the crowds too. The USA booth had lots of Christmas craft type things and at their food table they were selling popcorn, hotdogs, nachos and then they had a grocery/pantry section. It had all kinds of American grocery items like macaroni and cheese, cake mix and famous brand name cookies. I had to laugh at how people were going crazy for the stuff too, I guess they just don't make it outside the US. I know my German friends are always asking me to bring them macaroni and cheese, instant mashed potatoes and drop and bake cookie dough. So I guess they know about this stuff but just can't get it here. LOL

After the festival we headed to downtown Luxembourg city to check out the views of the city covered in snow. We had been there this spring and fell in love with the town, it's gorgeous, so we were excited to see it covered in snow too. It was beautiful, though VERY cold! We ate dinner at a French restaurant and the food was amazing! I had escargo for an appetizer that was scrumptious, then creamed spinach soup and a steak with ratatouille on the side for dinner. Shelby had lamb chops for dinner that were also delicious. After dinner we headed outside to wander the Christmas market and just as we headed outside the snow started falling. It was very cold, but wandering the market with all the lights, the snow falling and a chorus singing carols was magical. After about 30 minutes at the festival the snow started really coming down and we decided we'd better start heading back to the parking garage and start towards home. By the time we made it to the autobahn it seemed like a blizzard had blown in. We were stuck going 50 kph on the highway in snow that was the closest thing to whiteout we've ever seen. The trucks were out salting and plowing but the roads were still a mess, the drive home felt like it took forever and an hour a half drive turned into twice that long. Of course, once we got about 40minutes from home all the snow stopped completely and never did make it down south enough to us here at the house. Aside from a long drive home the day was great and the bazaar will be something we probably check out again next year too.

Video Overload

Here are several videos all taken in November :)

As you can see, he really loves my "picture" (aka camera) and having the camera aimed at him, haha!


Here he is playing with the rabbit one night, waaaay past his bedtime. You can see he's tired in the video. He loves his rabbit though!


Such a little actor! ALL FAKE!


We were parked in a park and ride lot waiting on some friends to follow up to a Christmas market and Colin was watching the airplane fly by...


After dinner one night Colin was having grapes for dessert and he didn't want to share at all. He would hold one finger up and wave it at us, all serious, with his eyebrows scrunched and say "no, no, no. no touch grapes." It was hilarious! We tried to film it but he wouldn't do it again. He's still cute here though :) As you can see he knows all about MINE! already.

Wordless Wednesday