The weather so far this winter has been pretty wild. Last year we had a record breaking winter with low temps and snowfall amounts and everyone assured us it was an unusual winter for Germany. This year December started off pretty cold and then the snow started. We had more snow in just last month than we did probably all winter long last year! While I very much enjoy the beauty of the snow, I am not so much a fan of shoveling it at 5am or finding a car wash and waiting in line to clean all the salt and junk off my car. I've said all along it can snow all it wants to up until Shelby leaves and after that it needs to quit. Shelby deployed on Dec 28th and we got a dusting that day and not a single flake has fallen since. In fact, it has actually gotten HOT! Hot for January standards anyway. On Saturday we had sunshine and it got up to 55 degrees outside! I was almost too hot in pants and a t-shirt and contemplated changing into shorts.
Colin had a blast playing outside in the great spring-like weather. It was nice to see some green grass for a change and you could smell the earth. That good smell of dirt and grass and green things, I haven't smelled that in a while! Colin missed the snow just a little bit. When we first went outside he found the last little patch of snow in the driveway and played in it for the longest time. Then he realized that no more snow meant he could use his toys in the yard and he was happy to ride his tricycle and his scooter around. After that we got out the bubbles and he was so excited about that. We must have blown bubbles for an hour! He would blow some and chase them around, then I would blow some and he would hunt them all down and pop them all. The mild weather was a welcome change, making me anxious for warmer temperatures and spring time flowers and green. However, I'm afraid winter is just kicking off and if I remember correctly spring doesn't pop up until at least April around here. Someone I know mentioned that peace and calm during the eye of a hurricane and compared this little winter reprieve to that. Hmmmmm.
New Years Eve is kind of a big deal here in Germany. Last year was our first year here to experience it and I was shocked how everyone had fireworks to shoot off. I'm talking little old grannies out on their doorsteps lighting fireworks! The fireworks in my village started at midnight and solid noise from them carried on for over an hour. It was a little insane. The other thing we noticed about the fireworks here is they apparently are not regulated like they are in the US. The things people were shooting off from their houses were definitely stuff you'd have to have some kind of license for in the States.
Yesterday Colin and I went to the home and garden store to get some supplies to feed the wild birds and I ended up buying us a variety pack of fireworks. I made sure it was all innocent Colin sized entertainment and stuff I'd seen/lit off in the US and knew what to expect. Deployments are always when all the crazy shit happens...if I was ever going to set the house on fire or blow up my car with fireworks, this would be the time, so I'm not taking any chances! I was amazed at the crazy stuff they were selling to any Joe Schmoe that wanted it at the store. I'm talking explosives that looked like paint cans and some the size of my kid!
Tonight after dinner Colin and I went out in the yard and rang in the new year a little early. We enjoyed watching the fireworks and liked the spinner kind that bounced around. He wasn't so sure about those screaming volcano things, he had to hold my hand during those, but overall he was pretty excited about the show. I think his favorite part was when his little friend next door hopped up into his kitchen window, which faces our house/yard and watched the fireworks too. Colin and Christian waved frantically back and forth to one another and then they started yelling to each other through his window. They both thought it was pretty neat. Enjoying a little snow snack while he watches the show, lol. Wierdo!
I'm doubting I will stay up this year to see the clock strike midnight. If I don't I'm guaranteed to be awake shortly after from all the celebrating and noise going on though. As long as it doesn't wake up Colin I'll be happy :) Happy New Year!
are on the way! I know I'm late on the vacation pics and trip story but it's been a busy time! I'm slowly but surely getting the pictures organized and put on here, I made one post about our fist stop today. In a few days Shel will be leaving for his deployment and then I'll have some time to get the rest of the blog posts up. Don't forget to scroll down to check for them, I date them on the dates they actually happened, so if you just look at the post on the top, (which is the most recent according to the date) you will miss the new ones below it which are dated prior to this one. Hope that made sense! Scroll down and check for new posts :) I'll have them up soon (I hope!)
Shelby was up at 5:30 this morning all excited for Christmas. I was able to stifle my excitement a little longer and sleep until about 6:45. Colin, however, was zonked out and didn't wake up until just after 8! We ran upstairs to get him and tell him Santa had come and there were toys all over the place downstairs. We ran downstairs a little ahead of Colin so we could see his face when he came into the living room. We waited, and waited, and coaxed, and waited! LOL Colin came downstairs and then got distracted by the sleds sitting at the bottom of the staircase and wanted to play with those instead. We finally got him to run into the living room and he looked totally confused and surprised to see all the goodies under the tree.
He headed to the tool bench from Santa first thing and then went over to jump on the trampoline Santa also brought. Then he noticed the presents and started digging in! It was tough getting each gift away from him without taking it out of the packaging and letting him play with it. He wanted everything opened and out of the box, but we knew he would stop opening presents if we started letting him play with stuff. He did pretty well with setting all the new toys aside until we got to a box full of cars and a horse trailer with a horse inside from my parents. He was very excited about the horse and trailer and he wanted it open, NOW! When we told him to wait he took it over to the tool bench and proceeded to attempt to saw it open with his saw. When that didn't work he tried the drill, and lastly he gave the pliers a try. We got the horse trailer away from him and then he went to open another present with the pliers and we had to take them away. That caused quite a fit, lol, but thankfully it was short lived with all the other toys still under the tree. He racked up all kinds of goodies and played all morning with Daddy. I snuck off to the kitchen to make a few things for dinner tonight.
After digging out my car and shoveling the sidewalk we bundled up to head to the sledding hill in the village. Colin got a new wooden sled for Christmas too, but he got it early since we went to Garmisch last week and knew we'd need it there. We got about 5-6" of snow yesterday afternoon/last night, so it was beautiful and there was a nice layer of snow up on the hill. We played in the snow for a while before coming back to the house for some lunch and to warm up. Colin was excited to be back home and to get play with his toys again. We spent the afternoon playing and watching movies with Colin. Colin didn't take a nap, but Daddy did and I wished I could have! Instead I took advantage of a tired baby on the couch to spend a few minutes blogging. We have a turkey on the smoker and all kinds of yummies for dinner, can't wait! Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night! Frohe Weihnachten!
Tuesday was kind of a laid back, family day. We took our time getting ready and did a little sightseeing in Oberammagau and tossed around the idea of getting a cuckoo clock. We decided against it because they are made in the Black Forest, which is one place we've yet to visit, so we thought we should go down there and see what they have where they are actually made and then decide where to buy one. After that we headed back to the hotel for some lunch. We ended up eating at the buffet in the hotel and Colin got reacquainted with Jello. We don't eat it at the house all that much, but apparently I need to make it more often, lol.
The next day, our last full day of vacation, was a busy one. We got up and played in the snow outside with Colin. More snowball fights and playground time, we also noticed that since it had warmed up a little bit that day the light, powdery snow that had fallen a few days before had now become wet and heavy, just right for building a snowman. I was very excited about this because in all my 30 years I have never actually built a real snowman! I know, I know! You have to remember I'm a Florida girl, I was in my teens before I ever even saw snow. The one time I did see enough snow to make anything out of, well it was the wrong kind of snow for snowman construction, so instead my family and I had to settle for a snow-turtle. So I was pretty excited to make a big, tall, proper snowman! He turned out to be a little fruity though due to lack of supplies in our hotel room. We gave him an orange peel smile and buttons made out of grapes, I'm sure the birds appreciated it after we were gone.
That afternoon we had a sitter come watch Colin again so we could go do some "adult sledding." The plan was to buy a lift ticket on the ski lift and sled down the mountain, we'd seen other people doing it while we were on the kiddie hill with Colin all week long. When we got there to buy a ticket I asked the lady if they had a sled ticket rate or what the deal was if I just wanted to sled down. She explained to me that she can't refuse to sell me a ticket, but that the slopes were pretty icy that day and they'd already had a few skiers get hurt, so she did not recommend sledding at all. She then told me I was free to decide what I wanted to do, but I wouldn't want to end up like that guy, as she points to a guy on a stretcher a few meters away being loaded into an ambulance. Ooops. Needless to say we didn't sled down the hill, though the very tempting thought of giving it a try in hopes of Shelby "accidentally" breaking an arm or something and not being able to deploy did cross both our minds. Just kidding. Not totally. LOL So instead we paid for a sightseeing ticket to just ride the lift up and wander around up there and take a look. It was beautiful up there and I had no idea how much more there was to do up on top. There were several more chair lifts once you got up there taking you to different trails and areas, it really made us want to ski! Next winter for sure!!
We got back to the hotel just before dinner time and headed over to Colan's one last time. Shelby ordered an octopus steak that was incredible and made me wish I had ordered it too. So tender and sautéed in butter and garlic and served over marinated peppers...mmmm! I ordered a beef dish with red wine sauce and this heavenly layered potato gratin type thing with cheese and a thin pastry crust between the layers. I was glad we ordered Colin his own kids schnitzel because neither one of us wanted to share our meal with him. The sweet owners also sent us home with a small loaf of homemade nut rumcake for Christmas, yea that didn't even come close to lasting until Christmas. Love that place! Once we got back to the hotel it was time to pack up and get ready for check out in the morning. We tried one last attempt at getting some good Christmas pictures of Colin, I even let him wear his PJs this time, but apparently comfort wasn't going to coax him to cooperate either. I guess we just have to settle for "I'm two and you know it" style Christmas pictures this year. Another fabulous time in Garmisch must come to an end. Next vacation here planned for next Christmas, until then we'll try to think of ways to get stationed and retire here.
Today was the best day of vacation. It started off with me waking up and going downstairs to get a surprise massage that Shelby had scheduled me for. Definitely a good start to the day! When I got back we all got suited up and went outside to play on the playground in the snow. Colin got a huge kick out of the playground equipment being covered in snow. Then Colin and Daddy had a little snowball fight. Colin would throw snow at Shelby and Shel would fall down, apparently this is the funniest thing Colin has ever seen.
They spent a good 20 minutes throwing snow at one another and then falling down as they were hit and laughing. I loved every minute of it and had to flop down in the snow a few times myself when Colin came to see if snowballs had the same affect on Mommy. Then we showed Colin how to make snow angels. He thought that was pretty fun but quickly decided it was better for Daddy to lay in the snow and Colin to help move his arms and legs.
After some lunch and a BX run we went back to the ski slopes for some more sledding. Colin was really insistant on joining ski school this time, he would just stand at the fence and stare and attempt to sneak over the fence when he thought we weren't watching. We had fun and the hill was a lot less crowded today than it was yesterday.
On the way back to the hotel (all of 5 minutes from the slopes!) we got a beautiful view of the sunset. The sky was lit up like fire and the snowy backdrop made it look amazing. We changed clothes and attempted another photo in Santa's chair with Colin...it did not end well of course, so off to dinner we went. We ate in the hotel again so we could get back to the room in time to meet the babysitter. OH YES I said babysitter!! I'm liking this hotel more and more now that I have discovered that several of the staff members are also trained and certified by the base as babysitters. And they come right to your room to entertain your kiddo so you can have a child free dinner or tour trip. SCORE!
The ONE thing I was dying to do on this trip was the torchlight gorge tour of Partnachklamm. You might remember how incrediblybeautifulit was on our last visit? Well imagine all the walls covered with ice and lit up at night by fire light. Now you know why I was dying to go! The only problem was they do not allow kids under 8 on the tour and the nights that the tour was offered did not coordinate with nights that the base daycare was open at night. So discovering this little in house babysitting gem totally made my day, and this trip possible. Colin got to have a blast swimming and playing with Genna, the fabulous babysitter (she works in the gift shop if you go and need a sitter....highly recommend her!) and I got to take my torchlight tour.
The gorge tour was all I knew it would be, breathtaking! Normally water runs down the gorge walls into the stream below, but when it freezes you get ice everywhere and giant icicles that are easily 2-3 stories tall! My camera did not do it justice AT ALL and most of the pictures did not turn out. It's so dark you have to use the flash, but all the moisture in the air lights up with the flash on and creates blurs all over the photo. Sorry folks...you have to come see it in person. Trust me, it's worth it! After the hike through the klamm the tour had us stop at a small gasthaus near the entrance for a hot drink before boarding the bus back to the hotel. The owner of the gasthaus showed off for all the Americans and gave a little impromtu yodeling performance. After that is was back to the hotel where we found Colin sound asleep for the babysitter. She said he didn't even make it 10 minutes into Finding Nemo before he passed out, without his bottle even...he must have been wiped out! One of the best days ever for sure!
Yesterday after leaving Nürnberg we made our way down to Garmisch and got checked in at the hotel. We had time to take Colin for a quick dip in the pool and then went over to the best restaurant in the area and our favorite place, Conlan's Cafe. Shelby had a Conlan's special cordon bleu and I had a deer gulasch plate that was fantastic.
This morning we got up and headed to the ski slopes to take Colin sledding. He got a new wooden sled as part of his Christmas gifts, but we had to give it to him early of course so we could get good use out of it here in the big snow. He had a blast sledding down the hill with us and watching the other kids. He was very intrigued by the other little kids learning how to ski. After sledding for a while we got in the car to warm up and drove over to Oberammagau to check out their little village Christmas market. It was smaller than we expected, but had some very tasty food.
Later on we came back to the hotel and did a little swimming. Colin is becoming quite the fish and was swimming pretty good with his vest on in the pool. After that we dressed Colin in his Christmas outfit and attempted some pictures in the gorgeous hotel decorations/displays. The whole hotel is decorated so beautifully and they make up several spots that are perfect for picture taking. Colin of course HATES having his picture taken and so I knew this would be a challenge. Not even bribing him with Santa watching was working out. He did ok in the pictures with one of us in them...but forget a good shot of him by himself...wiggle butt can't sit still long enough! Once we gave up on picture taking we had a nice dinner at the hotel and then relaxed for the rest of the evening.
About 6" of snow fell during the course of yesterday and last night canceling schools on base and allowing us to kick of Christmas vacation early. I was actually hoping this would happen so I could get us packed up and on the road earlier than if I had gone to work. We decided to head to Nürnberg to spend the night before heading on to Garmisch for our stay there. Nürnberg hosts the original Weihnachtsmarkt. Yep, the whole Christmas market tradition was believed to have started here with the Nürnberg Weihnachtsmarkt! The first mention of the market in writing is 1628, and in 1737 a list showed that 140 craftsman had been granted a spot in the market to sell their goods. It is still going strong today as one of the most beautiful and largest markets in Germany. It's was a must see for us, since we have been to so many Christmas markets, it only made sense that we visit the most popular and historic one in Germany! We got to Nürnberg a little later than planned and had to quickly check into the hotel and head over to the market. We of course stopped for some Starbucks first thing. They don't do eggnog lattes over here in Germany, but they do have their own special Christmas coffees and my new favorite is the toffee nut latte....a more than adequate stand in for my beloved eggnog latte. Delicious!
The market was HUGE and was actually several markets within the large market. There was an international market with booths representing different countries, a kids market with kid themed goods at the booths and rides for the little ones, and a general market with just about every kind of gifty goody imaginable and all kinds of food. Smelling all the heavenly scents from the market was not good for us starving travelers. We browsed and ate and then headed back to the hotel to warm up. One might wonder what exactly you do to entertain a two year old in a tiny European hotel room barely big enough to walk around the bed. Well you unplug the phone and let him play with that of course. As you can see, he was highly entertained!
Then he realized Daddy was filming, you know how much he loves the camera!
He eventually gave up shooing off Daddy and went back to playing...
The next morning we got up and walked back into the old towne for some more Starbucks and market fun. We browsed one last time before heading out on the road for Garmisch, off to the Alps!
I'm a mom to three boys, a furry Boxer kid and two crazy black cats. I'm caring, loving, stubborn and passionate. I'm a Capricorn and a Florida Gator. I have a Bachelors in Elementary Education and a Masters in Early Childhood Education. I'm a born teacher. I've traveled the world and lived in 8 different cities in 4 different countries over the last 13 years. Germany stole my heart and I can't wait to move back. Now living on the island of Guam in the Pacific, I get to call an island paradise where most people only vacation my home.
