Christmas 2009

the girls actually gave us a bit of a lie in this morning, good following the wine last night, and we had a few presents that we had brought with us, and Santa had also found us in the mountains, so everyone was happy.

Both Alexandra & Sophia received “sparkly Dorothy shoes” from Santa. Sophia was more than happy to help Alexandra open her gifts

but Alexandra is at that wonderful age where she opens one gift & just wants to play with it. At the end, everyone was happy.

And then it was time to get ready for the big race!

It was okay for the first hour, but as the race started, so did the rain, and the rest of the time we were just miserable waiting for the start!  and the awards ceremony later in the afternoon

Sophia getting her medal from her coach Karin.  Her entire class, I can’t believe how little she is compared to the others! and me, 2nd again, but Alexandra got my medal this year.

Troy found the HUGE chocolate medals for the kids that accented their ski school medals very well.  Sophia can’t wait to eat hers.

After the ceremony we decided to drive back to Munich, rather than waiting until the morning.  Merry Christmas everyone.  We miss you all…

Christmas Eve

We were lucky enough to be spending the week with good friends from Munich, their sons were in the ski class with Sophia & the nursery with Alexandra, so it made the week really special.  We had an amazing Christmas Eve dinner with them, although Alexandra couldn’t quite make it to dinner, Then she ate again with the rest of the kids, and then they all watched the Polar Express while the adults had a very nice dinner with great conversation – what a concept!!

At some point Alexandra & Campbell both fell asleep, so presents were finally opened by Sophia & Aidan. 

And then a really late bedtime for them, not a great preparation for the ski school race in the morning.

Sophia Skies!

Just a video of Sophia's week - she was amazing, and had such a great attitude. I can't wait until she can ski with us, and then probably ski past us.

2009 - Sophia Skies! from Moya Z on Vimeo.

Apres-Ski

After all the skiing there still was time for play in the snow, and lots & lots of eating!  Then everyone collapsed!

Alexandra was in the nursery at the ski school, and had so much fun playing that she refused to sleep in the afternoons, so by 5pm each day she was exhausted!  We had a few movie nights, and the girls were asleep early – good thing because Troy & I were in bed by 9 most nights!  We are definitely getting old.

Sophia’s Ski Class

Sophia had an amazing group to ski with this week.  The ages ranged from 5 to 13, but the instructor was fantastic with them, and had them all doing exercises & drills down the runs.  Sophia learned so much, and by the end of the week was making parallel turns, when she remembered! 

Troy & I were able to ski a bit with the class & ride up the lift with Sophia, but we didn’t feel like we could do the whole day – she used us as a bit of a crutch when we were around, and skied much better when she didn’t know we were watching.

You can see the fog in the Valley below us – it was really starting to warm up!

The great lunch hut – Kasespaetzel (kind of like Mac & Cheese) is so good, as was the beer.

Sophia & her group were there as well.  Fast & Hot, and the kids all got to warm up for a bit before more skiing!!

Skiing in Austria

We were unable to fly to the US this year for Christmas, so we decided to get out of Munich & head for the mountains. Last year we had so much fun in Kirchdorf in February, that we decided to go there again. It was a bit iffy on the snow front, but the few days before we left there was enough to open most of the major resorts & we drove down thru the snow on Saturday!!

Sophia was signed up for ski lessons all week, and by the second day she was getting on the bus to travel to the larger ski resorts with her class – which includes going up the “gongola” and the very high lifts! We were so proud of her.

Troy & I had some lessons, and then spent the rest of the week traveling thru the region, checking out the resorts within a 15 min drive, which included Kitzbuhel and St Johann!

Troy & Dan on the peak to peak gondola at the Kitzbuhel resort.

The chalet where we had lunch, very posh

Holiday Lights Assembly

Since Sophia is at an international school there hasn’t really been a celebration of Christmas.  However, this year the last assembly before vacation was a celebration of all of the cultures that use light, candles, during the winter holiday.  Sophia has been practicing the Dreidel song, as well as a number of other holiday hits. 

The assembly started with the St Lucia procession then followed by the lighting of the menorah the singing of the Dreidel song while the kids spun like a top on stage followed by the advent wreath from Germany, and a very interesting Hindu song.  By the end the stage was packed!

It was a great way to include so many cultures & children, and really shouldn’t holidays be about celebrating our differences, instead of trying to ignore that they exist and shutting down all celebrations entirely?  I think the holiday displays in the US could learn a lot from this…  And it was a fun way to kick off the vacation (even though they still had one more day of school to go).

Snow in the Park

Following lunch we wandered back to the other side of the river & headed for the train station, but not without some play time at the park next to Mirabell Gardens

And then back to the train with 6 minutes to spare (otherwise it was another hour wait) and home. 

Where even the Hauptbahnhof looks festive for the season.

Salzburg Markets

Crazy busy.  That’s the only thing I can think of when I think of today.  There were people everywhere!!  The vendors were not the nicest (if you don’t want it touched don’t put it at a child’s eye level!!), and the average age of the shoppers was easily into the 60s if not 70s so things moved a little slower than we normally do. 

We did buy a couple of Nutcrackers for the girls, and some ornaments, but then it was lunchtime, and we really needed food & a Stiegl (beer) so we headed up the hill to the Stiegl Keller & the view of Salzburg.

Christmas trip to Salzburg

We took the train to Salzburg today, along with thousands of other people, and checked out the Christmas markets that line the area around the Cathedral.  We thought the train would be better than driving because the autobahn between Munich & Salzburg often gets jammed with traffic (stau) and we were thinking it would be more relaxing.  However nice it was, it was also a little stressful dealing with strict punctuality with 2 children. 

The train was packed, and people were so desperate for seats that one woman even asked if she could sit with us four in the FOUR seats that we had, and when I told her there was no seat available she questioned me?!  Like anyone would want to sit with energetic children for a 2 hour 20 min train ride if they didn’t have to?  Plus I just didn’t want to be told by a stranger to keep my children still when she chose to sit with us.  Anyway, she left…

But Salzburg was beautiful.