Thursday, December 31, 2009

Crazy New Years

After the girls slept, and slept thru all of the preliminary fireworks, the world exploded above us.

Jan 2010 664 We tried waking Sophia, but she thought it was too loud & just wanted to go back to sleep.

Luckily she did, because it sounded like we were being bombed.  Troy went to Koenigsplatz, and survived the implosion of people, fireworks, and lack of self control.  It appears when there are no rules, then all common sense goes out the window.Jan 2010 651 This guy, with the rocket launcher strapped to his arm, is a prime example of the chaos.Jan 2010 639 Jan 2010 660 At one point the crowd was being fired upon by groups of people.  No one seemed to mind.

Jan 2010 669 In the meantime I was ducking fireworks on our street, hoping that our car was not going to explode.

Kinder New Years 2009-2010

The girls rang in the New Year with us a little early – 7pm our time – midnight in New Delhi.  We purchased a “kids safe” fireworks kit from the local supermarket – just a few spinning flowers, sparklers, whistling peetes, and a few poppers for good measure. 

Jan 2010 478 We kept the girls a good distance away, except for the poppers that kept falling out of the bag that Sophia was carrying. 

Everything was going great until someone rode by on a bike & dropped off a sky flying box…Jan 2010 477 Alexandra freaked out a bit.

Jan 2010 536 But the sparklers were great fun!Jan 2010 487 Jan 2010 495 Jan 2010 568 Jan 2010 575 Then we went home & had a Hot Chocolate PARTY!!Jan 2010 583 Jan 2010 631 Jan 2010 617 Jan 2010 615 Jan 2010 624 and pure joy ended 2009 for our girls!

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Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Museum Day in Munich

Troy & I took advantage of a babysitting opportunity to have a date day, visiting Villa Stuck and the Bavarian State Museum, with a warming lunch in between.  villa Stuck

Villa Stuck is impressive, from it’s original house structurevilla Stuckvilla Stuck (who can live in rooms that look like this – I would have a serious anxiety attack)villa Stuck But the “Girls of Tiffany” exhibit was fascinating.  I just loved hearing the stories behind the designs, even if they were all told from the perspective of the designer…villa Stuck The Bavarian State Museum was an impressive palace, with a few rooms that were amazing (the instruments, cabinets, and armor were our favorites!) but was a bit confusing, and we never were able to find the exhibit on the Manger that were somewhere within the walls…Bavarian State Museum Bavarian State Museum and the table setting for the archbishop… very rich indeed…Bavarian State Museum

Pillow FIGHT!

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Sophia decided to go around the entire house & put all of the pillows in our entry way so we could have a family pillow fight!  Great fun, and one of the special things we can do with daddy “working” from home.

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Friday, December 25, 2009

Happy Boxing Day!

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Having come back last night from the mountains, we thought that we could take a walk downtown & enjoy what was left of the Christmas windows, and do a bit of grocery shopping, and have a lazy Saturday at home in the afternoon.  Au contraire… Jan 2010 285

Apparently Boxing day is also a holiday in Germany (without crackers), which means that Christmas Eve (afternoon), Christmas Day, Boxing Day, and Sunday make almost 4 days in which the stores are closed for the holidays!!  Fabulous, unless you are hosting a dinner party on the 26th & need a proper roast, or any kind of fresh fruits & veg.  Jan 2010 294 (this was made out of marzipan!  Definitely not fresh of any kind)

But we did have a good time walking downtown.Jan 2010 313and checking out the windows in Karstadt – I actually choose to shop there through out the year because they do a fabulous Christmas window – the only shop in Munich that really caters to the old style Christmas decorations.  The girls were thrilled!! Jan 2010 318 Jan 2010 322 Jan 2010 346  Jan 2010 354 The it was off to Mustard Sandwiches** & nap time, while I raced out to the airport for shopping among the masses of people that didn’t realize today was also a holiday.  Fun.

**Just kidding about the mustard sandwiches, but not about the airport grocery shopping.  However, I must admit we had the best steak for dinner – do they think people buy German steak at the airport to take home with them?  I don’t get it?!

Christmas in Munich

Returning to Munich Christmas night was a great idea for us all.  It prevented us from having to get up at the crack of dawn to pack everything up, and the girls were able to have more of Christmas on Christmas…Xmas 2009 (8)

Overall, walking into our living room with Santa having visited here as well was so much fun.  Sophia almost started jumping up & down she was so excited, and we could just leave all of the mess for tomorrow. 

Back home opening gifts!!

Back home opening gifts!!

Back home opening gifts!!

Back home opening gifts!!

Back home opening gifts!!

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.

Xmas 2009 077 Both Alexandra & Sophia received “sparkly Dorothy shoes” from Santa. Xmas 2009 094 Sophia was more than happy to help Alexandra open her gifts

Xmas 2009 096 but Alexandra is at that wonderful age where she opens one gift & just wants to play with it.Xmas 2009 106 At the end, everyone was happy.

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

Xmas 2009 128 Xmas 2009 140 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!  Xmas 2009 149 Xmas 2009 157 Xmas 2009 166 and the awards ceremony later in the afternoon

Xmas 2009 212 Sophia getting her medal from her coach Karin.  Xmas 2009 218 Her entire class, I can’t believe how little she is compared to the others!Xmas 2009 233 and me, 2nd again, but Alexandra got my medal this year.

Xmas 2009 225 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…