Back to School

We felt so lucky, we were able to drive out of Paris ahead of the snow on Wednesday, and thru the swirls in the Alsace and Black Forest, all the way back to Munich.  Thursday, we woke up to snowy skies, and snowy fields by the school.  The cool thing is the kids can bring their sleds (sledges) to school, and play all through recess and then in the 30 min after school that it is still light out.

A carousel for Sophia

After promising Sophia a puppet show after church, we were dismayed to realize that we had missed the start by 30 min, so she was consoled by the endless rides on the carousel at Trocadero.

and she even got to ride the black horse (there is only one black horse on the carousel so it is a really big deal!)

and she & Troy were able to check out the ice rink at the top of Trocadero (totally new from when we lived in Paris)

Paris, on date night

We feel so very fortunate that when we arrive in paris we can call our favorite person in the entire world to watch the girls (thanks Leilani!!!) and have a few date nights.  We spent the first night walking by Notre Dame and then off to Mexican food, Monday at Georges (on top of the Pompidou museum), and Tuesday with friends Kate & Marc with amazing food.  Unfortunately we only took a few photos, too distracted by great food and conversation!

New Friends

After being amazingly late to church on Sunday (I don’t think we were EVER this late before), we finally made it, and then were able to meet our new friend Benjamin after the service.  His parents, Annie & Jon, are so proud, and we fee so lucky to have been able to meet him.  Sophia was especially proud to be able to hold him first,

while I just had to standby and Alexandra reminded Philip how cute she is and then the parents took over, and Annie & Jon shared their joy We were just so thrilled to be part of his introduction to people in his life.  Thanks for sharing Benjamin with us!!

xx

PARIS!!!

Troy had meetings scheduled for the first 2 working days of the year, then epiphany is a holiday in Bavaria & the girls weren’t going back to school until the 7th, so we thought that we would all join him in Paris for a few days.  A great excuse to see friends & celebrate the new year in our favorite city.

After arriving we immediately headed for the Jardin d’Acclimatation for some running around time (in the freezing cold) before enjoying a little room service.  (Troy travels a lot so he is used to it, but for me, room service is the ultimate splurge – and we brought out own wine!)  Anyway, back to the park… The girls loved the hall of mirrors. Sophia was so excited to show Troy how she was able to ride the horses, among other rides, all by herself!

Alexandra was ok at the beginning of the ride with Sophia, and then totally lost it.  The man working on the ride kept counting the laps down to her, in French, hoping to make her feel better. Sophia paddled around in her princess canoe and we all took our time with the percussion instruments Sophia spotted Guignol’s van, and we promised her a puppet show after church tomorrow and the trampoline is always a hit, except when you are too little or too old to jump, and then it’s just time to go back to the hotel & get warm!! and the train ride back…

Crazy New Years

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

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. This guy, with the rocket launcher strapped to his arm, is a prime example of the chaos. At one point the crowd was being fired upon by groups of people.  No one seemed to mind.

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. 

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… Alexandra freaked out a bit.

But the sparklers were great fun! Then we went home & had a Hot Chocolate PARTY!! and pure joy ended 2009 for our girls!

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 is impressive, from it’s original house structure (who can live in rooms that look like this – I would have a serious anxiety attack) 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… 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… and the table setting for the archbishop… very rich indeed…