Happy Boxing Day!

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…

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.  (this was made out of marzipan!  Definitely not fresh of any kind)

But we did have a good time walking downtown.and 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!!   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…

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. 

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