Thanksgiving

I don't usually do an entire Thanksgiving dinner. Luckily I have a mother and a mother-in-law who usually do all of the big cooking on Thanksgiving. I will usually contribute mac and cheese or some kind of dessert, but that is all. However, with no mother and no mother-in-law here in Germany to cook Thanksgiving dinner, it was up to me. And whether it was conscious or not, I think Tommy was trying to convince me that we did not have to have a Thanksgiving dinner this year, because as he kept reminding me all last week, "Germans don't celebrate Thanksgiving!" Well, we are not German and I was determined that we were having a real Thanksgiving dinner.
Everything went off without a hitch. The only set back was when I had to pluck feathers off of the turkey before cooking it. I even made a pumpkin pie from scratch.
Everyone seemed to enjoy it. Alex and her friend Celeste were here and also a German friend of Tommy's that had never had a traditional Thanksgiving meal (despite living in the US for most of his childhood). We were even able to watch the Macy's parade on the internet, and if not for the view of the Alps from the balcony, I would have sworn that we were Home!




Pumpkin Pie from scratch!!! Yes folks, I cooked and mashed the pumpkin and made the pie crust! The two finger prints in the center are compliments of Cy. Mrs. Smith, Eat your heart out!

Cy's Kindergarten Program

Last night Cy had his first Kindergarten program. Unfortunately the exact details of the program were lost somewhere in the translation between the teacher and myself. I did not really know that it was going to be a program, just that he needed to be at the Kindergarten at 5:00. The kids would be making things to sell to earn money for sick and poor children. (in honor of St. Elisabeth)
So off to the Kindergarten Cyrus and I go at 5:00. He had just woken up and was way too grouchy to go anywhere, but we went. As we arrive I notice some children in costumes and there is an elaborate table set up with all of the candy and candles that the kids had made to sell. Of course Cy steps right up to the table with his Euro coins to buy some candy (this was how I bribed him to go in the first place), but the teacher says that it is not time. She then ushers all of the kids into the classroom and shuts the door, leaving the parents to wait in the lobby. Soon we are allowed to enter the classroom where the kids are all seated in chairs in a circle. The parents take their places and then the program begins. The teacher, Frau Geiser, begins to tell the story of St. Elisabeth with some of the older kids acting out parts of the story (that is where the costumes came into play). From the parts that I followed St Elisabeth was born a princess and was married at a young age to a German prince. She was soon widowed and gave up her fortune to help the sick and the poor. As the story was told the children acted out parts of the story and sang songs. At the end they gave out sweet rolls to all of the children who were then supposed to share with their parents like St. Elisabeth shared her fortune. Cyrus must not have understood this part of the story because he did not share any portion of the two rolls that he ate. He did, however, try to sing the songs and he played his bells enthusiastically. I sat across the room from him so he could see me, and I could watch his face. I only had to give him the "IF YOU DON'T STOP THAT YOU ARE IN BIG TROUBLE MR." look once when he started fake coughing. Sadly, I did not get any photos. It was not until we got there that I realized that this was a "program". Oh well, I guess that is what happens when you are the third of four kids.
Anyway he did a great job, and after the program was over, everyone was invited into the lobby to purchase the goodies that the kids had been working on all week. Cy bought two types of candy and a candle, and refused to share with his sisters when we got home. The message of St. Elisabeth really stuck with him!!

Eichhörnchenwald

Last Saturday we went to a place called Eichhörnchenwald (squirrel forest). It is located near the village Fischen. We were told that you can feed the squirrels that are in abundance there. Of course we forgot to bring any food with us, but another couple were willing to share what they had so the kids could feed the squirrels. We did not get any good pictures because the forest was very dark. It truly reminded me of something from a fairy tale. The tall, moss covered fir trees provided way too much shade to allow for good photography (at least for amateurs like us). We did get a couple of videos. Here is one of Grace and Cy feeding the squirrels.




Next to the parking area there was a very cool Spielplatz (playground). The kids had a blast climbing all over the equipment.

Cy goes to Kindergarten

This is a bit delayed. We did not take a picture of Cy on his first day of kindergarten, but this was taken a few weeks later when the weather started to cool off. He cracks me up with his little cap and vest!
His Kindergarten is the coolest place ever! I have never seen so many neat things for kids to do. Trampolines inside, a pommel horse, sand tables, medieval costumes...one day they had made a tower with over a thousand blocks! So glad Cy didn't decide to knock it down. They even went apple picking the other day in the snow!
I am so glad he is having a great time and that he is so tired when he gets home at 12:30 that we WANTS to take a nap!

Fall Break

It has been a fun but busy week. The girls were out of school this week, so Tommy took the week off, so we could do some family stuff. On Thursday we went to a place close to here called Große Wald. You park and then hike down along a creek to a playground. The kids had fun. There was a swinging bridge over the creek, lots of equipment to play on and of course the creek! It did not matter that it was about 40 degrees and the water even colder. The kids, big and little, had to play in the creek. We went with a family that is from Charleston, but are living in Bamberg for the next three years. They were vacationing here in the Allgau since their kids were on break from school as well.

Today it is back to the grind. Although I can't complain too much. I am sitting here warming up by the fire and watching the snow fall like crazy. Beautiful!