Oh, Christmas Markets! Heidelberg, Mannheim & Bad Wimphen

Tis the season for Christmas Markets (Weihnachtsmärkte) in Germany!  I just love this time of year over here and will miss the Christmas Markets when we leave.  Almost every German town hosts a Weihnachtsmarkt and almost nothing can get you in the Christmas spirit more.  My first Christmas Market this year was in Heidelberg with Silke.  It was a great afternoon!

Silke and I in the market.

Downtown Heidelberg.

A couple of days later, Greg enjoyed a rare day off and we decided to check out the Mannheim Weihnachtsmarkt while the girls were in school.  It was freezing!!!  But the market was great!

The Weihnachtsmarkt at the Mannheim Wasserturm (water tower).

In below freezing weather (around 27 degrees) we took a family trip to the nearby town of Bad Wimphen.  It's a very quaint German town with a great Weihnachtsmarkt.

Greg and Leena walk from the parking area into the town of Bad Wimphen.

Entering the market area.

On the streets of Bad Wimphen.  Leena wasted little time getting her kinderpunch which is a fruit juice served hot.

A short time later, Greg gets his Glühwein (red wine and other spices served hot) and Taryn gets her hot chocolate.  And then I get to keep the mugs!  However, we may need more than this to keep us warm today!

The girls ran into St. Nicholas!

A beautiful town!  However, at this point, Taryn was in tears because she was so cold - and I couldn't blame her!

Leena enjoys the view of the Neckar River below the town.

The girls walk the wall that still surrounds Bad Wimphen before we head to the car to thaw out!

Got the tree!

Today, we went shopping (in the snow!) for our Christmas tree.  This was our first time shopping for a Christmas tree in the snow.  We got our tree from a field located next to someones house.  Completely small-town German.  No English spoken here, but the transaction went very smoothly. 

Decisions, decisions!

Now for the fun part!  This year, I let the girls decorate the tree 100% by themselves. 

They were very particular about what went where.

Leena adds a hook.
 

Ta Da!  The final product!



Silly shot!



Exemplary Work Wall - Round 2

Today when Greg and I picked the girls up from school, Leena informed us that some of her work made it up on the Exemplary Work Wall again.  This is the second time this year!  Way to go Leena!  Here she is with her latest piece of work.

Sankt Nikolaustag 2012

The 6th of December is Nikolaustag (St. Nikolaus Day) in Germany. Although this is not a public holiday, it is taken very seriously. It starts the night before, when kids put their shoes outside the front door.  According to folklore, St. Nikolaus will appear overnight and put little gifts into their boots if they have been good throughout the year.  Bad kids will only receive a bunch of twigs.  Naturally, Leena and Taryn have fully embraced this new tradition (not sure if St. Nikolaus will make his way to the U.S. next year!).  They put their boots (the biggest shoes they could find) outside the front door on the night of the 5th and were very happy the following morning!

Hooray!!  The boots were full of goodies!

The girls thoroughly inspect the contents inside.

Cool ear muffs!

NATO Children's Christmas Party

Every year, Greg's office puts on a Christmas party for the kids complete with food, drinks, and Santa (with gifts!).  Just like last year, fun was had by all!

Leena shares a few words with Santa.

Santa came with a gift for each child (and it looks like he's been on a little diet!).

Taryn tells Santa what she wants for Xmas.

Taryn's Spanish Christmas Program

Yes, you read the title correctly.  We live in Germany and yet, Taryn's class put on a mini-Spanish Christmas Program.  They get twice as much Spanish at school than German, but I digress.  Today, all the parents were invited to go to Spanish class with the kids while they sang Spanish songs.  It was amazing how much Spanish they have picked up so far this year.  It's safe to say that they are learning more of the Spanish language than German in their German "Culture Class".  Again, I digress.  Taryn is fortunate enough to have a great and fun Spanish teacher, Senior Perez.  He really makes learning fun as you will see from the video clips below.  I wish I had a teacher like this in school!

Taryn and some of her buddies before the class started.

Here is a clip of them learning Spanish the fun way!  Taryn in silver skirt on right side.

 

Here they are singing Feliz Navidad.  Taryn is on the left side of the screen.  Unfortunately, I got stuck in the back of the room. 

 

Here they are singing about hitting a pinata - complete with air guitar!

Taryn sports a Sombrero!

The kids followed Senior Perez around the room while wearing sombreros and carrying pinatas and singing something in Spanish.

During the Spanish class, it started to snow.  At the end of Spanish, Taryn's teacher let the kids run around in the snow for about 10 minutes.  Here's Taryn with some of her buddies.

The kids were having a blast!  When we arrived at the school, there was zero snow on the ground.  In just a short time, it looked like this.  It was really coming down!  And here is Taryn running around in her cute ballet flats.  When will I learn?  Fortunately, she didn't care and it didn't seem to slow her down.

Family pic in the snow.

After the kids ran around, Taryn's teacher hosted a Mexican feast in the classroom.  Here is Taryn and Taize.  Taize is completely smitten with Taryn and has already offered up a few marriage proposals.  He's a cutie.

The class enjoys their Mexican celebration.

 

Mother/Daughter Spa Day

Both girls are involved with Girl Scouts this year and today, the Girl Scouts put on a Mother/Daughter Spa Day.  It was a great way to spend some quality time with my little ladies who LOVE doing stuff like this!  There was a hair station, a nail station, a relaxation station, a facial station, a make-up station, and an art station.  We barely had time to complete everything!

The girls massage their feet at the Relaxation Station.

Leena applies some relaxation lotion.  At home later in the day, I asked Taryn to pick up her toys and she said that she couldn't because "I used too much relaxation lotion today and I'm too relaxed"!

Taryn gets a facial and wasn't too sure about this station.

Leena gets her facial.  This tickles!!

Ah, life is good!  But why do I need to put cucumbers on my face??

Leena post make-up station.

Taryn enjoys her eyeshadow application.

Final result.

And guess who went home with a door prize!!