Garmisch, Germany

Edelweiss Lodge and Resort in Garmisch, Germany.  Definitely one of the best places we have been in Germany so far!  Garmish is a neat little town, in a beautiful area, surrounded by mountains!  The views are breathtaking!  Edelweiss is an American Resort...all English speaking, fully staffed by Americans!  It was awesome!  Other than the beautiful scenery outside, you could literally forget you are outside of the United States!  That was a wonderful change of pace for our family! 

We spent two nights at Edelweiss.  The first night the kids had swimming on the agenda!  They have an indoor, heated pool...and since our kids haven't been swimming since we left the States in 2011, we decided it was time!  They had a BLAST!!

The next day we got bundled up in our snow gear, rented some sleds, and headed to the slopes!  No skiing for the Willises for several reasons: first, some of us are way too accident-prone, and would be guaranteed an injury; second, after this little stint in Germany, never again will our vacations include winter weather activities; and third, some of us just have NO desire to learn how to ski!  So we opted for sledding instead.  Once again, it was a BLAST!  R and I even sledded down the hill several times, and it was FUN!  I loved watching our kids laugh and scream, and just have good 'ol fashioned fun!

We decided after going back to Edelweiss and warming up, that another swim session was in order!  So off to swim again we went!  Again, the kids had a blast!

That evening we had reservations at a highly recommended German restaurant in town.  They had traditional Bavarian slap dancing, which was pretty cool.  Our waiter and the guy who runs the place were both SO friendly!  They made us feel very welcome, and accomodated T's dislike of sauerkraut and love of potato salad, with no complaints! It was a refreshing change of pace from some of the other German establishments we've been in!  The food was amazing!!  Overall, a great experience!

The next morning we checked out and headed home.  We let the GPS take us home, which took us a much more scenic route into Austria, and through some beautiful mountains.  This was a GREAT weekend trip!!  We can't wait to go back and explore some more!!

Their first swim!!

Ready for dinner the first night!

This is the lobby at Edelweiss!

They had these great rocking chairs...with THIS view!





Ready for sledding!

The girls' first trip down the hill!

My first trip down.  I was a bit nervous!

The view from our sledding hill.

Little R going down.

Our little guy trudged up this hill SO many times!!  I was impressed! But the thrill of going down was WELL worth the climb up!

A little Dance Dance Revolution challenge before dinner.

This is where we ate dinner.  I highly recommend it, if you are ever in the area!

Waiting for our food...which took a while!

My food!  Jagerschnitzel with spaetzle and mushroom sauce!  It doesn't look pretty, but it was delicious!  BTW...this is AFTER I had eaten all I cared to eat!  It was yummy, but there was LOTS of it!

R and T ordered the same thing!  Of course, they found the item on the menu that included the most meat, and that's what they ordered!  There is sauerkraut underneath the meat...R's favorite part!

This is the view from the balcony of our room.  Beautiful!



Headed home...



beautiful views!

More amazing views!

We saw lots of skiers in this town...

Nice to see mountains...we don't have them in our area.

Catch up time!

Okay, I am WAY behind on my blogging!! Why? I have no idea!! We had a pretty calm, quiet Christmas around here, and other than the craziness of getting back into a routine, our life has been relatively uneventful.  Christmas was spent at home, just the 5 of us. It was nice in a way...the kids got to spend the entire day enjoying their new goodies! It was weird not to have a Christmas dinner somewhere, though.

We normally have a "3 present rule".  Each child gets 3 gifts from us, and Santa usually leaves 1 gift for each child.  But this is what happens to that rule when you do most of your shopping online, and you start early!  Next Christmas, we are back to the rule!

Little R had to open the biggest one first!

T was excited about her new Ipod.  She has completely worn out the one she got 2 years ago...beyond repair!

A got lots of clothes and shoes...just what she wanted!

And right after Christmas, we start gearing up for A's birthday! She hasn't had a friend party yet. One of the downfalls of being a military child with a birthday during Christmas break is that your friends are NEVER here for your birthday! She was going to be missing some key players in her friend party, so we will have it sometime this month. But for our party, she requested Mexican night and I was happy to provide! I even found a recipe for her very favorite...white cheese dip...and it was delicious! We finished off with birthday cake and presents. I can't believe she is 11!! She is an amazing girl...full of spunk, drama, and smart as a whip! She is definitely all girl...loves clothes, jewelry and shoes! And she's my big helper...almost always willing to help out around the house when I ask. One thing that has developed this year is a sassy mouth...we are working on that! She's still a vegetarian...every year we think maybe that will change...but every year it remains!

 

We LOVE our Mexican food!

A's cake!

Two 1's

She got all the candles...without little brother's help!

What gets A so excited, you ask?  Why pink sparkly boots, of course!

The cake was yummy!

Our next event was New Year's Eve.  Again, a low key night at home, just the family.  We bought all kinds of junk food that we don't usually eat, and just grazed all night long!  The Germans really get into New Year's Eve.  You can buy huge fireworks at the grocery stores, and everyone buys them and sets them off at midnight.  It is awesome!!  It's almost overwhelming, with the sound of fireworks all around you.  But it is really cool!

R &T had hot wings for the first time in FOREVER!

This is one happy guy!

Pigs in a Blanket...MMMMM

A's junk food of choice?  Doritos!

Some of the fireworks from our balcony...

The fireworks are almost overwhelming!!  We live high up on a hill, surrounded by houses, so we couldn't see them all, but we could HEAR them all!  And it goes on for like 30 minutes!  It's really pretty cool!  Last year, we weren't aware that Germans did this...at midnight it started up, and kinda scared us a bit...until we went outside and saw the fireworks everywhere!

We got Santa Pictures!!

2012 is a year for the memory books for the Willis family!  Little R has ALWAYS been terrified of Santa!  He has had an enormous fear of being anywhere near Santa...even being in the same mall was too close for our little guy!

R and I are pretty much experts on Santa fear.  A was also terrified of the jolly man.  I have one picture of A with Santa, when she was almost a year old.  She is SCREAMING!!  We didn't try Santa again until A was 6 years old!

But this year was a bit different.  Little R began showing some interest in Santa.  Then we saw him outside the PX when we were in the van.  Little R didn't cry.  Then we saw Santa across the food court while we were eating dinner.  Little R kept his eye on him, but he didn't cry.  So I made the decision that this was going to be our year for our first Little R Santa pictures.

I had this great little outfit I had bought on clearance at Target before we left the States.  A had a pretty hand-me-down Christmas outfit from T.  So we dressed them both up, and told them we were going to see Santa!!

As I put Little R's outfit on him, I was almost in tears!  He looked so handsome!!  I took him to the full length mirror in my room to show him how handsome he looked.  He was so proud!!  He kept looking at himself and getting this little grin on his face...it was too cute!  He said numerous times throughout the night "I look snazzy"!! 

A & Little R at home, before we left.

He had to show off his reindeer ornament he made at school.  It's his footprint!  I LOVE IT...and so does he!

So off we went to the PX.  Little R and A both went up to Santa...Little R sat on his lap...and.didn't.cry!  He didn't talk to Santa...not one word...but he didn't cry!  This Mama was proud of her big boy!!

My very handsome little man...with Santa!!

And A was so sweet to go along with him.  I am pretty sure he wouldn't have done it by himself.

And she wasn't afraid to talk to him!

When we got back to the car, Little R was still pretty hyped up by the experience, and looking so "snazzy".  From the backseat he says "Is this what I'm gonna wear when I marry Piper?"  Oh, my heart melted!!  Piper is the daughter of some of our very best friends back in Oklahoma.  And while we talk about this family A LOT, we don't specifically talk about him marrying Piper.  It was just very sweet that he still remembers her, and the fact that he thinks he is going to marry her just shows that he felt the love in this amazing family!  So my answer was, "Yes, Buddy, I think that would be a GREAT outfit to wear when you marry Piper."

A's Christmas Party & Performance

A has still been going strong in Team Dance and Tumbling.  We are still missing the activities we had in Edmond...the skill level was much higher, and I think A would be far more advanced in both if we had been able to stay there.  But this is keeping her active while we are here, and hopefully she will be able to get back into her cheer & tumbling when we return to Edmond.  She has definitely shown improvement in her tumbling, and her instructor is advising her to move up from the beginner class...so that's our next step!  If nothing else, she is having fun with her friends in dance, and she has built up some serious muscle during the course of her tumbling classes!  The girl has gained around 15 pounds...and it's definitely not fat!!  The girl loves to cheer and dance...she lights up when she is performing...and I love seeing her enjoy something so much!

Part of the dance crew before the performance.  You see how these girls love the camera??

This is A's friend Ava, in the white leggings, standing right next to A.  They are in the same class at school, and everyone (even the teachers) get them confused!  It irritates A very much that she is called Ava almost as much as she is called by her own name!  Of course it doesn't help that they not only LOOK alike, they ACT alike, too!  They have very similar personalities and mannerisms.  I had to get a picture of this...as they were waiting for instruction, they were standing almost exactly the same!!  Silly girls!

This is the best pic we got of the performance...poor lighting, movement, and some guy's big head kept us from having any really good pics!

 

http://vimeo.com/56396594


This is a video of A's performance.  We had a bad angle, so we lost some of it behind the curtain.  This was A's first time doing ANY tumbling for an audience, so she was nervous!  But she did it!  We were quite proud of her!

Little R's First School Program!

Earlier this year, we had a huge (to us) decision on our hands:  whether to leave Little R in German kindergarten, or place him in the American Pre-K program on post.  We decided to go with the American Pre-K program, and it has been great!  It takes a little more work on my part...he goes 5 days a week, 3 hours a day...and it's a 15-20 minute drive from our house.  So my mornings are pretty much taken up with getting him to school, and then what seems like minutes later, picking him up from school!  But I don't regret the decision at all!

He is definitely thriving in the environment!  He has great friends, and is learning to stop, be still, and listen to a lesson.  And for our super-active little guy that's a big accomplishment!!  He received rave reviews from his teacher at parent/teacher conference a few weeks ago!  I think he will definitely be prepared for kindergarten next year, without a doubt!

For Christmas, the school had a small program for the parents.  The kids made penguin costumes and performed a song for us, and then we had "made especially for us, by the kids" gingerbread cookies.  It was very sweet, and I love seeing my little guy interact with kids his age!

The Penguin Parade

He was a little concerned about how many parents were watching!

My Perfectly Proud Penguin

These are little R's two very best buddies...Sterling & Luis!  I would say that Sterling is his first "best" friend!  He doesn't do or say much that doesn't involve Sterling!

Little R enjoying his gingerbread cookie!
 

Willis Family Snow Day

We designated today as a snow day for our kids, even though schools were in session with no delays! 
We have 4 posts here in Stuttgart, and when they are "grading" the road conditions, they consider the roads between the 4 posts.  The only problem is that a large number of people live in small towns a pretty good distance from the 4 posts...and the roads there are usually not comparable to the main roads between the posts.  So this morning, they graded the roads amber, and had a normal school day with no delays.  I drove home from one of the posts at 10:30 yesterday morning, and it was ROUGH.  It snowed continuously the rest of the day yesterday, and throughout the night, and never rose above freezing.  And yet they were saying for us to put our kids on the school bus at 7:00 and get them to school on time!  Our answer was a definite NO!!  The main roads had not even been plowed at that time!  I truly believe school is very important, but I don't think it is worth risking the lives of my kiddos!!  I don't believe that the people making these decisions have the best interests of our kids in mind!  Just one more thing to dislike...

But my rant is over!!  The kids enjoyed some fun snow time!!  They built a (small) snowman, and had a blast running around the field, making snow angels, and tackling each other in the deep snow!  And they are now safe and warm in the house, with a fire going in the fireplace.  And I am much happier knowing they are here, and not about to head home on scary roads in a bus!

R was working hard at digging a "home" for Frosty!

A's a poser!!

"It won't stick together"

T was working hard!

Little R named him "Frosty"...how original!

Frosty is sporting his UCO hat!

All 3 kids with the finished product!!  The size does not represent the effort!!  The snow is very dry and powdery...it didn't make very good snowmen or snowballs!

Christmas Market Fun!

Christmas Markets are HUGE here in Germany!!  Every town has one, and some of them in the bigger towns are quite the affair!  We went to our first Christmas market last year, and it was one of the big (and very crowded) ones.  We decided to start this year with the very small one here in our town of Holzgerlingen.  R is still not up to walking long distances, so we thought the small one would be a good start.

The Christmas market itself was very cute!  The weather was VERY cold!!  We got all bundled up, and away we went!  The camera battery died immediately after we got there, so the only shots we got were the posers before we got there.

We bought some ornaments for friends, A bought a Nutella crepe (YUM), T bought a bratwurst, and Little R bought a pony ride!  This was his first ever pony ride, and I am so disappointed I didn't have my camera!!  He was so proud of himself!!  And this wasn't just a ride in a circle...they went down the street and back again.  As he came back into sight, I waved at him, and he waved back, beaming!!

After that, he had a major meltdown.  Little R does NOT like the cold, and it was in the 20s yesterday.  And we were out in it for about 45 minutes to an hour...so that was more than enough for him!  And for some reason, he was devastated at having to walk through the brown, slushy snow on the streets and sidewalk...he said it was GROSS!!  This boy does NOT like his shoes to get dirty!! : )

We will definitely be going to another, larger Christmas market during this Christmas season.  But this was a nice introduction to the German Christmas season!  And maybe we will get lucky, and the temps will climb back up into the 30s for our next Christmas Market adventure! : )

All bundled up!  He even wore my scarf!

This was before they were frozen!!  Little R was still happy because he hadn't encountered the "slush" yet!

T LOVES hugs from Daddy!!  Especially in public!

Ready for some shopping!!

It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas!!!

It's beginning to look Christmasy around here!  Once again, another "new" house this Christmas.  Trying to decide where to put the tree and decorations is always a challenge in a new place.

I love Christmas time!!  I love decorating the tree!!  It is a walk down memory lane for us...we have to discuss each ornament as it is taken out of the wrap...most of them are handmade by the kids, or gifts from friends along the way.  Each one has a story...and we love to relive those stories each year as we decorate the tree.  Now I will admit, I have seen much prettier trees than ours.  The themed trees that people post are absolutely beautiful!!  But I wouldn't trade my "memory" tree for any of them!! 

Little R was very involved in hanging ornaments this year.

Lots of helpers!

This is Little R's tree in his room.  He decorated it all by himself...can you tell??



The Hulk made an appearance at our tree decorating!!  He is usually the official "angel placer", but our angel won't fit on top of our tree this year...our ceilings are too low!  So "Oatmeal", has found a perch on a shelf for this Christmas season, and our "angel placer" decided to entertain himself in other ways!

Rudolph noses!!

The stockings are hung!

We actually got to decorate our mantle this year!

Our tree!  Yes, it leans just a bit...that just adds to the character!  I think we are actually going to try a real tree next year, and see if A tolerates it okay.  I grew up with a real tree, and I have great memories of hunting for that perfect tree each year!  I would love to pass that on to our kids.