Happy Birthday Ethan!

Last weekend we had a small birthday party for Ethan. The theme was "dump truck party" and Ethan spent weeks beforehand talking about it and telling anyone who'd listen about his party. He was so excited!! We had 4 families over and the kids and parents had a great time...Ethan loved the party and all the fun gifts he got! We can't believe he's 3 years old!

the kids decorated hard hats to wear at the party.


Daddy and Ethan.


Ethan with his dump truck cake.


Opening presents.


Ethan in January 2007, with Allison... how time flies!

kingpin

Sunday, we went with a few friends and their kids to the on-base bowling alley for a little change from our usual afternoons at the playground. The kids had a blast! Of course, there was no turn-taking or keeping score. We had 2 lanes and at times, there were 3 balls going down at once. The dads had to take turns going down the lanes to retrieve balls that got stuck, or better yet, were going too slow to make it to the pins. We ended the afternoon with some pizza and all in all, it was a great day.


waiting to roll the ball.

Ethan had a blast!

Dads on ball patrol.

Wesley and Ethan waiting for the ball to come out....this was their favorite part!

photos courtesy Scott Pugh.

Zugspitze!!

Before heading back to Naples we took a gondola to the top of the Zugspitze - Germany's tallest mountain. The view was absolutely amazing (you can see into Italy, Switzerland, and Austria) and the kids made the mountain into their playground, playing in the snow.

Kids making snow angels. We had to lure them out of the snow with the promise of hot chocolate and brezels (pretzels).

Some of the ski slopes at the top.

Click on the picture to make it larger. Then look on the right slope...do you see the gondola line?

Christkindlmarkt experience

Christkindlmarkts, or Christmas Markets, are street markets selling traditional Christmas-related items. Originating in Germany and Austria, they are now all over the world. They are so much fun! The ambiance is great, with music, hot wine and delicious food, beautiful crafts, attractions for the kids.... just a wonderful way to celebrate the holiday season. We got to visit the markets in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Munich, and Salzburg on this trip. Here are some pics:

Papa and Ethan enjoying a brezel (pretzel) in Salzburg.

Stacks of homemade gingerbread in Munich.

hand-painted egg ornaments in Salzburg.

Cuckoo clocks and nutcrackers in Munich.

Munich

Despite driving 10 hours over the previous two days, on Monday we drove an hour north into Munich. The Christmas Market in Munich was amazing (compared what we've seen in Rome, Prague, and Budapest). Dozens of booths were selling handmade wooden toys, chocolate covered marshmallows, grilled sausages, and spiced apple cider. In addition to the Christmas market, we also stumbled upon another large market, the Viktualienmarkt. Call us unfit parents, but then we brought the kids to the Hofbrauhaus - Margaret had a radler, Dan a lager, and the kids lemonade.

The Viktualienmarkt market.

A mesmerized Ethan watching the glockenspiel (figurines on the New Town Hall performing a daily show)

Garmisch-Partenkirchen

Last Sunday morning we ("we" being the four of us along with Dan's parents) hit the A-1 northbound and headed to Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany in the Bavarian Alps. Since the drive takes almost 10 hours, we spent the night in Bologna, Italy (where we experienced the coldest weather of the entire trip!).


On Monday afternoon we arrived in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, a small town at the foot of some of Germany's best skiing. Festive holiday lights lined the downtown pedestrian-only streets and a Christmas market filled the small main square. Allison downed hot chocolate and Ethan began his love affair with snow. The Bleicher's apartment luck continued here - an authentic Alpine space boasting spectacular views of the Alps and plenty of space for the six of us to spread out.

The ole' Honda Odyssey.

Allison staying warm with hot chocolate.

The outside of our second floor apartment. Note the lace curtains- so Bavarian!

Our cozy apartment felt more like a mountain lodge.

Allison's holiday show

Allison's preschool holiday show was so cute and the kids did a great job singing for all the visitors!

Here is the bilingual (English/Italian) song they sang for us:

Allison with her teacher, Ms. Donna.

Ethan's holiday show

Ethan's nursery school class put on their holiday show for parents this week. It was very cute. The cutest part was that not one child opened their mouth! They were all stunned to walk in the room and see 20 parents waiting to hear their beautiful little voices that none of them would open their mouths (well, except for the few who cried). It was still adorable and we had a nice lunch together after the "show". Hopefully next year, our boy will sing!

More Hanukkah...

The kids have been having a great time this year during Hanukkah. It's the first year we've really made an effort to light the candles each night and the kids are really into it. They are learning the blessing, and of course, love getting presents. And they really loved the potato latkes with applesauce and sour cream!!