Arrgh! I had written captions and commentary for this post, but it didn't save for some reason, so I had to do it all over again. Blah...I hate when that happens. Oh well; more time for me to reflect on the wonderful experiences we had when my parents visited. :)
December 14th
Zinnia and I picked up Grandma and Grandpa from the airport. They had a little rest at home and joyfully greeted the other kids when they came home from school.
December 15th
Zinnia and I took the parents to the Frankfurt Christmas Market to see and taste the offerings. It was also the kids' last day of school and Jasmine fortuitously had a little "show-and-tell" event in her class, so Grandma and Grandpa got to see her in student mode!
Kartoffelpuffer, or Reibekuchen (potato pancakes). Good with garlic sauce or apple sauce!
Enjoying the non-alcoholic version of Glühwein (warm spiced wine). This is Kinderpunsch--normally for the kids. :) You pay a deposit on the mug and get it back when it's returned...or you can keep the mug to add to your collection, as all the markets have different types. We also had some Currywurst and other yummy meats.
Zinnia likes to pretend like she's also in Kindergarten.
See? She'll just waltz on up to her big sis while her class is in the middle of a performance. :)
December 16th
A Saturday. We drove about 20-30 minutes to a little town called Dreieich and ate at a traditional German restaurant called Gutschäncke Neuhof. Afterward we visited Dreieich's Wiehnachtsmarkt (Christmas Market).
Herzlich Wilkommen means "warm welcome" or literally, "hearty welcome." You can see that they illustrated the word "herzlich" on the sign.
We had our own little room to ourselves. A good thing, too, because the kids would have surely disturbed the quiet, elderly diners that we noticed in the main dining area. :)
On to the Christmas Market...
The kids love Berliners: basically, jelly-filled donuts. These ones were particularly enormous.
December 17th
Church. Parents were still quite jet-lagged if I recall.
December 18th
Can't remember what we did this day! All I have written on my calendar is that Rose had an orthodontic appointment. :) I think we might have taken the U-Bahn to Tedi, a dollar-store type place. Mom wanted to get trinkets for her "incentive box" that she devised for the kids. :) I also taught Zumba in the evening and Mom came, so that was cool.
Public transportation rocks!
December 19th
We went to the Sternschnuppenmarkt in Wiesbaden ("Little Twinkling Star Market." Some of the Christmas markets have names other than the generic "Christmas Market"). Another highlight of Wiesbaden is that it is home to a U.S. Army Base, so we went there to shop at their commissary and get some American products. Mom was quite overjoyed to have a familiar shopping experience. :)
There's the twinkling star, I guess.
In the Käthe Wohlfahrt shop. This is a popular/famous brand that sells various Christmas trinkets. A particularly "famous" item is the pyramide, a wooden sculpture that has a turning windmill (it functions when you light candles underneath).
Voilà
December 20th
I can't remember what we did this day. Presumably got ready for Rome because we were there from the 21st-24th.
December 24th
We got back from Rome on Christmas Eve and the kids each got to open one Christmas present. Here's Zinnia with hers:
Each of the kids received a book or books with their name in the title.
December 25th
Christmas! Presents, breakfast casserole, long run with Sevak, turkey dinner, fun, fun, fun!
One of Rose's presents. Mini candy sushi kit from Japan.
December 26th
Ate at Dornbusch Döner Kebap. Döner is a Turkish specialty that has become to Germans what tacos have become to Americans...an adopted dish that is now basically part of the German identity. It's meat shaved off a spit, kind of like gyros. Mom and Dad really enjoyed!
Here are Rose and Simon eating lahmajun, a family favorite both in and out of Germany. :) I like the German kind better than the ones we get in California...I wonder what I'd think of one that's from Turkey itself?!
Döner Sandwich...the real deal.
December 27th
Explored downtown Frankfurt a little more--the "love lock" bridge, the Dom cathedral, etc.
Eiserner Steg footbridge and the Main River in the background.
Römer Square
December 28th
We went to the Palmengarten. It was great in the dead of Winter--so nice to enter some climate-controlled gardens with tropical plants! Later we brought home pastries from the Siesmayer Café, which is a lovely fancy-ish place next to to the Palmengarten. We also cooked up some real "Frankfurters" (a.k.a. "Wiener Würstchen").
December 29th
Went to Selgros, a Costo-type warehouse store. Mom cooked up a delicious BBQ rib dinner!
Selgros. Doesn't hold a candle to Cotsco, but...it will do.
December 30th
Drove up to Köln with a stop in Aachen on the way...this city is near "Drielandenpunkt" ("Three County Point," in Dutch). We were able to stand in Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands at the same time! We also went through the labyrinth maze and got a good laugh out of trying to find one another and make it to the middle.
Finally made it to the top! I think all but Sevak might have cheated slightly. :)
Köln
A pretty major thing happened while we were in Köln...Zinnia swallowed one of my dangly earrings. I was relaxing in one of our hotel rooms while Sevak and the kids watched a movie in the other. Rose knocked on my door and said, "Zinnia's choking!" She was kind of smiling so I thought she was pulling a joke on me, but Simon ran over and confirmed that it was true. I rushed over and although Zinnia was gagging quite a bit, she could thankfully breathe. That doesn't mean that I wasn't totally shaken up as I tried to call the front desk to ask for help. The receptionist was very responsive and called 112 (911) for me. We then rushed down to the lobby and waited for the ambulance. All the while, Zinnia was hysterical and gagging all the time. I felt so sorry for her. To make a long story short, Sevak and I rode with her in the ambulance and the doctor at the hospital checked in her mouth with a tongue depressor, which caused a strong enough gag reflex to make her vomit and bring that earring up and out. Whew! She fell asleep almost immediately after. We were so relieved and grateful to God that this incident wasn't more serious. I was also glad that my parents were there to watch the other kids while we were at the hospital.
The next day we went to church and looked around a bit at this lovely city that my Uncle Brian once served his mission in.
Couldn't get in to any restaurants because they were all booked, so we settled for Hard Rock Café...
Another taste of America!
We drove home from Köln on New Year's Eve and set off some fireworks. They are super popular here, and at midnight it sounded as if Frankfurt had become a battle zone. It was very festive, though!
January 1st
The sun finally came out(!), so we enjoyed a little walk to the nearby duck pond.
That's the T.V. Tower in the background. We can see it from our house and it makes me happy. :) I always know how to get home as long as I can see the T.V. tower. And it has pretty pink lights at night.
So...what a special way to end the year! We saw a lot with my parents, but the most memorable moments were probably the simple ones at home, like Grandpa showing the kids some of his favorite retro video games or playing some cool tunes on the piano. Or Grandma quizzing the kids with various bits of trivia so they could earn prizes from the "incentive box." We look forward to our next reunion, and until then, thank goodness for Facetime!
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