I Heart London (part 1 - there are way too many pictures for just one entry!)

I've been trying to figure out a way to write an informative yet amusing account of our trip to London. 

Nope, nothing's coming. 

In fact, I wrote a good amount last night, went to bed dissatisfied with it, and deleted it all this morning.  So, today you get a bunch of pictures with a little bit of description (London speaks for itself anyway!) and (hopefully) I'll get closer to catching my blogging life up with my real life.

As a quick introduction, we took a rather impromptu trip to London with our very good friends the Dawsons the week before Christmas.  We stayed in a house just south of the city and took commuter trains in every morning.  I love London.  I was a little worried about the cold, but it was actually warmer than Heidelberg was at the time, and, because it was the week before Christmas, there were no crowds.  I took way too many pictures.  Here are some from the first day...

                               

                 

                            

Above - us (I'm behind the camera) at the tower of London.  It took us a little longer to get there than we had hoped.  Our travel plan ran smoothly until we tried to make the transition to the tube.  Unfortunately there was an accident on the tracks, so the line we needed got closed right as we were about to board.  We walked.  We were just glad not to have been on the train, stuck in a tunnel, underground, with 6 young children.  In any case, we made it to the tower and loved it.  From my previous visit (when I was 14!) I only remembered the ravens, signs saying "Beware Ravens Bite," and the crown jewels.  All of those things were there, and they were still impressive, however, this time I was more impressed with the structure and the history of the place.  The kids enjoyed being outside and having open places to run.  They also enjoyed the white tower museum with the weapons - especially the part where they got to try out some of the weapons.  Ian was particularly surprised at how heavy a sword is. We spent the better part of the day at the tower - there is A LOT to see and do there, and I think we all had a great time.  I did, anyway.  I would love to go back and actually take the tour with a guide so that I can get a little more of the tower's historical background.  Maybe next time!

       

     

Here we are (all of us this time - a definite perk of traveling with friends is that you can actually get a family picture without having to talk to strangers) in front of the London Bridge.  These pictures are taken from the Tower of London - in fact, the upper right hand picture is of both the tower and the bridge.  The kids loved seeing places they've heard about, sung about, and seen in movies.  In fact, much to the amusement (and delight, I hope) of morning commuters, the morning after having seen London Bridge they sang the song (you know - London Bridge is Falling Down) and played the accompanying game with the Dawson kids while we waited for our train.  In any case (delighted Londoners or no) it kept them happy and busy. 

Speaking of train travel, one thing that was very funny to us was how hard the ticket vendor at the West Wickham train station tried to get us on to the later (cheaper) trains.  If you travel after 9:30 a.m. you get a discount.  Well, we didn't want to travel later.  We wanted to get going and we definitely didn't want to spend any more time than necessary waiting on the platform.  I know that this kind man was just trying to help the dumb Americans who were obviously spending WAY too much on train travel, but really, it's worth the extra money to not have to wait around for a train with 6 children 10 and under (4 of whom were 3 and under).  Also, it gets dark SO early in London (here too for that matter) that you really need to get an earlier start if you want to have enough daylight to get to anything.  Eventually we did convince him that we wanted the earlier tickets - they were worth every penny.

                 

          

                                         

And finally, here we are again - this time in front of Big Ben and the Parliament buildings.  As you can tell the light was quickly fading.  I think it was around 4:00 in the afternoon.  (Looking at the time on Big Ben in the pictures - yup, I'm right.)  I can't believe how huge Parliament is.  HUGE!!!  Ian and Naomi especially loved seeing Big Ben - they recognized it from Peter Pan and Mary Poppins.  Anyway, we heard the famous bells ring, we took some pictures and we called it a day. 

And that's day one of London!  Stay tuned for day 2 - hopefully we'll have another few entries this week as I try to get caught up!

Lonely and Sad

Now before you are start calling me to check on me, let me just assure you right now that the title of this post has nothing to do with my emotional well-being.  Granted, there are days here that are lonely, however that is (maybe) a subject for another day.  This post is all about Naomi.....

My friend wrote this post on her blog a few months ago.  As I read it, several thoughts came to mind.  These included, and were not limited to: "Wow, I really can't imagine having a daughter that sensitive and, well, so dramatic -  at least not for a few years, anyway," and, "If cute kittens make her cry, what's she going to do when she finds out about things like ethnic cleansing and global warming?"  and finally, "Heaven help her mom when she hits puberty!"  My friends, never say never.  And never assume that you are immune from ANYTHING!! 

The Monday after Thanksgiving we went and bought a Christmas tree for family home evening.  We were going to decorate it that night, but by the time we had picked the tree, loaded it into the car, driven home, dragged the tree up the stairs and into our apartment and securely installed it in its tree stand, I was ready for the kids to go to bed.  I had the mistaken impression that if we waited until another night to decorate the tree (hopefully starting earlier in the evening) we'd have happier and more cooperative children.  HA!

Thursday night we started decorating.  I must insert here that I love decorating the Christmas tree.  I love having a real tree.  I love the smell of the pine sap.  I love pulling out each decoration and remembering who gave it to us, or who made it.  So, I was really excited to get started. 

We had a grand start.  The kids were happy.  They were getting along well and were actually able to hang some ornaments without help.  We had only dropped (and broken!) one ornament.  Then Ben made the fateful statement that `would (unbeknownst to us) change the course of the evening from one of music, smiles and laughter to one of uncontrollable sobbing, moaning, and dismay.  While helping Naomi hang an ornament on a branch that was out of her reach, she asked him why they had to hang the ornament on that particular branch.  He responded that the branch was lonely and sad, and we wouldn't want it to stay that way would we?  Seeming to accept that logic, they hung the ornament and moved on.  Or seemed to.  Just moments later Naomi burst into tears.  We're not talking a little sniffle here.  Not even a steady cry.  This was uncontrolled sobbing.  I (being the sensitive mother I am) rushed to her side and asked what was the matter.

"It's.....so...sobsobsobsob.....lonely....and......sobsobsob.......sa-a-a-a-a-a-d-d-d-d....."

"Naomi, are you lonely?  We're all right here...do you need some help putting on the ornament?"

"Noooooooo.....the.....sobsobsob.....bra-a-a-a-a-a-anch.....lonely....sa-a-a-d...."

Good grief.

Are you kidding me?

Seeing my daughter in such distress, I did what any sensitive mother would do.  I ran and grabbed the camera.  And here's the evidence of our joyous evening:

                   

The sobbing lasted a full hour.  She cried while we finished decorating the tree.  (Fortunately we were almost done!) She cried while she used the potty.  She cried while she got her jammies on.  She cried while Ben brushed her teeth.  There was no stopping it.  I'm doomed.  So, when you're all in the throws of pre-pubescent drama and teen angst, give me a call.  We'll be there too. 

                                                

Nuremberg Weihnachtsmarkt - a.k.a. Black Friday German Style

I realize that it has been, well, awhile since I updated my blog.  I guess the reason is that I was busy enjoying my Christmas break rather than blogging about it.  From what I can tell most of you have been doing the same.  Suffice it to say, a lot has happened and if I ever want to catch up, I'm going to have to blog until I drop.  (Actually, the dropping part has already happened.  I'm home from church sick (Naomi is too) and I can only stand to lie in bed in a stupor for so long, so, here I am with the laptop, in bed, ready for a blogging marathon.  We'll see how much I get done.)  I'd like to try and keep my entries in chronological order, so I'm going to go back a ways to Thanksgiving....

Thanksgiving was great!  We had dinner at our house.  Ben once again baked a delicious turkey complete with stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy and I, in a fit of insanity, baked 6 pies.  I thought I could get six pies done in a day and I almost did.  Ben, like the truly fabulous husband he is, came to my rescue at around midnight (the night before Thanksgiving) and helped me out with the last pie.  We had Apple, Pumpkin, Pumpkin, Cranberry Pecan, Raspberry Chiffon and Chocolate Cream.  And why so many pies?  Truthfully, because I'm just a little bit crazy.  And, in my mind there are pies one cannot do without at Thanksgiving (Apple and Pumpkin).  When you've committed to make one pumpkin pie, you might as well make two (who wants half a can of leftover pumpkin pureé) so there are the first three pies.  Cranberry Pecan has become a must have for Thanksgiving Dinner at our house - Ben loves it (amazing for a man who once hated pecans!) so now we have four.  I personally need a touch of chocolate at any meal, so that brings us up to five.  The last pie is the traditional one.  I can see you now puzzling over how Raspberry Chiffon Pie is traditional for any Thanksgiving meal....well, it's not.  The tradition began when I was in high school.  My mom had my sisters and I each choose a pie to make for Thanksgiving one year (I think blueberry was my first).  Since then I have tried to bake a new pie each year.  Some have been total successes (for instance the aforementioned Cranberry Pecan Pie) while others...let's just say....haven't.  (The Cranberry Chiffon Pie just WASN'T worth the effort!)  Anyway, the meal was great as was the company.  We had two families over that we knew in GA (our good friends the Dawsons and the Chis) as well as our next door neighbors. It was a lovely day.  (Unfortunately by the time the pie making was done, I was exhausted.  I don't think I took any pictures that day.  Or, if I did, I can't find them.)

Now - back to the title of this post.  Black Friday.  The Germans (as far as I can tell) don't really do black Friday.  No huge lines of people waiting to get into stores at ungodly hours of the morning.  No marathon shopping sprees.  No fantastically terrific unbelievable deals.  No people getting trampled to death while trying to get to the electronics section of Wal-Mart in order to get that mini DVD player for only $14.99.  Nope.  None of that.  Honestly, I'm fine with missing black Friday.  I have many good friends who avidly search the inserts in their papers in the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving and find unbelievable deals.  They get to the stores early and walk away with a good portion of their Christmas shopping done.  I have only tried the black Friday thing once. It wasn't for me.  I don't have the patience to locate the deals in advance, I don't like to get up before seven, and I can't stand waiting in line.  The one time I tried to shop on Black Friday, I went to Kohl's, found a few things, saw the line, dumped my few things and walked out of the store. 

I will, however, get up early to go to a German Christmas market!  German Christmas markets (Weinachtsmarkts) have been around for hundreds of years.  Almost every town in German has one.  Most of them open the weekend that Advent begins. (Advent includes the 4 Sundays before Christmas.)  We decided this year to go to one of the oldest and most famous - Nuremberg.  It took us two hours to get there, there were mobs of people and it was COLD!!!!!, but it was worth it.  Here are some pictures:

                

This church is the first thing was saw when we entered the old city.  It was completely destroyed in WWII and has since been completely rebuilt.  Nuremberg was leveled during the war.  It's amazing to me how completely Nuremberg (and other cities like it) have rebuilt their churches, palaces and other historical buildings.  The French Horn players (and trumpeter!) were out in the COLD!!!! playing Christmas carols.  I had to take a picture because they reminded me of my dad.

                       

On the left are Ben, the kids and the Chis walking towards the Christmas market.  It has gotten so large that it doesn't completely fit into the main square anymore so there are vendors on many of the streets radiating out from the square.  On the right - the church overlooking the market on the main square.  Below - the kids were fascinated with the building built ON the water.  Imagine what they'll think of Venice!

                                         

          

After we had wandered around the main market we headed over to the Children's Market.  I wish that we had found it sooner.  They had rides, a place to color pictures, cookie decorating, candle dipping, a toy area and more treats than anyone could want.  It was a child's paradise.  We did the cookie decorating, the coloring and some rides.  The kids, of course, wanted more, but we wanted to get back to the main square so we could see the Christmas Angel officially open the market.  Big mistake.  It wasn't a mistake to want to see the Angel.  It was a mistake to wait so long to secure a place.  By the time we got back to the main square it was packed.  There were HOARDES of people - so many people that it would have intimidated even the most stalwart of Black Friday Wal-Mart shoppers.  We got pushed and shoved to the back of the square - so far back we were literally shoved up against a shop window and left with no way to escape.  I began to panic when Naomi got knocked down for the second time - especially because right at 5:30 they had turned off all of the lights in the area.  It was pitch black.  However, it was an unforgettable experience.  And the Christmas Angel part was cool.  We couldn't see much of it, but we could hear the brass band and the children's chorus and a whole bunch of German.  (I understood angel, star, snow, winter, Christmas....that's about it!)  And it was pretty spectacular when the Angel came out and flipped on all the lights.  I don't know if we'll do it again...most likely we'll try and watch it up close on YouTube and call it good!