The first day was Christmas Eve, Heiliger Abend, and we just spent that day at home. Funny story though: We had a light lunch of soup because of the enormous dinner we had planned. I had never had this soup before, but it reminded me of Maultaschen soup (probably my favorite German food so far) except instead of ravioli style dumplings, these looked like Matzo balls. I'm trying to be adventurous in Germany and not say no to things I've never done/tried before. I made the mistake of asking what I was eating before I finished my soup. BIG mistake. Turns out, the dumplings are made with bone marrow..Yummy! You know that awkward moment where you force yourself to smile and nod and not projectile vomit all over the dinner table? That was totally me. Mind over matter, right? Well I finished me soup and promptly brushed my teeth and tried to forget what I just ate. Good times.
After lunch, we went to church to see the children's Christmas play and when we got home Christkind had left gifts below the tree. The boys were so excited, it was quite adorable! They each got some clothes, board games, and a Wii!! J got a camera and Legos and L got an mp3 player and a game for his DS. I got them both toy guns and Texas sheriff badges; awesome, right?! Oh, and B&D bought me a ticket to go to Paris in April! I'm so excited!!!! We played with their new toys and drank wine/sparkling cider (that definitely made me feel like I was at home; I told them how at my Grandma and Papa Joe's all the kids still drink sparkling cider even though we are 13-24 years old).
For dinner we had one of the most delicious things I've ever eaten; Raclettes. You grill or saute meat, we had chicken, pork, beef, and Frikadeller (yummy German meatballs). Then you take these mini pans and put meat, cheeses, fruits, and vegetables and top it all with this special Raclette cheese. Then you put it in the Raclette cooker and it cooks everything together and the cheese melts into deliciousy goodness and you eat it with potatoes. Why with potatoes? Because in Germany you always have a major starch with your meal. Why did I wait so long to move here?! Anyways, I ate sooooo much. But it was sooooo worth it, because it was so fricking good. Dinner was nice, I got to know B&D a little better and they got to know me better too. B joked about her brother being an eternal bachelor, she used to think he was gay but apparently she was wrong, anyways; she joked about me marrying him so she can have nieces and nephews. Don't worry Mom & Dad, I'll come home in September without being engaged to a German ;) After dinner, we played the Wii until about midnight, and J&L totally wrecked shop. I was just pathetic compared to them, but I'll blame the wine and food coma I was experiencing.
Christmas Day we went to B's parents for Christmas with that side of the family. J&L were the only kids there and I was the only unmarried, under 40 year old; that pretty much sums up my life here..hahaha. The boys were so excited to get more presents, it was so cute! There is a German tradition of singing Christmas songs before you open your gifts; it was like torture for J&L because you could tell they just wanted to open their gifts! L got some CDs, DS games and legos. J got 3 Lego dragon things (each with hundreds of pieces). I got yummy chocolates. Mmmmmm. After a traditional German christmas dinner of roast duck, red cabbage, potato dumplings (these looked like the soup dumplings and I learned my lesson there, so I asked before I ate any, haha), salad, and tons of cookies/cakes for dessert. Everything was delicious! After dinner I spent about 2-3 hours helping J build his Lego dragons, like a boss. Then we played the Wii until it was time to go home. Here are some pictures:
oma and opa's christmas tree!
wii boxing with l
wii bowling with j
photo credit goes to j :)
legos!
i totally made this. because i'm awesome.
do i have something on my face?
the lego dragon that l made
all the legos we made!
the lego boneyard
i better have sons one day, because i'm awesome at making dragon legos.
just saying.
For the second Christmas day, we went to D's parents in Koblenz, about an hour away. We spent almost the whole day there, which was nice because the boys don't see this Oma and Opa as often because they live much farther than the other Oma and Opa. For lunch we had cake and coffee; delicious and nutritious! The boys opened their presents; J got more Loges (for me to build) and L got a Ripstik. They also got Blowpens, which I might have enjoyed just as much as they did! J's new Lego was actually pretty cool; it was a skull/car/weapon thing (I wish I had gotten a picture of the finished product, I'm pretty proud of myself) and I wasn't joking about me making it. L tried to help and D offered to make it but J said I'm a really good Lego maker, so he wanted me to do it. Oh, 6 year olds. Once I was finally done, J, L, B, Oma, and I went down to a path on the river so L could ride his Ripstik. The boys had fun finding giant rocks and throwing them in the river. It was cool outside, but not cold enough for snow, unfortunately. B said that this was the first time in years it hasn't snowed on Christmas. I really want more snow, because the 10 year old in me wants to go sledding! After playing outside for a bit we went back home for dinner. You'll never guess what our first course was: bone marrow soup. That's not it's actual name, but I can't remember the German word, sorry. Anyways, everyone else ate it and had seconds. I, on the other hand, was proud of myself for eating a whole bowl. Hahahaha. Dinner was Spätzle and vegetables with meat in a mushroom sauce. Pretty German and pretty delicious. After dessert it was getting pretty late, so we started to pack up and head home. Here are more pictures:
looking for rocks to throw in the water
the rhine
still searching for rocks
j's impressive rock pile
the house at the top with the star in the window is oma and opa's!
l listening to his mp3
blow pens!
they were so much fun!
L is actually staying with Oma and Opa in Koblenz for a week while L stays with B's parents and then they are going to switch. So the house has been pretty quiet, and I got a chance to catch up on cleaning. I am proud to say that there is not a single article of dirty laundry in the house. Awesome! Now I'm off to spend a week in "America" with CC&M, you might remember them from here. I'm really excited to relax, maybe see some more snow (where they live gets more snow than we do, so fingers crossed!), maybe eat some Taco Bell, watch TV in English. Basically all the things I miss from home!
