Twenty-Eighth Week in Germany
It has been an interesting week. Monday was normal, trying to get the girls out the door for school on time can be challenging. However, Bryn and I were on a mission as soon as we dropped the girls off at school. We had to get a present for Bailey’s present exchange at the dance talent show. So that was our plan. Unfortunately we ran out of milk again that morning and we changed our minds and went to the grocery store instead. I was hoping to find a present there that we could use for the present exchange but alas there was nothing. Bryn and I instead had a morning of researching Christmas presents online. We picked Avery up from school as usual. I had my German lesson in the afternoon and voila it was time to pick Bailey up from school already. It was leftover night. Yum. The girls love when it is leftover night because they don’t have to eat what I made.
Tuesday was the talent show. Bryn and my mission continued when we dropped the girls off at school. We attended the toddler group for a bit and then went to the Galleria downtown Bad-Godesberg. They have several shops that have a wide variety of things. We found some things. I think it is so hard to buy a present for someone you know nothing about, just a piece of paper with a name and an age on it. We also found some things for my girls as well. We wanted to take some of the Bad Godesberg Christmas Market in but it was pouring down rain and we left the umbrellas in the car – We are sooo American-Suburbia. We picked Avery up from school, and put Bryn to bed. Avery and I had lunch and played some games until I had to wrap the present and make sure the camcorder was charged for the much anticipated talent show. I got all of the cameras ready, we had to wake Bryn up when it was time to go. I really thought she would be a nightmare but they set up a small bench in front of us for the little ones to sit so they could see. Brilliant. She sat with Avery and the Leshs and she was remarkable during the performances. Bailey and Olivia were about the fourth to go. They did awesome. I know I am probably a little bias but if you had been to the first rehearsal when we couldn’t even agree on which step should go with which piece of music, you would know what I’m talking about. All-in-all, the dancers did a great job. That night we decided to have breakfast food for dinner because it was late when we got home and that is what the girls wanted. I was going to make pancakes but the girls insisted on crêpes. Now I know why I usually make American style pancakes, they are so much easier. I told the girls from now on, dad makes crêpes, I make pancakes!
Thursday was St. Nikolaus Day. Wednesday night the girls had to leave their shoes outside the door and Thursday morning, the girls found some treats and small gifts in their shoes. Apparently if they have been bad, they get sticks in their shoes. It was fun to see their excitement when they found presents in their shoes. Bryn was not interested in the presents; she just wanted the chocolate as you can see. Since I really couldn’t stand to wait much longer to see if we could 
exchange the gift, once again, after dropping the girls off at school, Bryn and I went downtown Bonn. They were very nice and willing to exchange but they didn’t have the one I was supposed to get in stock and they weren’t sure if they would have it by Christmas if they ordered it for me. They told me this in German and I understood! That is some serious progress. I got something else instead. We’ll see how that goes over as well. Thursday night I made the Renee dinner, and most of the girls ate well. I think they ate much better when they were eating it at Renee’s house. After, we were all quite tired. We made popcorn and watched Home Alone together.
After Church, we came home and grabbed a bite to eat. Then we headed 
to Burg Satzvey to see the Krippenspiele. They do a living nativity at this castle so we thought it was an appropriate Sunday late afternoon activity. You start with the Wise Men and follow a path through scenes from the night of Christ’s birth. It was wonderful. I’m sure the pictures I post will not do it justice. I’m really glad we went when we did. It was dusk and so by the time we ended at the stable with Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus, (and the sheep trying to eat Avery’s coat) it was quite dark and they had torches lit along the path. On the way out, we saw St. Nikolaus and the girls wanted to say hi. What a very cool way to end the week.
Tuesday was the talent show. Bryn and my mission continued when we dropped the girls off at school. We attended the toddler group for a bit and then went to the Galleria downtown Bad-Godesberg. They have several shops that have a wide variety of things. We found some things. I think it is so hard to buy a present for someone you know nothing about, just a piece of paper with a name and an age on it. We also found some things for my girls as well. We wanted to take some of the Bad Godesberg Christmas Market in but it was pouring down rain and we left the umbrellas in the car – We are sooo American-Suburbia. We picked Avery up from school, and put Bryn to bed. Avery and I had lunch and played some games until I had to wrap the present and make sure the camcorder was charged for the much anticipated talent show. I got all of the cameras ready, we had to wake Bryn up when it was time to go. I really thought she would be a nightmare but they set up a small bench in front of us for the little ones to sit so they could see. Brilliant. She sat with Avery and the Leshs and she was remarkable during the performances. Bailey and Olivia were about the fourth to go. They did awesome. I know I am probably a little bias but if you had been to the first rehearsal when we couldn’t even agree on which step should go with which piece of music, you would know what I’m talking about. All-in-all, the dancers did a great job. That night we decided to have breakfast food for dinner because it was late when we got home and that is what the girls wanted. I was going to make pancakes but the girls insisted on crêpes. Now I know why I usually make American style pancakes, they are so much easier. I told the girls from now on, dad makes crêpes, I make pancakes!Wednesday morning I was starting to get stressed about not having any presents purchased so Bryn and I were on a mission again. We dropped the girls off and headed downtown Bonn for some present shopping. We did great. We got a lot of things but Bryn was a bit of a handful in the toy store. We threw everything on the stroller and headed to the car with just enough time to run home, drop everything off, and pick Avery up at school. When I was unloading, I realized that I had purchased an incorrect present. I had heard horror stories about trying to return things in Germany (which my German teacher later said that is crazy). But, for the moment I was not feeling good about it. Later that afternoon, I decided to order some things online and I went through the whole purchase process waiting for the screen to pop up where you add your credit card information, and it never came. All of a sudden, I had placed an order where I didn’t know when it would be coming or how I was paying for it. I was slightly panicked about this, but I asked my German teacher about that too and he said it is not uncommon. I guess very often in Germany you place orders and they just send them to you along with the bill. Phew! I was glad to know I didn’t do something wrong. We will see how it all works out.
Thursday was St. Nikolaus Day. Wednesday night the girls had to leave their shoes outside the door and Thursday morning, the girls found some treats and small gifts in their shoes. Apparently if they have been bad, they get sticks in their shoes. It was fun to see their excitement when they found presents in their shoes. Bryn was not interested in the presents; she just wanted the chocolate as you can see. Since I really couldn’t stand to wait much longer to see if we could 
exchange the gift, once again, after dropping the girls off at school, Bryn and I went downtown Bonn. They were very nice and willing to exchange but they didn’t have the one I was supposed to get in stock and they weren’t sure if they would have it by Christmas if they ordered it for me. They told me this in German and I understood! That is some serious progress. I got something else instead. We’ll see how that goes over as well. Thursday night I made the Renee dinner, and most of the girls ate well. I think they ate much better when they were eating it at Renee’s house. After, we were all quite tired. We made popcorn and watched Home Alone together.Friday…a morning full of laundry and some Laufrad research on the internet. A laufrad is one of those walking bikes with no pedals. Everyone that has a toddler here has one and we were thinking that both Avery and Bryn need one. When Greg got home from work we decided to walk down to Bad Godesberg and see what the Weihnachtsmarkt there was like. It was okay. They had some live entertainment which was nice to listen to as we walked the markt. We went into the bike shop to try out some of the different Laufrads and tried to get Bryn to ride on the one she would fit. “No Way! No Way!” is what came out of her mouth. I honestly don’t know where she gets these things. Now they are her favorite two words.
Saturday, it was back to Bonn in the morning. We had seen some cool things the first couple times we went and now we were ready to pick up a few things. We had some great food on the markt for lunch. I had a shish kebab looking thing that I don’t know what the name is. Greg had his usual…Bratwurst and brot. The girls had their usual…pomme frites (French fries). But, oh are they the best fries or what? We had only one issue and that was we lost one of Bryn’s shoes. Weird. We retraced our steps and everything. Gone. I have since asked my German teacher about a lost and found and he said there is one so we will have to check it out next time we are downtown. After the markt, we went to pick up our Christmas tree. Greg and I carried it into the house. It was truly a “Christmas Vacation” moment. I said that it looked kinda big in our house, and Greg retorted by saying that it isn’t big, it is just full. It is the first real tree of our married life. Greg and I strung the lights but we reserved the decorating until Sunday.
After Church, we came home and grabbed a bite to eat. Then we headed 
to Burg Satzvey to see the Krippenspiele. They do a living nativity at this castle so we thought it was an appropriate Sunday late afternoon activity. You start with the Wise Men and follow a path through scenes from the night of Christ’s birth. It was wonderful. I’m sure the pictures I post will not do it justice. I’m really glad we went when we did. It was dusk and so by the time we ended at the stable with Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus, (and the sheep trying to eat Avery’s coat) it was quite dark and they had torches lit along the path. On the way out, we saw St. Nikolaus and the girls wanted to say hi. What a very cool way to end the week. 
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