Family Life – Home here and there

Las Vegas Day 2

Because the sun was out we decided to take a walk around the strip. We stopped by at a sweets Shop to the delight of the kids and saw the fountains in front of the Bellagio.

There was still a lot of scaffolding up from the car race the weekend before so we had to cross the street or bypass through Casinos to get where we wanted to go.

In the early afternoon we headed to our friends’ House for Thanksgiving dinner which was excellent as always.

We finished the evening with a Feuerzangenbowle. It’s basically mulled wine with a bit of extra alcohol and sugar. You have to have this special tong which holds a sugar cone. You soak it with rum (at least 54%) and light it on fire so that the caramelized sugar drips in the warm punch. I found this recipe in English if you want to have a closer look. It also has all the links to the ingredients you need. It’s tasty but I haven’t had any this time since I was the designated driver. Funnily enough the sugar cone was eyed with great interest during the security checks at the airport. It was always passed the drug and explosive tests since it is really just sugar. You can also get it here but is much cheaper in Germany. Would you give this a try?

Just a quick fall check-in

Today really felt like fall in these parts. It rained this morning – like real rain and not just some drops. This always feels huge in California! I love how the trees start changing color and that it gets dark earlier. It somehow seems cozy.

It was so nice to have an extra day off work today. I put it to good use and wrapped my daughter’s birthday presents, some X-mas gifts for family and the kids advent calendar (48 packages total + the other gifts). I still have my friends calendar but was done with wrapping for today. I read a bit, crafted some more, made lunch, did laundry, cut my son’s hair (just the split ends as he was horrified enough to let go of any hair) and had some other chores needing attendance.

All in all a very productive day.

Did you have the day off and did you do something fun?

Holiday weekend recap

I had good intentions and uploaded the pictures on Monday – sigh. The weekend already feels very far away but here I still am.
I had a couple of things noted down on my calendar that we could have done. For one there was a German holiday market on Saturday and on Sunday the local art center had their holiday event. I ended up not going to either of them. With all the traveling that happened in November I was a little tired of doing anything really and wanted to straighten out what was left lying dormant at home. So instead of a fun outing I cleaned bathrooms and living/dining room and finally pulled out the holiday decorations.
In Germany traditionally you have an Adventskranz what is basically a wreath with wintry holiday decorations and four candles. Each of the four Sundays before Christmas Eve on more candle is lit so that you have all four burning on Christmas. I saw the above spiral on Instagram somewhere and liked the idea of having a new candle every day. I got some really nice smelling beeswax candles to go with it. No worries, it only is on under very close supervision.

The wreath already went on our entrance door the week before but the decorations were added this weekend. One of my son’s friends is part of a boy scout group and they sell the wreath at the start of the holiday season.

We did bake some cookies on Sunday. It was good timing since my husband’s work had their Secret Santa on Monday and he needed to bring something homemade.

On Sunday we went to get a small Christmas tree and I decorated it. It now officially feels like Christmas in our house. I was debating getting one this year since we will spend the holidays with family but in the end I was thinking that back in the day at my parents it was only up from the 24th until early January so we even get more time out of it as is.
Also up are the outside lights what was our Saturday afternoon project.
So all in all it was a very productive weekend spend with the family at home and I really needed that. I felt a little guilty not helping out at the German Christmas market but hopefully I can do it next year. I am planning on less travel then.
I did go to a German meet up in a cafe on Sunday morning what was lovely. I do need to speak a little more German outside the house as I am catching myself talking back in English to the kids when they talk to me in English. That’s what happens after 18 years in this country I suppose.

Are you already feeling a little festive?

Counting down the days

Kornblumen Only five more days and me and my little guy will be sitting on a plane to Germany. I usually try to visit our families every summer for a decent amount of time. This year it is going to be a whole month! So looking forward to this. Since we live so far away this is the only time that the kids meet most of their relatives. The grandparents usually try to visit us ones a year but for everyone else it gets harder to make the trip work.
Compared to US standards Germany is not that big and luckily my dad and my parents in law live fairly close near Hanover, but there is also Frankfurt, Munich, Hamburg and Zurich in the mix from aunts and uncles. Our friends are also scattered all over the place now but seem to mostly collect in Berlin. My best friend from Berkeley actually moved to Berlin for a year and I hope I get to see her. Back in the days when we did not have the Green Card yet we had to visit Berlin almost every time to renew our visa. As annoying as that was sometimes I also enjoyed it. I love that city! I would not mind living there – sigh.

This year it is going to be extra special since my sister in law is getting married. It is going to be so fun!

Did you notice that I only mentioned my son flying with me? My daughter went ahead for the first time this year! So exciting! I think I was more nervous than she was. But more about that tomorrow.

One more note: Whenever we are in Germany I fall back in the typical German pattern of not wanting to drive to far for a trip. Around the Bay Area an hour in the car is nothing but back in Germany it seems like a huge commitment and we will not do that on a daily basis if avoidable. What about you? Do you hesitate to get in the car for an outing what is the maximum time commitment you are willing to take for a day trip?

Summer, here I come

Summer

I never thought I would count the days down again until summer break finally comes. But there I was, mom of an elementary student (working mom at that and not a teacher), looking forward to it. And now school is out and the summer stretches ahead. My prediction is that I will have spare time (to be determined) and I always wanted to write a blog. So here I am. Not sure what it will be about or what I want from it other than trying something new. We will see.