The next day was Christmas Eve, which we were spending with our friends the Monsch’s. We spent most of the day running errands and getting ready for the party that night. Christian Monsch cooked lamb on the grill as well as his famous chicken/potato salad – it was a feast to remember. The kids also opened a few of their presents. Christmas morning started around 7AM. The kids were excited to find that Santa had come, left presents, and had also eaten the milk and cookies left out for him the night before. JP got the violin he had been requesting for months while Sydney got a “Fur Real” Lamb and a number of “Hello Kitty” items. Presents sent by grandma and grandpa ensured that the kids were unwrapping well into the morning – they loved everything and I think they even got tired of opening presents after a while. We spent the rest of the afternoon organizing and trying to figure out where to put all the new toys, books, and clothes. The day after Christmas is called St. Stephans day and is also a holiday, so everything is closed. Therefore, we did some more organizing and in the afternoon went ice skating for the first time as a family. I had only been on skates once before when I was 4, so it was like the first time for me. JP picked it up very quickly and after only a few minutes was making laps around the rink. Sydney eventually got the hang of it and by the end we were all doing laps together - it was a great time. Afterwards, we went to visit our neighbor Frau Bauman who was in the hospital over Christmas for a shoulder operation.
On the 27th, we celebrated Sandy’s birthday by going skiing. This was another family first. We took a family ski lesson that went from 10-12 and 2-4.
On the 28th, we were exhausted (as grandma Lorrie likes to say). The skiing took a lot out of us, so we recuperated by going to the thermal baths in Baden. The kids were still full of energy and apparently unphased by the long day of skiing the day before.
The 29th was a true recuperation day. I took the kids to Sihlcity, where they play in an indoor playground/daycare center called Kinder Paradise. Sandy hung back to write some reports for school. In the afternoon, we just took it easy and caught up on emails, bloging (hence the amount of updates) and internet surfing.
Kids during Christmas Eve. I will try to get other pictures from the hosts.
