SEVENTEEN!!

Happy Birthday to AJ! Seventeen years of making us laugh and charming us with that smile! Also, always showing love for his favorite teams!

Stefanie personalized the board for AJ!

AJ & Steve at the driving range!

Missy & AJ at the driving range!

EIGHTEEN!!

Happy 18th Birthday to Dominic! We are thrilled that as he starts the journey into adulthood he is taking a step towards his dream of serving in the U.S. Army.

So everyone remembers it is his birthday!

Go Army - Beat Navy!

Starkbierfest!

Steve, Missy, Amy & Alex
Löwenbräu Keller

We can check another German festival off our list. Starkbierfest!

Starkbierfest occurs for two weeks during Lent. Starkbier or "strong beer" was originally brewed by German monks during Lent. It was brewed stronger and heavier to act as a "liquid bread". At one point the monks worried that it wasn't right for them to be drinking something so good during Lent so they sent a barrel to the Pope to try. Since the journey to Rome was long and hot, the beer was awful by the time it got to the Pope. So when he tasted it he of course said, sure if they want to drink that during Lent, go ahead!

Part of the group on our way - hooray for public transportation!
More friends joined us along the way - fun ride!

Our friends Amy & Alex and their family were visiting during Starkbierfest so we decided to get a few friends together to go with us. We figured it would be a great way to let Amy and Alex experience German culture. It turned out that many friends wanted to go so we had two tables of fun at the Löwenbräu Keller. I borrowed a dirndl for Amy to wear and Alex squeezed into AJ's lederhosen and viola we all had German trachten!

Like Oktoberfest, Starkbierfest is a big party. However it is held in the different breweries all over Munich instead of at the Oktoberfest grounds. At the Löwenbräu Keller they were also have a strong man contest and some kind of maiden contest. One of the women in the maiden contest was having her bachelorette party and their table was next to ours. When the girls were all on stage giving their speeches, her friend leaned over to Steve and asked if we would vote for their friend.  Clearly our two tables didn't care who won, so it seemed perfectly appropriate to totally support this girl. When it was her turn our two tables stood on our chairs and shouted for her.  Of course we voted for her too and guess what? She won! Fun night for Evie and fun for us to be a part of it!

Evie and some of her admirers

Evie, Steve and a another new friend!

We will definitely be attending again next year. So much fun to be had! German friends - who's in?

Basketball International Schools Sports Tournaments

AJ headed to Brussels for basketball. His team had already won the Sports Council of International Schools (SCIS) tournament earlier in the season and were hoping to stay strong against the British teams. They did not disappoint. With an exciting finish in the finals, they won to be the European Champions. I was thrilled that the International School of Brussels was streaming the game so I could watch it here in Munich.

It was very exciting and fun for AJ to be a part of this team. His coaches were incredible, spending a lot of extra time with the kids and holding many extra practices. The hard work was definitely worth it!

Rugby International Schools Sports Tournament

Varsity Rugby

This past weekend Dominic competed in the International Schools Sports Tournament (ISST) for rugby

Steve headed to Frankfurt to watch Dominic compete in his last high school rugby tournament while I stayed here for the girls basketball tournament. Dominic's team played their hearts our for their best finish ever at the ISSTs and their first wins in the tournament.  Finishing 2-2-1 they tied for fifth place. The boys were thrilled and they left it all on the field.

Dominic has had a wonderful experience with rugby. He has learned so much from this sport, both on and off the field.

Rachel = THIRTEEN!

And just like that thirteen years has passed and the youngest (no longer referred to as the baby) is a teenager.

Rachel woke to breakfast in bed and singing from Steve, me, Stefanie and Stefanie's friend Julia who was also around for Stef's birthday. The boys were both traveling for their teams European championship tournaments. At this rate Julia will have a better record of being with our family on birthdays than the boys...

Rachel's friends surprised her and decorated her locker and then had the lunchroom sing happy birthday to her.

Rachel, Mirsa, players from Switzerland & Aniek

Our school was hosting the girls middle basketball championships and although Rachel wasn't cleared to play yet (But she is thankfully cast free) we were hosting two girls who were here for the tournament. After school to make Rachel's birthday a little more special we took the girls into Munich with two other families that were housing. We gave our visitors a tiny tour of Munich then had dinner at a delicious burger restaurant.

Afterwards it was presents and cake! A fun birthday day.

Fasching!

Prost!

Mardi Gras is celebrated here in Germany too. In the Munich area the season starts in early January and ends with Shrove Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday. During the "season" there are balls, there are both costume and formal dress parties. I did not know about these parties, I know, I can't believe it either. So I will now add it to my list of things to do next year. Always something new to try. Really.

The last three days before Ash Wednesday, Munich turns into one big party. This culminates with the "Dance of the Market Women" on Shrove Tuesday and a big costume party. Steve and I didn't experience any of this last year so we decided to check it out this year.

On Tuesday we headed into Munich at 9. We were drinking Prosecco by 9:45. Oddly enough this was recommended by Rachel's orthopedic doctor, she and I had seen him that morning (by the way she is FINALLY healed) and he has said it's more fun to watch the show if you've had one or two glasses of Prosecco. We always try to follow doctor's orders.

We watched a float make it's way through Marienplatz, we later realized it was carrying the Burgermeister, aka the mayor. And yes, Burgermeister is the word for mayor, just like in "Santa Claus is Coming to Town". Do you remember, "Bugermeister, Meisterburger"? We walked over to the Viktualienmarkt, which is a huge open market, to wait for the performance.

While waiting, the people watching got better and better as more people turned up in all sorts of costumes. Also, everyone was drinking. We were surprised to see that many of the shops and market stalls had added tables out front that they had lined with drinks to sell. Butcher selling meat? Not today.

The performance started and it wasn't with the market women but with the Prince and Princess of Karnival and a troop of dancers. They did dance performances to music from the 50's all the way through current time. Once they were finished it was time for the Dance of the Market Women. We then realized these are the women who run the stands in the markets all dressed in fancy costumes. They performed a great dance to what was clearly a traditional German song since the entire crowd was singing!

Afterwards we spent time in the crowd taking in the costumes and revelry. I've included some of the best costumes here. We didn't stay long into the afternoon but we could see that it was going to be a fun, fun all night party!

Serious Witch Costumes

Who you gonna call?

There are FOUR people inside this VW!

Weekend in Luxembourg

We spent the past weekend in Luxembourg. Why Luxembourg? Rachel was competing in a middle school math competition. This weekend she was a "mathlete". Since Rachel would be there we decided this was our time to visit.

Rachel, AJ & Stefanie - Rachel's ready to fly

Rachel got to fly with her team but the rest of us drove. After dropping Rachel at the airport we made the five hour drive. A fun bonus of this trip was a hotel with a pool. We spent our Friday afternoon swimming and working out while Steve took some calls. That evening we headed to The Grund area of Luxembourg for dinner at a beer hall. While the atmosphere was cool, the service was not, but we still had fun.

Saturday was our big tourist day. We started with Vianden Castle which is 45 minutes outside of Luxembourg. It is an amazing feudal castle originally built between 1100-1400. What I found most interesting was that it was sold off piece by piece through the years. Then the Grand Duke of Luxembourg transferred it to state ownership in 1977 and it was rebuilt. 

AJ in the stocks

Stefanie in the stocks 

Stefanie and AJ make a smiley face in the castle

Next we had an awesome tapas lunch at Una Mas. The kids learned all about tapas in Barcelona and definitely enjoy it. We then spent the afternoon exploring Luxembourg City. We walked part of the Wenzel Walk and explored the Bock Promontory and the Bock Casements. Standing on top of the wall affords beautiful views of the Pétrusse valley. 

Stefanie, Dominic & AJ

Underground there are 23km of mazes that was used as part of the defense system of the city starting back in the 17th century. During WWII as many as 30,000 people took shelter in them. We also realized that we couldn't let the kids wander around here on their own or we would lose them. Luckily we figured this out before Dominic got too far ahead of us!

We explored the main plazas of the city Place de Guillame and Place d'Armes. There was even a flea market which was fun to poke around. Then we headed over to the Palace of the Grand Duke, you can only tour it in the summer but right across from it is The Chocolate House. Here you can order many different types of hot chocolate. The chocolate flavor comes as a chocolate block on a stick that you stir into your hot whipped milk. It's a delicious way to have hot chocolate. We also sampled some cake while we were there. It was a lovely afternoon break.

Dominic, AJ & Stefanie

We spent the early evening swimming and working out (notice a trend?) and then had a lovely Italian dinner near our hotel! We started our Sunday leisurely and then headed over to the International School of Luxembourg for the math competition award ceremony. Rachel's team didn't place but she had a fabulous time.

MIS Middle School Math Team