Hiking Beyond the Gorge...

Once we made it through the gorge, we set off on a hike. Our goal was to go up and over the mountain to the ski resort as we had done several years ago. The first part of the trail was through packed snow, so we didn’t wear the snowshoes.

Eventually we ran out of forged path and needed the snowshoes to continue onward. It was pretty amazing to realize that we were really alone out there.

It was incredibly beautiful and peaceful. Unfortunately, it soon became evident that Jimmy had led us astray (we didn’t agree about the turn just past the gorge) and that we wouldn’t make it to our destination before dark. It then became a race against time to get back to the gorge before the gates on the path were closed, which would have forced us into a major detour. Luckily we made it with five minutes to spare!

Frozen Waterfalls...

After lunch, we continued up the road to Partnach Gorge. This was our fourth visit and we were still amazed by the beauty and the force of the rushing water.

Snowshoeing...

Before we left for Garmisch, my friend Jane loaned me a pair of snowshoes. They didn’t fit in my suitcase, but the idea stuck and we decided to rent some. These aren’t the old-fashioned ones that look like tennis rackets, but rather modern sports gear that really did stop us from sinking into the deep snow. They look clunky, but were actually very easy to walk in. Jimmy was thrilled that we’d found a winter sport that I liked.

Whereas we normally have to walk along the cross country ski paths and listen to skiers yell at us in German, now we could forge our own paths across the valley towards the ski jump stadium where we ate lunch.

Hitting the Slopes...

Ready to hit the slopes

On Monday, the girls skied with Jimmy. Ski school started on Tuesday. They moved up to an intermediate class this year; being in class together again was their idea.

The Gondola took them up the
mountain to meet Jimmy

The official photo on their
last day of ski school

On Friday, Jimmy got permission to ski along with their class to video all the kids so Veronica could put together a movie. Hope you’ll agree that he did even a better job skiing backwards than last year.

With Madison and Nate, new
friends from Wassenaar

They really liked their instructor and the other kids in the class, which were mainly expat kids living in The Hague or Germany. On Friday night, several of the kids joined them and Jimmy for night sledding.

Back to Garmisch...

For the girls’ February break, we headed back to Garmisch in the German Alps for the 4th time. Unlike previous years, we decided to skip going to Munich this time and just concentrate on having the girls ski for six days.

Jimmy headed off early Monday morning to start skiing, while us girls slept in. I then walked the girls to the slopes on a beautiful sunny day.

There was a lot more snow on the ground than we’d ever seen here. Little did we know that morning that it would lightly snow non-stop for three days later in the week.

Strangely, this was the only time I actually got to spend any time during the day with the girls. We also rarely ate together as Jimmy and I often went into town for dinner rather than eating at the resort. Not our typical family togetherness, but we all had fun.

And the Winner is...

Each year the AWC hosts a chili cook-off in honor of Super Bowl. This year Jimmy decided he’d enter the contest for the first time. Rather than making one chili, he decided to make two from the same base: one beef and one vegetarian. What a surprise that his vegetarian won first place! Folks were disappointed when they asked for the recipe and he admitted that he just made it up as he went in his classic “pull it out of your butt” style. Luckily, he was able to replicate it a few weeks later when we hosted the Hague Hash House Harriers at our house after Jimmy hared a hash run.

More Burns Night...

Jan came down with the flu, so she and Bob couldn’t join us and we only had three couples at our table. Here we are with Frank and Johanna. We all had a great time!

Unfortunately, the Ambassador and his family will be moving back to London in the summer, so we’re not sure if we’ll get invited to future Burns Nights.

Another Burns Night Supper...

I felt very honored when the wife of the British Ambassador contacted me to invite James and me along with a few other AWC couples to this year’s Burns Night Supper. As in previous years, we did a lot of Scottish dancing. Unlike previous years when we rotated partners for each dance, we actually got to dance together most of the night.

As is the tradition each year, there was a ceremony complete with bagpipes to celebrate the haggis. The vegetarian haggis was excellent until I made the mistake of pouring some whisky on it as per tradition.

Sleepovers, Ashlynn-style...

Ashlynn loves going on sleepovers and is thrilled that we finally lived in a house where she can easily host. She enjoyed having Roisin, Sophie and Marianna over for a night of making ice cream, watching movies and singing.

Ashlynn also had Katy over another night. They liked lounging around in their onesies.

Another Week, Another Housewarming....

After getting the house ready for the neighborhood party, we figured it was time to host a party for our friends as well. Rather than just having one, we opted to have two separate parties: the first for classmates and friends in our new town and the second for other friends.

The menu for each party got more complicated. The first had mostly munchies plus a few dips and homemade soup. The second had all of the first plus homemade mini chicken pot pies. For the final party, we added chili and teriyaki chicken. The food was a big hit and so was the house. Only bummer about the open kitchen is that there’s nowhere to hide the dirty dishes.

Welcoming Ourselves to the Neighborhood...

The Dutch believe in giving a new neighbor privacy. Rather than welcoming the newcomer, they wait for the newcomer to invite them over for a coffee or cocktail. We didn’t know about this when we moved into our first house and didn’t have any immediate neighbors around our last house, so here was our chance to finally follow proper etiquette.

When I asked the fellow at the card store for help to find appropriate invitations, he said that I only needed to invite the neighbors on either side of our house. He thought I was crazy that I wanted 20 cards so we could invite our entire street. We delivered the invites in the evening so we’d have a chance to meet everyone. We were a bit nervous of everyone showing up, but survived just fine when most of them did. Apparently no one had ever had the entire street over before so many of the neighbors enjoyed meeting each other for the first time.

The Kinect was a big hit with the kids. Ashlynn also enjoyed playing hockey on the street with some of the girls.

Snowball Fight...

Ashlynn and Masha came into our yard to have a snowball fight with some of the kids from our street.

No surprise that Jimmy couldn’t resist getting into the act.

Rather than making snowballs, he filled up a bucket.

Crazy guy that he is, he even threw snow from the upstairs window.

Surrounded by Natural Ice...

Looking Lovely on the Ice

Before venturing onto the iced over pond behind our house, we waited for our Dutch neighbor to check it out first. Once he determined it was safe enough for his kids, we ventured out. Masha came to spend the afternoon on the ice with Ashlynn. They didn’t want to skate, but enjoyed playing with some of the neighbor kids. 

Jimmy and Veronica were thrilled to be able to put their skates on in our yard and walk straight onto the ice. Unfortunately, they only had the chance to skate once before additional snow fell, which was followed by the big thaw.

Jimmy made sure to hold on while testing the ice on the canal (which is six feet deep) in front of our house.