CeLeBration! News: Snow Fun

Santa made good on his promise and sent us all on a trip to Garmisch after Christmas for some fun in the snow. He even delivered Matthew Steffen to us from Texas. After a three hour drive, and a quick Subway dinner, we checked in just in time for the kids to spend some time at the pool before it closed, and then we all tried to go to bed at a reasonable hour (is that before or after midnight?). We were up early the next day for a hearty breakfast of pancakes, eggs, sausage and orange juice (yum!), and then the kids were off to rent their skis and take the tram up to the Zugspitz for some alpine skiing with fabulous views. Their ski day included some fog and snowfall though -- which converted some of our kids to the idea of goggles. They ate their lunches outside (so cold!) near the lodge, but were treated to a warm crockpot stew (Thanks, Jeanette) and brotchen once they got down off the mountain. They still had time for more fun in the pool and karaoke at Zuggy's that evening where Lissie and Christian sang a duet of Payphone, the new song by Maroon 5.

The next day we walked around Partenkirchen, got some hot chocolate, did a little window shopping, and then went ice skating. Garmisch has two large rinks right next to each other - an indoor and an outdoor. Funny that we didn't even know until this year that the outdoor rink existed. Tracy and I enjoyed watching the kids chase each other around the rink, and even get some impromptu lessons from a middle-aged Japanese skater. She looked like she knew what she was doing and gave our kids tips on how to skate backwards. We ended our trip with a stop at Pizza Hut for their half price Friday take-out pizza. So we ordered several (maybe 7?) and enjoyed our meal up at the Hausberg Lodge cafeteria. What a fun time to be together in Garmisch again. Thank you, Santa. And thank you, Clarks, for letting us spend Christmas AND Garmisch with your family again.

Here is a sampling of pictures:

Lissie at the skating rink