Katherine wasn't due to get back until December 17, and when she did we hopped right in the car and made our way to Garmisch. Becca has a very long winter break, in time for Thanksgiving actually (though the hurricane was messing with timing of everything again, just like last year), but this year she had a stopover in NYC to spend Thanksgiving with her best friend.
It's awesome our kids are all grown up.
On the 26th she arrived in Frankfurt (see previous blog post) and the following weekend was her 20th birthday so we spent the day in the walled city of Rothenburg ob der Tauber. It's only 2 hours away, but there's not much daylight at the end of November so we still ended up driving part of it in the dark.
It is a charming town with some really good restaurants, and it's the home to Käthe Wohlfarht stores. If you haven't heard of them, count yourself lucky. People line up outside in order to shuffle slowly through the perpetual Christmas wonderland of ornaments and decor. At just about every large Christmas market there is a pop-up Käthe Wohlfart display. We always go in because it's one of the few enclosed and heated shops at the markets, but they are all the same year to year and with so much packed in it's overwhelming and overly kitschy. In Rothenburg there are TWO Käthe Wohlfart stores across the cobblestone street from each other, and somehow we lost Rebecca. She may be 20, but I was still imagining what a missing child report looks like in Germany.
On our way home we stopped at the outlet stores at Wertheim Village about an hour outside Frankfurt. They'll be worth going back to when the weather is nice, but we did pick up a couple gifts for Becca before heading home for cake.
Ah, the cake. I'd asked a friend on the compound to make her an awesome coffee, chocolate, salted caramel creation and it was delicious.
Oh I'll tell you why it looks a little off. That morning I went to pick it up and stupidly brought the dog with me. On the way back, carrying a cake, she walked in front of me and stopped, and... the cake met the sidewalk. The dog didn't even have the where-with-all to look ashamed. In fact, while I was visibly Not OK, she started to lick the frosting off the pavement. Not. Cool. Don't tell me dogs are man's best friend. If she was she wouldn't have ruined the cake.
So I got home and went about trying to fix it. I put on 20 little candy bees I'd ordered, stuck in candles, and melted some while chocolate into a flower mold. It wasn't what I wanted, but it's what we had. And she was lovely about it.
So now we're up to a 21 year old (almost 22), a newly minted 20 year old, a 17 year old, and a 16 year old. One+ years until becoming empty-nesters and watching all our little birds fly.
It's awesome our kids are all grown up.
On the 26th she arrived in Frankfurt (see previous blog post) and the following weekend was her 20th birthday so we spent the day in the walled city of Rothenburg ob der Tauber. It's only 2 hours away, but there's not much daylight at the end of November so we still ended up driving part of it in the dark.
 |
| We checked out the market at the main square. |
It is a charming town with some really good restaurants, and it's the home to Käthe Wohlfarht stores. If you haven't heard of them, count yourself lucky. People line up outside in order to shuffle slowly through the perpetual Christmas wonderland of ornaments and decor. At just about every large Christmas market there is a pop-up Käthe Wohlfart display. We always go in because it's one of the few enclosed and heated shops at the markets, but they are all the same year to year and with so much packed in it's overwhelming and overly kitschy. In Rothenburg there are TWO Käthe Wohlfart stores across the cobblestone street from each other, and somehow we lost Rebecca. She may be 20, but I was still imagining what a missing child report looks like in Germany.
On our way home we stopped at the outlet stores at Wertheim Village about an hour outside Frankfurt. They'll be worth going back to when the weather is nice, but we did pick up a couple gifts for Becca before heading home for cake.
Ah, the cake. I'd asked a friend on the compound to make her an awesome coffee, chocolate, salted caramel creation and it was delicious.
 |
| But wait, you ask, why does it look a little.... off. |
Oh I'll tell you why it looks a little off. That morning I went to pick it up and stupidly brought the dog with me. On the way back, carrying a cake, she walked in front of me and stopped, and... the cake met the sidewalk. The dog didn't even have the where-with-all to look ashamed. In fact, while I was visibly Not OK, she started to lick the frosting off the pavement. Not. Cool. Don't tell me dogs are man's best friend. If she was she wouldn't have ruined the cake.
So I got home and went about trying to fix it. I put on 20 little candy bees I'd ordered, stuck in candles, and melted some while chocolate into a flower mold. It wasn't what I wanted, but it's what we had. And she was lovely about it.
So now we're up to a 21 year old (almost 22), a newly minted 20 year old, a 17 year old, and a 16 year old. One+ years until becoming empty-nesters and watching all our little birds fly.
No comments:
Post a Comment