Playing in the Snow and the Hexenagger Market

It snowed here this past week! Winter wonderland and I love it! It totally is beginning to feel a lot like Christmas. Our tree is up, decorations are out and low we have an amazing white blanket of snow everywhere. I just need to start busting out the Christmas cookies and fudge and we have it made!
Luke and I took advantage of the snow and played outside, sledding down our tiny backyard hill and making a snowman. And yesterday, all 3 of us ventured out to Hexenagger, a tiny town about 35 minutes away from us, that holds an amazing and magical medieval Christmas market.

"High above the Schambach valley there lies a knights (hunters) castle full of history which first was mentioned in historical books in 982. The Castle of Hexenagger has been part of the royal family Weidenbach since 1834. We, family Leichtfuß and our descendants run the castle along with our helpful "castle ghosts". "

They open the castle for various events through the year and during the Christmas season, "On the four Advent weekends we again open our gates, to give our guests from near and far a few unforgettable hours in a very special atmosphere, and with the help of our diligent "castle ghosts", to turn Castle Hexenagger into a Winter Wonderland!. The sweet smell of sugar-roasted almonds and mulled wine, over 30,000 lights, candles and torches, Christmas music, and the ambiance within the historical walls casts a spell over the visitors. "

We had a great time at the market, it was so beautiful, but we had dinner plans at a friends house so we didn't get to see all the vendors and see all the sites but we hope to go back next Advent weekend. Here are our pictures from our snowfall, playing outside and the Hegenagger castle market.

Brian at the Hexenagger Market

Luke munching on his pretzel, watching the Christmas pyramids spin round and round.

It's me! See those little sheds behind me? Those are some of the many vendor sites - they were beautifully decorated, heated with lamps or candles and scented with pine, cider or Christmas incenses.

A picture from one of the castle lookouts.

The view from the castle lookout

Mini ponies! Luke loved watching the ponies walk by with kids on their backs. Brian and I just thought they were goofy looking! :)

The Hexenagger castle

The walkway down the slope from the castle, decorated with lights and oil lamps, you can see the row of vendors below.

A lotta snow!

Our little bit of snow from yesterday melted away by the afternoon. I received a weather update from post that said it was supposed to snow 2 inches over night. When Brian got up this morning to get ready to go to Rothenburg for more flight training there was some snow on the ground and covering the cars but nothing impressive and no flurries were falling. So imagine Luke's and my delight when we opened his bedroom shutters at 10 this morning and snow was everywhere and huge chunks were floating through the sky! We broke out Luke's winter gear and headed out to the backyard to play. We stayed out there for about an hour - just enough time for Luke's cheeks to be bright red and my pants to be soaking wet from all the snow. Of course I captured it all on camera because that is what I do, but also because daddy missed our first big snow and I want to show him we took advantage of the fun weather.

I'm ready to go outside now

Holy cow! It is everywhere! Close up
The view to the right
and to the left

Playing on the community play equipment

I'm going to zoom down this slide!
Sitting at the top of the "hill"
Wheeee!! He caught on quick.
Luke in our backyard.
Mommy is so funny!! (I just went down the little hill in Luke's sled)
Careful mom, you almost ran me over!
Loading up the sled
Snow day fun Hauling the balls around the yard.
Luke and Mom - had to get a self portrait in there!
Peering in the screen door - I think he is ready to come in.
Back inside where it is nice and warm.

A little bit of snow

Brian woke me up at 6:45 this morning to have me look out our bedroom window. The sun was slowly rising and the ground was covered in a dusting of snow. Our terra cotta roof tiles were covered with white powder and snow was swirling around sideways through the air. It was beautiful. By the time I decided to trudge downstairs to get my camera the sun was a little higher and the snow had stopped falling but it still looked pretty so I snapped a few pictures. All the pictures were taken from the third floor of our house. The view is great from up there. We can see the rolling hills and the town down the road, Lupberg. I also took a few pictures looking out our back window so you can see what the houses in our neighborhood look like. Do you like the way our windows open? They are only like that on the third floor because the ceilings up there slant with the roofline.

Our Trip to Garmisch-Parkenkirchen - part 1

Our trip to Garmisch-Parkenkirchen was a lot of fun. After an almost 3 hour car ride and dealing with a 2 year old obsessed with elevators, we were pretty exhausted and wondering if it was a good idea to vacation to a skiers paradise with a 2 year old. We ended up having a great time.

We stayed at the Edelweiss Lodge and Resort which is an Armed Forces Recreation Center and was built in 2000 to provide recreation, sports, tours and lodging for overseas American servicemembers and their families. This picture of Brian was taken outside the hotel. The 2 following pictures are taken from our room - what a beautiful view!

Above are a few pictures from driving through Garmisch - a fruit stand outside the shops in the town square, a picture of a street sign with the beautiful moutain range in the background, and a picture of a crucifix on the side of the building in the town square. Most of the buildings in Garmisch-Parkenkirchen, along with the rest of the Alpine villages, have painted facades, usually in biblical themes. The Alpine area has a very Catholic presence and you will see crucifixes all over - on sides of buildings, outside homes, on the side of the road and tucked into the forests edges. Another popular display is the Virgin Mary, with or without baby Jesus in her arms. You will see Mary statues in little cubbies built into the sides of buildings and in painted murals on sides of buildings.

Wednesday we spent the day exploring. We drove around to look for some fun spots to sled but since it has been an unusually warm winter here, there isn’t a lot of snow at the base of the mountains. We did follow

the big Zutzspite signs and found a cable car that goes up the back side of the Zutspite mountain (which we did not go on) and a lot of snow on the ground but not a sled in sight! We thought we would be able to rent a sled but we quickly found out that you either have to buy one at a store and lug it with you or borrow one from the outdoor rec building on the small military base they have here. So we spent about an hour walking around in the snow all bundled up – Luke was adorable and really enjoyed walking by himself in the snow, watching the cable car go up the mountain and playing on the tractor they had in the children's area outside of a mountain gasthof.




Later that day we explored a little town called Mittenwald. But that will be in part 2 of my many-part post! This one is going to be a doozy - reading material for days! :) I'll end this post with a couple bonus pictures...

Pictures - Luke in a rocking chair at our resort and me perched on a boulder. The first 3 days we were there we had amazing weather - sunny and clear. You could see the mountains perfectly - from ground to peak.