A VERY Festive Week

Whew!   What a week we have had!   Susannah's first week of Kindergarten, Thanksgiving, and a princess-themed birthday party kept us very busy.    Luckily Aunt Nancy came down from Hamburg to help us celebrate.    Susannah was so brave and really loves her new school.  I spent the first couple of days with her as part of the "assimilation process."   It was really great to be able to see how she will spend each day and to have the opportunity to get to know her teachers a little.   Here are the highlights in photo....

First Day outfit.

Headed down the stairs with our big girl back-pack.

The school is just around the block.  

Walking to school is so much fun!

Susannah's favorite part about school is that she has her own special hook and cubby with her name on it.   Every child also has a symbol....Susannah's is a sleigh with presents.

Her very first circle time.   She was such a trooper even though she had no idea what any of the teachers or students were saying or singing.  

They have a ball pit which she LOVES.

Coloring in the art room.

Making a snake out of clay.

Playing in the sandbox.

Painting!!   She had been talking about how she couldn't wait to paint since we toured the school last month.

They go outside everyday, rain or shine.   And they have to put on their waterproof gear everyday, rain or shine.  

Swinging with her new friends.

So fun!!

We get to go by the bakery for a pretzel on the way home as a treat for how well we have done at school that day.

Susannah is a big fan of the slide too. 

Irena (our babysitter) and Aunt Nancy helped us eat our Thanksgiving feast.   Susannah was so exhausted from school and not in the mood for pictures.  

Saturday morning was Susannah's 3rd birthday party!   How in the world is that possible?

We were so glad Aunt Nancy was here to celebrate with us.

The party was a princess theme, so of course we had to have a little manicure station.  ;)

And a coloring table for coloring princess pictures. 

The party was from 10-12 so we just had some light brunch food.   (and pink cupcakes of course!)

I sent the guests home with lip-gloss which I'm sure the moms really appreciated.

Everybody got to choose a princess dress, a wand, and a crown on their way in the door.

Our little princess before the party.

We had quiche, pumpkin bread, grape salad (thanks Aunt Nancy!) and of course, gold-fish.   The non-American guests were big fans of the goldfish. 

 

Showing off our crown with Aunt Nancy.

How cute are these girls??

Susannah was first at the manicure station.

Aunt Nancy definitely did a much better job with all those little fingernails than Mommy coud have.

Before we knew it, it was time to decorate our pink cupcakes.

This is the second year we have done decorate-your own cupcakes and it is so fun and so easy!!

Time for singing and candles!

"Happy Birthday to Susannah!"

Look at that face!   It only lasted for a second, but I think she may have felt a little overwhelmed. 

She recovered quickly though and blew those candles out with gusto!

"Make a wish!"

And now for the best part.....eating the cupcake!!

One of her friends gave her some princess high heels for her birthday.   She loves them.

So hilarious.

After clean-up and rest-time were finished, we headed out for our first look at the Stuttgart Christmas Market.

It was beautiful, festive, and CROWDED!

I know this is blurry.....taking photos with gloves on is tricky.

Looking up at the giant advent calendar.

The windows in the city hall building make a huge advent calendar.   They unveil a different window display every night until Christmas.   Neat, right?

Checking out the big Christmas tree,

Which after close examination, Susannah declared, "isn't really that big to me."   We had been talking it up for a while, so I guess her expectations were higher than the real thing.  :)



Here is the City Hall advent calendar from a distance.

 

So that was our week.   Very busy, but very fun and memorable.   Hope all of you had very happy Thanksgivings!