Snow and more snow!

The first weekend in December brought with it a few inches of snow. Felix worked putting up some yard decorations while Malea tried out her snowpants and snow boots wading through the snow.







Not sure this would be my favorite way to lay down to soak up some rays, but Miss Malea thought it was a blast!


Snowy weekends are a great time to do some cooking. Malea is a big fan of German pancakes (as evidenced by her Nutella covered face), and she has become a great sous chef, always ready to help in the kitchen as Felix mixes up the batter.



While Papa Felix cooks pancakes, Malea decides to sneak a Pfeffernuss cookie (traditional German holiday treat) - thank you Kristina!



That first weekend was just a warm-up for the next weekend's blizzard. For those of you who hadn't heard, we had 15 inches of snow in Rochester on Saturday, December 11! I was super happy to have Felix at home to take care of shoveling duties!



We brought out the heavy-duty cold weather gear for our little Miss Malea before bringing her outside to check out the snow.




The snow may not look that deep, but just for frame of reference, the deer you see is 4 feet tall to the tip of his antlers. Malea was very concerned that the other deer's head was buried in the snow and tried to make her way over to help. The snow was soon up to her waist, so she had to abandon her rescue attempt.


Malea had fun climbing the mountain of snow piled up in our yard. Maybe Santa will bring Malea a pair of skis for Christmas. It's the 2nd snowiest December in Rochester history so far - we could start downhill ski lessons for Malea right in our front yard!


The next morning dawned bright and sunny. We survived (and even braved the roads to check out the newly opened Trader Joes) but our mailbox is barely hanging on!

Getting in the holiday spirit!

We rung in December with two classic holiday traditions. The first was a visit with Santa. Malea was a little cautious approaching the man with the big belly, but once she was settled into his lap, they had a good conversation about what she wants for Christmas. I think chocolate was at the top of her list!




Afterwards, we headed out to Peace Plaza for an evening stroll through Rochester's German-inspired Winter Market and outdoor movie. Yes, that's right. In the frozen land of 10,000 lakes (i.e. Minnesota), people gather outside in the wintertime to watch holiday movies. Needless to say, after perusing the booths and picking up a few baked goodies to take home (chocolate chip cookies and krumkake), we didn't linger to see the end of the movie. Brrr!




Later that evening we brought up our little Christmas tree and Malea eargerly took to the task of decorating it. She was quite the focused little girl, placing each ornament just so and letting us know if she didn't think we had helped her put an ornament on the right branch. It was a perfect evening of family activities to start the holiday season!













December also brings Grandma Su's birthday. Malea was very intent on creating her sticker and crayon craft in honor of Yai's birthday.




The finished masterpiece! Happy Birthday Grandma Su!

November pictures

November 2010

Hoppe hoppe Reiter

Malea has been working on her German, practicing the classic Kinderreime Hoppe hoppe Reiter with Papa Felix.

The German lyrics:

Hoppe, hoppe, Reiter
Wenn er fällt, dann schreit er
Fällt er in den Graben
Fressen ihn die Raben
Fällt er in den Sumpf
Macht der Reiter... Plumps!

And for those of us who need an English translation:

Hop, hop, rider
If he falls he will be crying.
If he falls into the ditch,
He will be eaten by the ravens.
If he falls into the swamp,
Then the rider goes... splash!

Lots and lots of Christmas trees!

In what is becoming a Thanksgiving weekend tradition for us, we stopped by the Festival of Trees event to check out the beautifully decorated Christmas trees. Malea was so excited to see so many, creatively decorated trees in one place. As always, a very festive way to ring in the season!

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! We hope you all had a wonderful time with food, friends and family.



We had a delicious dinner with the Kurup family (thanks Nick and Becca!) - turkey and all the trimmings! Malea had so many yummy dishes to try. I think the buttermilk mashed potatoes were the winner for our girl.


The next day, Malea burnt off some of the turkey day calories dancing in her favorite tutu before helping me cook up some mac and cheese for lunch.







Hmm... I think watching me drink coffee has rubbed off on Malea. She occasionally asks for warm milk - "Malea's coffee" - with her meals.

Winter gear

Rochester was spared the brunt of this past weekend's winter storm, but we are prepared for the coming cold. Check out Malea's new snow jacket and pants. There will be many fun times in the snow this winter (I envision Malea and Papa Felix building a snow fort in the front lawn while I snuggle by the fire and warm up hot cocoa), but most importantly, Malea will stay snug and warm in her new winter gear!





Colder nights also means super cute thermal PJs. I found these at Target and think that Auntie Chira would especially dig the stars.

Missed the snow - yay!

Just wanted to share that I was thrilled to be in Florida this weekend reading the following article on CNN.com:

Early snow hits Minnesota, Wisconsin
By The CNN Wire Staff
November 13, 2010
6:43 p.m. EST

(CNN) -- While winter's start remains more than a month away, much of Minnesota and Wisconsin were under a winter storm warning Saturday, with some areas seeing almost a foot of snow.

As early as 10:30 a.m., 11 inches of snow had fallen in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, the National Weather Service reported.

Other Minnesota communities had seen 10 inches by midday, including New Hope, Amboy, Mankato and Montgomery, while parts of Minneapolis were blanketed by at least nine inches of snow.

In some areas, an inch of snow was falling an hour...

Malea and I got out just in time to miss the storm, flying out of Minneapolis on Friday to join Papa Felix in warm and sunny South Florida. Malea was so happy to see Oma again and play/explore her house and toys. Oma gave her a belated birthday present - baby doll and stroller - and Malea immediately bundled her up and took her baby for a stroll around Oma's house. Good practice for when #2 joins the family?



We hit the beach on Saturday, but the surf was pretty high and Malea wisely decided to run away from the waves and amuse herself with buckets, shovels and sand instead.





Malea perfected her "Boca Babe" look (big glasses are totally in right now!).


On Sunday, Felix and I headed to Miami to cheer on the Dolphins in what we hoped would be their first home game win of the season. It was an unusual game - the new starting QB was knocked out of the game after a few plays and then late in the 3rd quarter, the second string QB was injured too. The Dolphins played for a while without a QB (go Wildcat!) and eventually brought in their 3rd QB in the 4th quarter. But luckily, after all that drama, the Dolphins were able to pull out their first win at home and we were there to cheer along with all the Fin fans! That said, Felix was ready to suit up and fill in as QB, just in case - hee, hee!




While we were enjoying the game, Malea and Oma were having a very fun day. After a breakfast of fruit and waffles and a brief debate on which outfit to wear (Malea insisted on a head-to-toe blue outfit, including new blue Crocs), the pair went to Sugar Sand Park to ride the carousel (no crying on the horse this time!) and to explore the rides in the playground. Then it was on to grocery shopping, where Malea informed Oma that her favorite ice cream flavor is chocolate (that's my girl!). It was a very fun bonding time for grandmother and granddaughter (a nice football game date for mom and dad).

We returned to the beach on Monday and the weather was perfect - sunny with a nice breeze. We all got a good dose of vitamin D!







Malea enjoyed playing at the beach so much, I think she wanted to nap right on the warm sand!




All too soon, it was time for a good-bye hug with Oma. It was such a fun and relaxing visit. Thanks Oma for having us! We are already looking forward to a return visit over the holidays. "Oma lives in Boca! We come back later..." Malea says.


On the flight back home, Malea amused herself with some sticker art (thanks Eric and Shannon!) in between making friends with other passengers, reading, eating and pretty much exploring every nook and cranny of row 22, seats A, B and C. No nap for this busy girl!