vielen Abenteuer

November has brought a series of adventures to the Cope clan.  Home leave has been much-anticipated, and sadly we're over halfway through.  But we've seen lots of family, a handful of friends, and still have plenty more to look forward to.  Here are a few shots from the last two weeks or so:

We went to the department store to get the girls snowsuits.  They have to have one at school at all times, and of course we'll need one at home, so we spent the better part of one afternoon trying on various combinations of snow pants and snow jackets and one-piece thingies.  And I must confess that I'm glad we won't have to go through this again.

But we survived and treated ourselves to some ice cream afterwards. 

The Feast of St. Martin is a big deal in Bavaria.  You can read about it here. And it is true that Bavarian children typically make a paper lantern and parade through their neighborhoods singing songs honoring the saint's life.  Our parade ended with a reenactment of his life in a nearby park.  (And boy howdy it was COLD!!)

We managed to survive the 10+ hour flight from Munich to Charlotte.  Actually, we did better than simply survive.  All 3 kids did amazingly well!  I'm so proud of them for staying in their seats, not yelling, not fighting (too much), and giving me very little reason to stress.  E was the only one who slept, but the girls stayed occupied with sticker books, movies on their personal in-flight TV thingie, and coloring books.  The only thing I'd change would be for me to bring more snacks, as airplane food (as good as it was ~ thank you Lufthansa!) doesn't quite win kid approval.

I managed to forget my camera when we visited my brother and his family.  I'm pretty irked about that.  But I did somehow remember it when we visited Hayne's step-sister and her family.  Although somehow I didn't get a single shot of my nephew Ford.  (I'm pretty amazing at not getting the photos I really want.)

 Aunt Shelley giving Grace a piano lesson:

 Nina and Haisley pretending they've just heard the funniest joke EVER:

Thanksgiving was (well, is as it's not yet midnight) a wonderful day.  We spent the day at the Lake with H's mom's side of the family and we all had a great time.  The girls are finally big enough that I'm not obsessing over their every move and can sit and have a conversation with the grown-ups without feeling too distracted.  And Edison was loving all the attention from his uncles.  Below is Nina, 2nd cousin Walton and Grace.

 2nd cousin Bennet, cousin Jane and her new hubby BJ.

 Too many to clearly explain who everyone is, but cousins nonetheless:

 My gorgeous girl:

Today was also Martha's cousin Libby's birthday.  She invited Nina to help blow out the candle.  Nina was a bit overexcited to help and blew it out before anyone was ready.  I think this was lighting #3.

 Male bonding with Uncle Steven (Carol's hubby and dad-in-waiting), Uncle Todd (Catherine's hubby):

 Cousins Julie with baby McRae (not sure exactly how to spell his name...), Mike, Nancy and Libby:

 My girls going incognito:

 H with his Aunt Nancy:

 Walton and Aunt Nancy:

Cousin Catherine (aspiring model and actress as of yesterday when she signed her contract with an agency!!)

 Aunt Catherine:

 Cousin Julie with McRae who finally was able to catch a few winks: