A Georgia Girl in Germany

Tonight was the official tree-lighting ceremony on post. The evening started out splendidly, with the elementary school choruses singing holiday songs. This is MacKenzie’s first year in chorus, and she seems to enjoy it. I was really impressed with their performance! They sang wonderful renditions, with very upbeat and new updates to several classical Christmas songs. I especially liked their version of “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” and “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree.” Both were very lively!

Benjamin even sang along with several songs. He knows the words to “Rudolph the Red-Nosed-Reindeer,” “Jingle Bells, Batman Smells” and portions of a few other carols that surprised me. Fortunately, the chorus didn’t sing the “Batman Smells” version of Jingle Bells.

After MacKenzie’s performance, we walked around the Winter Fest area (a significantly smaller version of the traditional German Christmas markets), and took time to enjoy chocolate-covered fruit. We usually get these delicious desserts-on-a-stick at the fests, but decided to enjoy dessert before supper tonight. I figure the fruit qualifies them as appetizers as much as desserts.

Afterward, we headed over to where Santa was available to visit with the kids. Zachary asked for a Wii (!!), MacKenzie was too shy to ask for anything (although I think she is hoping for “a real dog that doesn’t run on batteries”), and Benjamin hurriedly asked for “a GameBoy, a DS, a bed for Baby Puppy and new shoes.” The idea for a GameBoy and a DS definitely came from his older brother! Baby Puppy is his stuffed beanie-baby puppy that sleeps with him every night. I suppose we’ll have to wait to see what Santa ends up bringing this year.

Labels: Benjamin, Christmas, MacKenzie, Zachary