Happy New Year!

We rang in the new year with a bang! Quite literally and unexpectedly. We were completely unprepared for the array and intensity of the fireworks here.  Although on a typical night Germany is one of the quietest places I've ever been, everyone lets loose on New Year's Eve with firecrackers, sparklers, and bottle rockets. The quiet of every day and extreme celebration on New Year's Eve seem to be in direct proportion to each other.

On New Year's Eve, we had just returned from Prague and noticed a few fireworks being shot not long after nightfall.  Bottle rockets and the like. To which I wondered if fireworks are legal in the city here. Oh. That was just the tip of the iceberg.

The sounds of fireworks increased and escalated throughout the night and around 10 minutes prior to midnight, it all broke loose.  Matthew & I were ready to kiss at midnight and go to bed when we heard what sounded like explosions all around our house.  From every window, we could see HUGE (As in, you would have to be licensed to even buy these in the U.S. and probably a city permit to shoot them) fireworks, being shot from the streets, backyards, and rooftops.  People filled the streets and stood on balconies holding sparklers in one hand and champagne in the other. It was impressive and beautiful and so fun.  Unfortunately, we didn't think to get a video until it was starting to wind down.  But you can sort of see the wide double-street that we live on and the magnitude.  And to think I had wondered if we would be able to see/hear the fireworks from the show on the river!

Next year we'll plan to join them!!


On New Year's day, we joined a group of friends for a 5k run along the Rhine.  It was SO cold!  But a great start to the year.

Brandtley rode his bike, and Jackson rode his scooter.  (Jackson's bike is now too big to fit in the trunk, and we don't yet have a bike rack for the car, so his choices were scooter or run with us. He chose scooter this time.)

Today we woke up to snow! Less than an inch, but beautiful nonetheless. The snow in Bonn doesn't usually last long.  As I write this from the chair near the radiator under the front windows, I can see families with children playing in the wide grassy area in the center of our street while our boys play in the backyard. Another beautiful way to start 2017.