Laternelaufen

As our sweet MJ grows, more of her personality becomes apparent. She loves to get into things, make messes, and see what's going on.

Case in point #1

Case in point #2

 

 

She is a sweet little troublemaker, and we love her so much! She can even multi-task--carrying snack and walking with her walker. She's so close to walking!! I keep telling her she needs to walk before the snow comes....

 

 One of the many delights of having our girls attend German kindergarten is the fun cultural events we get to join. One such event is the annual Laternelaufen (Lantern Walk) which commemorates St. Martin, who is known for tearing his cloak in half and giving half away to a poor beggar, despite the terrible weather. While this doesn't really explain the use of the lantern, one can see the symbolic meaning of "bringing light into the world" as Martin did, showing love to the beggar.

This being our last Laternelaufen with the kindergarten, we were glad to join in again. Here's the kindergarten director, addressing the group of parents and kids.

Ellie (with pink boots) among the kindy kids

Getting ready to walk into the park

 I just have to take a moment and talk about the lantern. It's made of braille newspaper that Ellie painted. At an "eltern abend" (parents' evening) hosted by the kindergarten, the parents came and made the lanterns out of the paper. Long story short, lots of cutting, folding and pasting ensued and two hours later, Ellie's lantern was done. WHEW. It looks awesome with the light inside, but I seriously hope they make next year's lanterns MUCH simpler.

Walking in the park. Kate's using the lantern she made from our first walk.

Ellie and her BFF. They were so cute holding hands down the path.

I can't explain the expressions, but the picture is cute.

 We were so glad Daddy got to join us! And yes, it is "misting" as the pictures show, but does that stop a walk in the dark through the cold? NO! :) As the Germans say, "there's no bad weather, only bad clothes" and we couldn't agree more. We loved the lantern walk and will definitely miss it next year.