We headed off this weekend to the small mountains just north of the Czech border, south of Dresden, about 2.5 hours south of Berlin. As this was a last minute trip, I struggled to find accommodation and eventually just settled with the youth hostel, which was the only place I found us a room, with the toilets down the hall.
On Saturday, the sun came out for the first time in weeks, so we enjoyed a lovely drive south and ended up in the part of Germany known for wooden toys and Christmas decorations, like nutcrackers and Christmas pyramids.
We went sledding on a big hill in Geising, warmed up in a cafe with hot chocolate (the girls' current favorite drink) and decided we could squeeze in a little ice skate before dinner at the Ratskeller.
After a cozy night in bunkbeds and a delicious German Youth hostel breakfast, we were off to take Lizzy to her first ski lesson ever. They fitted her with skis, boots and a helmet in a little trailer and then sent her off to warm up with a soccer ball.
They started in their boots and did exercises jumping through hulahoops, running between cones and learning how to put on their skis and stop. While Lizzy was busy falling and getting up, Jim skied, and Mommy and Katherine walked (sledded) around the town and drank hot chocolate.
At the end of the two hours (with a break for tea, gummy bears and cookies), Lizzy was able to do this:
