Prosit Neujahr! (Happy New Year!)

We hope everyone had a fun and safe New Year's Eve and is now enjoying a day off. Ours was fun, though safety was an issue. We went to S & J's apartment in Haidhausen - which is a happening little neighborhood in southeast Munich. S & J are parents of a very sweet 9 week old - named Will, incidentally - so between two new parents and a 9 mo. pregnant lady, you just knew things were going to get w-i-l-d wild. After we ate dinner off the coffee table, we spent awhile oohing and aahing at Will while he kicked and punched on his activity mat (Little Will, that is; Big Will just sucked his thumb and pouted about being asked to get out of the bouncie seat). Then, on to a life-and-death stakes game of Skip Bo! I tease, but I had a very good time. Once the new year was upon us, Munich went up in smoke. For real. Germans are generally orderly and whatnot, but New Year's Eve is an exception. The country turns into a giant "How Not to Play with Fire Works" show. And undoubtedly the ERs convert into Finger-Reattachment Centers for the night. Between fireworks very nearly coming through S & J's windows and the soundtrack of ambulance sirens, the husbands took to the street to join in on the festivities. Their heart was in the right place, but (fortunately for our unborn child) they had not exhibited the fearless constitution of the Germans in their firework purchases. So their particular display was quite tame. They still had to survive the rocket fire coming from every direction on the very narrow street where they were positioned, of course. And I'm very happy to say that they not only survived, but came back only marred by ash on their faces. Thus we begin 2010, grateful for new friends and with all of our digits in tact!