Christkindl Market Chicago

I recently chaperoned a field trip with Alyssa's German class to the Christkindl Market in Chicago. It's not as big as I remember it being when I went there as a kid, but such a fun place filled with all sorts of unique hand crafted gifts. It made me feel in the Christmas spirit to walk around there. Especially since we don't have many Christmas decorations of our own up this year, because of limited space with the construction, I really enjoyed seeing all the beautiful ornaments and other decorative things.

Chaperoning a middle school field trip is much like trying to keep a watchful eye on potentially naughty sheep from a distance that is far enough that those sheep can retain their cool factor, but not so far that they might actually make a run for it and join a new flock.

I realize that the fact that I just used the words "cool factor" to attempt to describe characteristics they would like attributed to them is probably why they don't want to hang out with me more. Alyssa doesn't mind me being around at all, in fact each time I walked away to take a few pictures I ran into her classmates who told me she was looking for me. They said it in a way that insinuated that even my absence was a burden to them. Ugh, so teenagery.

Verry pretty Lebkuchen hearts.

Amazing ornaments:



Delicious pretzels!!

These were larger than the faces of the kids who were eating them ~ HUGE!

Alyssa and one of her best besties.

These hand painted pewter art pieces were absolutely beautiful! I wanted the Noah's Ark one, then I saw how much it costs and I didn't want it as much anymore.

These nesting dolls were precious too, every single little delicate detail was attended to!

Alyssa bought one of these for her new room.

I opted for a souvenir mug full of what I think was hot apple cider.

Such a huge collection of steins!

The group of mostly good, sweet, potentially naughty sheep that Alyssa has gone to school with since kindergarten. It's been amazing to watch these kids grow up and it's at least a little sad that many of them will be going in various directions next year for high school...only about six more months together with their crazy and wonderful group!