W2 of Y2

Bavaria

We finally went on our long awaited ski week trip in the Alps!!! We went to Garmisch again (on the Austrian border). *** warning: LOTS of pictures***

Ready To Go!!!

Stop for last minute supplies... homemade donuts... yuuummmmm!

We made it!!!

This part of Bavaria is known for their beautiful painted houses and buildings.

You can see the Zugspitze in the background... Germany's tallest mountain.

Within minutes after arriving we were in the elevator heading down to the pool.
Can you tell the kids were excited??

Whitney is such a little fish! She never wanted to get out of the water.

They also couldn't wait to ride the little carousel.
It's free so the kids go on it as much as they can when we come here!

Sleeping arrangements

We had one day to play before ski-week started so we went to the Neuschwanstein Castle, more popularly known (at least to Americans) as the "Disney Castle". The castle at Disneyland was modeled after this Castle made for 'Mad King Ludwig II'. It was beautiful! Of course we were not allowed to take pictures inside though.

It was a 40 minute walk up to the Castle. We decided to skip the horse & carriage ride and walk up. I felt really sorry for those poor horses. They would carry 10+ people at a time!

SKI WEEK!

We signed the boys up for Ski Week which is from 9am-3pm Monday to Friday. I thought that was way too much skiing for the first time but Jeremy was sure they would love it! Turns out they DID love it and can't wait to go back next year.

All suited up!
They have no idea what they are getting themselves into. Right now they are just hot and sweaty and want to take all these clothes and boots off! lol!

While the boys were skiing, Jeremy and I got to ski. Whitney was at the lodge with Alyse swimming and playing. She can try skiing next year when she is 3.5!

There are these little "Biergartens" at the end of the runs.
Bavarian music filled the air, the sun was shining, and the brats never tasted soooo good!!

Jeremy is a much more daring skier than I am.
He was always looking for jumps, dips, and forbidden areas to ski.

We went down to get the boys early so we could watch them skiing a little.

I was surprised how much they learned on their first day!

Connor had excellent form!

Aiden was kind of all over the place.

Here's a video of Aiden after the first day.

Aiden Skiing Day One

Hot chocolate at the lodge after a long day of skiing was a MUST!

By the end of the next day you could tell that the boys had really improved!

Boys Skiing Day Two

Waiting for the boys to come in

Whitney is so proud of her brothers!

Back at the hotel: all the things we love about Edelweiss

Relaxing by the fireplace

All you can eat buffet

Playing at the park

Playing on our balcony


Every day after swimming the kids all ran straight to the pool.

This night Jeremy went and got McD's for everyone. Obviously a great idea!

The kids crashed every night! They were so exhausted from skiing all day and swimming all night. After they were all settled in bed Jeremy and I got to go out while Alyse stayed with them.

One night we went toured the Griesbräu Brewery and learned how they make German "Bier".

Our tour guide was awesome! Our van ended up having to give him a ride home when we left!!

I had to leave early because of my job. It was really hard to leave, we were having so much fun! Jeremy and the boys got to have a little CDC time (Cool Dude's Club).

By the last day of ski-week the boys were carrying their own equipment like pros!

They survived the week!!!

There was a race on the last day. Aiden got second place! The other 2 boys are from France and this was their second year going. Connor got last. He is a very cautious and careful skier, but not too fast! Slow and steady wins the race. He's more like his Momma!! :)

The boys LOVED Tom, their instructor. He gave them each a certificate and a really nice photograph of the group. I was really impressed with the instructors there! They were all great. However, on the second day they tried to put the boys with a girl instructor and they were so upset about it that they switched all the kids around so that the boys could have Tom every day of the week!

My little ski bums!

So what did Whitney and I do while the boys were away???





Girl Party of course!!!

They boys got home safe and sound but their 4 hour ride home ended up taking 12 hours. The van battery actually died and they got stranded in a very small village in Austria. ADAC (German AAA) was there within an hour with a new fuse but they also had terrible road conditions and stau's (traffic jams) to deal with on the way home. They didn't get home until very late. I was so happy they all got home in one piece!!!