Playing on the Top

We needed to have dinner at the top of the mountain, and fortunately for us there was a play area next to the restaurant.

Austrians sure know how to make things fun for kids on the top of a mountain.  There was a water activity that the kids couldn't get enough of.

The seesaw at the very edge was pretty cool too!

The Route

This is the route the skiers actually take when going down this mountain.  I'm no snow bunny, but I seriously can't even imagine going down this mountain on my feet let alone with slippery sticks attached them!!

The Start

There was a photo op at the top where the skiers in the World Cup races start their race.  Ben and I were walking up while they were taking this picture and they headed down as soon as we made it up.  He was not happy about that either!

Mad Ben

When were done gawking and finally were able to stand the temperature a little better, we found a moving walkway for skiers that was not for kids under 5.  Kyle took everyone but Ben and I to the top of a peak where World Cup alpine ski races are held.  Ben was super mad!!!  He basically sat on this rock for a bit pouting and then walked up the mountain on the side of the moving walkway, he got his way AND followed the rules (so smart).  He had to see what was at the top apparently.

Too Cute

These girls look so perfect in this picture, even though they were cold and of course, TIRED!!  The area at the top had so many little place where you could just hang out and enjoy the views.

Lovin'

This guy does not get enough props, but seriously, who do you know that takes their whole family to Europe and works through the night so he and his family can sight see during the day?

This guy, so talented, so giving, such hard-working and still SOOOO Patient with his crazy wife and kids!  Happy almost 35th!

Not Sure This is Real

We really did sit at top of this mountain and take this picture on this bench, but looking at this picture, it doesn't seem quite real!!!  What an amazing creation!!

So Quaint

The villages in the valleys of the Alps were so awesome to look at up close while we drove in on Friday, but the view of them from the top was pretty cool too.

Girls Side

Originally I was sitting by Kyle and Ben on the side of the seilbahn that looks down, fortunately for me, Jack wanted to trade so I wouldn't have to close my eyes the whole time!!!

Hahnenkamm Seilbahn

After a morning of hanging out in the city center looking for a birthday present for Kyle, the rain cleared up so we decided to risk it all and go up the mountain.  The seilbahn was as scary as I remembered it being and when it actually stopped right near the top, I felt myself seriously panicking, especially when the kids kept jumping up to see what was going on.  The swaying was too much for at 5,617 feet!!!

Captain Ben

Kyle and Ben rowed over to us while we were swimming and Jack and Ava actually climbed aboard before jumping back into the lake and swimming to the shore.

Norah couldn't handle not being able to touch the bottom and without life jackets, I was happy that she decided to run in the field nearby instead of drowning.  Eventually I got in and swam around, despite my dislike of lakes.  The scenery was too beautiful not to experience from the water.

We headed home afterward and we are pleased with our first day (especially since we weren't inside the house much at all).

Schwarzsee

When we got to the lake it was pretty warm, but I wasn't convinced the tourist water park was the best thing for our tired bunch.  Instead I talked everyone to walk around the lake (about 1.5 miles) and see if we still wanting to go swimming afterward.  I was hoping the cold water would be too much for the kids and the walk would have been enough for everyone, but towards the end, the oldest three were still wanting to swim.

About 3/4 of the way around the lake we found a few wooden staircases that led into the water.  There were no fees involved here (unlike the waterpark) and the kids could swim as little as they wanted and we could all be happy.

The water was a delightful 71 degrees.  Ava was the first in followed by Jack and eventually Norah.  Kyle took Ben on a boat ride and I played life guard next to the stairs.

Carousel?

The kids found this carousel at the bottom of a hill tucked away in a corner.  I thought there was no way this think could possibly be in working order, but a Euro later and these kids were loving life!

The girls couldn't stop smiling, even Ava who sat on the money deposit box!

Jack might have exceeded the size limit on this thing!

You can see from this picture the sheer joy Ben experienced throughout the ride.

Joyful

After the kids flea market, Ben would not let go of his Police motorcycle.  When the kids and I stumbled upon this hill while Kyle was looking in a store, they couldn't resist running down it.  Ben was so happy to do to this over and over with his motorcycle in town!

Beautiful Day

The sun rose again at 5AM and with it the children!  Kyle had stayed up until 2AM finishing a big project and was allowed to sleep in.

The rest of us prepared for cereal outside and then got ready for the day while Kyle took a nap.

With temperatures scheduled to be near 80 today, we thought a walk around town in the morning and a trip to the lake nearby in the afternoon would be best.

Kitzbuhel is so old, with its first inhabitants showing up 1100 BC.  The best part is (the one that attracted the most) that it has been untouched by any war.  The town is truly amazing.

We started off with the children's flea market where kids sell their wares and luckily for us, the kids had just asked about souvenirs.  Ben got a German Polizei motorcycle, Norah got a fashion jewelry necklace, Jack got a German science kit and Ava held out till we hit the market for her prized flute!

Kyle and I picked up some freshly smoked sausage and we all ate ice cream while strolling the car-less streets.

THE Views

Our rental house is a stand alone structure on a hill in one of the mountains towns of Austria.  The exterior and gardens are so fun and old looking!  The kids posed for a picture next to the outdoor table we plan on eating our meals at.

When we finally got access to the house and scoped out bedrooms, living space and the kitchen, I took a picture of these guys on the balcony outside two of the 4 bedrooms.

These two pictures are the only ones we will probably take here, because the inside is horrendous.  We overlooked many red flags after falling in love with the surrounding area of this rental.  The listing had no reviews, and only four pictures of the inside of the house, no pictures of the bedrooms.  The kitchen, breakfast area, entry way and living room are all quaint and full of Austrian character-something that was very attractive to us in the beginning.

What was not pictured were the bedrooms, two of which have a bathtub/shower and sink in them, one of which is in the basement (or scary meat locker) with a door that door that doesn't function properly.  If the bathtub, shower and sinks didn't scare us enough, the dirty laundry, dirty dishes, garbage everywhere, random locked rooms, flooring that is so scary and old (moves underfoot) and total lack of professionalism and full disclosure on the part of the owner did.  We have been honestly contemplating finding somewhere else to stay.

That being said, the kids were so excited when we first arrived and even picked out bedrooms (Ava and Ben randomly chose the shower rooms, Ava actually chose the basement!!!) and couldn't stop chattering about the place.

After we got here and tried not to run away immediately, we got some groceries, and settled the little kids in for the night.  Ava and I took a stroll around the hills our rental is built on and discovered a stream, a dairy farm, some German poison ivy, a museum, some amazing mountain houses and views unimaginable by a girl born in Virginia who lives in Texas.  I tucked Ava in and headed to a gas station while Kyle got some work done.

The hour long walk did me some good, and I was finally able to take my shoes off and try to get some sleep.

4:30AM

I'm not going to sugar coat our schedule over here-it's a beat down.  Norah and Ben go to bed at 6PM, Jack is toast at 7PM and Ava stays up till 8PM.  I usually hit the sack around midnight and Kyle has been going to bed around 4.  Ben is usually the first one up at 5AM or earlier.  The sun actually beats him up around here, with twilight starting around 4:30.  Jack and Norah are up shortly thereafter, no later than 6 (we've been blessed with 6:45 one time) and Ava rolls out around 7:30.  She is pretty much the only totally normal over here.

I wake up with the kids and put in some ear buds and put on a sleep mask and wake up again intermittently to the kids fighting etc, until 9 (wish it was a solid 9 hours!!).  Kyle is usually up around 9:30 (giving him a little over 5 hours a night).  It's not ideal, especially the little ones getting up so darn early!  The sun doesn't even set until 10PM, so bedtime at 6 isn't easy, but they are so wiped from all the walking and getting up so early.

Today was no different and as soon as we finished up at IKEA and were on our way, the three littles were totally out.  Jack and Norah had concocted tents with their sweaters and leaned their heads on our newly purchased towels, while Ben passed out awkwardly on his armrest!  The naps didn't last long, but we will take what we can get around here!

THE Drive

We only had about an hour drive to the rental house, but there couldn't have been a better to spend an hour.  The views, the colors, the signage-totally amazing.  Even the kids loved the drive.

1st Stop...

This morning we packed up our four suitcases and headed to the mountains.  Our rental required us to bring our own bath towels, only in Europe, so we headed to IKEA on our way to Kitzbuhel.  It as actually set up almost exactly like the one in Frisco, TX, which helped since we were in a hurry.  The biggest difference between this one and the one back home, in addition to the food options, was that it was cash only!!  Not cool IKEA!

On the Menu

As a reminder of how different the food is here, we took pictures of this evening's food selections.  The food we usually order is quite heavy and probably not consumed regularly by the locals, but since we are only here once in a very long while, it's hard not to partake.  I'm pretty sure my morning workouts aren't compensating for these amazing calories!

New Part of Town

 For our date tonight, we attended the Jump and Fly festival held right behind the Glockenspiel in the city center.  It was fun to watch live events normally only seen on TV.  The crowd wasn't too big, so we were actually able to get a close up look at long jumpers and pole vaulters.  I didn't take any pictures, just awesome slow-mo videos!  Only one vaulters made it over and most of the jumps resulted in foot faults, but it was seriously entertaining and helped me forget it was 8:30 and I still hadn't eaten dinner!

Our walk to our reservation took us through a part of downtown we hadn't been to before.  It was mostly untouched during the wars and pretty amazing.  We were totally gawking and taking random pictures of architecture like the tourists we are!

Edelweiss

We have been singing this song to Ava since she was born, and yet she has never seen the flower in person, not even when we lived here for 3 months!  It's not that surprising when you consider it is a protected plant and prefers rocky limestone places at about 6,000-10,000 feet altitude.  We were only that high one time and there was only snow around!

Today for lunch we went to a fun place for kids and while we waited for the streetcar we looked at the shops nearby and Kyle realized this was Edelweiss.  We were all shocked and a audibly excited about finding it.  Pictures were taken and then we hurried to catch our tram!

Random Red Carpet

We were walking around after dessert and happened upon this random red carpet set up under an amazing archway.  The shot is staged, I wasn't actually standing on the carpet, but things look pretty legit in this picture!

1st Date

Kyle found us an oper before we arrived in Munich, but we wanted to give the kids time to adjust to the time zone so we would be able to leave them while they were asleep and not worry about them waking up.  It took us 5 long nights, but the kids finally figured it out!  We would have gone out last week a few times, but it was a random holiday over here, so people headed out for the long weekend.

Fast forward to today and Kyle and I did some shopping and grabbed dinner and dessert afterward.  It was fun to walk around without a screaming child, something we have been doing non-stop since we got here (today was almost as bad as Saturday), and sit in a nice place to eat uninterrupted.  We love our kiddos, but there's something about being just a couple in a faraway place that is so amazing!!!

A Walk in the Park

Today we hoped to go see the surfers at Englischer Garten, a larger green space than Central Park in NYC.  We decided to take the long way and enjoy the beautiful weather and surroundings.  The kids were mad, especially Norah, too much walking, but the trees and park were breathtaking.  The sun was out and so were the naked sunbathers, most of us didn't mind (Jack was pretty loud about it, though), we ate our gelato cones happily along the way.

Bros

If Jack were nice to Ben all the time, this little boy would be ecstatic.  He seriously just wants to hang out with Jack ALL the time.  Jack has been super good with him lately too, wrestling and playing around at the parks.  I hope they will have made a better brotherly bond on this trip than when it started!

Church Time

The hour it took us to commute to an English speaking ward was worth it.  We actually ran into the bishop of the ward we attended in Vienna who also happened to serve his mission with Kyle.  Additionally, it was nice to see other English speaking individuals and the cherry tree in the back we were picking from, was literally the cherry on top.

Norah was better behaved today and was even in the bathtub on her own right after she woke up.  The best part was that she didn't wake anybody else up first!  The fact that it was before 6AM made the accomplishment less awesome, but we are trying to celebrate any successes around here.

Watch OUT!!

 Yesterday, Kyle and I thought it would be fun to go check out a flea market at the Olympic Stadium.  Apparently Norah didn't agree, because she was not cooperating.  We had some struggles getting our train passes, and once that milestone was attained we thought we would have smooth sailing until dinner time.  Not so, Norah seriously never quit from 11:30-4:30.  She was either screaming, flailing, smack-talking, hitting, fighting, running away, crying or refusing to move.

It was so exhausting, I didn't take a single picture in hopes of not remembering how horrible our day went.  Hopefully today will be different!

Out Again!

With Ava's foot feeling better and better, we have still been able to keep up our active pace.  We went to the park again this morning, and made a trip to Augustiner Keller for some lunch and a good time at their park.  This is the closest BierGarten to our house, but according to the kids "not their favorite."  Maybe the bee hive next to the swings was cramping their style!

It's So Cool Here

The ice cream here is out of this world, there's pretty much an ice cream stand around whenever you need one too.  And it all tastes amazing!  It's more the consistency of gelato with the flavor of ice cream that used real cream to make it!  We needed to take a break for Ava's foot after a stroll through the city center and there just happened to be a quaint fountain next to the ice cream stand.  Since Ben doesn't like anything too cold, he and I had a sword fight with empty water bottles while everyone else partook.

We still aren't sure what to think about Ava's injury.  When she woke up, she was able to put weight on it and even scooter around, but she sure isn't running or moving very quickly right now.  We are happy she is doing better, but not sure if we need to see a socialist doctor who probably won't be very helpful, but cost a lot of money.

Family Favorite

In the states, most people probably don't think much about McDonald's and especially don't think of it has a luxury.  Welcome to Europe, where no one told them!  Seriously, though, it is FANCY in there!  They have taken McCafe to a whole other level and boast menu items like fried shrimp and chocolate cake!  Norah has been begging to eat here since we landed, and to celebrate a "normal" night after 4 BAD ones, we took the kids here for lunch after watching the Glockenspiel. 

No More Smiles

After lunch we headed over to the nearest playground where an accident occurred leaving Ava unable to walk.  She fell hard on her foot and most likely has a metatarsal fracture.  She was immediately unable to use her scooter or put any weight on her right foot and was pretty inconsolable, which is very unusual for our brave girl. 

After attempting to push her on her scooter to the street car stop, she couldn't handle it and Kyle had to piggy back her the rest of the way.  She has had her foot up all night with some ice, a blessing and some ibuprofen.

We are hoping to have some good news in the morning, because a foot injury in a place where walking is essential seems pretty bad.

Deer/BierGarten

Our last stop of the day before heading home was the largest BierGarten in Munich, which happened to be within walking distance of the Palace.  The grounds were so extensive and boasted multiple playgrounds, a water playground, fields, hills and of course a deer garden.

We only stopped to see the deer for a moment before all the kids put their hands on a stinger bush and were crying.  We left to try and distract them and hopefully not scare the deer too much.

Lunch was calling our name anyway.

Prince's Playland

On the castle grounds is a little wonderland we spent most of our time in.  It was a sectioned off area with a life size playhouse (nicknamed the witch house) and surrounding it was a creek with waterfalls and multiple bridges and walking paths.  The kids all said this was their favorite part of the day and as Kyle and I sat on a bench and watched them, life felt perfect for once!!  We even had a family of ducks walk right up to us and by the time I realized I should take their picture they were walking away.

The Gardens

There were so many beautiful parts of the gardens between all the statues, fountains, creeks, walkways with amazing hedges lining them.  The list goes on and on, the weather made the place even more amazing!

Needs Paint

I love the worn in look of this place that was built back in 1664, but Ava mentioned that the palace could use a new paint job as we strolled around.  I laughed, she's so cute!

Giant Swan

With our pastries in tow, the water fowl couldn't keep their eyes off of us.  One goose even waddled over to us from across the pond!