Auf Wiedersehen

Yesterday we left for home. When we were driving toward Kitzbüdel, this was the sight, wow... We didn´t know then that it would be a day off ´stau´, snow and rain and a lot of traffic chaos. Our friends took the road Munchen - Frankfurt and only had problems. As I forgot my ski jacket in the hotel in Augsburg and we went to pick it up, we only had one traffic jam due to road works.

Our last breakfast together...

And this is how our boys travel...

We made it back home safe and sound, so we can start dreaming about our next ski holiday.

Last day

This was the sight we met this morning when we woke up, the path to the door was completely snowed in. So we started shoffling this morning at 6.30 to make sure that the baker could reach us for our bread.

Next was our car... Yes, there is a car underneath that pile of snow.

Then, there was time to play, so we all went out to engage in snowball fights, and an occasional nosedive in the snow.

The guy that cleanes our path now and then left his snow machine before our door, it turned out that a belt broke and he had to repair it.

As you can see, snow fun all day until it got dark. At the moment the kids are in bed and
everything is packed in the car, so we are ready to leave in the morning.

So, this is our last family picture. We had a great time, a wonderfull and relaxed holiday. And yes, I crocheted all those vikings hats.

Day of the big race

So today was the day of the big races. Anne was up first, so we had a look at her race. The two small ones were more interested in the abyss they were facing.

Anne did great in her slalom race, as she and only a few others were allowed to do slalom and the smaller ones did only a ´downhill´ race.

After lunch the two boys were up, but the wind picked up and a small snow storm started, so it was quite cold to stand there but the boys enjoyed every minute of it.

Son #2 had a bit of difficulty on the lift as the boy next to him fell of it and he could barely hang on, but he managed until the place were they were supposed to leave.

Son #2 starting his slalom, he did great as he was the second smallest and the youngest of the group. He was the only one that didn´t need a skipass as he is only 5.

Son #1 did very good, he skied very well. Again, he was one of the youngest of the group.

Son #2 became 4th, a very good job, very well done.

Son #1 turned 3rd. Again, a very good performance. We are very proud of all 3 kids, they did very well under very hard conditions.

Day 5

Today was a day full of snow. It startes snowing this morning and it only got worse. The kids had trouble skiing, but they managed although they were frozen when we picked them up at the lesson.

In the afternoon it stopped snowing, and since we had to go to the store (we were out of toliet paper :-) ), the men cleared/dug out the car... and went to the store to get the necessities as the locals expect only more snow, around 70 cm. So we will see what the weather bring us.

So DH did the groceries and cooked... (we went out to eat).

Great meal, great service and a playroom for the kids = happy parents.

Day 4

Our Home away from home... Chalet Gerlinde.

Cousins...

Two of my 4 champions. DH now knows he has to work on his condition to keep up with son #1. I was just commented by Robert 2 out of 4 champions? So here is my 5th...

Some action pictures... you can see that the weather is great.

First day off classes

This morning the ski classes for the kids started, so it was a bit of a hectic morning to get 5 kids under 8 ready for a fun filled day of skiing and sleding. But we managed so here are some pictures of our day.
The kids are unbeatable and the guys... well, you can see for yourself...

New Year´s day

Yesterday night the kids spent some time outside playing with kids fireworks.

DH tried to light one of those Thai Hot air things, but it didn´t go up, so we extinghuised it with snow.

And as you can see, we had a great time celebrating the New Year.

Happy New Year

Wishing you all a very happy, healty and safe New Year!

Arrived in Austria

When we arrived at the Gerlospass we needed to put our snowchains on the car. Guess who of the tree persons is an engineer?

Finally a lot of snow... This is in front of the chalet. Wow, the snow is great. The kids are loving it.

This morning we left for Augsburg, Germany, our stop before driving to Austria. Since tomorrow is the last day of the year we wanted to arrive on time in our chalet, so we decided to leave today.
At noon, we still had good nice weather, cold but dry, so we decided to have a break for lunch. A good idea, because the weather turned on us.

This and worse was the rest of the trip... But we arrived safely in Augsburg, we had a bite to eat in an old brewery and now we are back at the hotel.

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas

Homemade present

Son #1 needed to make a homemade present for a secret santa party in his class. So he checked out the different patterns and his choice were these christmas lights. He crocheted the string and I made the lamps. I hope his secret santa bussy likes the lights. If you like the pattern, it is a freebie from ravelry: you can get it here.

Flowers

This morning a van from the florist stopped at our place and a guy comes out with a big bouquet of flowers... For me???
Yes, they are from my colleagues, thanks guys, they look and smell wonderful.
Yesterday and the day before I still had doctor´s appointments, so today I am taking it easy.

Lucky

Yesterday evening when I wanted to go home after school, I was hit by a car.
The ambulance took me to hospital and I returned yesterday evening.
So today, I am just going to take it easy and stay on the couch, as my whole body hurts...

Christmas market in cave

The boyfriend of our au pair visited her this weekend and we thought we would visit an original Christmas market. The one in Valkenburg (there are actually two) are held in the two local man-maded caves.

The temperature inside is always 12 degrees Celsius, so quite nice. And it is a lovely market to visit. One word of advice, come early! As we left the caves, there were no more people allowed to enter until people left, so the amount of people in the caves is regulated. So outside were huge lines with waiting people...

In the above pic you can see that people used to make sculptures in the caves... In the older parts, you can see wonderful sculptures and paintings, you can even find fossils.

Christmas tree

Our christmas tree arrived last week but we waited with the decoration until sunday, because we celebrated Sinterklaas on Saturday.
And now that it is decorated the christmas sprit has arrived, the whole houses is decorated, the wreath is hanging on the front door, so all we have to wait for is snow...
Hmm, since it is still 5 to 8 degrees Celsius, I don´t think we will have a white christmas...
Oh well, we will not let it spoil the fun, as long as it snows in Austria. More about that in a later post.

Idea = 8, performing it = 2

Since the weather was poor yeaterday, a lot of wind and rain, and the kids were indoors all day, we thought it would be a good idea to take them to the beach. We also took our nephew with us since he stayed with us last night so his parents could have a quite night.
When we drove on the boulevard, I noticed that there were not many people on the beach...
So we unloaded all the boys and walked towards the sea... and were sanded by the wind. Not a real good idea, so we packed them back in the car and had some pancakes for lunch.

Sinterklaas

Yesterday evening, Sinterklaas paid our family a visit. Alle our cousins, nieces and nephews were present and we had a great time.
DH was called to Sinterklaas; because he learned son #1 a dirty Sinterklaas song, so he was naughty...
All the kids got great presents and the ones they wanted, how does Sinterklaas knows what they want???? Son#3 was so excited that after he spoke to Sinterklaas, he fell asleep in Opa´s lap.

That time of year...

How quickly did December creep up on me...

I have so much to do before the holidays, so this will be a busy time, want to crochet some more hats and our au pair made a wonderful scraf for herself, so I am a bit envious, I also want one, oh well, start crocheting Margy. You can do it.

Our christmas tree arrived yesterday, I went to look for one on Saturday, saw the perfect tree, which was way too expensive...(think €245), then looked some more and found the perfect tree within our budget. Will make some pictures when it is decorated. Decorating the tree... will have to put that on our TO DO-list.