It was high time for a good ole road trip!
And this time, the family went skiing
in Austria!!!
Check out our map!
We left our home on a Saturday night, in time to catch the channel tunnel train at 11:30pm and make it to our chalet in Austria early Sunday afternoon.
On our drive home, we stopped at Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany and then stayed a couple of nights in Luxembourg before returning home.
And this time, the family went skiing
in Austria!!!
Check out our map!
We left our home on a Saturday night, in time to catch the channel tunnel train at 11:30pm and make it to our chalet in Austria early Sunday afternoon.
On our drive home, we stopped at Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany and then stayed a couple of nights in Luxembourg before returning home.
We realized, when we were there, that our last family ski trip was 3 years ago! We had some newbies, some nervous, and some rusty skiers! I'm not even going to tell you into which category I fell!
This was Jaxon's first time skiing. One day, he skied with Janae and Jason, another day he went to ski school, and the last two days he just sledded!
This was Jaxon's first time skiing. One day, he skied with Janae and Jason, another day he went to ski school, and the last two days he just sledded!
Dallin was a bit scared his first time down the hill, but it didn't take him long to get his ski legs back. He enjoyed going up and down the mountain on his own. He stuck to the smaller mountain, but he owned it!!!!
Emily may have forgotten how to ski as well, but after a few runs, she was great and enjoyed the entire mountain!
Janae, she didn't forget. She might have been a bit hesitant at first, but she was queen of the mountain. She helped to create a viscous game of follow the leader throw down. Which apparently included whacking her dad on the head with her ski pole!
A.J. was the most excited about the whole trip! He was up bright and early each day of our trip, and his skis were among the first to grace the snow each day! He loved it!
We stayed in a great little place, a stone's throw to the lift. The kids went out in the morning in various different groups. The girls went off, while Jason and AJ headed up the mountain, or all the big kids went up together while Jason helped with Jaxon, or AJ and Janae went off on their own. But anyway you spin it, I spent my mornings with the little boys on the smaller mountain, came in and made warm food and drinks for the skiers, and then spent my afternoons back out on the little mountain with the boys again. I'm not a skier, and could hardly say I'm even much of a snowboarder, I'm the supportive mum. And really, everyone was so happy, I wouldn't have wanted it any other way! It was just such a great week! Check out some of our photos on the mountain and off! And note the cute little buildings. I swear, every structure we saw in Austria looked like it belonged on a Cuckoo clock. I loved the architecture so much, I loved everything about the cute little towns we drove through in Austria and south Germany.
Neuschwanstein Castle near Munich
"The Disney Castle"
Breathtaking, right?! You should see pictures online of it covered in beautiful winter snow...equally impressive. You can see why they say that this castle was the inspiration behind the disney castle! And it was great. But it was a miserably cold and wet stop! This is what it looked like for us! And there's a huge hike up a hill to get there. Did I mention it was raining. Janae complained that her feet were cold, then Dallin complained about something else. We ended up playing a game of reciting everyone's complaints while adding on our own. They were a little true, but mostly silly and obnoxious, helped the time to go by faster while we made our trek up the mountain to the castle. And of course, no pictures inside, sorry. We ate in the the cute little town at the base of the castle. Proper German food! Check out Emily's face, does she look happy? But the schnitzel was awesome!
Luxemburg
Our first stop was the Luxembourg American Cemetery. It was near our hotel, and a great opportunity to teach and remind our children of the great cost of the freedoms we enjoy today. After that we added another castle to our list. Viaden Castle about an hour's drive outside of Luxembourg. This one was built from the 11th century! Proper castle! It was a lot of fun to stomp through and much more interesting then the fancy castle in Germany, from the day before.
We attended church in Luxembourg City this morning, and then made our 5 hour drive home.
One week...
Five countries
And not a single stamp in the passports;
What can you do?
All in all, a great trip. We are happy to be home and I'm sure we will have lasting memories of our week skiing in Austria!
We attended church in Luxembourg City this morning, and then made our 5 hour drive home.
One week...
Five countries
And not a single stamp in the passports;
What can you do?
All in all, a great trip. We are happy to be home and I'm sure we will have lasting memories of our week skiing in Austria!