Ski Week -- David's Day Six

The top of the Stubnerkogel mountain where the group had lunch. At 2,250 meters above sea level, David and the others enjoyed a wonderful view of the surrounding mountains poking up through the clouds.

Part of the group

There was also a hanging bridge stretching between 2 peaks.

David assured me that the bridge was actually completely stable.

The last evening, they enjoyed a Hüttenabend, where the group went to a hut at the top of a mountain via an old single-seat chairlift. Everyone had a great evening eating "Rippen und Kraut" (spare ribs and sauerkraut), listening to music and talking about the past week. On the way back, they could choose to go down the mountain via the chairlift or by sled.  James said the sled ride down was very bumpy and hurt a bit.

While the adults enjoyed the atmosphere inside, the kids played outside in the snow. We always say Emilie can make friends with anyone. In this case, she played with a new snowball friend.

Emilie with her friend Aki

And so their Alpine ski week came to an end. We're just hoping the kids may get a chance to use all their ski equipment again, possibly in the Pocono Mountains, before they outgrow them!

Ski Week in Austria -- Kids' Day Six

The kids waiting for the bus to the ski slopes. Once they arrived, they didn't need to drive anywhere in the minivan.

Emilie showing how she can use the T-Lift.

The kids had a race on the last day of the week.  Here on the giant slalom course is Emilie...

....and Micaela...

....and James.

They all made it to the end in great form.

The Nylund kids took 1st, 3rd and 5th in their group.

The instructor with James...

....and Emilie.....

.....and Micaela.

The end of a great week.

Ski Week in Austria -- Day Three

Emilie, Micaela and James on the third day. Being from Atlanta, the kids had never been skiing before.

Micaela

Showing off their snowplow skills

Emilie. And everyone had to wear helmets.

David's panoramic view

Another beautiful day

Learning from the ski instructor how to relax during the lunch break.

David picked this up pretty quickly.

Not a bad view

Ski Week in Austria -- Day Two

Every year our kids' school closes for a week in February for "ski week."   That is true of most German schools as well.  We've taken advantage of that week in the past to do some traveling, but since this year is our last year in Germany, we thought doing some skiing was a must.

The school organizes two trips in Austria:  one for families and one just for kids.  David didn't want to be left out (what skier (i.e. David) wants to sit at home while their kids go skiing in the Alps?) so we opted for the family trip.   To make things easier for everyone, I decided to stay home with Becca.  We figured she wouldn't be able to handle ski school for 6 days out in the cold and I wasn't so sure I could either.

The ski resort David and the kids are staying at is Bad Hofgastein near Salzburg in Austria.  It is part of Ski Amade, a network of 28 ski areas and towns that combined, make up the largest ski area in Europe (860 km of downhill slopes / 278 modern ski lifts).

Here are kids at breakfast on the second day of skiing. I just included this picture to show the breakfast nook -- you see these in most traditional restaurants in Germany and Austria and we'd love to build one into our kitchen area once we move home.

Micaela, James and Emilie waiting for the Ski School bus.

Emilie in front of the Schlossalm mountain

Getting ready to begin class. All the kids are learning to ski without ski poles.

All the kids need to wear these vests which read "Don't go so fast -- there's a kid here."

David on his way to his lessons

David stitched together three photos to get this panorama shot.  Click on it to get a better view.

The ski instructor leading the way

This would make a nice winter vacation chalet.

Gorgeous scenery

They had beautiful weather and terrific views on the second and third days.

The ski center in Angertal

David's ski group

Emilie, Micaela and James returning from the bus from ski school

The grown-ups went on a horse-drawn sleigh ride through protected forest lands this night for dinner.

No cars are allowed in this area.

Three of the ladies on the sleigh ride. In order to keep warm everyone bundled up, used lots of blankets and drank a generous amount of schnapps.

David said even all bundled up with blankets, it was almost unbearably cold and the schnapps helped.

The restaurant served only game that was caught locally. After the group warmed up with Jägertee, they were served fresh trout as an appetizer with venison with red cabbage as the main course. Dessert was Apfelstrüdel.

By the time the arrived at the cabin/restaurant on the sleigh it was totally dark. The only lights were from the cabin and the stars shining brightly in the sky. Here's the cabin as they left. On the way back it didn't seem as cold as various flasks of schnapps seemed to mysteriously appear along the way.

James jammin'

We've been taking a lot of video during our stay here in Germany, but due to a bad jack on our old video camera, we've been unable to load any of the videos onto the blog. In preparation for a trip later this month, David bought a new still camera that could take some video that we can upload to the blog.

Last week during his sleepover, James and his friend Kameran had their first jam session, with James on his beloved drums and Kameran on our piano. The boys want to play Coldplay's Clocks in the spring school talent show accompanied by their friend Nick on guitar.

Click on the video above to see the boys' second attempt at playing Clocks.

James has had 5 months of drum lessons and shows off some solo work in this video. All I can say is thank God both Micaela and James have electric instruments that come with headphones. It would be an unbearably noisy house for us and our neighbors otherwise.

Academy Award Nominations

Yesterday the nominations for the Oscars were announced. I couldn't let this moment go by without acknowledging my devotion to Colin Firth, who was nominated in the Best Actor Category for his role in A Single Man.

Yes, yes, I know he is best known in the U.S. for his roles in...

...Bridget Jones's Diary (loved it), and ...

...Mamma Mia! (loved it), and...

...Love Actually (hated, hated, hated it, but Colin was great).

But the movie that first did for me was, of course,...

...the brilliant 1995 BBC production of Pride and Prejudice, which made Firth a sensation in Britain and in my heart as well.

And so I have made of point of seeing as many of Mr. Firth's films as I could. Thank God for Netflix. I watched him in Valmont, Circle of Friends, The English Patient, Shakespeare in Love and Girl with a Pearl Earring. He is, of course, always outstanding, but other lesser known movies that are worth watching include Fever Pitch, The Secret Laughter of Women, Conspiracy (Emmy nomination), Nanny McPhee, Relative Values, Where the Truth Lies, and I'm ashamed to say I still have yet to see his "performance" in the Jim Carrey version of A Christmas Carol. I am also eagerly awaiting the release of A Single Man on DVD. Whether Mr. Firth is playing an uptight barrister, a Nazi party lawyer, a Dutch painter, an obsessed soccer fan, a slimy Dean Martin-ish comedian, or a single man in possession of a good fortune who must be in want of wife, whether you love or hate his character in a movie, you're impressed with his performance.

David used to roll his eyes when he heard my friend Sue and I talking/squeeing on the phone, which we would do for hours at a time. He finally said one day, "You know, you're always talking about one of three things: Harry Potter, Colin Firth, or scrapbooking. What would really put you two over the edge is if Colin Firth appeared in the next Harry Potter film as the new professor of scrapbooking!"

That struck a nerve. I couldn't just let that comment go.

And so here is one of my first attempts at Photoshop - from 2006 if I'm not mistaken: Colin Firth in a Harry Potter film as the new professor of scrapbooking.

Good luck at the Oscars, my darling!

Snowbound Gnome

We've been getting a lot of snow lately and with temperatures never getting above freezing, it's starting to pile up. Our gnome Fritz doesn't know quite what to make of it all.