Skiing in Austria - Winter Break

When we move back to the states, our family is going to really miss all of these breaks!

The car was busting at the seams with all our winter skiing attire as we headed on a 9 hour drive to Austria. Not really meaning to caravan, we bumped into our whole clan and ended up eating lunch together at McDonald's. We later stopped for our dinner reservation with everyone in our group at this German restaurant in Munich. These kids dancing provided entertainment for this hopping restaurant.

There were 4 families vacationing together with the kids in ski school all week. The adults had lessons or just skied on their own. We were the ones needing the lessons which resulted in us successfully skiing down a blue run later in the week. Who knew skiing could be so much fun? I hadn't enjoyed it until Thursday when our dear friend (who is an awesome skier) took time out of her own ski day to set the pace for us on the blue. We loved it and have definitely improved since last year. Here we are on our first ski run we have ever completed in its entirety.

Naturally, the kids picked up the sport much faster than we did. Friday they were skiing red runs which is a step above blues. Most days we could barely find them since their instructors took them up the sides of the mountains we dared not go. This day, early in the week, J just happened to be on the bunny slopes with us and you can see how the class just follows the instructor back and forth, slowly making it down the mountain like ducklings following their momma. She's the first ducking in purple behind Momma.
We were so proud of their progression. They even held races down the hill on the last day and R came in 3rd for his group! He raced down the hill in 38 seconds weaving in and out of the poles just like in the Olympics.

Here the kids are making their way up to the start line with the lifts.

This one was more concerned with waving to her cheering fans as she skied down instead of her winning form.

Here she's only half the way down.
Here goes R:



You can see the determination on his face. No waving from this guy!

When the kids weren't swimming in the hotel pool after skiing, they could be found sledding.

So could the adults! This one is my 6'7" tall husband.

Here the dads are racing:

Now a turn with Daddy:

Ladies' turn:

J's friend, who recently moved to Prague, came Tuesday night to eat dinner with us which was a great reunion for the girls.

As part of Fat Tuesday the kids' faces were painted in the Kids' Club (the after dinner babysitting area).
Surprisingly the kids never tired of one another since just 20 minutes from home J asked to have a playdate with one of the other girls. Hadn't we just seen them not even 24 hours ago?