Family outing on the slopes

 


Whole families go out to the slopes together. Dad usually takes the older kids up on the mountain while Mom stays at the bottom with younger kids and babies in prams. The prams have an amazing amount of padding and insulation, so the baby has no idea it is cold. The family comes together to eat currywurst and drink latte macchiato at the imbiss. Not a bad day out! 

How much for that doggy in the window?

 


This is the imbiss (snack stand) on the side of the ski hill. Yummy sausages! 

Vacation # 834864

Home again, this time for real. No more trips in the immediate future. This week took us back to the Edelweiss, so we spent our days sledding and our evenings in the pool. Well, the boy and I did, anyway. Poor Wendall spent the day at the conference he was there to attend. He had a good time, too. 

Pool Noodle Pony

 


That's right, we're back from (yet another) vacation. This was the last one for a while, so we made it count. I've posted more on Flickr, but here's one of Wendall in the pool for now.

I'm tired, and off to bed with a neglected kitty or three. 

Watch out for those snowballs!

 
 

We're off again!

Sorry to be out of touch, but we are out of touch. We have no real internet access for a bit. Hope everyone is having fun!

Sweet boy

 
 

Reading

So I just finished my 8th book read so far this year. Last year I ended up with over 100 books read. What is it about reading that feels so good to me? I would honestly rather read than do just about anything else. I am a fast reader, but I tend not to remember a good deal of what I read, which means (to me) that I read for the pleasure of reading, rather than the joy of learning. Not that I don't learn, but with a constant stream of fiction/travel/biography/kidlit, there just isn't much there for me to actually learn, is there?

I need to think on this.....

Alpine Villiage

This was the grocery store in Mieders

 
 

Rodeling Family

We spent the weekend on a rodel in Austria.


 


"Rodel" is the German word for sled. The sleds are beautiful and can hold a child and one adult easily. We never actually went down the mountain all together. The boy went down once with me and twice with his dad, and he wanted to stay and do it again and again!

Rodeling is much more like using a luge than a sled. The top of the mountain was just that. We shared a five minute gondola ride with real skiers to get to the top of the track. It took 20 minutes of constant motion to get to the bottom. We look forward to doing it again, and will have our own rodel before long. 

Ice Crystals

 
 

This looks even better in the LARGER size!

Off for the weekend

Photos to follow.

Two kitties on the couch

 


Sadly, Honu has left the couch, decidig that a food coma is best experienced on the floor just outside the kitchen.

Nulu is still unable to move. 

Running Boy

 


We went to a birthday party over the weekend. The main party game was running. Yay running! 

At the Train Station

 


We dropped the Grands off at the train station a week ago! They are home now, with many good stories to tell.

We had a reat time, and look forward to the next visit! 

Holiday Collage 2005

collage5
Originally uploaded by allysther.

Ok, I should have put this out earlier, but didn't. This includes all of the photos in the flickr set of Holiday photos.

To see it really big, go HERE

Candlelight

Candlelight
Originally uploaded by allysther.

At the Killien Cathedral in Wurtzburg, Germany.

Narnia

We finally got a chance to see this movie. What a beautiful film! A definate Oscar nod for costuming. It was strange to revisit the story after not having read the books in so long, and I look forward to reading them again.

The family behind us included a 8-10 year old boy. When the movie ended he jumped out of his seat and yelled "That was magnificent! My favorite movie ever!" I can't really add to a review like that, so I'll let it stand.

Tracking my books for the year

I'll be using a new website to track the books I read this year.





I am still Bookcrossing, this is different. On Bookcrossing, I can not keep track of the books I read which are not mine. This site will allow me to track borrowed books along with my owned books. I'm using it as a fun visual tool.

In 2005 I read 103 books. My goal for 2006 is to increase my reading (which will also decrease my time online--not a bad thing.)

The view from just above our New Year's apartment

 
 

We slept at the TOP of this hill

 
 

I am holding the camera level. The angle you see here is real!

Our Apartment

 
 

New Years in Prague

We had a great time.
A month ago, when I looked for a room in Prague for the weekend, I was amazed to find that there was NOTHING left. I eventually discovered an apartment rental firm, The Castle Steps and we rented the redwood Apartment for two days. The apartment turned out to be the perfect place to stay, and when we return to Prague they will be the first place I contact.

Prague was amazing at New Years. There were so many people out and about that if it had not been for the snow on the ground one would think that the summer holidays had been pushed back. Truly astonishing crowds. Because of the crowds we did not actually go into most of the museums and memorials, but we had a great time not seeing the interiors.

The food was filling, the company was jovial, and all in all it was a fantastic trip. I will post photos seperately.

Today we said goodbye to my parents. They are off to Munich for a few days and then head home on Thursday. We know that they will have a grand time and look forward to hearing all about it!

Happy New Year!

We are off for a weekend in Prague. I hope all of you have a wonderful New Year's Celebration. We plan to have a grand time! Many photos and thoughts to follow...

Wendall in Wurtzburg

 
 

Happy Holidays

Ok, so here's the deal. I've been way too busy to send out my holiday cards. If I promise to send them out at some point (soonish, even!), will you promise to enjoy them when they arrive? Good.

To make up for the absence of paper products, I will show you the photos that they contain. I am still working on adding descriptions to all of the pictures, but many will be familiar, and well, I'll keep working on that, too.

To see all of the pictures included on this year's card (and an image of the front of the card), go HERE You can click on the photos as they scroll by to see if there is a caption. Have fun!



My wish for the season? Friendship and joy.

Oh, and if you go HERE you can see the collage up close and personal. As in HUGE. Really.

Sepia Beach

 
 

My way too easy (yeah, right!) resolution

So I've decided to post one photo per day in my flicker account That's it. We'll see how well I do.

Coolest, most amazing thing ever!

I just recieved word that my sister-in-law is on an album which has been nominated for a Grammy! This is the same group she sang with in Carnegie Hall. This was their performance in Berlin last year. Happy me! Happier her!

Grammy Nominations

Category 99

Best Choral Performance
(Award to the Choral Conductor, and to the Orchestra Conductor if an Orchestra is on the recording, and to the Choral Director or Chorus Master if applicable.)

Bernstein: Mass
Kent Nagano, conductor; Simon Halsey & Kai-Uwe Jirka, choir directors; Richard
Grant & Lynne Morrow, chorus masters (Julian Frischling & Jerry Hadley;
Rundfunkchor Berlin, Staats-Und Domchor Berlin & Soloists Of The Pacific Mozart
Ensemble; Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin)
[Harmonia Mundi]

Did you know that it is COLD in Germany?

We went to the tree lighting ceremony on Thursday. Lots of fun, free food and drink, and a bonfire.

This made me sadder than I thought it would

From CNN

Just in time for Gift Giving

Baby Bush Toys are perfect for your average child.

Funny stuff.

Happy boy

The boy loves Kinder Eggs, so when we saw this advent calander we knew we had a winner! It contains six eggs, along with six each of three other types of Kinder chocolate. He is sooooo happy when he gets to open the little door!

Today at school St Nicholas visited, first leaving nuts in all of the children's shoes, and then handing out chocolate and hugs. Wendall says that the chocolate that St Nicholas gave him tastes better than his kinder egg, but he really just wants both.

That's my boy!

Mmmmm, Gourmeat!

It's what's for dinner......

Not bad, either!

Not much to say, but a wild catch at least!

I had nothing to say about this book, and neither did its finder. Ah well.



Here's a radom picture of Hawaii to make this entry more exciting.

The Wendalls at Work

The guys have been hard at work today. The new shovels seem to work pretty well, and I have a feeling that they will be well used. I bought a shovel last week whick broke the first time we tried to use it, so we have better hopes for these. The boy did a great job. You can see his work in the second photo.

Nanowrimo

Just wanted to let everyone know that Wendall has won Nanowrimo for a second year in a row. He wrote 45,000 of his 50,000 words this week, because he could. I'm certain he will say more over at Honest Talk, as soon as he pulls the bandages from his bloody fingertips.

Rebuilding Hope and Habitat

Operation Eden is one of the most moving 'blogs I've seen It tells one family's story of Hurricane Katrina and the aftereffects of the storm. The author is a fashion photographer who has a wonderful eye for photojournalism as well. He has just posted this entry, regarding Habitat for Humanity's push to help people in the area.