This post is way overdue. I was sick for a whole week, Craig has been traveling and we are getting ready for the big birthday bash (more on that later). Over the holiday, we stayed in Austria at a 'Kinder Hotel' or a hotel that caters to families with children. It was at the base of the Wildkogel mountain range. It was the perfect place for us to stay, but as my friend Tracie said, it is a germ factory and unfortunately, we brought some home with us.
We made the trip to Austria over 2 days, staying in Karlsruhe on Friday night. It is a huge travel week for Europe, and the traffic was pretty bad. The hotel was great and was all inclusive. It is so nice to know where you are going to eat every meal and not to have to try find a place that is kid friendly. Within the hotel, there is a Kids Club - or day care, that is open open all day. During the day and early evening you could drop the kids off where there would be activities for them.
Sunday, we rented skis and spent some time on the hotel bunny hill sledding and skiing. Chloe wasn't into the snow that much, but Colin was flying down the hill on his sled that was shaped like a race car. He was going so fast that I was glad once we rented helmets for him to wear.
We had heard about a 14km toboggan run (apparently the longest in the world) and were anxious to try it out. We left the kids at the Kids Club at the hotel and brought a lift pass to take up the mountain. The starting point was at 6578 feet, way above the tree line. We were riding on what we thought were old fashioned toboggans. That style tobbagan is very popular here and they go fast!!! I think that it took us about an hour and a half to get down. That also included a Cava stop at about the midway point. It was so much fun that we planned on doing it again at the end of the week.
The next day, we were feeling brave enough to head back up the mountain with our skis. Craig, Hugh and I first took a beginners run while Tracie waited at the cafe with her tobaggan. I realized after that run, that I am not even a beginner. I need a toddler run. Craig and Hugh continued on up the mountain while Tracie and I went down the toboggan run - Tracie on her toboggan and me on skis. We were all pretty tired after that.
We took it easy the next couple of days, taking advantage of the hotel pool and spa area.
Colin has really become a good swimmer. It was the first time he was in a pool not during a swim lesson and he had a lot of fun swimming and playing.
Later in the week, I found a real bunny hill so Hugh, Tracie and I went to check it out. I was joking that the only people skiing there were the people from Jersey, some 80 year olds and the 6 year olds having ski lessons. And the 6 year olds weren't beginnners. At one point I saw them practing skiing over a bump to catch some air.
We spent some time seeing the surrounding area and Craig brought Colin to an animal reserve in the mountains. Colin also took ski lessons everyday at the hotel. We were so proud of him.
We had lots of fun on our vacation!!
Since Colin and Chloe have many similiar friends, we decided to throw a joint party for their birthday. We held the party at Het Circus, an indoor playground just about 10 minutes outside of Antwerp. It was one of the only places that we could find that could accommodate all 28 kids, plus parents. Saturday ended up being a gorgeous day, about 75 degrees. In typical Belgian form, there was no air conditioning. It was hot for the adults and most of the kids were dripping with sweat. I think our party alone went through close to 100 drinks. Our fun celebration continued back at home where we had some people over for a BBQ and to hang out on the terrace. It was a fun day with TONS of presents. As it turns out, Craig received the best present from our friends Rene and Sylvie. In the unsuspecting Groovy Girls bag were 6 of probably the most difficult beer to get in the world, Westvleteren #12.
