Rock 'n' Roll Birthday

Jacob's birthday party this year was a rock star party (thank you Linda for the supplies!). We had our two boys plus seven of Jay's friends. We had it at a music school. The day was snowy and the storm "Daisy" has been the talk of the town all week. But we made it through and everyone had fun. One friend of Jacob's, Phillip, said "this was the very best day I ever had my whole life." Another riend, Julius said "I've never had so much fun before." So I guess it was a good party!

At the top you see Jay's birthday sign (Floris was originally also going to have his party with Jay. It turned out otherwise, but his birthday was still today anyway). You can see Julius jumping and the boys drumming.

Here you see Nils ater his KISS ace painting. The second photo is Jay's riend Luca. Jay and Luca share a drum lesson each week. The cool cat in the sunglasses is Jona. Jona's older brother, Tristan, is Jay's friend from Kindergarten. Jona was bummed he wasn't invited (sorry!), but we gave him some temp tattoos and he was good.

Here is Caleb with his backstage pass (with a photo- photoshopped, of course!) and then Julius and the KISS boys.

We had karaoke, opened by Jay (Smells like Teen Spirit) and Nils (Monkeywrench) and stage diving onto pillows. Overall, it was a rocking good time!

Last of all, a band was practicing that day at the music school. They agreed to play some song or the boys (Nirvana, AC/DC and others) and the kids LOVED it.

New Year's Day

There was no daycare at the hotel on New Year's Day until noon (how dare they!), so we spent the morning playing with the kids outside. We visited the animals, went sledding (notice Jay has decided that sledding is safer with some extra padding), and played on the playground. The last photo is of the awards ceremony. I have no idea why they got medals, they didn't do anything this past week. The week before Jay came in sixth in the kiddie slalom. I think there may have only been six participants, but I am not sure.

Swimming Time

We went swimming almost every day after skiing. It was a ncie way to end our day together- pick up the kids from the daycare and take them swimming before dinner together. Plus, the water really helped our aches and pains!

The pool was amazing. it had a panoramic view of the ski and sledding hill outside and the mountains. There is nothing like being there at dusk, when the sky gets that perfect dark blue color, looking out on the mountains and snow while in a warm swimming pool. The pool was really one of the nicest parts of our holiday. As Jay put it, it was one of his favorites (waffles every morning, picking out his own food, the daycare and Kinderschnapps were his others).

Jay and Nils on the Mountain

At the gondola station and on the gondola.











Nils, already bored and waiting for his turn to ski with M. Never mind that he quit ski lessons after one day! Jay on the rope pull.

M and Jay coming down the practice slope. Jay enjoying the view and M and Nils on the rope pull.

M and Nils. You can see Nils fell here. I could hear him, all the way at the bottom of the slope.

Jay again with M. He skied himself down this time. Pizzastuck is snowplow and Pommes (fries) is the call for parallel skis.

New Year's Eve

New Year's Eve featured a party for the kids, fireworks, and a bonfire. You can see here how some kids are already tired. Ours lasted until 21:30 and then we had to put them in bed- not even the fireworks or kids playing in the hall right outside our room woke them up!

Jay and Nils loved going to the bar and ordering a Kinderschnapps (Sprite). The bartender would give it to them in a small snifter and they would toast and drink it with the other kids.

The bonfire at midnight also had Gluehwein (warm mulled wine) and it was perfect in the cold weather.