Day 5 (Ooh la luge!)

Bob-sled day! I was giddy all morning and couldn't wait to get on that mountain. I was not thrilled about that drive through the mountains... some of the roads were so curvy and most of the drivers just zipped through the curves like they were qualifying for LeMans. Did I mention how steep the roads were? As we exited the Autobahn we were all thrilled that the sun was already beating down and it looked like it was going to turn into a beautiful summer day.

Now, there are times in a woman's life when she is made excruciatingly aware that she is, in fact, a woman... and not a girl. I would say that giving birth is definitely one of those times and cooking a big holiday meal for the whole family is, too. When Christopher started to cry I didn't think much about it... He and Sebastian were probably trying out some kind of new Chinese torture method in the backseat. Then he started screaming that his mouth hurt. Then wailing- Basti was thumping away at his DS so my torture theory was way off. Klaus wanted to pull over but WE WERE ON A WINDING MOUNTAIN ROAD WITHOUT A GUARDRAIL!!!!

"Just keep going, we're almost there," I'd said. Less than a minute later Christopher's head started spinning around, apparently he'd turned green when I wasn't looking, and he was channeling the Evil One from the back of the Grand Scenic. Not really. He was just carsick. There was a moment when I was frozen like the proverbial deer in headlights... trying to reconcile the liters of what was coming out of my baby with the petit 1/2 Broetchen breakfast he'd had earlier. Amidst a cloud of concerned curses Klaus managed to find a small alcove where we could pull over. Thankfully, I'd packed away baby wipes and trash bags into the trunk months ago just in case... Klaus and I did our parental duty in record time and put our underwear clad laughing 3 year-old back into his car-seat like nothing'd ever happened. Yes, indeed.... I am Woman!

There aren't, unfortunately, many shopping malls in the middle of the Austrian Alps. We could have used an H&M right about then. There are, however, an insane amount of sporting good stores. We find one that is still open (it was midday- many were closed for lunch). I ran in and was greeted by Heidi... Six feet tall, blonde, dirndle clad...How can she help me???? I give her the condensed version and ask if they have anything for children. (Do things like this happen to women like that?) In Christopher's size there are a whole two choices- an authentic leather overall set- it's adorable! It's also 80 Euros. An investment I'm not prepared to make with Old Faithful at the moment. That left the sun-reflecting bathing suit- top and bottom. He looked like Lance Armstrong. We took it!

The rest of the day was great! We did 3 rounds on the bob- sled. The track was over 1.5 kilometers long. Christopher loved screaming, "whoo hooooo" all the way down and was feeling well enough afterward to eat an ice cream.

On the way back to our apartment we decided to break the trip up a little- no need to tempt faith. We'd driven past a hotel made to look like a castle carved into the side of a mountain several times. We went to investigate. The hotel looked grand from the road, but in reality it wasn't that spectacular. There was a beautiful blue-green sea at its base and we headed there. (Christopher was dressed for the occasion) We rented a row boat and tooled around for about an hour. It was great. Sebastian played gondolier and did a super job rowing us all around!

The drive back cost us a few nerves but we did it. And couldn't wait to go to bed so we could get started on the next day's adventures as soon as possible.

Day 4- Ischgl (it's a word, not a bodily function)

By Tuesday we were all sleeping late and had taken to hanging our clothes up on the door handles. No one even asked if we could leave the TV on while we ate- of course we could! and I'd abandoned my novel (Water for Elephants- I had so thought I'd get it read by the pool- oh well) for Christo's coloring book. Our kids must think that the thin mountain air is getting to us- ha! it is. We had no desire to be tourists on Tuesday- just wanted to be lazy slugs. We managed to leave the apartment by noon and headed towards Ischgl- a swanky ski town about 10 minutes away. I'd read about a sports center there and figured it was just what the kids needed to burn off some steam.

Save for a couple of kids- maybe 11 or 12 years old...sending text messages under a big umbrella, the place was empty. I asked them if the center was even open. They grunted- really, they grunted and didn't even look at us- that it was the lunch hour. It would be open again at one o'clock . (I guess I've gotten used to the lunchtime "Ruhe" where we live. I was surprised that in a town so dependent on tourism they still took the time- respect)! We took a minute to look around and decided to stay. The grunters were now jumping on one of the inflatables doing back flips and cussing up a storm. Another one pulled up on his skateboard and greeted his buddies with the Austrian equivilant of, "Hey, as$#hole!" Locals! Now they were all bouncing around in their neon visors and hi-tops. My boys were watching them with a mixture of disgust and envy... obviously wanting to hop on, too.



"Go on," I told Sebastian, "You can go..."

*full eye roll* "Mom!" he hissed, "They're wearing their shoes."

Hmmm, this is eight-year-old logic... they're not following the rules so he won't join them. It's like he'll be guilty by association. I quickly file this away for future use. I think I'll start cultivating the idea and in about 5 years we'll all be better for it.

Klaus, my dear Klaus, decides to take matters into his own hands. Being the awesome dad that he is, he wants his boys to have a chance, too. I watch in slow motion as he confronts the boys. (At this point I should add that Klaus is really good with kids. KIDS. Pubescent teenie boys are a bit of uncharted territory for him but it's too late to intercede... here we go)! He coolly saunters up and, in a tone meant to sound like, "hey dude, what's up?" asks them if they should be wearing their shoes.

Nothing

"Shouldn't you take off your shoes on that?"

They looked up- incredulous. Honestly, at this point I'm surprised that they hadn't dropped trou and marked their territory.

"Why don't you take off your shoes so the little guy can play, too."

OK, so... I won't bore you with the gnarly details but I will say that Klaus had a totally Zen experience in self control. As the place started to fill up we did our best to ignore the young heathens and ended up having a great time. Christopher loved driving the go karts and Klaus, Basti, and I had a blast playing soccer in a cage. The idea behind the latter having to do with keeping the balls from flying over the side of the mountain... However, it added a whole new element by ricocheting the ball off the wall- a lot like billiards.

We played the afternoon away on the trampolines and at the playground. We headed over to the town center of Ischgl for a little sightseeing and coffee. Very cute and quaint and overpriced. The church was noteworthy as were the flowers around town. I can only imagine how this place looks in full Winter swing.

We headed back to our apartment and decided to go out for dinner. There was a cute little Italian place in See where Klaus had the best pizza (I can't wait to see how it tastes in Italy this weekend). The restaurant also sported the coolest sign I've seen yet- no cell phones- LOVE IT! We spent the rest of the evening lazing- Klaus and Basti worked on a model airplane and Christo and I played Donkey. The boys fell asleep after a Smackdown marathon on their bed- no tears! Life is good = )