Snowboarding 2013

        As January approached the realization that we only have 10 more months in Germany hit us HARD.  There are still so many things that we want to do and so many places we still want to see.  Some of the things we wanted to do can only be done during certain times of the year.  We have taken a trip to Edelweiss every year since arriving in Germany to go skiing.  The first year was with my brother Kenton.  We put Luke in ski school, which he hated, and Micah and I took turns skiing with Kent while the other of us went sledding with Tucker.  Last year we rented both boys skiis and made it to the top of the mountain to realize that Tucker was not going to go down and it didn't matter what we said.  So, that trip ended with me in the ER with strep throat and swimming in the pool every evening for the boys.  We were determined this year was going to be awesome.
      Micah and I went with our friend Josh Matticks to an indoor skii facility in France because Micah wanted to learn to snowboard.  There are pictures of this at the bottom of the page.  After arriving I realized I forgot my jacket.  Awesome.  I had to rent one and it was a bit small.  We both did well and Micah really enjoyed it.  Micah bought a Flow snowboard of Ramstein Yardsales as we prepared for an upcoming snowboarding trip to Feldberg with our friends Rick and Sara Taylor.  We rented me and Tucker skiis and Luke wanted to give snowboarding a try too.  There are pictures of this at the bottom of the page as well.  Unfortunately my pictures are out of order.  Luke really picked it up quickly and impressed us all.  Tucker went back and forth between his skiis and a sled.  He word me out going up and down.  I only got to go down the mountain once. 
      So, it was time to plan our last trip to Edelweiss in February.  Micah bought me a Flow snowboard for Valentines day and he got a new one as well.  We were all ready to go.  We took the kids out of school for one week and off we went.  Tucker did a day of ski school while Me, Micah and Lucas snowboarded.  According to the instructor Tuck did NOT do well in ski school.  He wouldn't participate nor listen, so on day two he went with us.  He actually did quite well.

 Here is the mountain behind the Edelweiss hotel.  It's an amazing view.

 Another photo from the hotel.

 On day three we went to the top of the Zugspitz, which is the highest peak in Germany.

 A gondola ride to the top.

 On the way to the top.

 I have a small issue with heights, this was terrifying.

 Me and the boys a the top.  The golden thingy behind us is the highest peak.

 View from the top.

 It's so incredible.

 It was too windy to climb to the top of the peak.  I was okay with that.

 It was so cold!

 It's a long way down.

 Pathway to the restaurant.

 Enjoying lunch.

 Silly boys.

 It was a nice break from the cold.

 I mustache you a question.

 Hot chocolate on a cold day.

 View from the restaurant.

On the way down.  We didn't know this, but you can ski the Zugspitz!  Had we known we would have done it!  We were pretty bummed when we realized we could ski.

Beautiful powder.  After arriving home we received snow and Luke sayd, "Wow, dad.  Look at all that powder."

 Another out of order picture.

 Can you tell how cold we were?

 It was very difficult to walk over to the edge for these photos.

 Sking on the glacier.

 At this point we were on the train ride down.  The kids were excited about riding in a train.

 So excited, in fact, that Tuck fell asleep and drooled all over his hand.

 Tucker waking up to put his gloves on.

 One of our days we decided to take a drive to Austria and went to the Swarovski outlet.

 Me and the boys out front.

 Micah's new board.

I didn't take a photo of mine.  Luke is a little aggrevated that he doesn't have his own.  We've tried to explain to him how fast he is growing and how next year his boots won't fit, but he doesn't seem to care.

 Our trip to the indoor facility in France.

 Micah coming down.

 This place is open all year round.

 We both did pretty good.

 Micah and Josh.

The wheather in Garmisch was horrible and foggy so I wasn't able to get any photo's of our trip there, and I forgot the camera.  These photos are from our trip to Feldberg and Luke's first time skiing.  This was taken after a fall.  He gave me the thumbs up to let me know he was okay.

 Tuck and his sled.

 Taking a break.

 Tucker learning to ski.

 He would get to the bottom without falling and wave his hands in the air cheering.

 Luke was convinced he got better once he got a pair of goggles.

 Those two little black dots way down the mountain are Micah and Lucas.

 Tucker being silly.

And lastly, Tucker being the Statue of Liberty.  One more thing to mark off our Bucket List was our whole family skiing/snowboarding the Bavarian Alps.