Austria eh? Goodaye mate...

Don't you just hate it when people use their blogs as a soapbox upon which to brag about all their latest adventures, knowing full well that their true intention is to make their readers green with envy? That being said...

So Corri informed me several weeks ago that it was about time we went on another trip, especially considering my upcoming deployment. After a bit of searching, I finally came up with a solution. When she asked where, I told her:

"I'll tell you where...a place where the beer flows like wine, and the women instinctively flock like the salmon of Capistrano...I'm talking about a little place called "Austria." After Corri raised her objections about how much she disliked the French, I assured her that we would avoid them at all costs. (By the way, if this isn't funny to you, you need to rewatch Dumb and Dumber).

Unfortunately for us, our recently purchased Honda Pilot is still in transit from the states, (Holy cow, are they shipping it via Orca?) so we had to settle with piling all of us into our tiny Nissan Altima. The space was so small that we opted to not use luggage and instead used garbage sacks for their "packability," thus proving that we do have a bit of redneck in us afterall.

Austria was quite breathtaking and the Alps were every bit as impressive as you might imagine. The original plan was to spend most of our days playing in the snow and letting the kids go crazy. Funny thing though, our Cameryn (now 15 months) didn't seem to like being immobolized in snow drifts up to her waist, and although Pearce was much more accepting of his monochromatic surroundings, his acceptance of subzero temperatures was limited at best. So, mom and dad decided that it was time for them to play a bit, and found a beautiful little ski resort (Kreischberg) and spent a few days attempting to bend, break, or bruise every part of their bodies. Corri went the first day and had a blast improving her skiing skills and the next day I tried desperately to see how fast I could descend some astonishingly steep hills (in case you were wondering, the lift took 30 minutes to get to the top, and I made it to the bottom in around 12). The third day was hilarious because we all went together and Pearce got his first chance to try skiing for himself. This eventually became more of a contest to see who had more stamina...Pearce's stubborness to not stand up on his skiis or Dad's back...Pearce won. The best moment, however, had to be when we entered the small gondela and Pearce looks around as the earth was quickly descending from below him, folds his arms, and starts to say one of the best prayers he's ever given. Even the local girl riding with us (who probably spoke very little English) was cracking up to see this small 3 year old beseaching God for his protection.

All in all it was a fantastic trip and we can't wait until next year to try some more family-friendly winter sports again.