Sunday, August 26, 2012

Outings with Grandma #2-Lenzburg Castle

We have been to Lenzburg Castle many times now, but each time there is something new to see.  We just love this place!

The main entrance to the castle.  So hard to get them all looking at the camera with a smile on their face.
We discovered this cute little door just Clara size.  And hiking up the outer wall entrance.   
   
We have never been in the knights hall before.  It was huge and the kids loved pretending they were at a ball dancing all around.
 Outside on the grounds overlooking the spectacular view.
 I couldn't resist taking a picture of my girls with the beautiful flowers.
 We can't get enough of playing dress-up there.  Clara loves the fake earrings and Allison loved opening and closing the door to the pretend castle.
 
 On a walkway.  Clara is in there somewhere.  Probably refusing to take a picture for some reason or another.

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Day Trips with Grandma Hobbs--Sattel

It looked to be a nice sunny day so we headed to Sattel, a beautiful mountain that has plenty to entertain in summer or winter.  Sammy and George went skiing there last winter and it was one of Sammy's favorite.  Here we are riding the rotating 360 degree gondola up with mountain.


On the top we went on ride after ride on the toboggan run.  Even Allison loved going on it.  Sammy and Alex went fast trying to never touch their brakes and of course I was braking the whole time.  Alex was going so fast he had to use his hand to stay on the track and burned his fingers.
 


After tiring out of the toboggan we headed for the bounce houses.  I was even crazy enough to get in there and have some fun.  


 Now it was time for lunch and a walk across the longest suspension bridge in Europe.  You could feel it swaying as you walked across.  
 We leisurely walked back to the play area taking in the breath-taking views.  Notice the suspension bridge in the background.
 Lastly, the kids each got to do some extreme trampoline jumping.  Sammy even was brave enough to try some flips.  All was great until the rain came.  It came fast and hard.  The kids and grandma were jumping and getting soaked.  They didn't seem to mind until it dropped 20 degrees in temperature.

 They got soaked!  We are trying to hide from the rain and wait the storm out.  Well, the storm won, so we headed home for some hot chocolate and dryness.  It still was a great adventure!


Salzburg!

Our first trip this summer was to Salzburg!  We drove up through Germany to get there.  We stopped to eat at a McDonalds and there was a Subway...I haven't eaten Subway in a year and it was so yummy!  Salzburg was a beautiful place.  I love the painting on the houses.  The decorative store signs.  I mean really have you ever seen such a fancy McDonald's sign?  And yes, we ate there.

 
 It took all I had in me to not buy the whole family outfits.  It helped that they were crazy expensive.
 In front of Mozart's home he was born in.  Grandma Hobbs and Sammy went to his museum and the home he lived in later in life.  
 So great to have my mom with us!
 I love the wide open squares.  The kids could run free.
 A tribute to Mozart and this city of music.
 View from the bridge.


Nothing says Salzburg like a good ole Sound of Music tour.  The kids watched the movie before we went and then a million times after we got back.  They know all the songs and even sang along on the tour.
 
 Looking at the back view of one of the houses they used in the show.  Alex is showing the view from the house.  Look at those mountains!

 
 The bus ride was insane with Allison...she just wanted to walk around, but we survived.
 The famous gazebo.  You can't go inside anymore because some old lady was trying to re-inact the movie and fell and broke a hip.  Bummer.
 View along the bus route to all the different spots.
 The church they were married in.  The highlight here was Allison finally fell asleep and we ate apple strudel.  The kids didn't love it, which meant more for me.  Yeah!
 


 As soon as we stepped off the bus it started raining.  Clara walking through the gardens.
 Eating out.  The good here was delicious and the kids could play outside!  It was Mozart's sister's house.
 Running along the river bank just like the Von Trapp family.


My favorite part of the trip was the salt mines just over the border in Germany.  We had to put on these black jump suits...stylish I know.  We rode a train into the dark mine and then to get to the lower levels they had slides we could go on.  It was a blast and the kids (and I) loved it!




On the way home we stopped at Hellbrunn Palace.  They have trick fountains on the grounds, which we got soaked by and a huge play ground.  It was a great relaxing afternoon!




On our last day we set out for the Hohensalzburg Fortress.  It was a long walk up to the top, but the view was amazing.  We wandered around for a while of course eating some ice cream and visiting the museum.  Sammy and grandma headed down the hill to walk by the abbey used in the Sound of Music and the rest of us headed down the funicular. 



 Looking up.

After a quick bite to eat at McDonalds we headed home driving through Austria into Switzerland.  It was a beautiful drive and the really tired kids slept most of the time.