What we would call "Mid-Winter Recess" in the States is called "Ski Break" in Europe. So that's what we decided to do. We just got back from our Ski Vacation in the Austrian Alps (just south of Salzburg). We stayed in a small village called St. Veit and skied at Alpendorf. We had a FANTASTIC (albeit exhausting) time.
Anna is the only one of us who had ever skied before. And her experience was limited to exactly 3 times, the most recent of which was over 12 years ago.
Our inexperience was OK, since our trip included 5 days (4 hours per day) of ski lessons for everyone. We dropped the kids off each morning at 10:00am and picked them back up at 3:00pm. The ski school even supervised them over their lunch break.
Katie and VJ both had a great time. VJ never left the enclosed Kindergarten area since he never quite learned to stop. He still had a great time, skiing, sledding and playing with the other little kids.
Katie shocked us by how well she did. We were able to see her on Monday & early Tuesday and she was not doing that great. She had trouble standing (& staying) up and couldn't get up without help after she fell. So imagine our surprise on Thursday when we stopped for lunch at a restaurant at the top of the mountain and looked over and saw Katie and her class! They had already skied down the mountain twice that morning and had taken the chair lift back up for another go after lunch.
Anna and I both enjoyed ourselves. We started in the beginner's class Monday morning. After lunch our instructor told us we would be moving up to the next level class as we were doing so well. Monday afternoon was spent with just Anna, myself and one other woman with the instructor. We made some easy runs and really benefited from the extra attention the small class size allowed. And apparently we did well enough that the next morning we were told that we were moving up to the Intermediate Level class. Our instructor was a guy named Johann who really pushed us over the next 3 days. I learned so much and really skied so much better than I ever imagined I would.
However, all this fun came at a price. By Thursday afternoon we were past tired and heading toward exhaustion. We decided to take Friday off from class and just follow the kids around. This ensured that we wouldn't get hurt because we were too tired and also let us see the kids in their races. 'What races?', you ask. Well on Friday morning each class ran a time trial and at the end of the day the school had an awards presentation. Every kid was recognized and received a medal for participating. VJ placed 3rd for his class!
While Katie didn't place in the top 3 (although if you talk to her know that she somehow decided she came in 2nd), she still did awesome! She ran the entire course without falling once and was smiling and enjoying herself the whole way!
VJ's Time Trial
Katie skiing down the mountain. Look for the little girl in pink (5th in line).
VJ Skiing
Ski School wasn't just about Skiing.
On Tuesday we stayed in so we could rest up to go and see the fireworks on Wednesday evening. They also had a curling event for the kids which Katie and VJ participated in. Although VJ turned up shy for some reason but was fine as long as Big Sister Katie went up with him for his turn.
On Thursday and Friday we enjoyed going to bed at 8:30pm and falling asleep as fast as possible.
This was definitely one of the best vacations we've ever had.
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