Playing in the Bavarian Alps

Last Saturday Morning.  We woke up and drove south for about an hour (well, it should have been just over an hour but it seems everyone had the same idea so it took us a bit longer).  We parked, met up with our friends and took the ski lift to the top of the Alps.

 Longest ski lift ride ever - and I have been on a few ski lifts in my lifetime!

 First, we had to check out the view and the band and grab something to eat as we were heading up into the woods for a hike.

Oh, and we let the little kids play for a while too.

We saw a lot of great things on our hike and were constantly wowed by the views...

MadHatter could stand inside this tree and Stinkerbell is sitting on a log stump shaped like a chair.

 Yep, real mushroom.  Yep, really poisonous.

 More fun things that we saw on the way!  The kids wanted to take a picture of all of the wildflowers to make an album later, so we did.

 And then it was time for the best part, the Alpine Slide down to the bottom.  We figured out why our lift ride up was so long - because we would be taking the World's longest Alpine Slide back down.  It has 73 curves, 9 jumps, and 7 waves and takes you back down at about 20 kph (25 mph).  

 Super FUN!  And had we known, we might have gotten tickets to go again.  But it was nearing dinner time and we needed to get checked into the hotel and grab some dinner.  Which was easier said than done; the grabbing dinner part at least.  Everything was FULL.  We did run into this in town...

 Yes, that is a vending machine that sells meat, potato salad and coleslaw.  Fairly convenient, but we had nowhere to cook it anyway so we still had to find a place that could serve us cooked food.  We finally found one (though it took a lot of searching).  Satisfied, we made our way back to the hotel, tired from all of the fresh air and ready for tomorrow's adventures.

Bodyflying Munich

What do you do on a rainy Sunday afternoon?  You go flying, of course. 

B was out of town and the girls and I had been in the house since Friday afternoon because of the rain and gloom.  I just couldn't take it anymore so I booked the girls for a flying adventure at the Jochen Schweitzer Arena.  The Arena has a great ropes course, playgrounds, an indoor surf area and, the place we were headed, the Bodyflying arena.  They were both a bit nervous (they didn't know what to to expect) but after a quick lesson on how to position their bodies to fly and the hand signals the instructor would use to help once inside (it is VERY loud in the tunnel) they were ready to suit up.

In training and in full gear (ear plugs a must)

They were led into the holding area with the rest of their small group and waited their turn.  I was outside the tunnel so I couldn't get help with the nerves but I think they handled them well.

They first watched their instructor show them what he had just told them.

And then it was their turn.  Stinkerbell went first.  She had two minutes to fly, which doesn't seem like a lot but believe me, it truly is enough.  Then it was MadHatter's turn.  And then they each got to do it again and the second time they really got the hang of it and relaxed so much more.  I took a few photos but since I was outside the glass it was much harder to get good shots.  I did get an official picture from the Arena, along with a video which I have put at the end of this post.  Check it out...

Stinkerbell catching air!

MadHatter made it look easy.

Stinkerbell really got the hang of it the second time around.

Can you see how fast the wind is moving?  149 km/hr (92.5 mph)

 Taken from the inside.  She is soooo serious :)

Making it look easy.

I think they really enjoyed it!

Cartagena Sights

This video represents what our entire Sunday after the wedding looked like.  I am not sure we got out of the pool for about 7 hours straight.  And it was awesome.  It was also B's last day with us (he does have to work) so we made the most of it with the family.

The next morning, B was off bright and early.  The girls and I had a quick breakfast and then I made them come with me so that we could see the sights.  I told them that we were not going to spend any more time in the pool when there was such a beautiful city surrounding us.  And I was right, it was beautiful, but it was hot.  HOT!  I felt like the Wicked Witch of the West.  So I ate my words and we ended up in the pool.  But we did catch some gorgeous sights first...

Map of Cartagena signed by visitors.

 The walled city.

 The flowers.  The vines.  The doors.  The colors.  It was almost too much for us to take in...

By this time, we were melting.  I literally melted the makeup off of my face!  And Stinkerbell found ice cream so we ducked in for some (and their air conditioning)

After that, I relented.  And I broke my "no pool today" threat.  It was just too hot.

We spent the afternoon in the cool pool and then got ready again.  Because the only family left in town was Tio Popoi and Tia M and they were so graciously taking us on a horse carriage ride of the city.  It was late in the afternoon, and the breezes were starting up again, and the sun was setting so the climate, the company and the tour were all top notch.

We ended the day (and the trip) with a drink on the rooftops and dinner in the restaurant.  It was time to head back to Florida and soon, back home.  But we are so grateful to have had this adventure added to this summer full of adventures.