A Via Taormina New Year's Eve

Last post from 2014!  

New Year's Eve was low profile and quite chill this year.  We spent the evening around the fire with our fabulous neighbors.  The Cranstons, the Faheys, and the Bowlers.  We ate great food, roasted marshmallows and visited as the kids came and went.  

At midnight, we all made our way down to the berm to watch the fireworks going off in Motta, the nearest little town up on the moutain.  

I caught a quick shot of Lucy as she came in from playing games and watching fireworks.  

Happy New Year!

Missoula Children's Theater and Flag Football Fall

Twice a year the Missoula Children's Theater Company comes to Sigonella.  In December, Lucy and Graham tried out and were able to participate in their production of Rapunzel.  

Check out Graham as one of the "Rascals".  

Lucy was on of the Ogres.  

November and December was flag football season.  Lucy, Graham, and Benny all took part.  Lucy's football career was a short one, as she broke her thumb during the second practice.  

The end of year pizza party did not disappoint.  

German Adventure Part 3: Sledding on Zugspitz and Day trip to Innsbruck, Austria

Zugspitze is the tallest mountain peak in Germany.  We decided it would be fun to ride the gondola up there and go sledding for the day.  What I forgot about is the fact that I am afraid of heights.  Wow.  I wish I would have gotten a picture of the gondola going up the cable.  I spent 50% of the time kneeling on the floor of the tram with my head down and eyes closed.  It was CRAZY high.  I'm not just a wimp.  There was another man riding on it with us and he sympathized with me.  I kept asking him if it was almost over.  

Graham and Jason thought it was awesome!  

This is us at the top.  It was really windy and very cold, but we had to stop for a picture.  Sullivan was at the CDC this day.  

There was skiing going on up there, too, but we stuck with the sleds.  

The sledding hill was pretty wimpy, but we had a good time playing in the snow for a while.  

Jason and I wandered around a bit to get some better pictures of the views.  This doesn't even begin to do it justice.  These mountains are gorgeous!

Needless to say, I wasn't about to get back on the gondola to go back down.  Luckily, there was another option.  There's a train!  It took quite a bit longer, but we made our way down just fine and I didn't have to risk heart failure.  The first part of the train ride is through the mountain.....kinda cool.  

Stunning, I know.

Next on our list was a trip to Innsbruck, Austria.  It was a beautiful 1.5 hour drive.  The little villages are breathtaking and look like they belong on a postcard.  I love how the churches are always at the city center.  Their tall steeples stick up over everything else. 

The Innsbruck Christmas Market was great!  We enjoyed some Zuckerwatte (cotton candy) and I loved my vanilla drink (it was like warm vanilla pudding).  

We saw the market and then wandered around a bit to get a feel for the area.  Benny, as you can see, was thrilled with the idea.  

Another couple pictures from Zugspitze

And....back to Innsbruck.  

We bought some yummy ginger cookie/cakes that only me and Sully liked.  More for us!!!

Our German Adventure Part 2: Ettal and Oberammagau

We spent our first full day in Germany in the towns of Ettal and Oberammagau.  We drove up the mountain a little bit to get to it.  

We saw the Benedictine Monastery that was built in the 1330's.  According to Wikipedia, over 50 monks still practice there.  

We then walked up the road to a cheese factory that some friends had told us about.  We tried some fresh cheese and saw the big machinery that makes it.  

We made our way up to Oberammagau to see the Linderhof Palace, but it was closed, so we settled for some pictures instead.  The grounds and palace are supposed to be amazing, but not in December. 

We were told about this amazing little wood shop in Ettal that we had to see.  This man is the owner and makes all of the items in the shop.  It was amazing!  He was nice to let us get a picture with him. Notice the wood pencil shaped whistles that the kiddos chose.  

It was amazing to see all of the detail and time put into each of the pieces.