Scouts and Party

On Thursday AJ had a "go see it" with the scouts.  It was their last item on their sheet for their next rank.  It was to go to a TV station, so their leader set up a time for them to go visit the AFN (American Forces Network) studio.  I have never been inside one either so it was cool to be able to see. 

 

They are waiting for the tour to begin.  It is so cute when AJ is such a good big brother - he really loves his little brother!

Here they are telling the kids about the photography part of it.  He actually let them hold the camera.  All the parents there were really, really nervous that they would drop it.  It was not a cheap camera that is for sure.

 

Here AJ is giving his scout leader a "look" - Gotta love this kid!!!

Here they are actually going to be on tv, they did a little intro.  They were really excited about it!!  They also did the cub scout promise on TV.

Here they were watching the play back of what they just did. 

Then they got to go back on stage and act as silly as they wanted to.

 

And even sillier.  They cracked me up!!  They are all looking at the screen over there with them on tv.  They learned a lot and had a great time doing it!!!

 

Then on Saturday the boys were invited to a friend's birthday party - it was a GREAT birthday party.  It was a mad scientist party.

 

They started out the party by making "molecules" out of marshmallows and toothpicks.  It ended up whatever they really wanted but it really kept all 30 of the kids entertained (I know, crazy woman she was to have that many there)

 

She had a really cute photo booth app on her I-pad so she took pictures of all the kids and then laminated them into book marks - Here is AJ

 

And Michael - they also had cool name tags that had Dr. Michael and Dr. Albert

 

Here was another one of their science experiments - Mentos in pop - you can see the brown pop out there.  The kids LOVED this one!!  Who doesn't when pop explodes.  They also did one more that involved making an egg float in water.  Like I said, a really cool party!!

 

You can see all the kids had such a great time!!!  After that we had three extra kids come over for the evening and had a wonderful time!!!  They are the cutest kids!!  One is a little girl and almost makes me want to have another one, almost.  I will live vicariously through others when it comes to girls! 

Hiking with Michael

On Wednesday the day was a beautiful one, so Michael and I were invited by one of his school friends and mom to go on an impromptu hike.  I am still not sure how she found this spot, but it was beautiful.  I seem to be saying that a lot lately in my posts, but it is so true!!  The scenery is just amazing!  We drove for awhile and we started out with a duck pond.

 

As you can see, there were also swans.  I wasn't really prepared for feeding the ducks, so they got some marshmallow cereal instead of bread.  Hopefully they didn't get on too much of a sugar high.

 

Michael at the start of our hike ready to go!!

 

As you can see it was still really cold.  We had to keep moving to stay warm. 

 

A look as we were headed up stream

 

Michael wanted to be in the lead - so he was always out front, I told him he had to stay within sight and was really good about it!

 

I just thought these rocks were really cool and out of nowhere.

 

Michael doing his dance on one of the many bridges that we crossed!!  He really cracks me up!!

 

Somebody cut out this triangle and the boys thought is was cool, Michael peeking back at me

 

The view through it

He wanted to show me he could stand on one foot!

 

Not sure what this was for, but Michael wanted his picture with it.  It was a great hike and my friend said it is pretty any time of year and during the summer by the duck pond they serve fresh meat that they grow right there.  We will definitely be going back there this summer.  Also then Michael could actually get in the water.  He really wanted to this day, but with it being near freezing I told him he had to wait.  LOL  I remember not feeling the cold when I was little, but I don't think I was ever like that.  I think it is going to be a great find for burning off some energy and checking it out during all the different seasons of the year!

Sunday

So on Sunday this is what we woke up to.

Another beautiful snowy day!!!  Perfect!!  We found out that at the lodge they were having a special night sledding/skiing on the "backyard" on Sunday.  AJ really wanted to ski again, but neither boys wanted to take lessons on Sunday.  So we decided that the evening would be a great idea because they could ski on the same slope.  Michael wasn't sure of himself to go to a different ski slope.  So the people we rented the apartment from told us of this great sledding hill through the woods that wasn't far away.  We gathered up our three sleds and headed out.  We had rented two wooden sleds from MWR and boy am I glad we did, those things are fast!!!

Hiking through the woods to get to the sledding hill.  When we got there we were surprised at how big it was!  I think it is about the same distance as the one I used to sled on back in my dad's orchard. 

You can see AJ at the top there.  They both went down from the top the first time and found out how fast the hill was and also some of the kids add jumps into it.  Michael's first ride didn't go so well but he is a tough one so he got back up on the sled, only not as far up the hill  :-)

It was really slick on the part where they were sledding, it was quite wide also.  David helped Michael set up his sled.  As you can see it is much farther down than AJ was - this was his second run.

 

David after his run from the top!!  And yes thankfully he survived and was alive!!!

 

AJ coming down the slope from the top - he was a brave one and came down quite a few times

 

Isn't he so cute!!!

Michael coming down on the sled!!  He was having a blast!!!

 

 

All three of them hiking up the hill with their sleds. 

Michael decided he needed a break - so he laid down on one of the bid snowballs that was left in the field.  This is also the one that he ran into on one of his runs down the hill.  :-)

 

David coming down - the bumps were a little painful  LOL!

 

Riding like a champ now!!

 

Mommy's turn to hike up the hill.  Michael thought that I was going to give him a ride all the way up the hill, he had another thing coming to him  ;-)

 

AJ and I flying down the hill!!!

 

Michael decided that he was going to try and pull me - he didn't have too much luck

 

So AJ decided to try and help and they finally got me moving!

 

Of course what is a day sledding without a snowball fight?!?  The boys were attacking Daddy!!  Michael tried to find the biggest snowballs that he could to throw at him.

 

The view from the sledding hill

David had the high ground for part of the morning, the boys didn't understand why he kept hitting them and they couldn't get him.

The boys went to using the sled for a shield - it worked a little

                                                          Michael having a great time!!

After that we headed back to the apartment for some Cars Monopoly and drying out of the snow clothes.  They were all pretty soaked.  So we dried off for a couple of hours, had some lunch and then packed up and headed back into Garmisch for some night skiing and sledding. 

 

The view on the way into Garmisch

So beautiful!!!

 

So when we got there both boys were ready for some skiing.  They had one side for skiing with a rope tow and one side for sledding.  They opened it up at 5 pm and off went the boys.  AJ took off and was doing great, he was stopping by himself, getting on the rope tow and off by himself!!  We were so proud of him!!  Michael was learning too!!  He still needed a little help with everything, but was getting better.  He didn't last as long, he was a little frustrated with it.  So he took off his skis and ran around, there was an outdoor slide he played on and we played a little hide and seek.  He then had to go to the bathroom and we found out that they were opening up the rock climbing wall which was great!!!  Michael was begging me to climb it on Saturday.  So we waited until they were ready for us and Michael was the first one up.  At this time David came in and told me AJ wanted me to ski with him.  So off I went to the car and got my gear and David stayed with Michael and his rock climbing.  AJ and I skied until after 7 pm.  He would have skied longer, but the dinner was only going on until 8 pm and I was afraid we wouldn't get anything to eat.  By the end of the evening AJ was coming down the hill like a champ!!  I was so proud of him and it was so great to ski with him!!!  When we got inside AJ saw the rock climbing and didn't want to eat because he wanted to climb, so I made him get a plate to set off to the side at least and then we waited in line for him to get suited up.

They climbed in their socks since snow boots don't work so well.  Michael we getting really good at it and getting higher each time.  He enjoyed the repelling down the most I think though.

 

AJ at the top!  He just zipped up there with no problem!!

 

Michael really stretching to get up there!

 

AJ at the top on the other side looking down waiting for the guy to let him down.

 

AJ tried the one that bubbles out and you have to hang a little bit.  They both actually tried it and did pretty good on it - didn't make it to the top on this one but did great, not many people did.

 

We saw this lit up on our way home and thought that it was really cool

 

It had candles on the bottom also.

All the boys wanted to get t-shirts from their time skiing here and who was I to say no.  :-)  We woke up on Monday and all AJ could say was can we please go skiing again?  I am so glad he loved it so much!!  I almost thought about it because when we woke up it was completely blue sky and looked wonderful, but it was quite a drive home so we decided against it.  It was such a WONDERFUL weekend and it went so well!!  Everything seemed to just fall into place and I am so glad!!!  Here is to many more trips that go so well!!