Best Day of Vacation!

Garmisch Vacation II

Today was the best day of vacation. It started off with me waking up and going downstairs to get a surprise massage that Shelby had scheduled me for. Definitely a good start to the day! When I got back we all got suited up and went outside to play on the playground in the snow. Colin got a huge kick out of the playground equipment being covered in snow. Then Colin and Daddy had a little snowball fight. Colin would throw snow at Shelby and Shel would fall down, apparently this is the funniest thing Colin has ever seen.

They spent a good 20 minutes throwing snow at one another and then falling down as they were hit and laughing. I loved every minute of it and had to flop down in the snow a few times myself when Colin came to see if snowballs had the same affect on Mommy. Then we showed Colin how to make snow angels. He thought that was pretty fun but quickly decided it was better for Daddy to lay in the snow and Colin to help move his arms and legs.


After some lunch and a BX run we went back to the ski slopes for some more sledding. Colin was really insistant on joining ski school this time, he would just stand at the fence and stare and attempt to sneak over the fence when he thought we weren't watching. We had fun and the hill was a lot less crowded today than it was yesterday.

On the way back to the hotel (all of 5 minutes from the slopes!) we got a beautiful view of the sunset. The sky was lit up like fire and the snowy backdrop made it look amazing. We changed clothes and attempted another photo in Santa's chair with Colin...it did not end well of course, so off to dinner we went. We ate in the hotel again so we could get back to the room in time to meet the babysitter. OH YES I said babysitter!! I'm liking this hotel more and more now that I have discovered that several of the staff members are also trained and certified by the base as babysitters. And they come right to your room to entertain your kiddo so you can have a child free dinner or tour trip. SCORE!

The ONE thing I was dying to do on this trip was the torchlight gorge tour of Partnachklamm. You might remember how incredibly beautiful it was on our last visit? Well imagine all the walls covered with ice and lit up at night by fire light. Now you know why I was dying to go! The only problem was they do not allow kids under 8 on the tour and the nights that the tour was offered did not coordinate with nights that the base daycare was open at night. So discovering this little in house babysitting gem totally made my day, and this trip possible. Colin got to have a blast swimming and playing with Genna, the fabulous babysitter (she works in the gift shop if you go and need a sitter....highly recommend her!) and I got to take my torchlight tour.

The gorge tour was all I knew it would be, breathtaking! Normally water runs down the gorge walls into the stream below, but when it freezes you get ice everywhere and giant icicles that are easily 2-3 stories tall! My camera did not do it justice AT ALL and most of the pictures did not turn out. It's so dark you have to use the flash, but all the moisture in the air lights up with the flash on and creates blurs all over the photo. Sorry folks...you have to come see it in person. Trust me, it's worth it! After the hike through the klamm the tour had us stop at a small gasthaus near the entrance for a hot drink before boarding the bus back to the hotel. The owner of the gasthaus showed off for all the Americans and gave a little impromtu yodeling performance. After that is was back to the hotel where we found Colin sound asleep for the babysitter. She said he didn't even make it 10 minutes into Finding Nemo before he passed out, without his bottle even...he must have been wiped out! One of the best days ever for sure!