Crokus Break 3.0 (February 2017)

Our third trip to Austria was probably the best one so far. The traffic wasn't bad through Germany, we had good weather, nobody got hurt, and best of all we had great company across all ages.

The drive through Austria is awe-inspiring.
It almost made the last 20 km into Lech - which took an hour to drive - manageable.

Everyone was happy at this point, having just left school on Friday afternoon.
I think Eliza was watching something on the iPad in the 3rd row.

Eliza's pizza at the place we stopped for dinner in Germany.
That is not a camera trick. She did not finish it.

We finally arrived on Saturday afternoon. Not a bad view from the room!

Lilli and Eliza ready to hit it!

:)

Lunch break!

We like it here.

More ski-lift selfies~

Some of that great company I mentioned - we talked the Candelarios into joining us.

More friends - these up at the restaurant at the top of the mountain.

Sunset view from the restaurant. 

Skiing down at night with only a headlamp is very cool.
This is the only place on the runs where that was lit.

Earlier in the week, Lucy and Lilli talked us into going down this mess while Eliza was in ski school.
This was NOT good snow... Took quite a long time to get everyone through. Hopefully we will not repeat this.

More Candelarios!!

This was the best apres-ski location! We were the only ones there, which was perfect!!

Lucy FINALLY talked us into letting her snowboard on the last day.
So I rode with her. On a powder day. On greens. That were 100 yards long.
Dad of the Year.

Not surprisingly, Lucy picked up riding very quickly. She's mine.

Christmas 2016

Our trip home for the holidays was a little bit richer this year since it was the first with the Nickols clan in the 'hood. Mostly we just spent time together - cousins, brothers, sisters, moms, dads, grandparents, friends... It is always good to be home.

She loves to bake - especially when it involves lots of sugar and butter.

Reviewing the History of Mt. Washington book over a drink.

Think they're happy to be together?

I know these kids are!

We didn't have EVERY meal together, but there were many~

We had a few special guests as well.

At times we ran out of table space.

Some other Louisville sightings:

Noticed this while driving near Ron's house - a great use of a dead tree. Really well done!

My man Sammy D representin!

The old Elm in the front yard looked incredible against the dark-ish sky. The picture of course doesn't do it justice and I haven't taken the time to spruce it up. Sad to say we had to take it out just 7 months later.

For our last week in the States, we flew down to see Tina & co. in Del Ray (just south of Boynton Beach, home of Lamar Jackson. Also close to Palm Beach and its dubious part-time resident - we stayed well away from there).

:)

The weather was right.

I'm not 100% sure that she didn't have help with that.

The find of the week (I'm almost positive I can take credit for this) - the Silverball Museum:

Lots of action inside - pinball machines and arcade games from many generations

And Skeeball!

As with all good things...

#WeAlwaysBringBackMoreThanWeTakeHome

Paris and Versailles (November 2016)

We were able to schedule conferences early and spend the rest of a long weekend in Paris. Despite several visits to - perhaps - our favorite city, none of us had been to Versailles, so that was at the top the agenda.

We spent the first afternoon/ evening walking around the city however, because why not?

Mom and I had coffee at the restaurant in the background when she visited.

Bocce here is like basketball in Louisville. They play it well and seriously.

The apartment where Holli spent her year abroad - 1992-93

It's her street.

Notre Dame de Paris et la Siene

Closer...

And from the other side...

St. Michael's Fountain

I can't remember the name of this tourist trap/ restaurant, but it was fun.
We got to sing "Alouette", which I still recall from my 1988 French class.
The girls were a little disturbed when they learned the translation.

La Place Vendome... was covered by scaffolding during our first visit.

Rodin & Dante teaming up for some seriously disturbing imagery~

Thoughtful... 

More from outside of the Rodin museum

Obligatory~

Finally at Versailles

The grounds are enormous.

And opulent. I can't imagine how cool it must have been here with the court.
I also can't imagine how much the French peasants suffered to provide the funds to acquire and build it.

We stopped by Sacre Coeur on our way out of town - mostly because every time we drive away I am drawn to the place but we don't have time... Very cool location overlooking the city.

Maybe when I get caught up the blog quality will improve. But then again maybe it already has because of my reduced commentary.........