Dinner at the river

For some reason it is often very nice and hot during the week, but it usually rains on the weekends. Ben has not had much of a summer so far and therefore we decided to do a few things during the week after he gets home from work. It is often stressful as he has to work long hours, but at least it gets us out and we do some "summer fun things" together.

Last week we waited for him to come home from work and immediately headed back out again. I had packed a picnic for dinner and we went to the river to play. 

We first sat by the edge of the water to eat: hard sausage, bread, pickles, chips, fruit, veggies, juice and beer - very important after a long day.

We then hung out by the water for a while longer, cooled off and threw many stones into the water. 

Nobody was left in the evening, just us

Finn tried to throw the big rock

Our dinner table for that evening

Cable Car - Again

This time we used our Vorarlberg Card (I love discounts!) to explore a valley in Vorarlberg called "Grosses Walsertal". It is not too far from home, but still very different. We had to drive over a nice mountain pass down into that valley.

In nice weather it is really beautiful and impressive, but unfortunately it was not too nice on Sunday again! But that did not hinder us and we went on fun rides.

We took this little cable car up to Sonntag Stein. There would have been a great walk, but the kids were not interested in walking, so we just hung out and rode the cable car down again. Which was fun nevertheless!

Not too many people fit in there

We love benches to take a little rest

If just the clouds would go away

Cheese!

The cable car coming up again to get us

Waelderbaehnle

Another bad weather activity for our rainy summer :-)

Together with our friends and their kids we went on a little train ride with the Waelderbaehnle. This used to be a small commuter train between Bezau and Bregenz, but stopped running in 1980. After that it sat still for a while and a few years ago they reactivated a small part of it for tourist runs. 

We started in Bezau and rode it to Schwarzenberg. We had a 20 min stop there to get off and explore before we rode it back to Bezau.

That day they had the steam engine pulling the train and it was great. It looked really impressive.

Unfortunately it started to pour down during our stop in Schwarzenberg and we could not explore too much.

This little train also has a special event before Christmas when Nikolaus comes to visit. We will be back for that!

In our rain gear 

Especially the boys loved the train ride

Cheese for Papa

We were in the last cart of the train

Steam Engine

Opera on the lake

Something very special that we have in Vorarlberg are the Bregenzer Festspiele. It is a summer festival of music with the big attraction being the opera on the lake. They build the stage offshore on plattforms and the viewers sit on shore while watching the sun set behind the stage. 

It is absolutely spectacular and I have seen many operas there already. I was excited to finally show it to Ben. We have never been in Austria during July or August before and Ben has only seen the stage, but never a play.

We were lucky and got free tickets from my brother through his work and we had planned a nice night out. 

Unfortunately my vision of how this evening should have been was very different from last Saturday.

The weather has been awful this summer, lots of rain and very cold. And the day we had tickets was no different. We went for yummy Thai food first and then headed to the play - that part was great. But then we actually did not know until the last minute if the show was on or not. So we got prepared with as much clothing and rain gear as possible and headed to the event. 

When we got there it was raining a little and they were seating people. Unless it is not pouring the show is on! All decked out with my dads work rain gear we took our seats and hoped for the best - which would have been more rain and a new date for the show....

But shortly after the start (after everybody had to close their umbrellas) the rain stopped and it stayed dry the whole time. We even got to see a little sunset, it just was very cold and we were glad we had also brought a blanket.

I nevertheless enjoyed the opera "Andre Chenier" and thought the stage was amazing. I am looking forward to seeing "Die Zauberfloete" by Mozart next year - hopefully on a nice warm summer night!

Stairs up to our seats (me with the much needed blanket)

Before we sat down we put on our raingear

Walking up to our seats with stage behind us

The little sunset we saw just before the show started

The set and stage was amazing

Hiking with friends

Sandra is one of my oldest friend. We have been friends for nearly 25 years now! We met one summer as kids in the public swimming pool and have been friends ever since. 

Sandra has 3 children already that are older than mine, but we love to hang out with them and do things. Especially now in the summer as the kids are on break. 

Last week the weather was not good enough for swimming, so we went for a hike. We took the new cable car up Bezau (beautiful, check it out) and hiked over to the Niedere. It was a perfect little hike forth and back. We saw lots of cows, beautiful flowers, several playgrounds and had a picnic at one end before heading back.

The little ones loved riding in the cable car

There was a cool big swing where everybody fit

Walking back they decided they had enough 

Finn, Marian, Lilly and Elina

This was a cool old toy

Everybody cheese for the camera

The view from up there is spectacular

Doppelmayr Zoo

This is an old "adventure" that I had forgotten to post. Sorry for the delay!

We have some very big companies close to where we live. One of them is Doppelmayr. If you have ever skied, used an elevator, been in some sort of tram or other electronic form of transportation, you probably have used a Doppelmayr product. They build cable cars, trams, lifts, etc.

Of course we are very proud of them here and whenever I am some where in the world and I see a Doppelmayr product, I tell everybody that they are from my area.

But what we also like about them is, that they have a little zoo along their company grounds. It is a small one, but just perfect for my kids now. They have local and exotic animals and it is free to visit. They have Zebras, which Finn loves, but also lots of different birds as well as goats, ducks, donkeys, deer and Kangaroos. We have been a few times and Finn keeps asking when we will go back.

Hi goat.

We usually walk to one end, have a little snack and then walk back again.

This time we stopped in Schwarzach on the way home and got to enjoy the bounce house.

Garden Work

Our kids love to be outside and help. They like to "work" with Oma and Opa. Here they are helping digging a ditch and filling it with the scraps from moving the lawn. They were completely filthy that night and the bath was well deserved!

Circus

Again, this is the difference between living in a big city or in a small village in the mountains. In Nashville at the Circus we saw tigers and lions and elephants and motorcycles jumping in the air. In Alberschwende, the circus experience is a little different.....

Each year a small family owned circus comes through our village. They set up for a 4 day stay and have 1 show per day. We went during the week when they were setting up the tent to have a look at the  animals. Since then Finn has been asking every day: "When are we going to the circus?"

So on Thursday afternoon our friend Julia came with us and we took Finn and Lilly to the circus. It is a tiny little tent with one family operating everything. It was sweet and just right for our kids and they did not even last the whole time. We saw the horses, the lamas, the camels, the hula hoop artist, the clowns, the balancing act and then the popcorn was done and we decided to go home :-)

Balancing chairs on his chin

Finn liked the camels

At the entrance

Lilly decided she would sit on her own and enjoy the show

Berries

I love berries and thankfully our children love them too. We are very lucky to have lots of different berries growing wild around us as well as in our gardens. Here are some of our favorites:

We have wild raspberry bushes outside our house. They are covered with other bushes and grass, but if you put on long pants and a long sleeve shirt you can get in there and pick some of the most delicious berries ever. I picked nearly 2 pounds the other day and made "Wild Raspberry Jam".

We also have lots of little wild strawberries along our driveway. We call them "Walderdbeeren" and we have been snacking on them for weeks now. We usually just pick them and eat them straight away. We never get to hold on to them long enough to cook something with them. They are too delicious.

My family has lots of these berry bushes. Rote Johannisbeere, red currant. They are very tasty, but can be a little sour. They are great for making cakes or jams. 

Lilly loves all the berries and she is already a great picker.

Birthdayparty in Liechtenstein

My cousin Michael is married to Sarah from Liechtenstein where they now live. She is turning 30, so she had a last time being 29 party on the weekend. 

The theme was 80ies as she was born in the 80ies, but we just did not have anything to wear (we came with only 10 suitcases after all). So we decided to play with it: The kids were wearing gear from the 80ies and we matched them. Lilly was wearing a Dirndl that my sister (also born in the 80ies) was wearing when she was little and Finn was wearing my brother's Lederhosen from when he was a little boy. There we had the clothes from the 80ies. So Ben and I also put on our Dirndl and Lederhosen and we were a matching family!

The party was in Malbun, which is an absolutely beautiful spot. It is the only ski resort that is in Liechtenstein and it is at the end of a valley. Sarah's family has a vacation house there and the party was held there. The description was: "Just drive until the road ends and you are at the party." And that's exactly how it was. The drive was amazing and very picturesque. We took the road up going by the castle of Liechtenstein where their royalty lives and then just straight up the hill.

The party was outside their house and we had a great time. The food was nice, the drinks delicious and the kids had fun running around and playing with the other kids.

As the location was so beautiful we decided to take some pictures. Here they are. Just like the Sound of Music :-)

My cousin Franziska with her husband Guenter and our kids

Lilly and I in our Dirndls

It was so beautiful there.

Our family portrait

Love this shot

Playing on the bench by the stream

Cheese

Check out Finn, too funny