Hallstadt: Boat Ride

Since it is shoehorned between a mountain and a lake, one of the best ways to actually see Hallstadt is from the water. We'd taken a boat ride the last time we were here and the kids held their new pinwheels into the wind, but this time we decided that we were ready for a private boat for the family.
We got this little electric number from a kid about Will's age. It looked like the perfect summer job to sit out there with the boats, take the money and park them as people brought them back. This boat had power. Once upon a time Rob and MA rented an electric boat in Stowe Lake in Golden Gate Park that had a light switch for an ignition. It seemed to be powered by one goldfish swimming behind it, and the Christensons rowed circles around us in their rowboat. This time we got across the lake and back and still had time to explore our favorite places.
This is Rob's house if he were to come to Hallstadt. We don't know its history, but we love the look of it, and it is directly across the lake from the town. The kids each chose a room in it: Will would have the tower, Sebi the balcony, Maddie one of the outbuildings, and I'd get the chapel when I came to visit from my house. Mine is around the corner, is much more modern, and has its own private island with a little bridge to it, about the size of a two-car garage.
This is one of the best pictures I think we've had of Joss. He's had another sea change and is now starting to try to use his words more often. When he doesn't know the word, he babbles like he does. He was pretty mellow on this boat ride. I think he was ready for a nap instead.
Then we saw a rowboat full of Americans and said "I'll bet those are some of our students."
And they were.
Sebi is embarrassed here because when he read this sign with his budding reading skills, he thought it said "booty". I'm excited that he's still reading at all, let alone sounding out words in German! Countdown to Kindergarten!Posted by Picasa

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Mohr im Hemd

Image
I finally got up the nerve to try my own Mohr im Hemd. This was the dish that we always ordered if we found it on the menu. It translates as "The Moor and His Shirt" which is so politically incorrect that it isn't easy to find, even though it is a traditional Viennese dish. It is a steamed pudding, like the Christmas dessert I grew up on and it is very moist and very chocolate, though not as sweet as an American dessert. It was successful enough that Rob had me make it twice more in the same weekend. Happily, after learning how to make it, I feel less guilty about eating the stuff. How often does that happen? Here is the recipe I used, as opposed to the top secret family recipe that I don't even have, or the recipe from my Austrian cookbook that asks for 'gratified butter': MA's Mohr im Hemd 3 bread rolls, crusts removed and cubed 1 c milk 3/4 c unsalted butter 1/4 c sugar 8 oz best and darkest chocolate you can find 8 eggs 1/2 c sugar 1/2 c walnuts,
Read more

The Trip Home: A Report Card

Image
Our Itinerary: Stuttgart to Atlanta and Atlanta to Salt Lake. It was a good schedule, flying out at 11:00am and getting in at 9:00pm on the same day (flying back across 8 time zones too, so about 23 hours of travel door to door). German taxi driver: A+. cheerful, knowledgeable, efficient and with candy for the kids Stuttgart airport: C-. inefficient, poorly-designed, and not very helpful; had to show our passports 5 times in 5 different places. took 1 1/2 hours to process us from curb to gate. ugh. Delta: B-. The flight attendants all looked "rid hard & put away wet" and the bare bones service just can't keep up with their [government subsidized] European counterparts with their dewy-skinned attendants, steaming towels, toys for the kids, and gourmet meals instead of astronaut food served in foil pouches. They got us there and did it on time, but it feels more and more like riding on a bus with a lot of rules. German Family With Four Kids Who Sat Next To Us On The
Read more

Blue and Gold Cake Contest

Image
Have we mentioned that Rob is now the Cubmaster? It was something of a shock, but it has been great for getting the boys excited about scouting (and let's face facts: Rob and I are lukewarm at best on a paramilitary, homophobic, psuedo-Hitler Youth organization, so our boys were destined to embrace it wholeheartedly from the start). One of the first arguments that Rob ever won with his parents was over scouting. They had moved into a neighborhood with no other kids his age, and so his eagle project would have been almost entirely solo (with some help from his younger brother). He proposed that instead of getting his eagle, he work towards becoming a Sterling Scholar in foreign languages at OHS. His parents finally agreed, and he did make Sterling Scholar at OHS, and went on to become the statewide foreign language Sterling Scholar. So my husband is one merit badge and an eagle project shy of his eagle, which just so happens (Freudianly?) to be exactly the same as my brother, Mr. T
Read more