Austria
June 17 - July 14, 2009
June 28 - Alpinolino Animal Quiz Tour
Today we were invited for lunch at Uri's so we decided to only go up to the middle station with the lift and then walk down and do the Alpinolino animal quiz tour. This consisted of 5 question stations and 5 answer stations. At each answer station Samantha punched her quiz card to spell out "Affen" which is what the local hunters call the marmot babies. At the end of the tour we brought the completed cards (one for Sam, one for Christopher) to the lift station where both of the kids got an Alpinolino button, a diploma and some candies. Proudly the kids arrived at Uri's wearing their buttons and showing off the diplomas.
For lunch we had chicken Schnitzel with potato salad and fries (only in Austria would you get 2 potato side dishes at the same meal!). Then Rubby took Christopher for his nap at the hotel while Samantha stayed at Uri's for some playtime and coffee and cake. The sun finally came out for a bit so after Christopher's nap we took the kids for a short walk to the water fountain where the kids played ploumps in the rain (cause yes, no sooner had we set foot out the door than it started to drizzle again... it's official, this is the longest stretch of rain in recorded history here!)
For supper we had some leftover hot dogs and some eggs. Then the kids had a bit of play time before going to bed.
Forecast: cloudy with rain.
Sammy at the first station of the Alpinolino Animal Quiz tour...
which sly fellow do these tracks belong to?
A fox!
Hmmm, who lives underground and makes these tracks? ... it's a badger!
The clouds hanging in the valley.
A wood carver must live in this forest!
Sammy imitating the totem pole face.
It took us a moment to figure out what this carving was all about. !!??
These tracks must belong to a little animal.
Samantha was so excited that the next station was at the old middle station restaurant... she had been eyeing that playground every time we passed over it in the lift.
Then to see the bunnies.
And then we found a baby deer hanging out by the patio!
The squirrel station.
Sammy found her own 'horse' to hop around on.
We've never seen one of these before!
Continuing on down the path.
There's Westendorf, and there's Uri's house... wave hello!
Yet another riddle to solve...
note the solar power panel for the button that makes the sound of the animal in question.
It's a deer!
Samantha found a walking stick but it seemed
to slow her down more than it was helping her.
Waterfall!
Hey, we're back at the lift station... where's the last puzzle station?
There it is... it was a bear!
Samantha proudly shows Mr. Alpinolino
her certificate and button for completing the Animal Quiz tour.
Christopher and Samantha proudly wearing their Alpinolino buttons.
Samantha's treat for completing the hike today was a banana split yogurt.
The Westendorf fire station.
Fire station art work.
A flower garden along our walk.
Samantha and Christopher were absolutely delighted that this cat followed us on our walk.
The kids played ploumps at the fountain for a while.
Here comes the rain!
We've got to find one of these trees for our yard!
The building housing the town's spring water has become a 'water castle'.
An interesting snow guard to prevent roof top avalanches.
Christopher on the way back to the hotel.
He's a happy boy...!
And a hungry, messy boy!
Time to take "awkadoodle-oo" and "cow" for a little ride.
Hanging out and watching TV.
No wonder some people say there's nothing but crap on the internet! ;-)
Christopher sporting he's fashionable ellmi frog hat.