New year and new family record
I am delighted to announce that the youngest member of Brown family to ski is Grace, 2 years and 2 weeks old. My niece Grace Brown, 12 week old brother Hayden, parents and grand parents all visited us this last couple of days in Innsbruck. There were 2 notable highlights – Grace getting on skis at a couple of weeks over 2 and the midnight firework display. Unfortunately I missed the sight of grace coming down the slopes of Mutters, Innsbruck on skis with a wide smile but her proud parents were there to enjoy the moment. When she is mid teens and winning the junior medals I am sure there will be some frank exchanges between the British father and US mother as to who Grace wins titles for. The fireworks were the other incredible aspect pf the New Year period for me. Innsbruck is outstanding for New Year celebrations but for me Gotzens (where we have an apartment) and its neighbouring villages provided such a dramatic spectacle, it is hard to imagine a better time to witness fireworks, with them coming down from the mountain huts, rising from behind the famous Gotzens church, local gardens and streets and also from the roof of the Leuchtturm. One note of caution for the parents of Grace; we are expecting in April and I haven’t factored in a start date on snow too many days after the first independent stand – I expect to shave 12 months off the current family record. Hope your New Year was great wherever you were.
Grace showing off skis she rode yesterday - 2 years, 2 weeks
This blog is rather like shutting the barn door after the horse has bolted. Gracie’s father Ben is endlessly reminding me that he posted a blog on Ineedsnow telling the world that the new family record is an impressive two years, two weeks. Clearly this has rattled Uncle Matt and Auntie Chelle. Idle forcasts such as his should be tempered by the fact that 13 week old hayden is so chubby we are developing a binding that will cup the whole bottom half of his body. Please imagine a weeble on a couple of tea trays (actually a weeble would only require one tray, therefore turning him into a SNOWBOARDER!!!!) Ben has quickly revised his theories and two tea trays will be replaced by two 30 cm. long school rulers. After all these ramblings, be aware that the potential for a skiing weeble could definitely be realised before the end of this season, thus setting an impressive skiing before six month old world Brown family record!!! Readers, please check out INEEDSNOW blog for verification of the posting of this family record. Rueters will also have a verified report of this event.
I would also like to add another comment. Our family trip to Austria was simply amazing, and one that will be etched into our memories forever. We had incredible weather….two days of perfect blue-sky and sunshine, and on our final day we awoke to the sweet sight of snow falling gently to the ground covering everything in a powdery white blanket….every skier and riders’ dream!! While enjoying our visit with our family, we had the privilege of taking our two children up to the Mutters ski area. Grace, as you all know by now, has just turned 2 and Hayden is now 3 months old. As we sat in the gondola which was carrying us further up the mountain, I became overcome with emotions, along with pride and excitement in the knowledge that we were bringing our children to such a beautiful place. It is hard to describe how much this meant to us…watching as Grace had a huge smile on her face as she looked out the window at all the jagged mountains surrounding us, and pointing to all the snow. I highly recommend Mutters to anyone with children, in search of the perfect family holiday. When we arrived at the alm and got off the gondola, it was a wonderful sight to behold….many children, along with their proud parents, carrying skis and wearing oversized helmets-all with lovely smiles on their faces, eager to get on the slopes. You could almost taste the excitement in the air!! Now, I am a snowboarder, and have always had battles with family over whether or not my children would adorn skis or not, but I must admit that I could not have been prouder of my tiny daughter as I watched her wearing her tiny skis. Just to see the smile on her face as she rode down the learning slope for children with her father holding onto her was an amazing sight. I have decided that it doesn’t matter how she gets down the mountain…skis or a board, as long as she enjoys being on the snow, and by judging from the smile on her face and the fact that she kept saying “again”, it seems like she has had a great start! And there is no better place than Austria for a beginning career in the mountains!!! It will be an honour to one day tell our children about their first experience in the Alps!!
One final note on our New Year’s Eve experience….simply breathtaking!!! We stood with our family on their balcony and could see fireworks exploding all over the place…in every direction, as far as we could see, even on the mountaintops!! The sound of the fireworks echoed all over the mountains (it’s incredible that our daughter slept soundly despite the loud blasts occuring so frequently!) The Austrians certainly know how to celebrate the arrival of the New Year!!! We can honestly say it has been the most memorable, best New Year’s Eve we have ever had, and we are proud to say we began 2009 in the Austrian Alps!!!!