Winter Fun...

Wow! I can't believe it's already Friday, and I'm just now getting the chance to type up a post about last weekend! :)

Last weekend proved to be a very fun-filled weekend! Between skiing, Fasching parades, and getting together with friends, our weekend managed to fly right by! We spent Saturday skiing in Austria. The weather was beautiful, although the skiing conditions weren't all that ideal... Basically, I felt like I was skiing down steep slopes of ice... Yikes! However, when all was said and done, we had a great day of skiing (irregardless of the fact that my stomach was in knots for the majority of the day)! :)

Sunday was spent at the Fasching parade in the small village of Kluftern. It's funny... Everytime we go to these parades, we both realize that we're going to see the same thing! The costumes, characters, floats, and bands are all the same, with the occasional new one that we haven't seen yet... But, even knowing that, I can't help but to enjoy myself at these parades! They're so fun, colorful, and festive! And the atmosphere is filled with excitement and good cheer! :) It's the time of year where the Germans really let loose, relax, and let themselves have a good time! And you can't help but feel that attitude in the atmosphere at these parades... It's such a fun time of year! :) It definitely helps get through the oftentimes dreary month of February!!

On that note, I'm off to the gym and then to the Farmer's Market... Happy Friday, everyone!! Have a fabulous weekend! :)

A beautiful day for skiing! :)

Brian hitting the slopes! :)

Brian and I after a day of skiing... We thought it was funny that there was literally no snow in the background. :)

Notice the stark contrast between the top of the mountains and the bottom... They literally had no snow! It felt like spring at the bottom, and winter at the top! :)

Brian and I on the train to Kluftern... Can you tell he's thrilled to go stand in the rain to watch a parade?! :)

I befriended one of the See-Grendls! :)

This is my second favorite costume!

My favorite... The Sea Chickens! :)

Brian's favorite costume... :)

Some of the characters have whips that they use during the parades... Very cool!

This girl was captured...

... and then rolled in confetti! I can't even imagine how long that took her to get all of that confetti off of her! :)

The weather that day was very cold and rainy... About half way through the parade, our fingers started to go numb... So, Larra and I headed across the street to get a mug of gluhwein to warm up with... We then joined in the parade to get back across the street to our spots! :)

Larra and I after we got hit with lots of confetti... Lovely! :)

This character was carrying on quite the conversation with our friend, Larra... After she walked away, we asked Larra what she said, and she had no idea! :)

This costume is one of our favorites! They're kind of creepy in a way, but they are quite funny to watch! They're such hams, and they love posing for the camera! :)

This guy was loving Brian's camera!! :)

Can you tell he wasn't camera shy?! :)