He was accepted!

What is the best thing to do on a hot summer day in Vorarlberg? Going for a swim in Lake Constance unless the water has cooled down to 17 degrees due to the most recent heavy rainfalls. The second best thing to do is then to go hiking in the mountains. We decided to pursue the latter plan and headed off at 1000 towards Bizau in the Bregenzerwald where we hiked around Schoenenbach, a beautiful plateau amidst the mountains. While Sandra, Heidi, Renate and Kerstin as well as Flo and Werner carried rather light equipment Markus had a large and heavy backpack to carry as it included Jakob. Our sunshine enjoyed the the time in his child carrier from where he had a great view of the mountains and from where he could oversee all the action. Our trip was an easy one with not too many ascents - the tour is actually also suitable for pushchairs - and the most exhausting was actually the warm, not to say hot temperatures. Given we were above 1050m temperatures of close to 30 degrees are quite something.

Jakob must feel like a king being carried in the shade

Everyone was pretty happy when Jakob was hungry and forced the group to a break in the shadow where he had his lunch and the rest of us relaxed. After that break our junior had to give in to the fresh air and fell asleep (again) while Markus carried him on the back. When we finished the roundtrip after a two hour walk we had lunch at the Gasthaus Egender, an inn which is famous for its Kaesespaetzle. This traditional dish from Vorarlberg, rich of cheese, fat and onions is not liked by everyone and we so far have not fed it to our junior yet (it does not seem to be the right nutrition for a child). When Kerstin had her portion on her plate in front of her Jakob did taste it and as a consequence took over the fork and fed himself more or less. He obviously liked it, so far he also tolerated it and thus he has passed the "Vorarlberg acceptance test". Thank God!!! Surprise surprise - Jakob was dead in the evening and fell asleep instantly in his bed after an overdose of fresh mountain air

Below one of Jakob's favorite songs and some of the moving pictures we took today in the mountains:

Jakob, Kerstin & Markus