Good Ole USA

Hi Everyone!

We have been in the USA for over a month now and time has FLOWN by! The kids and I flew into Chicago for a quick 3 days before flying out to Boise to meet up with Eric who had arrived there 3 days prior to spend more time with his family. We had a wonderful time in Idaho, most of which was spent in McCall area. We were staying at the Tamarack Resort for Kirk (Eric's brother) and Cherish's wedding festivities. We stayed at a GORGEOUS house with all the fine ammenities. We were also lucky enough to have the house where the wedding day activties were held. I had a lot of fun pitching in where I could.

We hiked, we swam, we talked, we all had a blast. It was especially nice to spend 4 fun filled days with family and close friends of Cherish -- it was great to get to know my new sister in law's family/friends. The wedding ceremony and reception were beautiful and fun! The kids had such a great time being involved too.

The second two weeks were spent in Washington - our home town. We stayed one week with the White's and one week with the Kostorowski's. I am sure all were more than sick of us when we left! :) We had such an amazing time catching up with friends and spending quality fun time together. I think it was especially nice for the kids and I to see that our friends still loved us, even after a year away! :) (we think! :)) Unless you have done something like this, it is hard to explain. But the kids were definitely struggling with leaving a 'life' thinking everyone would 'forget them' and then knowing they have to reenter that life. I think they are doing well.

We had so many highlights and so much fun! Thank you for all who made the effort to see us, hang out with us, fit us in, etc... We are SOOOO sorry if time ran short and we weren't able to figure it out. (Carrie - Evan is still mad at me that we didn't find Syd! Sorry!)

We arrived in Chicago a week ago and have been just as busy having fun with my siblings, their kids and my parents. We were lucky to catch my Dad's retirement celebration and even luckier to have him home this week as we wrap up our US Tour!

We are hitting lots of pools and I am doing much too much shopping trying to get us all ready to return. After a year in Austria, honestly there isn't a TON that I can't do without - but is is SOOOO much cheaper here and more fun to shop here!!!

I will write again soon with some more thoughtful notes on what it is like to be back and what we miss (besides Eric!!)

Fast or Slow?

I can't decide whether the last 10 months has gone by fast or slow... I guess both depending on the day! We are wrapping up our 'first year' in Austria and headed to the good ole USA on Thursday morning.

The kids and I fly to Chicago for a few days and then on to BOise and Tri-Cities. Eric flies straight to Idaho to spend some additional time with his family. Kirk (Eric's brother) and Cherish get married on July 7th and we are all VERY excited! Julia woke up this morning and began another bride and groom drawing - complete with flower girl and ring bearer! :)

After our NW swing, we will head back to Chicago for 2 weeks. The kids and I fly back to Vienna on August 7th. All and all, we are ready for family, friends and food!! :)

We have all made some nice friends here in Vienna and we will look forward to seeing them again in the Fall... they have mostly left for their holidays already.

If you have been following the blog, I am sure you have felt a little of the roller coaster that this year felt like. When i first moved here another Expat Mom on her 4th year here said, back in America it seems like life is sort of on a straight line and here there are more dramatic highs and lows. I would agree with that statement.

My favorite part by FAR has been the travel and also the exposure to new cultures and views from other parts of the world. Such an eye opener for me and I loved every second of that. I can talk your ear off about this if you are ever interested.

My biggest low was watching my kids struggle to adjust and not being able to fix it. I still struggle with this as I try to teach myself that I cannot fix everyone's feelings and I cannot take them on as my own and let them shape who I am or how my day will go. I have not mastered this and wonder if I ever will. Is this possible for a Mom? I still pray daily that this experience will enrich our kids and help them to become more passionate, tolerant, worldly citizens. The jury is still out on this one :)!

Evan and Eric went for a huge day hike on Saturday in the mountains. After missing the last train 'down', they had to hike/run down the mountain to get their train back to Vienna. They did 29 Kilometers that day - Evan is a gamer!

Julia and I took a day trip also -- to an outlet mall about 30 minutes away and then on to Bratislava Slovakia. (about 50 min from Vienna) It was a beautiful little town that I look forward to taking another day trip to with Eric and Evan. We didn't stay long, but had a great day. Our intent was to shoe shop and to add one more Country to our list prior to traveling home! We came home shoeless, but did add our 9th Country!

One last thought for today, thank you for reading our blog. It was a form of therapy for me when we first moved and a great way to keep people updated that were interested.

Auf Wiedersehen!

P.S. I passed my German 2 exam, but have a lot of studying to do this summer to actually be comfortable moving on to German 3!!

2 More Countries....

The kids had a great last day of school yesterday. Julia went on to a pool party after the 1/2 day of school. They also went strawberry picking. 7 - 7 year olds for an afternoon -they had fun! Evan and I went on to have lunch with Eric at the UN and then Evan has his last soccer practice for a bit of a break.

We went to a friend's end of the year BBQ last night and had a blast. There were a ton of Swedish people there and they know how to party and have fun! It was a great evening as we said "see you soon" to friends we have made this year. Pretty much all the "Expat" community leaves Vienna for the summer - and right away.

We headed out this morning and drove to Croatia. About 5 hours and we can make it to the closest "coastal" area of Croatia. We didn't see much yet, but we are in a great place with a nice pool 10 steps out our apartment door and a nice view of the Adriatic Sea. More exploring tomorrow!

Happy Father's Day to anyone reading this!

Wow.... Juni is here!

If anyone is even reading this anymore, I think I lost you for lack of updates. If you have perservered, thank you for checking back! :)

Like most families, it has been a busy spring for all I am sure.

I will try to hit the highlights!

Eric's sister Christy and her family moved to Germany (near Frankfurt) with the Air Force. We were able to meet up with them in Garmische, Germany - about in between for all of us. This is an incredibly beautiful town and area with an Army base. We were able to stay in VERY cute cozy cabins for 2 nights at a great price due to the Milners military status. YEAH! Garmishe is in the beautiful Alps, only about 35 minutes from Innsbruck. The kids had a blast together. We took a day trip drive to the Castle that inspired Walt Disney (first picture is taken there)

Pathetically, a huge highlight for us was going into their small commissary grocery store with Christy. The kids and I were so excited about some of the American (mostly junk) food that we had missed. I think I ate 2 bags of Peppermint Patties on the way home. (gross I know!) A great time had by all!

The kids had their spring concert, which was such a highlight. As I have said before, the music teacher at AIS is unbelievable! The concerts are so beautifully done with each grade singing (and doing moves!) to about 4-5 songs. I don't know how she does it. So cute! Another musical endeavor was Evan having a wonderful opportunity with his 4th grade class to sing at the Hofburg Palace. They sang 3 beautiful songs for the opening ceremonies of a big science and technology international conference on the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization. Much to my dismay, we couldn't get in to see them sing, but we were lucky they had a live feed so we could watch it over the internet from home. Phew! :)

The kids are excited to wrap up the school year on Friday. We have had some highs and some serious lows. I am excited for summer too. I pray that the lessons learned this year continue to stregthen our character, experiences, faith and family. I also hope we have less lessons next year! HEE HEE!

Sorry, too tired to turn the picture - this is the kids picking out 10 books each from the library with their summer reading program. Let's place bets for how many we misplace this summer.

Another HIGHLIGHT since I last wrote was the visit to Vienna of my very great friend, Tonia Kostorowski. Most that read this know T, but if you don't - she is from our home town and also took in our wonderful dog Mia to love as one of their own. We had a GREAT TIME. I was so impressed with Tonia - she didn't slow down AT ALL - no rest for the weary!! After landing on Sunday, we drove to Venice on Monday. The 3rd pic is us on the Gondola ride. We couldn't stop laughing cuz we kept saying "Can you take a picture of us for our husbands" - not that there is anything wrong with that! (Seinfeld) On Wednesday we left Venice and drove back VIA Salzburg (which is not on the way! :)) and did a quick 3 hour tour there before arriving back in Vienna at midnight. DIdn't stop there - NON stop touring and hanging out all over Vienna all the way through Monday night. Thanks to Dave, T's parents and her great kids for making that trip possible!!

Tonia left Tuesday and Christy and her kids arrived Wednesday. We have been having a great time with them too! We did a playground on TH and the zoo on Friday. More park time and hanging out today and they head home tomorrow. We will see them in Idaho next month and we are SO thankful to have family in Europe with us. What a huge blessing.

Next guests.... 2 college kiddos from our church back home are backpacking through Europe and making a stop here for a few nights beginning Monday. I am so excited to hear about their adventures. I always wanted to do this but never did! I hope to spend a little time with them, but will leave their itinery totally up to them. At the very least I may start them out one night at a fun restaurant and then take my old butt home at a decent hour and they can stay out! :)

Eric is doing well. His job is good and he bikes to and from work most days, which he loves. He is a master at German now and leaving me in the dust! Not unexpected! We are both finishing up German 2 in the next week. I have some serious studying to do as I missed 3 classes in a row with some hard information. Eric is planning to tutor me this week! :) I don't think I have much of a chance to pass this level... it got really hard for me, really fast. I do like that I can move around town fine now, restaurants are fine, grocery etc... I really need to put some more time in if I am to take myself to the next level. There always seems to be so many things vying for my time though. We'll see!

We are trying to squeeze in one more trip/Country before leaving on the 30th for the USA. I think we will head to the Croatian Coast on Saturday for a few days. We will drive through Slovenia on the way so that will bring us to 8 countries so far since we moved here. I may take a drive to Slovakia (45 minutes) just to get one more in! (it is like a game for me hee hee!) Austria, Germany, Italy, Turkey, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovania, Croatia. So when my children need counseling into their adult lives for their parents ripping them from their roots and "ruining their lives" - I will remember our trips with great fondness. Ha ha!

Hope to see some of you very soon!!

Impactful Day

That was my word of the day yesterday - impactful! One of my friends called it an "Oprah Moment" - funny! Anyway, there is a family at our school - daughter in highschool, with a Mother that is a Holocaust Survivor. This woman came from Israel to our school to speak with the 10th grade students as they are learning WWII history right now. She also spoke to any parents that wanted to come -- there were about 20 of us in the room.

She is almost 82 and has written a book about her life journey called Life is a Gift. I purchased the book and already began reading it. She leads a 'quiet' life she says and hid what happened to her for decades. She told us after that she was nervous and doesn't usually do 'talks' - she was SO eloquant, that I was sure she did this on a speaking circuit.

Back up a little, I have been reading a book called War and Rememberance by Herman Wouk - Eric suggested I read it. It is a story about WWII - not just when the USA entered it, but when it began. It follows a fictional US miliary family - so for me, it makes learning the history more real and 'fun'. I have really enjoyed learning a lot more, specificalliy because we live in Austria now. I have friends that have visited concentration camps near Prague, in Poland etc.. I have Jewish friends that live here and we talk about what it feels like to live in a place where Jewish people were persecuted and killed. I have walked around the Jewish Quarter here and the Jewish Memorial and have seen the only standing Synogogue in Vienna from the war. (It was saved because non-Jewish residents lived connected to it on a city street) I say all this to say, I am living 'closer' to it now, so it has taken on more meaning than when I lived in the USA.

So back to the speaker, her story was awe-inspiring, tragic, magical in ways, and most certainly impactful. She finished and I felt like my life had just been impacted in an important way. She was given life 3 times - once when she was born in Berlin 3 months premature in 1928 and they wrapped her up and put her in a box to bury. She screamed out to let them know she wasn't dead. The 2nd when was 9 and 1/2 she was rescued after 2 brutal weeks (physical, emotional, sexual abuse) in an underground cellar. She was captured and abused by her brother's best friends - young neo natzi's trying to impress Hitler. The third was when she was the last boat out of Germany on the "Kindertransport" to be adopted by a London family. Her parents were killed/burned at Auschwitz and she doesn't have record of her brother, but he was not adopted and assumed killed.

Her lesson was - we are all Given the gift of Life - use it to it's fullest and if you see an injustice happening use your voice. This beautiful woman went through all of this and still has this message... amazing. I truly wish you all could have listened to her and met her. There is so much more to the story - if you want to borrow it, let me know!

A few other quick notes:
--The kids are having a fun week with Spirit Week. Evan brought this idea to his school and got it approved and planned it all out with a few friends, so we were proud of him!

--Today was also the fun run at school to raise money for Japan and Julia ran 13 laps around!! This is the girl that would say "Hold Me" after taking 10 steps a year ago. Moving here has changed her - we walk SO much more here - walk everywhere!

--We had a WONDERFUL trip to Garmische Germany to meet up with Christy (my sister in law) and her family. The kids all had so much fun, I missed Christy so much so it was so great to see her, AND I brought back great American stuff from the Commissary! :)

-- Eric is recovering nicely from his hernia surgery. He is biking again and doing some other things as he can without pain.

-- I am recovering fine from my bout in Turkey -- went to the dr. today and we are doing some follow up tests to make sure all the parasites are gone! Yuck!


Signing out...........

Spring Break Trip 2011 - Turkey

Pictures: 4 wheeling in Cappadocia, Hagia Sophia (once a Christian Church then turned into Mosque) not a museum - FASCINATING, Outside Blue Mosque, down under in the Basilica Sistern, Balloons taking off while we were.

So much to tell, but how to keep it short and sweet? Well, I guess if it is too long, you can just skip it! :) I will just do random notes and thoughts.

High point: would be the hot air balloon ride but see low point below. So, I would have to say our ATV tour or sitting inside the Hagia Sophia or the Blue Mosque.

Low point: the day and night I spent in a Turkish Hospital

We left for Turkey on the Friday morning before Easter. We found it a bit strange that we would be in a Muslim country on Easter Sunday, but we still talked about it as a family and remembered Jesus and what He gave up for us and how we try to incorporate his teachings in our lives. Eric and I actually relished the additional religious exposure for the kids (and us) as we think it is an important part in growing in your own faith.

Anyway... we got to Istanbul with time to see plenty on Friday. We also had Saturday and Sunday for touring around. We hit all the wondeful famous spots in Istanbul; the beautiful Blue Mosque, the Basilica Sistern, the Spice Market, the Grand Bazaar, the Hagia Sophia and much more... plus ate our way along every street.

There are mosques EVERYWHERE as they (the Islams) have a call to prayer 5x per day. Interesting is that they have a literal 'call' to prayer through HUGE speakers on every Mosque that echo through the entire city. Try to picture this - 5 times per day a loud arabic speaking voice chanting about 6 lines. It is odd, beautiful, unusual, fascinating all wrapped up in one. One got 'used' to it - but have to admit by the last day I was kinda like "enough of the loudspeaker thing" no disrespect intended.

We also took a cruise up the Bosphorus River which connects the Sea of Maramar and the Black Sea... and did a stop off in a small town on the Asian side of Istanbul. We all thought it was fun to be on Two Continents in one day! It was nice to see the beauty from the water also.

The major sights are beautiful, the history fascinating and the people extremely friendly. But the rest of the buildings are not nice looking, there are TONS of people in that city and it is definitely quite poor. This is just my observation. Plus: things are CHEAP!! We could eat and shop so much less than in Vienna - that was fun.

The Grand Bazaar is this GIGANTIC shopping area where you can haggle to your hearts content. We spent a few hours in it, but decided to hold off on purchases until we returned back to Istanbul to avoid additional lugguage on our trip to Cappadokia. This turned out to be a mistake: to be explained later...

On Monday afternoon/evening I came down with a fever and bad body aches but powered through with some Tylenol and Tuesday morning we flew out to Cappadocia, Turkey. This is a region in Central Turkey with lots of rock formations (from volcanos), chimey fairy rocks, cave formations etc... It is gorgeous, different, aweinspiring.
We took a 2 hour ATV/4 wheeler tour that first afternoon. We all had a blast and we let the kids sit in front of us and drive most of it. No one wanted to ride with me because I was slow and a worry wart. Everyone wanted to ride with Daddy, so they kept having to switch off and be with me sometimes. Too funny. It was a really fun way to see quite a few areas and famous formations.

I was feeling pretty bad by dinner time again so went to bed. Besides my fever and aches at this point, I had NO appetite whatsoever - and verging on naseau.

Early (5am!) we had to be up on Wednesday for the much anticipated Hot Air Balloon Ride! I planned this months ago and have been looking forward to it. I was still pretty sick in the am and had also added another symptom....what would you not want to have to do every 5 minutes while 1,000 feet up in a balloon. Well, by the grace of God I was able to take that 1 hour ride. I did have to sit down every 10 minutes or so because I was so sick and weak I could barely stand. I was still able to enjoy the beauty, but admitedly the experience wasn't as great as I hoped it would be. I am still thrilled we were able to do this as a family and I hope our kids remember it for the rest of their lives.

By 9am I was back in bed and didn't get out until the next morning when we headed to the hospital. I got so bad it was apparent I needed to go. Good thing I did as I had blood in my you know what and a bad case of Amoebic Dysentary. IV Fluids, IV antibiotics and lots of other stuff I don't know as no one spoke English. (very scary experience but they were so nice) I was there about 24 hours and then we flew out to Istanbul. I was still fairly sick so Eric and the kids did the shopping at the Grand Bazaar. I am so sorry I missed it, but I was just too weak and needed to be close to a bathroom.

Saturday we flew back to Vienna. I have never been so happy to see my own bed and own toilet in all my life! :) By Monday I was feeling a ton betteer and as of today, Tuesady, I would say I am back to 85%.

Side Note:
My friend just arrived back from visiting her family in Pakistan, not far from where Osama bin Laden was killed. She got out just in time before airport delays etc... and I was able to ask her all sorts of muslim/islam questions I had after visiting Turkey. It sure is fun to ask her these questions and have these conversations. I am growing so much in this regard.

Hope Spring has Sprung where you are!

Update

Hello!

Eric had a hernia surgery last Wednesday and he is doing really well. The surgeon fixed it orthoscopically which helps his recovery time. He is walking well now and back at work. The hospital experience was interesting -- tested our German language skills (luckily most spoke English when necessary!) and gave us a glimpse into socialized medicine in a public hospital. We could have waited a few weeks for the surgery and been in a private hospital, but Eric wanted to do the surgery quicker as he was in a lot of pain and unable to run etc... You know him, not high maintenance and has a great attitude - so he though the hospital experience was a nice glimpse into Austria life. (I thought it was gross!:))

He was back home after a night in the hospital (and fainting on me once after going to the bathroom - turns out I cannot hold up a 6'6" man by myself!) and a few quiet days on the couch. He was doing well enough to take our 2 kids and my running friend's two kids downtown to watch us run the 1/2 Marathon on Sunday morning. I am so thankful that Eric could do that as we loved seeing them and it was a fantastic morning.

The race was fun and a well run HUGE (over 33,000 runners!) spectacle. The weather was beautiful and I felt great the entire run. Good to check that off my list. Ida and I are enjoying the training - keeping us motivated and 'sane' so we will continue to look at future things to train for. I still have a thorn in my side to check a full marathon off my bucket list - but not sure I want to invest that much time to be honest. I'll think it over a bit. I'm thinking Destination Marathon sounds like a blast -- saw one Nice to Cannes on the French Riveria - wouldn't that be fun?!!

The kids are doing great. Julia's latest funniest story is on Sunday. Believe it or not, people just strip down and change after the race wherever they are. After seeing like 6 naked men Julia says "Boy, we sure have seen a lot of worldwide tallywackers since moving here!" I about died laughing.

Evan has a field trip tomorrow to the Natural History Museum, The Parliment and the Globe Museum. So glad he gets to do these things. Unfortunately I don't think the school does a great job tying in all the cultural things that are possible in Vienna to their curriculum much. Seems like the field trips are 'after thoughts' and depend on how hard the teachers want to work. Julia hasn't even gone on one yet this year. Another thing I would love to see improved at the school. Big news from 4th grade too... the AIS 4th Grade was asked to sing at the Hofburg Palace (the main residence of the Hapsburg royal family for 100's of years) for the opening ceremonies for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty: Science and Technology 2011 Conference. Parents cannot attend (doesn't that SUCK) but they are trying to set up a live feed for us to watch it via our computers. I am going to see of Eric can go 'for work' so he can see them!

We leave on Friday morning for Turkey. I have been trying to arrange last minute details, but I still have more to work on. It is fun though! We will be seeing Istanbul and Cappadocia and we are all really excited. Count on a blog after our return! :)

New Experiences...

We had a fabulous weekend! Friday night we set aside as Evan's celebration night. We continue to be so proud of how he has handled himself during all of the trials and tribulations of fussball (soccer) here and celebrated him being on the U11 team. He decided he wanted to go up to the school to see the High School musical/play and eat at the Boosters booth - hotdogs, hamburgers and chips. Even though it was a 'taste of America' it wasn't that great! I do look forward to a good hamburger when we get back though! :)

The play/musical was The Drowsy Chaperone and we thoroughly enjoyed it. It had quite a bit of adult humor and we laughed a lot. It also had some Rated R lines that I was glad Evan wasn't really paying attention to and they went over Julia's head. We were amazed at the quality of the production for the small size of the school - excellent talent.

Saturday brought Evan playing a soccer game and having loads of fun. Julia and I missed the game as we headed downtown to go to her friend's birthday party at the Spanish Riding School (Spanisch Hofreitschule) to see the Lipizzaner Stallions. This was an amazing party that I will have trouble describing. First of all, the parents had invited siblings and parents if anyone wanted... so nice. I couldn't pass this one up! So we all went to the show for an hour and then got a tour into the stable area (you can't usually go into the stables. The history of the riding school is over 430 years old and royaly used to sit in this same arena. Not easy for these 7 year olds to understand how cool this all was, but it wasn't lost on me :)!

We then headed into the palace for a luncheon. The kids were served smoothies (as many as they wanted) and 3 course meal. Parents were served wine, mimosas, etc.. and a 3 course meal. Can you honestly believe this? So amazing! We left and Julia says "That was awesome! I am SO having my party there next year!" Obviously she doesn't think in Euros like Mom and Dad have to!

After the party, Julia went to play at a friends house for a few hours. This is a great family that just moved here from Colorado in January. They are so nice and the kids all get along. Hopefully we will see more of them. Julia got to eat dinner with them and had a great day all together!

Evan had a good friend spend the night on Saturday night and they had so much fun. So great to see Evan having a good time! we took the boys out to Sushi - the 3 boys (Eric included) love Sushi. They played a ton of soccer and WII, watched a movie, ate junk food and didn't sleep much.

Sunday we went to one of the Easter markets at Schonbrunn Palace. There are about 3 Easter markets in Vienna. It was a beautiful day and it was fun to browse the market and then we walked about the beautiful grounds. There are painted eggs everywhere here. They blow out the eggs and then paint them and have ribbons hanging from them. The Austrians put pussy willows in a vase and then hang the eggs from the branches. I plan to come back with at least enough to carry on this tradition when we return home. So pretty and fun!

We had to head back to meet our Ski group at a restaurant for our Ski Week Family Reunion. One of the Dad's put together an incredible movie picture slide show of our week and we watched it and had shared desserts at their house. What a blessing that Scott put that together for us - talk about a memory keeper!

Eric heads in tomorrow for another new experience -- surgery at an Austrian hospital. He has to have a hernia repaired tomorrow. He will spend at least one night - a requirement in Austria no matter what surgery you are having. It is a routine surgery and we are hoping for a quick recovery for him. All prayers are welcome! :)

Another new experience... I will do my first 1/2 marathon on Sunday. Ida and I have been training and we are really excited. Over 35,000 runners are registered for the marathon, marathon relay and 1/2 marathon... Wow!

I am really really enjoying learning more about different cultures as I meet people here. Last week a friend of mine from Pakistan had me over for lunch. She cooked traditional foods, which I LOVED and I so enjoy asking her questions and learning more. I have also been able to begin nice conversations with a young girl from Iran in my German course. She just moved to Vienna a few months ago and is a newlywed -- has lived all her life in Iran until now. I was asking her about women in Iran, 'dating', marriage etc.. and she started by saying "In America you meet, have a baby then get married - this is right?" I was like in America Hollywood!! :) She was surprised to hear that isn't the "Norm" and it is still not necessarily looked upon very nicely to not follow the "traditional" pattern. I look foward to coffee meetings with her - I think it would be fascinating.

Hope all is good with those reading this!

Spring is here

Well, I think it is safe to say that spring has arrived in Vienna. The trees are budding out, the forsythias are bloomed, the tulips are coming up and the weather has been pretty darn nice. (yeah)

We had a fun April Fool's morning as Eric and I stayed up late trying to think of something funny to do to the kids. It isn't easy as they begin talking about April Fool's jokes on March 27th! Well, we got them. Long story short, Eric 'pretend' threw up at the table (milk, cereal, etc...) while we were all eating breakfast. I swear I almost peed my pants I was laughing so hard. Evan was like "That was AWESOME! You totally got me!" and Julia ran crying from the room cuz she was sad that she thought Daddy was sick. So funny! Hope you all have a great day.

Eric had a good trip to Kazahstan --I think I spelled that right. It was interesting for him and always super cool to experience other cultures. Luckily he had plenty of translators around him as he doesn't speak any Russian or Kasah.

We have been waiting on Evan's player card for the Fortuna soccer team - it is now in so he is officially part of the team as of right now. He may not get much game time yet as he has to 'earn' his time, but that is okay - practices are good and he is getting excellent play time with very good players.

We just got back from going 'downstairs' for dinner. The 1st floor (they call it ground floor here) family are from Denmark and very nice. They moved in a few weeks ago and they have a 1 year old and 3 year old. They are fun, kind, funny, great conversationalists, wonderful parents, and easy neighbors so far. We all had a blast down there tonight and I think it will become fast family friends.

Julia had a party tomorrow and we are going on Sunday to the Bike Festival downtown at the Rathaus. They have trucked in TONS of dirt and made a jump course for bmx bikes... right in front of the Rathaus - you have probably seen us send pictures of this place where the ice skating was and several other events. As Evan said today "They don't go more than a few weeks without doing something HUGE at the Rathaus!" www.bikefestival.at I think they have a bike ride around downtown at 11am on Sunday - so maybe we'll just bike down there.

Been running with my running buddy Ida a lot training for our 1/2 marathon. The Vienna Marathon and 1/2 is April 17th and there are over 35,000 people already registered - this is by far the BIGGEST race I have ever been a part of. We ran about 12.5 on Tuesday so I think we are okay to do it, but I a may be a little slower than I would have wished. I just didn't put in the weekly total run miles that I should have... but on the other hand, if I run too many miles I think my body will break down. We are pumped and it will be really fun. My first 1/2 marathon. I have to say a full is still on my bucket list, but I would really have to have a buddy to do it with. Ida and I were thinking about going for it and seeking a cool destination to do it -- what fun would that be! Or maybe we'll just do a cool destination with another 1/2!

Headed to bed... supposed to be sunny and 70 both weekend days- YEAH!

Checking out Czech

We headed to Prague early Saturday morning...what a beautiful place. We are about a 3 hour and 15 minute drive, so not bad at all. It would be much faster but most of it is 2 lanes and through a lot of small towns. I wouldn't call the drive pretty, especially this time of year...but the City of Prague (Praha) is fantastic.

Pictures: Jewish Cemetary (see below), open air market with tons of food booths - this one was the biggest pan ever cooking a potato,onion, bacon concoction, Toy and Barbie Museum (see below), soldiers outside of the big palace/castle, our family on the famous Charles Bridge.

We arrived in town by 11:30 and spent the rest of the day and through Sunday at 3:00 exploring. There is much to see and even more to eat! The city has some amazing history - as do many European towns, but it is fun to learn as we go. One fact that stunned me as there was a thriving Jewish culture in Prague, about 120,000 successful and hardworking Jewish people and after WWII there were only about 10,000 surviving. Astonishing and sad to learn more and more. We were able to see the Jewish Cemetary and a few synagogues, but we look forward to seeing and learning more when we go back. The cemetary was somber and interesting, they only had so much room (not much) for their dead so they had to keep stacking graves and dirt up so the ground is all uneven and the tombstones are leaning all over.

The food and lodging was inexpensive, which was a nice change from Vienna. We found some really great local food. Lots of potatoes, cabbage, dumblings, ham, these dough sugar things (Trulniks or something like that) YUMMY!! Eric had to roll me back into the car.

The people were SUPER friendly there. This was also a nice change from Vienna. There are MANY things I enjoy about this city - but the general friendliness is NOT one of them. I think I have been here long enough that I can make a generalization: The Viennese are crabby. Not ALL, but most. They do NOT smile often - especially to strangers. I asked a local about this and he said that it is considered flirty -- so I guess I have been flirting with many people these last few months! I understand it all a bit more after talking and learning - but I still miss the friendliness of the USA.

The Czech's were very friendly and welcoming of the English language. I know this sounds crazy - but I had such a wonderful feeling speaking English and not feeling badly about it... and actually enjoying it!! I didn't have to try to think so hard for a weekend and it was lovely that they didn't look down upon you for being a foreigner.

We went to the Toy and Barbie Museum - random but fun. Julia and I LOVED the barbie section -- ones from the beginning all the way to now and even prototypes that weren't ever made. They had so many I didn't know existed - including Gestational Barbie (not really the name I don't think!) -- I laughed ALL weekend on this one.

That is definitely a city we will have to return to at some point prior to our departure from Europe!

Eric leaves tomorrow for Kazikstan (I think I spelled this wrong!) He is excited...

Shamrock Shake Hunt

So the Smith Family is jonesin' for a McDonald's Shamrock shake. Julia 'heard' that one of the Vienna McDonald's has them....but we need better data from her! I am going to attempt to make some on Thursday if they can't be located. Funny the weird stuff you miss!!

Busy and fun weekened. Friday night we watched Big! (Tom Hanks) I have been trying to think of 'older' movies that are kid friendly as Evan is out of the animation all the time movies and Julia is still little. Any ideas? We did Jurassic Park I last weekend - Julia didn't finish it yet as she had to head to bed. Not sure if we'll finish that one with her.

Saturday brought a beautiful day of weather and fun. Evan had a soccer game and it is official that he made the U11 team that he didn't make this fall. We are very proud of him. It is a good team and he will have to earn some more playtime, but his German and soccer have improved and the coach seems happy with him now. This is great news. He then had basketball practice. He has practice 2 times per week but games are few and far between. He has been asking to stop for a few weeks now as soccer picked up again. It is hard because, once again, he is smallest and youngest by almost 2 years... but he has hung in there really well. The season's kind of go all year here, which I think is dumb. Anyway - he played in a tournament today (2 games) and then he is calling it for this season. Eric would really like for him to keep his foot in the door a bit so when he gets back to the States he can still play if he wants.

After soccer, Julia and I went shopping for a friend's birthday gift. We had such a great time in the jewelery and walgreen type store and she did a great gift of nailpolish, lip gloss, headbands, jewelery, etc... We had so much fun shopping and we haven't spent enough time together lately, just her and I. We often talk about all the extra time we had together last year with her in 1/2 day kindergarten and we both miss it dearly. It seems evenings go by too quickly and there isn't enough time for dancing around, playing games, hanging out stuff.... quite an adjustment this year for us both :(!!

After we watched a little of the basketball, Julia had her party. It was a great party at her friend Olivia's house. A posh dressy luncheon...so cute. I left for a bit and sat at Starbucks to do my German homework. Eric and Evan hung out at the park (it was really warm and nice today) and tried his slackline for the first time. It is like a bouncy tight rope type sport... I'll have to take a picture. They said it was fun - can't wait to try it.

I have been working on our Spring break trip -- end of April. We are headed to Turkey for a week. We are all very excited. I am interested in going East a lot from here as it is SO much cheaper and more accessible than from the States. We would also love to see Greece - I am banking on that next summer :) I would also like to go camping on the Coatian coast before we leave for the States, after the kids get out of school - but not sure Eric could swing that work wise! Those are my lofty plans so far!

We watched some CNN English tonight of the devastation in Japan. So very sad. I have a good friend here who moved from Tokyo in April and is married to a japanese man. All of their family and friends are okay, but a cousin was missing for awhile. Such devastation there - so sad.

Eric heads to Kazakhstan on Monday for a week... a really cool trip for him.

Have a great week!

Fat Tuesday

It is called "Fasching" (I think I am spelling that right) here in Austria today -- day before lent/Fat Tuesday. It would be neat to see Carnival in Venice today/tomorrow. People dress us here and there have been halloween costumes in the stores the last month. At the grocery store today employees were dressed up and I think a lot of Austrian children dress. I'm thinking tomorrow is the day to find next year's halloween costumes on sale! :) Austrian tradition is also to eat Krapfen today - which we did. These are marmalade filled donut type things.

I can't believe we are into March already. Wow! The sun has been shining a lot (Thank God) but it is still pretty cold. My friend Ida and I are still running to train for the 1/2 marathon on April 17th. We were proud of ourselves today as we did an 8 mile run. Yeah! She is such a great running partner so that is awesome!

Julia had a playdate at a friend's house today. This was a good step for her as she has been shy to go to anyone's house. I had to bring them from school to Lily's house so she was comfortable. All went well so I was thankful for that. They are a very nice Hungarian/British family. Julia thought it was so fun she had the British flag huge on her wall (painted) in pink and purple. Really cute.

Evan got some good news on Saturday and his coach of the U11 team he has wanted on so bad, told us to get his player card. I think this means he is on the team. Yeah!!! Huge news! He continues to love to play the violin. Thank you Grandma Jane for the music genes!!

It sounds funny to say, but we are going to Turkey for Spring Break next month. Yeah! I don't have everything figured out yet - but at least have our plane tickets bought from here to Istanbul and back. It is so hard to decide where to travel to - SOOOO many places, so little time. We picked one that is MUCH MUCH cheaper to get to from here vs. the States. (verus say London or Paris - although I REALLY hope to see all these places too!)

Planning a trip in early April (one month) to Germany to see Aunt Christy, Uncle David, Alexandra and Christian. Their time in Honolulu is wrapping up and we are SO excited to have them close (about 6 hours is close enough!) to us. YEAH!!

Some have heard this already, but not my Mom so here goes :)....

in Ikea a few days ago and a lady asked me (in English) about something I was buying at the Kassa (cash registers) I explained it to her nicely and then said a small statement in German -- to practice. (She seemed nice:)) She then asked me if I was learning German and I said that yes, I was trying. She asked for how long - I said proudly - 5 months and she said "You should try harder" I honestly still can't believe how rude she was!!!!! I asked my German teacher for a german sentence to say back so now I know to say "Das ist unverschamt." Which means that is rude. Nuff said!

Back to Life Back to Reality

Back a week from our wondeful ski vacation. The kids weren't thrilled to go back to school and I am pretty sure Eric felt the same way about work.

I tried to load some video from the camera onto this blog but it doesn't work. I have to figure out a way to share video clips easier via internet with family et.c.. If anyone is reading this and knows how, please ring in! I have some great skiing videos of the kids and a wonderful video from Evan's violin recital yesterday.

His first recital was yesterday and he did an amazing job. Eric accompanied him on piano which was very cool and so sweet. They put in a lot of practice time for about 3 days as Evan and his teacher switched songs as of Thursday. He did two songs and really nailed them! Even when Eric faltered a bit on the first piece, Evan kept composed and right on going. It was great!

Julia's was preparing her outfit for the recital and I heard her say, "Dad, do you think this will be okay for the big recital?" And I heard Eric say, "You look beautiful, but I think the crown may be too much" She is SO funny! So that day when she dressed, she instead had a hot pink headband with a veil. I said that I thought that wasn't appropriate for the recital and she said "It is the crown or the veil, pick one" Luckily I convinced her to wear the sparkly glittery black headband instead. She is the best combination of Fancy Nancy and Tom Boy... the best!

Did I tell you that Evan is trying out again for the U11 Fortuna team that he didn't make in the fall? He has been attending those practices with the hope of getting on "Max's team" this spring and going forward. I tell you, this kid has guts. I LOVE that he will go in there again with confidence and try again. We are hopeful but guarded as the coach is not very nice and the dynamics are quite strange in general. So - prayers for Evan, he really wants on that team. He played on Saturday for 10 min in their game, so that is a good start.

More soon...

Holy snow!

It startes snowing yesterday and snowed all night. we woke up to about 20 inches (i should be using centimeters but can't quite switch to metric yet:)) of fresh snow.... so gorgeous!! You can hear the snow machines grooming the slopes all night. The deep snow made skiing a bit different and harder, but it was so great! Hurts less to fall too!! :). Evan did a 5th day of 7 plus hours of sking... that kid does not stop and Eric is loving the afternooons skiing with Ev! Julia is skiing till about 130 each day, which is quite amAzing!

the meals here are amazing! dinner tonight was 5 courses! my fave dessert this week as it was fruit and a chocolate fondue fountain!!

Last day of skiing tomorrow.... wow what a week!

Still on the slopes....

Well today is Day 4 on the slopes and I have never been skiing this much in a row! I made it until almost 1pm today and we all usually meet up at 1:30 here for a free lunch buffet. Julia has not wanted to go out in the afternoons, we will see what today brings She is only 7 and skiing HARD with all of the adults/older kids for 4.5 hours each day - so I am 'letting her' :) stop at 1:30 if she wants. Yesterday she then hit the pool for 3 hours -- needless to say she almost feel asleep in her dinner. As most of you can imagine, Evan would rather take NO breaks or lunch and ski from 9am until mountain closes at 4:30! It is snowing today - much needed snow! The visibility isn't great, but it is beautiful and the slopes needed it big time. It is supposed to snow hard today and tonight - so I am excited to see what it feels like to ski in that kind of snow tomorrow.

I have been mostly skiing with my Swedish friend Ulrika as her and I are pretty slow. This works out very well and is fun. The only thing I don't like is that I don't get to see the kids ski. Eric said he would try to take some camera video for me so I can see them. Ulrika and I take more cafe latte breaks!

So the Sauna... saunas are huge in Austria and clothes are "not allowed" and no one seems to mind. In fact all the changing rooms at public pools and such are co-ed. Yesterday a lady was at the indoor hotel pool topless and then got up to swim with her kids and first wiggled into her bikini top. It is still SO strange to me. I have decided I can't begin to understand this nudity thing because it is just something that they grow up with and it just isn't an issue at all. There are like 6 sauna rooms here and this room that i Love that has 3 waterbeds with headphones that have soft music playing. So relaxing. I have done the sauna a few times but just go in with a towel around me. I also try to enter only saunas that have no one in them. It is fine to be in a sauna and have people come in but I HATE walking into one with already naked people in it.

We are here with 3 other families... another American family that is from DC but has lived in Vienna 3.5 years, a Swedish family and an Italian/Scottish family. It makes for fun dinner converstaion about how different countries handle health care, education, nudity :), language learning in school, business etc.. Combined the people at the table have seen SOOOOO much of the world - it is so facinating and such a nice learning experience for me. Of course, I am usually the doof of the crowd :)!

We leave on Saturday so 2 more days of skiing after this.

Ski Break

We arrived yesterday at Nassfeld in Austria for our ski week holiday. It is on the Italian border in the Alps and it is fantastic. The weather in Austria has been too warm and not enough snow, but after skiing today it wasn't bad at all. (my standards are fairly low though!)

The hotel is great and we have "half board" which means we get breakfast and dinner here, which is very fun and nice. There are 3 other families here that we know so that is fun. The pool area is great for the kids and everyone is having a great time.

Julia and I made it till 1:30 or so today and then came in fora little nap...she was tired. (okay, I was too!) Tomorrow I booked a massage (Happy Valentines Day to me!) and then will do the Sauna as it is woman's only for a few hours in the afternoon. I will soon do a whole blog on Austrian Saunas ... a crazy and interesting experience all in itself. (you can't wear clothes and it is men and women all the time... SO NOT American! :)) I did go in tonight with a towel around me but don't really like all the fat old men and their junk hanging out everywhere...yuck!

The food is good, the company is good, the skiing is good, the wine is good and I don't have to cook/do dishes/clean up -- I am in heaven. Hee hee

IAEA Ball

Pictures: Evan and Julia over Christmas break on top of the Danube tower with Eric's work buildings in the back ground (the restaurant rotates) Eric and some of his colleagues at the ball. Kara and Bill Stott, our good friends from California that we went to the ball with.

Wow, I took a few weeks off from blogging. Had a great adventure last Saturday night attending the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency: Eric's work) Ball... it is Ball season in Vienna and this is a good one to attend we hear. We headed to dinner first with 2 other couples and had a wonderful Austrian food feast. It was amazing to be in the Hofburg Palace... the parties that must have happened in that place since the mid 1400's!! There were many kinds of music ... I think 10 different music rooms. Reggae, Latin, Disco, Symphony, etc... I believe over 3,000 people attend. In the "main" ballroom there was a show to start everything off with african dancers, ballet and accapello singers and lots of other stuff. Oh, then I don't quite understand all of this yet, but then the 'kick off' is all of the debutants (sp?) in their white dresses doing a waltz. It was just so much fun, an amazing experience.

We also went last Monday to our first opera, La Boheme, at the famous Vienna Opera House. It was really neat to experience that also. Apparently I have gained a few lbs cuz my skirt was so tight which was good because it prevented me from falling asleep. I'm kinda kidding - it was really neat, but I don't think I am going to become a huge opera fan. LOVED the experience though.

Eric got a day of skiing in last weekend with Bill Stott...they had a nice day up on the mountain.

Big news in the Smith Family - Eric's little brother Kirk is engaged - YEAH! We adore Cherish and are excited about their wedding in July in Idaho.

Austrians have a ski holiday week (I think most Europeans do actually) - isn't this funny? Anyway, ours is next week so we depart for Nassfeld on Saturday for the week. We are all excited and looking forward to a week away and more new experiences. I am kinda more excited about the snow shoeing and saunas then the skiing, but I will do some of that too :) There are a few other families that we know going, so that makes it even more fun for the kids...especially Evan as each familiy has a boy his age going. Julia just can't wait to hit the slopes again - she is adorable!

There is a new family that just moved here from Colorado and they are similiar to us in that her husband came here to work at the IAEA also. They are a very nice family and it is so interesting to see them go through some of the same stuff and be a few months removed from it. They are awaiting their boat shipment and so their apartment is empty; they are sleeping on our air matresses and have our card table and chairs. I have to say I don't miss that! Oh, and the no car thing... geez that kinda sucked! I have tried to take her grocery shopping etc... it is nice to remember what others helped me with and then 'pay it forward'. They have kids Evan and Julia's age, so that is really fun too.

Until later...

Great Ski Weekend

Should be studying for my German Final Exam (German 1) right now as it is in one hour, but I figure if I don't have it by now, I'm not getting it! Talk about pressure: I have to pass in order to move on to German 2. Yikes. I am enjoying the process of learning another language although it is fairly difficult for me.

We had a wonderful weekend. Drove up to Schladming on Friday and arrived at our Gasthof (kinda like a bed and breakfast type place). Eric has found some great Gasthofs and we feel they are the best way to go. They are owned by locals...nothing fancy, a bit more affordable usually. Biggest plus, you really feel like you have 'experienced' an area as you are among locals.

This one had a wonderful young couple with a 6 year old daughter that Julia became fast friends with. We had 2 breakfasts there and Saturday night dinner. We were able to use/try our German quite a bit as the couple was VERY nice and slowed down/used small grammar and we all had fun with it. (They could speak English which always helps when you get in a bind!) Julia and Evan also got to see the stables and all the animals (horses, rabbits, goats, ponies) so that was really fun. Kyia couldn't speak much English so Julia used her German and bit.

It is also a nice relaxed environment to meet other guests. Two people were from the Czech Republic and very friendly and nice to talk to. He brought out some Czech liquor at the end of the evening for everyone to try. He also told us he owns a Gasthof in Czech, so another place to visit where we now have 'friends' to show us around. Fun!

The Alps are amazing and we couldn't believe just 3 hours away we were in serious mountains... unbelievable. The skiing was like nothing we had seen before. This area has a bunch of mountains all linked together. In two days we only saw 2 of them - and not even in entire mountains. The kids are SO fun to watch ski, they are having a blast. They are SO much better than me and I am holding them all back a bit, so I break off and do my easy runs or go in for a coffee and then meet them again. That makes us all happy I think.

There was one area that had jumps and then a kids slalom (sp?) course... we spent a few hours here as the kids LOVED it. Oh, Eric loved the jumps too. I asked Julia how I was supposed to do those hills with all the bumps (kinda soft moguls at the end of the day) She said "Mom, you just go down and jump them all" Talk about daring!

The crazy part was the end of Saturday. The Austrians ski hard a few hours (like 10am-3pm) and then they begin to party. By the time we finished at 4pm the huts at the bottom of the hill were rockin'! People dancing, music playing, people doing shots of who knows what everywhere. We decided to join the party! The kids thought it was so funny and we were all dancing. Honestly they were all having so much fun too and this is just a 'normal' thing I think!

Am now finishing this Monday evening as I take a break from trying to find airline tickets back to the States this summer. (Geez Louise, someone is getting rich off those tickets!) Anyway.. took my exam and I am pretty sure I passed. 2nd 1/2 on Wed and then I find out my scores on Friday.

On to Tuesday....

1-11-11 (we think this is so cool!)

So, we think we bought the right car for resale value in a few years! That is the bright side of finding your car broken into - window smashed and GPS/Stereo/CD Player console and airbags all stolen. Apparently our car is fairly popular for spare parts. Irony: we had finally gotten our butts in gear and found a possible church to try -- we were parked right outside the church. Darn those non-believing criminals! :)

Funny how you hold yourself together when your kids fall apart. Poor little Julia was so shocked, frightened, etc... that I held it together fine. Eric as always is calm cool and collected. What rattles this man of mine? (let's not find out)

We had met a few VERY nice people in the church that didn't expect us to take them up on their offer "to help anytime" just 5 minutes after leaving. The Polizei came, car is in shop and we have a short term rental. We should be back to normal by Friday or Monday.

So that was our Sunday excitement. Monday was back to school for the kids and they did well with getting back into routine. A rough spot was Julia's teacher was NOT back from maternity leave as expected. We aren't sure what is going on, but we think they were delayed in travel and hopefully will be back by Friday. Julia was more than a bit disappointed, but in Julia fashion - she rises to the occasion.

A few friends of mine that I really enjoy are back from the States after Christmas vacation there. They also arrived when we did (or after) - so I was a tiny jealous they got to go 'home'... but that is life. They did bring me back some nice goodies. Ida brought back a magazine (I forgot how much I love to read magazines!) and junior mints - YUM!!!!!! And a few other things too. I made a list for my dear friend Kara and she just shopped for me. Top of the list: She said I needed SPANX for my ball gown. A true friend. :) She brought some back for me. Oh - and mint M&M's ---- YUMMMMMMYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We are going to the IAEA ball on Feb 5th. Have I talked about "Ball Season"?? -- it is truely old Vienna - they have many balls here over the next few months and we will be going to the big one sponsored by Eric's work. It is at the Hofburg Palace. Should be amazing.

Julia had a friend, Ayra, over to play after school today. The "after school" activities that the kids join don't start up until next week so leaves a few easy days for after school playdates. Julia signed up for Arts and Crafts and Swimming this next semester. Evan will continue with Basketball, hopefully start up soccer again in late Feb and he wanted to join Choir, which is Tuesdays after school. I am still not sure if he did it for fun or to torture the girls. He is continuing with Violin lessons and I think is joining the orchestra now which meets during school hours a few days per week. I think we are sufficiently busy with activities to keep everyone happy and hopping.

We are planning a ski weekend on Friday for 2 nights - 2 days of skiing. The kids are PUMPED.

Oh funny story - have been trying to talk to the man that cleans our building's stairs on Tuesdays. Using my limited German... it hasn't been working. I found out from the landlord he speaks polish. I felt so much better as I didn't think my German was THAT bad! :)

I think that is about the update for now....

Eric hits 39

It is Eric's 39th Birthday today! We just got back from lunch at work with him - something the kids and I love to do... for the company (Eric) and the good food at his cafeteria (seriously). We finished off a bit of shopping this morning and are making sugar cookies now -- Eric's request in place of a cake.

Yesterday we had a nice and quiet/relaxing day as everything was closed for a holiday here. (I think Epiphany Day or something - I need to research that one) Julia had a birthday party at a friends house - which was very fun for her!

This is wrapping up our 3rd and last vacation day prior to school starting on Monday. The kids and I have had a really great time the last 2 weeks (the first week with Eric was awesome too!) ... I was skeptical about 2 weeks without school with the kids - I love them but 2 weeks seemed a bit daunting especially with our fragile dispositions since the move (hee hee). I am happy to report that it was very fun, the kids did great (they fight a ton but I am getting kind of used to it) and I will miss them tons come Monday. I am also happy to say that Evan seems to be doing really well! For those of you who have listened to me cry and worry about him for the last 5 months - thank you. I know trying times aren't over, but he seems to have turned a bit of a corner and I am so thankful for it. Thank you for your prayers.... keep 'em coming!

Much love, Jenn

I can't stop laughing....

Okay, this is funny! Evan says I can't explain it well in the blog but i am going to try!

So the kids and I went to the Danube Tower this morning. It is a space needle like building (not as pretty I don't think) where you take the elevator up and then there is an outdoor and indoor observation deck. It was very cool and then we hit the cafe for some coffee and treats.

Evan ordered an ApfelStrudel and Julia wanted to take a look in the dessert case before ordering. So... as I pointed and named some of the desserts, apparently the waitress thought I had ordered a piece of torte (cake) so she delivered Julia's chocolate cake, Evan's Strudel and then this mystery cake that I didnt know I ordered. Well, it was gross but I figured Eric may like it so I asked the waitress in German if I could have a sack to bring it home with. Note: my German isn't great. So, she then asked if she could bring me a piece of aluminum foil (Note: this whole thing is happening in German) I said yes. She said ein stuck... which is one piece and I said yes because I assume she is asking me if I just need one piece of aluminum foil.

At this point she walks away and I say to Evan and Julia - do you think that she thinks I just ordered ANOTHER piece of this gross cake to bring home???? And Evan says "Mom, why don't you just let me take it from here" He is trying to nicely tell me that my German is not cutting it! :) So, he goes to the counter to check it out and he sees her wrapping ANOTHER piece of cake. WHY would I want another of something I didn't eat the first of?? Anyway, Evan starts speaking German with her and tells her that we don't want any more - we just want foil.

So... I can't stop laughing that I somehow ordered 2 pieces of cake that I didn't want today!

Note: The Danube Tower was fun.... off to the Marianette Theatre - we are seeing Hansel and Gretel -in German of course :) I'll tell you about it tomorrow!

Last week of vacation....

So we are almost mid week of the 3rd week off. I told the kids today that it is great to live in a city where we can do something different almost everyday for 3 weeks... that is special. Evan still didn't buy it and said he would "still rather be home." I keep marching on....


Today we went to Bogi Park - it is an indoor play land type place. It was fun, not awesome, but worth the try. We met one of Julia's friends's from school and they were nice to hang out with.

Yesterday the kids and Eric went skiing for the day. I guess the place was really great but the snow was bad (icy skiing)-- they still had fun. I stayed home for the day as I am battling a head cold and just thought a day alone sounded pretty fun. (no offense to my family: they say "none taken"!) Sunday we went took down the tree and Christmas decor (the limited we brought) and then went to the great Museum of Natural History here. GREAT place. Eric said it was his favorite takedown in years as he didn't have to climb on the roof in the cold and take down lights! (we missed the lights on the house though!) Does anyone know of the renters put any lights out at our house on Cascade?

The weather here has been cold but no new snow...we are hoping we get a fresh snow as it is beautiful. makes the kinda dreary weather look a little prettier I think.

Oh, Evan had a nice soccer tourney on Sun morning too. They won 2 and lost 1 - Evan played well and played both sides of the field - which was great to see. We had so much fun watching.

After skiing yesterday in icy conditions for 7 hours, Eric said he couldn't believe how strong Julia's legs must be! He said that for her to be in 'pizza' for that long is just amazing. She LOVES to ski!! :)

Julia wants to type some now:

I mis evry one back home .I LOVE ALL OF YOU.Iam haveing a great time in austrea it is so prity arond the strets! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Glucklich Neu Jahre!!!

Happy New Year! The kids and I think it is ultra cool that today is 1-1-11... that won't happen again on a New Years Day until 1-1-3011!!!

We had a great day yesterday and this city absolutely knows how to do New Years Eve -- holy cow!! Downtown starting at 2pm (I think it went until 2am, but I am not sure!) there are stages set up with different music, bands, DJ's, etc... at each stage. You just 'walk' the circuit of stages stopping to dance, drink gluhwein (hot mulled spice wine) etc.. We went about 2:30 and met some friends there. We stayed downtown until about 6:30 having a blast. One of the stages had the guy up there teaching the Viennese Waltz... to like 200 people doing it at once. Super fun!

Then we came back here for a relaxed casual chili dinner and some WII dance etc.. The new part for us is that FIREWORKS are really HUGE here for New Years Eve. We bought some and the DelFabbros brought a ton over so we headed to the park by our house which has a pretty good view towards the inner city. We hear it is pretty spectacular to be downtown with all the fireworks, but not very safe with kids. We shot off all of ours about 11:30. This park is HUGE so there were fireworks everywhere there too. I am talking the big ariels - "illegals" in the states. The best was yet to come - at midnight -- EVERY direction you looks there were enormous fireworks going off. Like the biggest show I have seen but ALL over the ENTIRE skyline and all around for like 10 minutes. It was honestly like nothing I have ever seen before. It is really hard to even describe -- spectacular. Our Italian friend Franco said that this is nothing compared to southern Italy - I guess they are CRAZY down there! :)

We slept late and lounged around all day today getting rest. Eric and I are starting to pick up our German book work again as we have our big semester exam in a few weeks. I am already nervous as I can't move on to German 2 without passing the exam! Talk about pressure

Eric and Julia also skated on the pond at our park for awhile too... she loves her new ice skates.

I am hoping you all had a great time last night too. Happy New Year!