We went to the Aquarium on Wednesday and it was really fun. A bit crowded, but not too bad. We saw them throw some food into the big tank for the sharks, piranhas, etc..so that was fun for the kiddos.
Yesterday Evan had a 1 hour violin lesson (usually they are 1/2 hour) and had a blast. He said he could have stayed another 1/2 hour. The teacher is amazing! We also went to have lunch with Eric and get some groceries at the commissary. The kids begged Eric to stay a few hours to see how he works. We thought they would get bored and cautioned against it, but they were determined. (we hadn't packed books, crayons, DS's, etc..!) Anyway - turned out fun for all as I got a few errands and a run in! whoopee!
We are just cleaning up our apartment today so we can head into the new year with an organized place. We just hung some more little shelves in the kitchen to try and deal with our storage issues :)
We hear downtown has a ton of stages etc... set up with dancing and stuff for kids during the afternoon today so after Eric works 1/2 day we are going to head to the inner city and check that out. It is REALLY cold today, so we will see how long we last. I am putting a pot of chili on and we invited some friends back but not sure if they can join us. Fireworks are HUGE here for New Years...apparently HUGE shows go on downtown. (alhtough it is also a free for all so not a safe place to be with kids we hear) I think we are high enough up that we may be able to see things from here....or we may venture to a colleuge's apt with a rooftop view downtown. We'll see. We also bought some at the store to set off ourselves - these HUGE bottle rocket things that would be very illegal downtown. **Horners if you read this - Evan wishes Garrett was here!!!*** Kind of like our 4th of July in December!
Thanks Cabes for Skyping with us last night - it made our day!!
Well, I could get all thoughtful on you considering this is my final post of this year, but that would be uncharacteristic for this blog I think. Hee hee
I will say I am looking forward to the New Year and praying for health and happiness for all we know. I have never made a real New Years Resolution... do you do this??? Maybe I should try it this year. Hmmmmmmmm
Guten Rutsch!!! (which translates to Good Slide.... the Austrians don't say Happy New Year before the New Year as they think that seems silly (kinda is I guess) so they say "I wish you a good slide into the New Year" prior to the first.
So.... Guten Rutsch zu Alles!
Mit Liebe,
The Smith Fam
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Dienstag
So.. if you looked at the pictures below - please look at Julia's missing front tooth - SO CUTE. Also note, she does NOT have her ears pierced - these are stickers. Hee hee! I figured a few of you would be wondering....
We had a nice day today and went to one of the Children's Museums. They have an exhibit for 'older' kids where they learn how to make an animated film and then make a part of a film that will debut here in Vienna in April. The kids had a blast and it was really neat!
We had a quick bite to eat before the museum and Julia was asking how someone breaks up with someone when they don't like them anymore. (What?!) Anyway, I said "you might say -- it has been nice to know you but I don't think we should be boyfriend and girlfried anymore" Then Evan says "or you can say I'm dumping you babe and then turn on the boom box to Alejandro" If you don't know this song the beginning goes like this (Lady Gaga) "I know that we are young and I know that you may love me, but I just can't be with you like this anymore" I about fell off my chair laughing. Evan has an amazing sense of humor and when he isn't causing me to cry with his smarty pants mouth - I am laughing my head off.
We are headed to check out the Vienna Aquarium tomorrow. I guess it is housed in one of the old WWII armory buildings (or something like that) and there is a shark and piranah feeding that we will see. There are many things to explore in this city, so that is nice for the kids and I these few weeks off of school.
Have I told you, forgive me for spelling mistakes - when I hit spell check it thinks I should be speaking German so all my words are "wrong" and I am too lazy to do too much checking myself :)
We had a nice day today and went to one of the Children's Museums. They have an exhibit for 'older' kids where they learn how to make an animated film and then make a part of a film that will debut here in Vienna in April. The kids had a blast and it was really neat!
We had a quick bite to eat before the museum and Julia was asking how someone breaks up with someone when they don't like them anymore. (What?!) Anyway, I said "you might say -- it has been nice to know you but I don't think we should be boyfriend and girlfried anymore" Then Evan says "or you can say I'm dumping you babe and then turn on the boom box to Alejandro" If you don't know this song the beginning goes like this (Lady Gaga) "I know that we are young and I know that you may love me, but I just can't be with you like this anymore" I about fell off my chair laughing. Evan has an amazing sense of humor and when he isn't causing me to cry with his smarty pants mouth - I am laughing my head off.
We are headed to check out the Vienna Aquarium tomorrow. I guess it is housed in one of the old WWII armory buildings (or something like that) and there is a shark and piranah feeding that we will see. There are many things to explore in this city, so that is nice for the kids and I these few weeks off of school.
Have I told you, forgive me for spelling mistakes - when I hit spell check it thinks I should be speaking German so all my words are "wrong" and I am too lazy to do too much checking myself :)
Monday, December 27, 2010
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
I can't believe we are closing in on 5 months here... wow. We had a nice Christmas Eve and Christmas - not without some homesickness, but it was nice. Christmas Eve we joined 3 other families at a great Italian Restaurant for a yummy and festive early dinner/late lunch. We walked around downtown a bit as the lights are as magical as they were when first lit 5 weeks ago!! We made some cookies for Santa and hung out the rest of the evening.
Julia lost one of her front teeth so she was coming off a night from Tooth Fairy and headed into night with Santa - fun times!
We had a nice morning opening gifts and eating breakfast. One of the families that we were at lunch/dinner with and we will also be with during our ski vacation in Feb invited us over to their home for Christmas dinner. This caused a bit of an argument with Eric and I (unfortunately) because I felt funny having been invited 'late' and not wanting to intrude. But the 'men' thought it was just fine, so off we went about 2:30 on Christmas day. These folks are some of the nicest we have met here (or anywhere) and welcomed us and another family into their flat for an incredible dinner. She is Scottish and a fine cook and he is Italian. They are SO fun and we had a wonderful time. It was fun to eat some of the dishes that they would have growing up in Scotland and Northern Italy. Another great thing about Europe is the way people eat slowing, many courses etc... So different and fun. We had beautiful starters and then a soup followed by a main course. Funny thing is, it isn't that it gets more 'fancy' neccessarily. We plan to adopt this tradition when we come back, so get ready for some longer meals at the Smith house :) hee hee
Oh, I guess that means I will have to learn how to cook. :)
Today we headed iceskating to try out Julia's new ice skates and then to see Narnia. There are 2 english speaking movie theatres here and we alll really enjoyed seeing a movie.
Eric is off one more day and then he heads back on Tuesday - it has been very fun to have him home all week.
I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!!!!!!!!!
Julia lost one of her front teeth so she was coming off a night from Tooth Fairy and headed into night with Santa - fun times!
We had a nice morning opening gifts and eating breakfast. One of the families that we were at lunch/dinner with and we will also be with during our ski vacation in Feb invited us over to their home for Christmas dinner. This caused a bit of an argument with Eric and I (unfortunately) because I felt funny having been invited 'late' and not wanting to intrude. But the 'men' thought it was just fine, so off we went about 2:30 on Christmas day. These folks are some of the nicest we have met here (or anywhere) and welcomed us and another family into their flat for an incredible dinner. She is Scottish and a fine cook and he is Italian. They are SO fun and we had a wonderful time. It was fun to eat some of the dishes that they would have growing up in Scotland and Northern Italy. Another great thing about Europe is the way people eat slowing, many courses etc... So different and fun. We had beautiful starters and then a soup followed by a main course. Funny thing is, it isn't that it gets more 'fancy' neccessarily. We plan to adopt this tradition when we come back, so get ready for some longer meals at the Smith house :) hee hee
Oh, I guess that means I will have to learn how to cook. :)
Today we headed iceskating to try out Julia's new ice skates and then to see Narnia. There are 2 english speaking movie theatres here and we alll really enjoyed seeing a movie.
Eric is off one more day and then he heads back on Tuesday - it has been very fun to have him home all week.
I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!!!!!!!!!
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Time flies....
I was going to be so good at blogging this busy few weeks and I am falling behind again :) Sorry Mom :)!
Evan's birthday was nice - he picked cheese fondue for dinner and chocolate fondue for dessert. We had a nice evening at home eating fondue.
His favorite b-day gift was a snow day (did I tell you about this already?!) ... they haven't had one at AIS in 4 years and he had one on Wednesday! We went sledding and to the VIC to have lunch with Dad.
The kids were out of school this past Friday and they are happy to be on a well deserved 3 week holiday break! Eric ended up being able to string together a few days off so he has been off all week too! Very fun....
We had a nice weekend and then took off Monday morning for an overnight ski vacation West of us. It was about 2.5 hour drive and we had a 2 GREAT days of skiing with perfect weather. I think I am a fair weather skier! The kids can out ski me hands down and it is sure fun to watch. I take lots of pretend potty breaks (hee hee!) We stayed in a little Gasthof...like a small bed and breakfast type place. On the way up Julia informed me that I probably wouldn't be ready for my poles the first day. (she is so funny!) On the way back when asked what her favorite run was she said "The one that Mommy started crying on" Okay, I have WAY whimped out in my older age -- I go SOOOO slowly and the steep runs are NOT for me. I am more than proud to say my kids were doing black diamonds with Eric while I stayed on the lesser hills! So my ideal skiing: lots of hot chocolate, good weather, not so steep hills, slow speeds. I'm pathetic.
Today we drove about 30 minutes to a town called Baden to check out their Roman Baths... apparently oldest and biggest Thermal pools in Europe. Sounds better than it was. :) It was actually fun, but we will probably not return as there are other ones that have more kids features (and less old people giving me dirty looks cuz my children were splashing). Great day though!
The kids are really excited about the Christmas season, but get sad when thinking of not being with family and friends. We have made some nice friends here that we will see on Christmas Eve (tomorrow) as we all gather at a really great Italian restaurant for a Christmas Eve meal together. This group has done this before and included us this year, which we are thankful for.
We hope you have much joy, anticipation and blessings in your home these next few days!
I'll ring in again, but MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!
I have to tell you that I am sorely missing receiving Christmas cards this year. I didn't realize how much I loved them! I understand you don't want to send them to Austria (I think it is over $1 to mail!), but I have a request if you have an extra... mail them to our old address and they are still forwarding our mail :) 4008 Cascade Drive, West Richland, WA 99353. We are working on our email Christmas card as it would be impossible to mail so many cards out - I would actually have to get a paying job!
Anyway
Evan's birthday was nice - he picked cheese fondue for dinner and chocolate fondue for dessert. We had a nice evening at home eating fondue.
His favorite b-day gift was a snow day (did I tell you about this already?!) ... they haven't had one at AIS in 4 years and he had one on Wednesday! We went sledding and to the VIC to have lunch with Dad.
The kids were out of school this past Friday and they are happy to be on a well deserved 3 week holiday break! Eric ended up being able to string together a few days off so he has been off all week too! Very fun....
We had a nice weekend and then took off Monday morning for an overnight ski vacation West of us. It was about 2.5 hour drive and we had a 2 GREAT days of skiing with perfect weather. I think I am a fair weather skier! The kids can out ski me hands down and it is sure fun to watch. I take lots of pretend potty breaks (hee hee!) We stayed in a little Gasthof...like a small bed and breakfast type place. On the way up Julia informed me that I probably wouldn't be ready for my poles the first day. (she is so funny!) On the way back when asked what her favorite run was she said "The one that Mommy started crying on" Okay, I have WAY whimped out in my older age -- I go SOOOO slowly and the steep runs are NOT for me. I am more than proud to say my kids were doing black diamonds with Eric while I stayed on the lesser hills! So my ideal skiing: lots of hot chocolate, good weather, not so steep hills, slow speeds. I'm pathetic.
Today we drove about 30 minutes to a town called Baden to check out their Roman Baths... apparently oldest and biggest Thermal pools in Europe. Sounds better than it was. :) It was actually fun, but we will probably not return as there are other ones that have more kids features (and less old people giving me dirty looks cuz my children were splashing). Great day though!
The kids are really excited about the Christmas season, but get sad when thinking of not being with family and friends. We have made some nice friends here that we will see on Christmas Eve (tomorrow) as we all gather at a really great Italian restaurant for a Christmas Eve meal together. This group has done this before and included us this year, which we are thankful for.
We hope you have much joy, anticipation and blessings in your home these next few days!
I'll ring in again, but MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!
I have to tell you that I am sorely missing receiving Christmas cards this year. I didn't realize how much I loved them! I understand you don't want to send them to Austria (I think it is over $1 to mail!), but I have a request if you have an extra... mail them to our old address and they are still forwarding our mail :) 4008 Cascade Drive, West Richland, WA 99353. We are working on our email Christmas card as it would be impossible to mail so many cards out - I would actually have to get a paying job!
Anyway
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Second party down... one birthday to go
Hello! Snowing here again -so pretty! Julia's party went really well on Sunday. We had 10 girls (including Julia) and I think they all had a wonderful time. Julia seems fairly quiet and reserved, but I think that seems normal as she is still 'making friends' and learning to feel comfortable. She definitly isn't her normal silly self like around her friends from home - but that will come I am sure. We decorated gingerbread houses, played games, ate cake and did crafts. I kept them super busy and Eric is a huge birthday party gamer! Luckily we had an extra set of hands too! Our friend Anthony brought his daughter Olivia and he stayed. I think the poor sap thought he would just have a glass of wine with Eric and "hang out" - nope - we had him working like a party planner! hee hee
The wine was good though - I recommend this approach to other Mothers. A nice glass of red wine while throwing a party, very nice.
So glad that the kids had a nice weekend with friends. They still yearn for their friends back home (both cried at least once over the last few days missing their buddies) -- but I keep hoping they start to connect here too. Slowly but surely.
Busy week as we get ready for a 3 week break. I am falling a bit behind in German and hope to use the break to catch up a bit before my final weeks of class in january. I have to pass the test to go on to German 2 - yikes!
Evan's birthday is tomorrow and he would like to bring in brownies - so those are all made and ready to go. They are having lots of hot chocolate this week as there is a stove in his room where they can make it... that is fun!
Eric ended up taking next week off, so that is great. We will go skiing a couple of days and get ready for the nice Christmas weekend. We need to make some specific Christmas Eve and Christmas Day plans so we can keep busy and make some new memories, instead of being sad to not have family and friends around. I need to figure that out in the next few days. Each year I do this: get through the birthdays and then on Dec 16th I begin thinking about Christmas. Not such a good thing!
The wine was good though - I recommend this approach to other Mothers. A nice glass of red wine while throwing a party, very nice.
So glad that the kids had a nice weekend with friends. They still yearn for their friends back home (both cried at least once over the last few days missing their buddies) -- but I keep hoping they start to connect here too. Slowly but surely.
Busy week as we get ready for a 3 week break. I am falling a bit behind in German and hope to use the break to catch up a bit before my final weeks of class in january. I have to pass the test to go on to German 2 - yikes!
Evan's birthday is tomorrow and he would like to bring in brownies - so those are all made and ready to go. They are having lots of hot chocolate this week as there is a stove in his room where they can make it... that is fun!
Eric ended up taking next week off, so that is great. We will go skiing a couple of days and get ready for the nice Christmas weekend. We need to make some specific Christmas Eve and Christmas Day plans so we can keep busy and make some new memories, instead of being sad to not have family and friends around. I need to figure that out in the next few days. Each year I do this: get through the birthdays and then on Dec 16th I begin thinking about Christmas. Not such a good thing!
Saturday, December 11, 2010
One down, one to go....
One party down, one to go! Just finished Evan's birthday festivity. We took him and 3 friends to a SK Rapid soccer game. I think they all had a great time! We started off here with a few minutes of WII (they LOVE Mario Bros) and then chili dinner and cake before heading off on the schnellbahn (fast train) to the stadium.
It was pretty cold, but we were all bundled up big time. Game ended in a 3-3 tie - so lots of scoring which is always fun. Their fan sections are crazy here in Europe - and it was fun to see (glad we weren't sitting in those sections). They have these flares/fireworks that they do in the stands... another thing that just would NOT fly in the States! :) After the game there was quite the excitement as some Rapid fans went over to the other teams fan section and just started a brawl which immediatly brought out the riot gear cops with dogs etc... Crazy to see. I think that is pretty much the norm. Serious futbal fans over here for sure!
Julia and I prepared the graham cracker gingerbread houses earlier today and she has 10 friends from school coming over at 3:00 tomorrow for house decorating, games and crafts. I asked Eric to bring home a bottle of wine for us for the party - hee hee!
The kids had their holiday concert yesterday and it was so fantastic! So cute and so fun!! The ES music teacher at our school is just phenominal.
Another side note, I met a new friend that just moved here from PA and we are becoming running buddies - which is great for us both physically and mentally!!! Yeah - I love workout friends!!!
Wish us luck for tomorrows party!! :)
It was pretty cold, but we were all bundled up big time. Game ended in a 3-3 tie - so lots of scoring which is always fun. Their fan sections are crazy here in Europe - and it was fun to see (glad we weren't sitting in those sections). They have these flares/fireworks that they do in the stands... another thing that just would NOT fly in the States! :) After the game there was quite the excitement as some Rapid fans went over to the other teams fan section and just started a brawl which immediatly brought out the riot gear cops with dogs etc... Crazy to see. I think that is pretty much the norm. Serious futbal fans over here for sure!
Julia and I prepared the graham cracker gingerbread houses earlier today and she has 10 friends from school coming over at 3:00 tomorrow for house decorating, games and crafts. I asked Eric to bring home a bottle of wine for us for the party - hee hee!
The kids had their holiday concert yesterday and it was so fantastic! So cute and so fun!! The ES music teacher at our school is just phenominal.
Another side note, I met a new friend that just moved here from PA and we are becoming running buddies - which is great for us both physically and mentally!!! Yeah - I love workout friends!!!
Wish us luck for tomorrows party!! :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)