Today's Highlights

#1: We had our move out inspection at our apartment this morning. We turned in our keys and climbed the million stairs for the last time. We received our entire security deposit back, too, which is great! In Austria, security deposits are typically 3 months rent, so it's pretty significant.

#2: Cole and I watched videos of tractors on You Tube this morning. Definitely today's winning activity! He's been saying tak ta, tak ta, tak ta all morning long.

Well, tomorrow is our last day in Vienna. We are hoping to go to a beach on the Danube River if it's nice, but the weather has been cooler lately, so it may be that we end up at the Prater park, a place we wanted to visit once more anyway. It feels good to be near the end, and we are glad we've had this last week without too much business to take care of.

We fly to Indianapolis on Friday, so if you think of it, please pray for a safe trip and a positive day with Cole! I've been dreading the 10 hour flight with Cole in such a small space. He does have his own seat, though, and I have a few new surprises along with some of his favorite toys and books, and snacks of course, for entertainment. We'll blog again when we're in the USA!

Swimming!

Since our apartment work is now finished, we decided to spend the morning swimming and relaxing at Bundesbad Alte Donau. Austrians LOVE swimming and relaxing, so there are public pools and beaches all over the city, especially along the Danube River. The place we went today has lots of clean green shady and sunny spaces just like a park, and right next to it is a really nice rocky beach. Cole loved the rocky beach and the water! He sat for literally an hour dropping rocks into the water and then going down to pick them up. We took lots of pictures, but we won't be able to upload them until we get to the USA. Stay tuned!

Staff Moms

I spent a lot of time with these ladies this year! These moms have kids from newborns ranging all the way up to college students. This is at our last gathering in Marci's backyard a couple weeks ago. It was so nice this year to have a group of moms for support and just to hang out with during the day since everyone else was at VCS. I'll miss that!

Container Day

Well, today is a BIG day in our moving life. As I type, Chris and some faithful helpers are loading a 40 foot shipping container that will be sent to Normal, IL. The shipping company allots you 2 hours to strategically pack your own things, so I'm sure the guys are working hard and fast. A bonus of being pregnant and chasing a toddler all day...no loading containers for me!

In the last few days, we have sealed and labeled about 90 boxes and items to be shipped. We combined forces with 2 other families so the whole container is not ours. It should take about a month to arrive, and then we will drive to pick it up when Chris returns from Austria in August. Hopefully we will then have a home by then so we have a place for our things to land.

A few things, too, about moving in Europe. One, unless you are independently wealthy, you usually do the moving yourself. People in Austria rarely move due to the huge hassle of navigating one way city streets or public transportation, hauling boxes and furniture up and down narrow spiral staircases, and lack of parking or moving help. Two, families in Austria often buy or rent an apartment for a long time, so moving every couple years is often unheard of. The neighbors in our building have been shocked watching us the last few days. They have been asking questions, too, that we would never get in the USA. Three, due to this tendency for renters to stay a while, rental contracts are very detailed and full of requirements. So now that our apartment is empty and we are temporarily staying in another family's place, we still have to clean, paint the walls with a fresh coat of white paint, clean the windows, and polish the floors.

Our goal is by the end of this week to be completely finished with our apartment. Then we'll have one week left to enjoy Vienna, responsibility free!

We're in the Club!

Ever since I can remember I have heard about how little kids get free treats at the grocery store just because they are cute. People in Austria LOVE little kids, and often go out of their way (especially elderly folks) to say hello or ask a slew of questions about how old the baby is or if it's a boy or girl. Well, my friend Laura's 2 year old daughter, Rebecca, is so cute that she's often the recipient of a free piece of meat from the deli, and even recently she received a free krapfen, which is the Austrian version of a filled donut.
I have been so jealous of this, mainly because up until 2 days ago, no one even batted eyes at Cole. The cashiers are often frustrated with his perfect ability to snatch anything off the check out shelves or conveyer belt!
So 2 days ago, I was buying turkey at the deli, and low and behold, the lady held out a FREE PIECE OF MEAT for Cole! I was shocked...so shocked that I called my friend Laura just to tell her that we are officially in the free meat club for kids. And then today I was at Chris's favorite chocolate store in Vienna, Xocolat, looking for a Father's Day gift. By the way, Father's Day in Austria was LAST Sunday, so you can imagine how crazy I sounded when I told the lady in German that I was looking for a Father's Day gift. Anyway, I was paying for the item we found for Chris and the very nice chocolate saleslady offered Cole a FREE PIECE OF CHOCOLATE! Yes, we are also now in the free chocolate club for kids, too. Why did this start happening NOW, when we only have 2 weeks left in Vienna? :) Do they do this in the USA?

Goodbyes stink!

This is my good friend, Laura. We took this picture at the 5K race we did a couple weeks ago. She lives just 3 blocks away from us and has 2 girls, one older than Cole and one younger. We played with them at least once a week all year long, and Laura was always the one who received my phone calls about baby medicine, solid food, or questions about anything else having to do with raising kids. I even called her the other day when I saw some naked kids at a downtown park because I knew she'd get a kick out of it! It has been so much fun to live life with Laura this year, and I honestly feel like no one else really understands my life with a baby here as much as she does. She was also a teacher when she came to Vienna, and has made the transition to mom life. So we spent our last morning together with the kids at the park today, and then said goodbye. She and her family are leaving for the summer tomorrow, but are coming back for another year at VCS. I'm learning that the saddest part of leaving VCS is leaving the people that you experience life with here. Goodbyes just stink!

New Words!

Cole just said CHEESE for the first time. Yahoo! He also says tractor, car, and a few other mumbles that mean something. We are constantly amazed at how fast Cole learns. Wow!

What's Cole Been Up To?

Baby yoga?

Chris found a 50 inch plasma screen TV box in our building's trash room, and now it has become Cole's garage.

I decided that today would be a good day to try drinking from a real cup, versus a sippy cup. Cole and I made smoothies (yes, he dropped the strawberries and bananas in the blender for me) for a snack this afternoon, and I let Cole have his in a big boy cup...in a diaper in the bath tub! As you can see, not much hit the mouth, but it made for a funny and cool afternoon in this hot Vienna weather!

Prater & Happy Crispy

The picture above is of Prater, our favorite park that's really close by. As we pack and bubble wrap and say goodbyes, we have been thinking also of the places we love in Vienna. This is one of our favorites! I hope we can get there at least a few more times before June 29. We're up to our ears, though, in boxes, canceling utilities, end of the year school stuff. School ended just yesterday, and all the staff are finished tomorrow. All except the business manager and a few chosen folks. Chris is working a few days longer to wrap up some stuff in the office and get ready for Jeff, the new business manager coming in August. After that, we're going to spend more time at Prater!
This is happy Crispy at Matt's birthday party last week. Who wears mesh shirts still, you may ask? Crispy...just to get looks from passers-by. Chris has been a packing maniac recently, and I am so thankful. Being pregnant has made me more tired than I anticipated, and he has definitely picked up the slack. I think he secretly enjoys packing boxes, though, it's like a puzzle system. I'd rather just throw it all in and send it away! Chris makes sure, though, that we'll arrive in Indiana with all of the stuff we left Vienna with in one piece. Whew!

Oesterreichischer Frauenlauf 2007

Today was the 20th Annual Austrian Women's Run in the Prater Park...just a few minute walk from our building. The scenery is beautiful and I think about 15,000 women participated this year. I think it's turning into a tradition for VCS women to run in this race, which makes it all the more fun to participate. It was a lot of fun! Chris and Cole had a lot of fun cheering from the side lines, too. Unfortunately, when I ran by, Cole was mesmerized by the crowds that he didn't see me at all! Bummer.