Summer in Vienna I

Ah, Vienna!  Ich liebe Wien!  

We are having such a wonderful time.  

It has been about 3 weeks now since we've arrived and so much has happened.

The first week was pretty much a blur.  Traveling internationally with 4 kids, including a tiny baby,  is not the easiest of endeavors. Mostly because you can't really force kids to stay awake/sleep when necessary in an attempt to lessen jet lag.  So, yeah,  we were pretty much total zombies for the first few days.

But even that was great.  :)

There is no way I'll be able to get down here all that we've done/thought/seen.  But some highlights:

Ethan was so excited for his first airplane ride (out of utero)...and since Asher couldn't remember the last time we flew because he was so little---ah!  major excitement.  They all loved the airports,  the baggage check, the loading,  the screens in the seatbacks,  the food (!!), the snacks,  the view. 

We celebrated Ella's 13th birthday at Prater.  Her birthday wish was to ride the Reisenrad ferris wheel and have a cake at the top.  We went to the amusement park and they all went on a few rides (Ella is so fearless!  She and Scott went on a swing that went up about 300 feet----Scott says "295 ft. too much"---and loved it.  The boys did bumper cars with Scott.  I took the three oldest on a roller coaster---man, I hated it!  I also discovered that I have a true fear of ferris wheels---not just the major dislike that I thought I had.  I was so horribly scared on the Reisenrad that I started crying uncontrollably.  Hope it didn't ruin Ella's birthday too much.  

Went to High Mass at Stephansdom.  Oh, wow.  Just wow.  Beautiful choir and orchestra (yes!) and organ playing.

Ella and I are taking German three mornings a week with the other BYU students.

Asher has already found 12 Euro on the street.  Because.....well,  finding stuff is just what Asher loves to do.  He also had the coolest experience at a small fleamarket---got a bunch of old coins for practically nothing (and by that I mean that they were basically given to him by a man that reminded me of an Austrian version of my Grampy),  the oldest coin dates 1756.  More on this story another day.

Eaten a lot of Eis.  Favorite flavors so far:  me and Asher:  Zitrone,  Ethan:  Minz or Hasselnuss.  Ella:  Stracciatella.

We've walked around a lot trying to "get lost" and see what we see.  Amazing churches.  Amazing historic sites.  Cate has now nursed both in St. Stephens and St. Peter's kirche.  The kids have tried to devise all sorts of plans on how to get the 100 Euro notes (multiple) that were dropped into the Roman Ruins that are in front of the Hofburg.  

Walked through the Vienna Woods---listening to sounds of birds that may be similar to those that inspired Beethoven to write his 6th.  This was my wish for my birthday.  Which is today!

Had yummies at Cafe Central where it is believed that Hitler,  Trotsky,  Lenin, Tito,  and possibly Stalin all ate within the same one-month period.  Not together.  :)  

Watched a lot of World Cup Fussball.  Ethan is rooting for Uruguay,  Ella for Germany and Asher is still undecided.

Figured out the train system here (easy) and had all the older kids "get us home" from different locations.

Figured out grocery shopping---perhaps my favorite of things!

The kids have decided that Wien contains the most concentrated population of Susse Hunde (cute dogs) on the planet.  They have decided to make a photo book of all the Viennese cuties they see---and there are a lot of dogs here!  More than children,  I think!----and so they've been taking dog photos left and right.  

Asher went to an opera at the StadtOper with Scott.  And all three older kids went to the Musikverein with me last night to an orchestra concert.  Scott has gone to a ton more.

Discovered that Vienna has the most wonderful playgrounds.  Ziplines.  Tightropes.  Huge sandboxes.  More in a future post.

I'm having some technical difficulties with my photos so I'll post more later but you must have some Eis with us:

After the concert at the Musikverein---eating Eis and heading back to our apartment on the train.