VIENNA: The Opera

Saturday night in Vienna was the best part of all --a visit to the Opera. I love opera and I've always wanted to see the Vienna State Opera. I searched all over trying to find tickets for one of the nights we would be in Vienna and just the week before we left, I finally found some -- for Eugene Onegin, nonetheless. I love Tchaikovsky and his Eugene Onegin is based on a wonderful Pushkin story. The storyline was meaningful (unlike many operas) and the music was beautiful. Fortunately, we were able to read the subtitles in English. (Even though I speak Russian, trying to understand operatic voices is tough.) It was wonderful to be in a place with so much history!

We took this photo when we stopped near the Opera House while exploring the city.

Inside the concert hall. Okay, so our seats were not quite front row.

The end of the performance.

VIENNA: A side trip to Slovakia (and Hungary too)

So we had to do it. Bratislava, Slovakia is only an hour away from Vienna -- and Slovakia is actually a country where I haven't traveled previously. Plus, everyone told us that the city center is charming. Rob decided to bike there, but took a strange route. Fortunately, we took the same off-beat road and discovered him there. It was really strange being in a country where neither of us knew the language. I could comprehend a little Slovak (i.e. the signs, etc.) just because its a slavic language and has some similarities to Russian. Anyhow, the city center is pretty tiny and the food there was quite heavy -- but all was worth the drive. The hilarious part was that, on the way home, Rob missed the freeway exit toward Vienna and we ended up having to go through Hungary before we could turn around. Thus, we ended up in three countries in one day!!!

Here is the family in Bratislava town center.

The girls posing for a picture in front of -- yet another fountain.

Tyler was getting sick of being carted around in the bottom of the stroller.

We had to top off the trip with ice cream, of course!

"Check out my tongue, Mariah!"

VIENNA: Downtown

Rob woke up the next day still a bit jetlagged -- and we all felt a little lazy as you can see -- so the kids climbed in and we all had a snuggle.

Tyler soon got the bed back for himself.

We took the bus and subway into downtown Vienna and it all worked out pretty well. We had a wonderful picnic lunch in a beautiful city park and then took the tram toward the Opera House and then to Belvedere Palace. Belvedere Palace is now an art museum with some great works by Klimt, including "The Kiss," which Rob really wanted to see. Unfortunately, one of our children had a tantrum in the Klimt room, so we didn't stay long. Below is a picture I took of Mara with the ostrich. When she was a baby, I spent a summer with her family. When we took her to the beach, she would just bury her head in the sand. Hence, we called her the Ostrich. Little did I know she would grow up to be a great babysitter for my kids.

Mariah, strutting down one of the main streets of Vienna.

Where do I put the money guys?

This is how we got around most of Vienna -- all three kids in one stroller. It worked well until Mariah toppled off, bringing Tyler with her. Fortunately, he was buckled in and had his "roll bar" up so he was unharmed.

VIENNA: Schoenbrunn Palace

This afternoon we drove over to Schoenbrunn Palace. The girls were thrilled because they have already seen this palace in a "Little Einstein's episode. After racing through the palace glitz and glamour (trying to keep our kids from grabbing things and attempting to skirt past the big tourgroups), we made it out to the beautiful gardens, which go on for miles. The entire place is really almost Versailles or Peterhof worthy. But the favorite part for our kids was the "Tiergarten" (the zoo). Apparently, one of the Hapsburgs started collecting animals and made his animal park available to the public, creating the first public zoo in Europe. Unfortunately, our camera battery died before we got any pictures of this.

Lounging on the immense palace grounds. How would you like this as your backyard?

Sisters at the fountain in front of the palace.

Playing in the park.

VIENNA: Klosterneuberg and the Danube

Finally, our long-awaited trip to Vienna has arrived. Mara and I packed up the girls yesterday and drove the 7 hour (but took us 9 hours) trip ourselves while Rob flew in directly from the U.S. We are staying in a lovely little apartment-hotel in Klosterneuberg, a beautiful old monastery town just outside Vienna.

Here are the girls, ready to go, sunglasses and all!

While Rob took off on a bike ride, the rest of us hiked up the hill to the beautiful monastery church. It was in-session for the Catholic holiday and we were not dressed appropriately, so we did not go inside.

I then joined Rob for a bike ride along the Danube. The pathway apparently goes for miles and miles. And it's all flat -- which was nice for a change. Check out the waterskier behind me. I wish I could have done that!

After grabbing a bite for lunch, we took the girls for a dip in the Danube. It definitely was not very clean.

It's Spring but Feels Like Summer

It is beautiful right now in Switzerland. Look at all the flowers blooming in the fields near our house!

The weather has been so warm lately, we've started using the hose to cool off. Here are some great pictures that Mara took of the girls. Mariah loves the hose -- can you tell? (She actually likes freezing cold baths too!)

It's time for some soup. The girls love making "soup" with wildflowers and water. Then they serve it at "tea time".

More water fun!

This is a great shot of our front patio. We have nowhere else to store our stuff, so it ends up crowded under the shelter by our front door. Not so orderly!

I finally broke down and bought a pool. Mara ran out of breath before she could blow it all up, but the girls love it anyhow.

Anna and the dolphin.

Sisters!

Anna marching along with her friend Ella (and Christina in front).

Swiss Open Air Museum

Today we went to visit the Swiss Open Air Museum near Interlaken. I've wanted to visit this for awhile. Rob was in the U.S. so I thought I'd take Mara and the kids on a fun outing. The museum is a huge collection of traditional Swiss homes from all the different regions of Switzerland. There is so much to explore there--we need to go back! Here we are at the pottery shop.

Anna and Mariah at the woodcarver's shop.

One of the houses had a little built-in forest complete with elves -- just for kids.

The view behind us was breathtaking -- but the kids didn't seem to care.

Of course, the girls could not pass up the chance to go on a carousel. Maybe I should write a book on the carousels of Europe. I'm becoming an expert.

Gotta Go to Rapperswil

No one came come to our town without taking a little boat trip across the lake to Rapperswil. This time, we took Mara and Anna and Mariah had a great time showing her around.

Best friends!

Looking down from the castle/church area into the town.

Daytrip to Glarus and the Walensee

Rob went on one of his crazy long bike rides today so we met him along the way, in the town of Glarus on the acquablue Walensee. We devoured pizza and pasta at a delicious Italian place. Then Rob was off to beat the rain. We stayed around to play in the lake.

Here I am with my sunburned kids. Tyler has a familiar pose -- spit up hanging off of his lips. I've never had such a spitter for a kid.

Mariah and Mara are getting along really well, as you can see.

Duckies Mommy! Duckies!

Yippee!

Happy Birthday Anna!

We celebrated Anna's birthday today. I can't believe it -- she's 4 years old. Where has time gone? Anyhow, Anna Claire has been begging me for a purple princess cake for months now. So I thought I'd try it out. I bought a barbie while in the US. (I am really not a fan of Barbie because it creates unrealistic body image expectations...but I gave in for this.) Then I watched a Youtube video on the subject and gave it a try. That cake may look small -- but it's actually four layers. I even had to glob on extra frosting between the layers to cover up Barbie's long legs. It actually turned out pretty good and Anna loved it!

Here is a close-up of the "masterpiece".

We invited Anna's friend Ella and her family over for cake and ice cream. (I just couldn't do the big party thing this year.) My friend Melanie (Ella's mom) had the idea of putting the candles into the princess hands. It looked great!

Here is the birthday girl! I had made her a beautiful crown (our birthday tradition), but with all the commotion, we forgot to put it on her!

Here is a little peak at all the layers in this cake. Anna wanted chocolate and strawberry so I added vanilla pudding and strawberry jello to yellow cake to make the strawberry part. I believe that cakes should always taste good -- no matter what visual effect you're trying to achieve.

Mara is here!

My cousin Mara arrived yesterday to spend the next 7 weeks with us. We are so excited for her to be here. We wanted her to come longer, but she is going on a mission to Atlanta, Georgia in July. So exciting! The girls are thrilled to have her around. We took a little trip into downtown Zurich to show her around yesterday.

I always take a picture with my kids at this same spot when we go into Zurich, but this time I've got Tyler too!

Oh the many wonderful fountains of Zurich!

Glad to Be Back!

Here are Mariah, Tyler and Rob, lounging in bed together. Still recovering from our flight back from Florida. The vacation was great -- but we were up the entire time on the flight, trying to get the kids to sleep. When we finally arrived home Sunday morning, Rob went hometeaching and I suddenly got a terrible fever. I plopped the kids in front of the TV (what could I do?), put Tyler in bed, fell asleep and woke up with a fever of 104! I called Rob and he came home as quickly as possible to take care of the kids while I basically slept for 24 hours. (Meanwhile, Rob still didn't get much sleep because he had to deal with the kids' jetlag.) What a wonderful husband I have!