Biking in Italy!

Rob and I just returned from a wonderful trip to Riccione, Italy (on the Adriatic Coast) where we stayed at a biking hotel on the beach. We left the kids with Mara and spent four days just biking, walking on the beach and eating scrumptious Italian food. We took the train down, which delayed us significantly. While Mussolini may have made the trains run on time, the current government is not doing the same. An eight hour trip ended up taking about 20 hours for us. We spent the night in a wonderful Marriott in Milan, but hopped on a train promptly the next morning, only to wait again in Bologna. Anyhow, when we finally arrived, it was all worth it. The hotel offers bike tours with tourguides for different levels. I did the easier stuff while Rob went with the former cycling pro and did all the really hard climbs. Mine wasn't easy -- we did about 50 km a day -- but it only involved a little bit of climbing. We rode into the tiny country of San Marino one day -- up the mountain to the castletop and then rode back out. Rob and I did a couple bike rides together and that was great fun. Best of all, the food was all-inclusive and absolutely delicious! I think I ate too much of the all-you-can-eat gelato.

Sadly, I broke my camera at the Museum of Transport so I haven't been able to take any pictures since. My bike guide took lots of photos, though, which I'm hoping he'll someday email to me. :)

Baptismal desires. . .

Today we went to the baptism of Tate, the daughter of some friends in our ward. The baptism was after our three-hour church session, so the girls were a bit wild by then -- especially Mariah. After the baptism, we returned to the chapel. Everyone was quiet and reverent during the rest of the meeting, except Mariah, who kept repeating loudly, "I want to get baptized, I want to get baptized. Jesus got baptized. I want to get baptized." She did not want to wait another 6 years, she wanted to do it right then! We all admired her sincere desires, but after hearing it for the entire meeting, it wasn't quite so cute!

Luzern: The Swiss Museum of Transport

Rob did another long ride again today (taking advantage of the long weekend) so we set off to meet him in Luzern at the Museum of Transport. The museum had fantastic views of Lake Luzern. (Whenever I come here, I think of yogurt, because growing up we used to eat "Lucerne" brand yogurt from Albertson's. Weird thought, huh.)

Mom with the kids at the yogurt lake.

The Museum of Transport is fabulous -- it covers the history of cars, planes, trains and space. Everything is in four languages -- including English. Anna Claire and Mariah loved seeing all the old trains.

Mariah and Anna Claire playing in front of the giant airplane.

A little ride in the airplane. . .

Mom's trying it too.

Picnic in Schwyz

Rob did another long bike ride today -- so we met him partway in the town of Schwyz. It's an old, very Swiss town with beautiful views. (See below.)

We ended up eating by a big concrete plaza so the girls could ride their scooters. "Watch my trick!" is Mariah's favorite new phrase. She then puts both feet on her scooter, scrunches down and wiggles her behind. Very cute.

Anna is Speedy Gonzalez on the scooter!

Daddy time with Tyler! "Hi, my son!"

"I love all this attention."

Mariah is ready to drive us back home.

Tyler seems pretty happy about Mariah driving. I'm not!

On the way home, we stopped off near Einseideln and Rob and I biked around the lake while the kids played with Mara. We forgot to bring Tyler's formula (a first) so the trip didn't last long.

Tyler again

I feel bad, but I just haven't documented Tyler's little life with pictures the same way I did with Anna Claire. Poor third child. But he is such a delight. He's calm and really only cries when he's hungry or tired. He loves his little tummy swing. He can push it with his legs. Looks kind of like a baby pilates thing!

Anna Claire and Mariah love him -- sometimes a little too much -- as this picture demonstrates.

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.