Fall Fun

We love Autumn in Vienna.  We often try to spend our Saturday mornings at some of our favorite parks, taking advantage of the last few weekends of comfortable outdoor play.

Our favorite place is Kurpark Oberlaa, also known as WIG.

This giant swing is one of our favorites!

Next on our list is the Wienerberg, which is a tad bit closer for us.

I promise I told them to say cheese, not show me their food. *sigh*

As for indoor, rainy day fun, we pull out all the stops.

Beans!

And "construction" play with the circus tent!

This kid totally killed me his first time to play the full-blown version of Battleship!

A Visit from the Bryans

Andrew and Angie and cousin Desmond came to visit us the weekend before school started (Aug/Sep).  It was wonderful to have them here.  We basically took them on a pub crawl, um, I mean a park crawl!  Three young kids on warm days in a small apartment = get them outside and running around!

We also fit in a train ride and bumper cars at Prater, of course!

I think we were having so much fun that we simply forgot to take pictures!

Re-settling and enjoying life

I thought I'd share a few happenings from the kids' lives.

Pile on Daddy

On Wednesday afternoons, Nathanael has soccer training following by religion class.  That means, I pick him up at noon, bring him home for lunch and homework, and then we return by 13:40 for his afternoon classes.  To his sheer delight, we also bring one of his friends with us since he lives quite a bit further away.  It is so much fun to have a friend with you to share a meal and do homework and then learn how to play soccer!

We caught the scooters on clearance on Monday and bought one for Nathanael!  We're excited about family walks with Nathanael on his scooter (he was too fast on his bike) and Eva on her balance bike.

Two weeks ago on Saturday morning, Eva informed me that she was finished wearing diapers and would be wearing her pretty underwear.  I was a bit shocked and taken aback but gladly went with it.  She has been amazing.  I'll spare you the gross details and simply say that we've had a few struggles here and there, but now that we're approaching the two week mark, I think I can safely say that she is toilet-trained.  She will go with people other than me now (a huge relief!), and she's doing great with it.  I am celebrating this huge milestone, enjoying NOT buying and carrying home diapers, and trying to keep up with the increased demand for toilet paper in our home.

(I figured out a decent replacement for Ramen Noodle Soup!)

Rainy day fun with umbrellas

Picking up Nathanael at school after soccer and religion

Our church held an awesome neighborhood outreach for kids:  Lego City!  It was a Friday evening / all day Saturday project for elementary-aged kids, and it concluded with a special Sunday morning service and the Lego City on display.  Nathanael was sad that he was too young to attend (by one year!), but it was awesome to see what the kids had built.