Forests and Vineyards

We live on the side of hill which has either forests or vineyards. It is ideal. We take daily walks in the forest together. And last weekend we were able to have a date in the vineyards, stopping by three local stands to try their seasonal ''new wine''. It was such a gorgeous evening, and the atmosphere at each stand was special. We enjoyed the walking and sitting and talking and admiring the beauty in nature and the community around us.

A rainy morning walk

A date to visit three vineyard stands in Brunn am Gebirge

Blogging buddies

I think I have something like three years of blog posts to catch up on...if I ever actually do it. Anyway, I thought I would at least take a stab at it. My main reason for posting photos is to have a digital photo album for the kids and relatives and friends, so I am motivated to not give up on it just yet. The weather has been dreamy here the past few days, and so Eva and Tiger Lily have been sitting with me in the shade on the balcony after school. Shalom moments.

Garden beds!

Our garden (backyard) is coming together, thanks to Gregory (and Nathanael's!) hard work. (Eva and I help with keeping them company sometimes.) More pictures to come soon. Gregory planted our hedges in the beds last week! He is working on a couple last touches for the beds, so I will wait to post those pictures. Grass will be laid in less than two weeks!

Pictures in reverse order...because I am lazy to reverse them...

 

Making new friends

It is difficult starting at a new school and knowing almost no one, but Eva is managing it really well.  She misses her grade school friends, and we will definitely be seeing them from time to time, but it sure made this mom's heart happy when she had a friend over to visit on the first weekend after school started. So many prayers are being answered for relationships with friends and teachers.  Thank you, God.

 

Back to School again

I didn't remember to take any back-to-school pictures last week. Haha!  This was from a few weeks earlier when we bought Eva new shoes.  We have an 8th grader and 5th grader this year.  Here in Austria, that means that Eva just started at high school (which is high school and middle school all together in one building).  She is in the dual language program, similar to Nathanael's bilingual program, so she has a lot of English education mixed in with the German schooling.  Both kids seem to have adjusted well, and we are thrilled with the school, their teachers, and friends.

2023 Summer Staycation

With our move to Maria Enzersdorf in July, we decided to use our week-long vacation in August to explore the area and do fun outings every day.  We ate a lot of delicious food.  We discovered a great local lake for swimming and an awesome pool complex in Baden.  We overdid it at Jumpin Warrior. We took a day at Family Park (it was soooo hot).  The kids taught us Minecraft. We went to a couple look-out towers in the woods nearby.  And did I mention a lot of great food?  It was definitely a FULL week, and I am not sure I would do it that way again, but we had a blast and loved getting to know our area better.

 

Our car

 We are so excited that we have access to this car through a car sharing app.  It is just around the corner from our home, and we can often use it without any advanced notice.  Or we can make a reservation.  It has come in handy for quick trips to the hardware store.  Those happens A LOT.

Our local castle

We live near this castle.  It is beautiful.  We love seeing it from different angles and in different types of weather.

First Family Visit

We had so much fun having the Bryans visit from London!  Cousins are definitely special.  We packed a lot in the few days we had together!