Monkey Business

Squig and Munch Jumpin' on the Bed. Thank goodness no one fell off and bumped their heads. She has so much fun playing with her cousin.

Sorry, No Picture for This One

I just need to update some of you. I think it is official--Augi walks. She is so proud of herself. Crawling is still her fastest mode of transportation, but she can walk just fine. I finally got her on video yesterday. She will be mortified when she is 16 and we show it to her dates--she is completely naked except for a pink cowgirl hat. But, she is walking and smiling. She claps for herself after every few steps. I guess that will stop soon enough. It would be a little weird if we all walked around clapping for ourselves after every step.

A few pictures from our trip

Krumau Pad
All the Kids

Home At Last

Well, we made it home. Augi deserves an award for the best traveling toddler ever. She was so cheerful and friendly with everyone. For those of you who don't know the story, here it is: We left Vienna one our late, but this didn't matter because the flight in Paris was delayed by two hours. I hate that Paris airport. We sat on a bus for ONE HOUR waiting to board the airplane. So, we missed our flight from Atlanta to Salt Lake by about 10 minutes. This was actually ok, though, because we stayed in a hotel for the night and we were better rested for our flight the next morning. I learned from the first flight experience and I only brought one little backpack as a carry on. I even packed the stroller. It made a huge difference. We arrived in Salt Lake around 1030 Monday morning. Augi was confused when she saw her Papa. This lasted about 3 minutes. Now, she cries whenever he leaves the room. She really missed her Papa. I started work again yesterday. I miss my friend Becky, but otherwise work is fine. It was hard to be a way from Augi after spending so much time together. It makes me want to be a stay at home mommy. But, Chris says that I am a much happier person, and therefore the whole family is happier, when I work. Fine. Augi is not walking yet, but she took 8 steps in Krumau. She is getting reacquainted with all of her toys and her puppy. I am sorting through pictures now. I will post a few good ones as soon as I choose some.

Really, the last one...

I had to add one more post. I usually bring a journal with me, but I didn't this time, so this blog has become my journal. Today Augi and I visited an 89 year old woman named Luise. She was a school mate of Agi Plenk! Her daughter, Gaby, picked us up and took us to Luise's home in Schewat. We visited for about 90 minutes. She was hard of hearing, but her English was pretty good. She sent an email to Agi while we were there. Can you believe that? 90 and they are emailing each other! I think Augi's name was inspired by a great person. She told me about the very progressive school she and Agi attended together, called Schwarzwaldschule. It was an all girls school. The headmaster had connections with famous artistists, and some (such as Gustav Klimt) personally trained the girls at the school! This headmaster also believed that young ladies should stay physically fit, so they did daily exercises on the roof of the building. The headmaster was Jewish, so the school was closed during Hitler's time and never reopened. They told me that Agi left the country during the Hitler era because of political reasons. Agi and Henry sent packages to Luise's family after the war because food was scarce. It was wonderful to meet Gaby and Luise. Gaby teaches French at the university.
Okay, this really is the last post.

Last Posting...for a while anyway

Hey Everyone! Okay, we will go to Krumau tomorrow. That means no internet access, i.e., no blog updates for a few weeks. Sorry! I will get to see Jakob and Lukas there, so I am excited about that. Today was a lazy day. We took Alena to Tennis, walked the dog, napped, and that's about it. After Leo got home, we four girls went to IKEA. Leo was very tired, so it was kind of her to drive all the way out there just so I could spend money. I actually only bought a little push toy wagon thingy. They didn't have as many toys as I had hoped. Augi will love the push toy, though. We will wait to open it until after I get home. I don't have any exciting stories for the day. I will be full of them after we get back. Have a happy few weeks and we will post if we can...Auf Wiedersehen!

Can I Eat This? Pleeeeeease!

More Pictures

Um, is this goat dangerous?

Self-Portrait, While Augi Sleeps at Shonbrunn Palace

Alena and Augi at the Casino Park

Taking a Break from Shopping

Pictures, finally

Alena and I are using the silent time while Augi is asleep to put some pictures up.
Augi at the zoo, admiring a duck:

Playing at the zoo

Happy Birthday to Me!

Today is my 32nd birthday. We spent the day shopping for unique little toys for Augi. We found some, but boy are they expensive. That's the weird thing these days, you can find almost anything cheaper on the internet. Or at Target.
We had Gelato and played in a water fountain near the Stephansdom. I'm too tired to post a picture right now. Maybe later.

Austria

Today we went to the zoo, after dropping Alena off at tennis camp. They claim it is the oldest zoo in the world. It was lots of fun. We saw all the typical zoo animals==they even had a panda. They have a really cute little playground. Augi fell asleep on the way out, so I sat on a bench and held her for over an hour. It was hot out, but we found a cool spot in the shade. I watched the ravens fly around and beg for food. I love to sit and people watch. There are so many weird people in the world. There was this middle-eastern group of people taking pictures. For some reason, only one man was in all of the pictures. He would pose in front of this tree and that flower bush. He wouldn't smile, just look really suave. An old guy sat next to us and chatted for a while. He spoke in German, so I couldn't understand everything. We plan to do a little shopping tomorrow. I haven't seen any great toy stores yet.
Augi is getting more comfortable all the time. She loves to laugh at Alena. I can't leave the room, though, or she starts to cry really loud. It must be scary for her to have all these strange people around. She is even afraid of the dog. She laughs and cries at the same time when the dog comes near. The dog is the same way, though. I think Nanny called to warn her before we arrived.

Hello from Austria

This is Augi in the airport, pushing her own stroller.
We made it! Augi is taking a little nap, so I am taking this minute to send a note to everyone. We are 8 hours ahead, just in case you need to know that.
So, we woke up early yesterday morning and started our first flight to Cincinnati by 10 am. We sat next to a very large, but very nice man named Charlie. He was on his way home from his two weeks in the army reserves. Augi loved to pull his patches from his uniform. He was very helpful.
Then, our flight from Cincinnati to Paris was delayed, which meant we would miss our flight to Vienna. Augi met a little boy named Gabriel in the airport. He was three weeks older and French. They kissed immediately when they met. It was very cute. So, we relaxed and enjoyed the trip. We sat in bulkhead seating with no one next to us. So, it was pretty spacious and comfortable. Augi was great. She slept only a little, but she was really good playing and looking at books and flirting with Gabriel across the isle. When we arrived in Paris, I didn't realize what we were in for. Luckily, Gabriel's parents helped guide me around. We waited in a long hot line after riding a long hot bus from the plane to the terminal. Then, my second option flight was booked. So, we had 5 hours to sit in a muggy, dirty, hot airport. A security guard made me cry. I called Christian and he must have thought I was having a nervous breakdown. Augi was understandably grumpy. I had way too much luggage and she wouldn't sit in her stroller.
On the flight from Paris to Vienna we sat next to a friendly french woman. She played with Augi and held her a little. There was a muslim couple from Dubai behind us. The woman had beautiful artwork stenciled on her wrists and ankles with Henna. She asked me if she could hold Augi. Augi was thrilled. She sat on her lap and played with her head scarf and black robe. She tried to smash her husband's glasses and they gave her cookies.
We were so happy to arrive in Vienna, 24 hours after leaving home. The airport felt very familiar and I was able to find what I needed. Christian called Ernst for me and relayed messages because my calling card wasn't working to call Ernst myself.
Leo and Alena picked us up. Alena is darling, and so big. Augi is thrilled to play with her. Leo still looks 21. Ernst was here this morning and brought us sweet pastries for breakfast. Augi woke up a few times in the night and she was a little scared, but she slept pretty well, about 12 hours. She is napping now.
It is very hot outside, like 100 degrees and humid. We will get settled today, nobody is here except the dog. Then, tomorrow we will take Alena to tennis camp and go shopping a little. We will go to Krumau next week. I won't likely be able to post much from there, I don't think they have internet access there.
I tried to post a picture, but it doesn't seem to be working. See you all soon!

Don't Mess with Augi

Isn't she sweet? This might be our last entry for a few weeks. We are off to the land of Edelweisse, Mozart, and Klimt on Saturday. I love this picture. She has this little streak of mean, and Abbie caught it with the camera. My exam is over. There is a 50% chance I passed.
We can't wait for our trip, but we will miss Augi's Papa. I will post notes on this blog if I get the chance (between eating pastries, swimming, and enjoying the company of our friends, of course).

Happy Times

I am supposed to be studying for my licensing exam. I will take it next Thursday. My last practice test was 58%, I need 75% to pass. I used to be such a great student. Now, I just want to hang out with my little girl. I am going to try to pass this silly test, but if I don't, it doesn't matter because I got to see this smile.

I love this little girl

She is amazing. She woke up in the night and pointed to her papa and said, "What's that?" several times. (I often ask myself the same question when I look at him--ha ha). It was so cute, even at midnight. She was a little confused about why he was asleep with us since he is usually banished to the spare room (he gets more sleep that way, so he doesn't complain!) We went to the zoo with Aunt Tammy, Uncle Bruce, Aunt Tabi, Dayton, Sadie, and Avery. Augi was in a pretty good mood. I'm glad her auntie got to see her happy--she has been cranky the last few times Tammy has seen her. Tammy took these pictures. She told me she was sending me some pics from the zoo, but I never received them. So, I stole these from Jenn's blog.

We now have proof...

Aloha!

Little Pukiki was able to attend this year's annual luau--and nobody gave birth. We celebrated her birthday at the luau. It was a little early, but we will be gone on her actual birthday. We have counted up to 78 people who attended--and one little Nanny. It was huge! Next year I am assigning committees for the party.

Bling!

OK--so, some might say it is mean, but it sure is cute! Augi got her ears pierced for her (almost) first birthday. She was amazing. She sat so still and started to cry a little after they were pierced, but stopped immediately when we gave her a lollipop. They really are super cute. Everyone needs a right of passage for their first birthday!
Before the piercing:


After...


And later, with her uncle Josh, looking TOO COOL

Wednesday Play Day

Dayton is here again for a day of fun. I took them out to play in the sun and water. They had so much fun.

Augi and Agi

Tonight we attended a very special event...Agi's 90th birthday party. Most of you don't know that Augi's name was inspired by Agi Plenk. Agi is an important person in my life. She is a fiesty little lady who has made a positive difference in the world. Here they are, Augi and Agi...only 89 years apart!