Memories

I have exactly 4 days left in Austria before I head to Korea on Tuesday. There have been so many great moments that have now been imprinted on my mind and heart. Some of them have been captured on camera. Here are some pictures that, to me, are more lovely than the famous sites and sounds of Austria.

Trying to get the 750-piece New York City puzzle glued on a board. Half success and half failure. We thought we could slide the finished puzzle onto the board. But it didn't quite work out the way we imagined it. We had to rebuild some of New York on the ground quickly as the glue dried.

A huge zucchini picked from Simon's garden. This was not the first nor the biggest...he also grew some amazing pumpkins that were pureed into soup and sold at the restaurant.

Kardinalschnitte - Ingrid and I baked 3 of these...you know, to get it perfect.

Hunting rabbits: Moritz and friend, Luka

Konigswiesen sunset taken at my favorite place in Austria: the Karlingers' terrace. 

Random trip to Friestadt with Ingrid and Moritz. We went to a lovely konditorei and then shopped at Bipa where I got some great baby stuff for Nathan.

Breakfast with the boys. Bread is a must. Nutella is a double must. It didn't take a long time for me to get used to the idea of having chocolate for breakfast.

Fishing with the Karlinger men. It was my first time and we caught 1 big fish and 1 small one (technically we caught 2 big fish, but one got away).

We had to hurry up and fish as it was going to rain soon...usually the two don't go together, but we made it work.  

Tobi was a fishing machine. And he had no fear when it came to sticking worms on the hook or getting the hook out of the fish's mouth. Not for me.

This is what the kitchen looked like most of the time Ingrid and I were in it. We baked...oh probably about 7 or 8 cakes. We ate probably 10 or 12 (including apple strudels and cakes made by Omas and others purchased).

Our faithful friend that never let us down.

Ingrid said she couldn't breath in her dress. I thought she looked lovely.

Picture taken while hiking with Ingrid and Moritz (we had an exceptional amount of food/sweets this day and had to walk some of it off). After the hike we visited Ingrid's cousin and...ate more cake.

Franz's favorite cake that Ingrid and I ate the majority of. It was DELICIOUS. Name of cake: too awful to write.

"Wood chip day": Wood chips were ordered to supply heat for the next year or two for the house (it took 4 large truck containers to accomplish this). The smell of the cut up wood was wonderful. 

A day at the wineries with the restaurant family. Our first stop was to an Ostrich farm, then we headed to two wineries where we eat and drank the afternoon away.

The vineyards were so lovely...and I particularly liked the logo of this winery. The Karlingers get their wine for their restaurant from here.

Me and Clemens (cousin of the boys). He is near and dear to my heart. His shy and sweet demeanor I think was what drew me to him. In this picture he looks deathly afraid of me.

Bowling with the family was a blast. A separate area from the restaurant, we were able to bowl several times and play different games. I think the team that I was on always lost though.

I loved watching the boys assist with Mass (here with Uncle Adi). There was always a scramble to find clean trousers and shoes before they headed out.

Shopping in Moritz's shop was always a blast. He informed me what was on sale and encouraged me to buy more. I coveted Moritz's cash register and scanner...I wish I had something comparable when I was younger. And one of the best things about shopping at Moritz's was he delivered purchases to my room (when he felt like it).

One of my fondest memories: rafting in Krumlov. The weather hovered between rainy and cloudy, our raft was a bit precarious especially when we went over small falls, our level of paddling was poor (not to mention steering the raft), and the desire for the boys to sit in different places during our trip was untimely. Franz, who had rafted with his fishing buddies a few weeks prior exactly on the same route, was frustrated at our inefficient level of paddling (we drifted from one side of the river to the other, rarely going straight and our raft consistently was turned around. On the off chance that we did row straight we would get stuck on a rock and our raft would sit on it until Tobi and/or Simon would hop out and jiggle us around until we were unstuck). My flip flop fell apart and I had to hobble once we got back on solid ground. We almost missed our bus ride back to the car but that might have been okay because our van driver was nuts and he drove as though there was no tomorrow.

Incredible, awesome times.