Fayetteville living

Seems like we need a post about how life is now that we are back.

First, it was great to have the party on Thursday night.  Sure, it was only the second day after we arrived, and yes, we were still a big jet lagged, but there is something very nice about having 50 or so folks stop by to say, "glad you're back."  It's nice of folks to say that.

Second, the sabbatical book that we've used for advice said that most folks would like a 25-word response to the question of, "how was your year in Austria?"  I'm not sure if it is the folks that I've been talking with or I've just plowed on, but I've been able to tell quite a few of our stories to various folks.  It's been fun and I've learned a lot about experiences of other folks that lived abroad. 

Third, I can see that the biggest challenge will be returning to a car-based culture.  Sue and I have both gone for walks in the morning just to get some exercise and think it's so hard to do that after we used to walk miles every day just in the course of our daily lives.  It just seems pretty pointless to "just walk."  I've already considered quite a few options for parking my car along the way to work and then walking the remaining distance.  It seems a little odd to do that, but that's the best plan I have so far and the trail is nice from the library to the campus.

Fourth, the second-biggest challenge will be avoiding processed food.  I never even thought about this in Graz because most things weren't.  But in the US, a lot of stuff is.  So, I've started shopping at our organic market (ONF), which takes about 20 minutes round trip vs. Harp's, which takes less than 10 minutes round trip (and most times I still have to go to Harp's -- so, it really adds a half hour or so to shopping).  But ONF is about 2-3 times as expensive and just because it is organic does not mean that it is not processed.  We've also tried a local farmer's market, but it's just so small and limited as compared to the farmer's market in Graz we went to.  So, we have a partial solution, but not a full one for this challenge.  On the bright side, I've enjoyed cooking things that we didn't cook in Graz.

Fifth, I like that although we are back we've pretty much stayed to ourselves.  Outside of the party and a play date for Grace, we've been hanging out at the house and the pool a lot.  I really appreciate that we became closer as a family in Graz and it's nice to see that we are still tightly knit.  Henry and Grace continue to play with each other for hours on end, which is great to see (sure, there are some fights in there, but they keep coming back to each other is my point).

Sixth, we are really taking this moving in process pretty gently.  We are trying to integrate all of Russ/Sue's stuff and postponing the kids' stuff (i.e., the toys they returned with).  The upstairs is packed with kids toys and a majority of the boxes in the bonus room are stuff that we don't need/want/etc.  Unfortunately, they are in front of boxes that we do need (e.g., all of Sue's and my clothes are in boxes in the way back -- we should have had those things packed up last!).  So, we do a few boxes every day, tossing lots of stuff as we go.  We may never finish, but I think we can live with a de-cluttered downstairs and a cluttered upstairs for a while, right?  Eventually we'll rent a dumpster, put it in the driveway and push boxes out the window ... at least, that's my dream :-)

I'm sure I'll think of other stuff to add as time goes on ... let me know if there is something particular you'd like me to comment on.

Russ

Home to Home Journey

12:01a CDT (7:01a Graz time)

A mere 24.5 hours door to door.

I'm trying to get the kids, who are extremely and understandably excited to go to bed. Hope I'm successful soon.

One reflection: we have a beautiful and gigantic house.

On our way

11:30p CDT (6:30a Graz time)

All of our luggage arrived safe and sound, which is no small miracle given that three different airlines were involved today.

We're in a van heading home, very tired, and struggling to remember how to give directions to our house. Can't remember the names of streets!

Sent from my iPhone

XNA

11:09p Fayetteville time (6a Graz time)

Landed at XNA :-)

Ready to board in Dallas

After a potential scare with agriculture, we passed through customs. Then into our fourth security check of the day.

Observation: the US TSA is the least helpful security system we've encountered in some time.

We are now awaiting our departure to XNA with a very punchy son.

We thought they'd be like this ... 

But this picture, taken before the above, shows that they were just acting for the camera above :-)

Back in the USA

6:58p Dallas time (1:59a Graz time)

We've landed and are back in the USA.

Not much sleep in the flight. In order of amount of sleep: Henry, Russ, Sue, Grace.

Onto immigration, customs and security (again!).

Most (but not all!) of our luggage!
This is our checked luggage and this woman was very helpful to us.

How long?

Sue just calculated that the flight from London to Dallas is 10 hours long ... uggh!

Sent from my iPhone

Another airport, another trip through security

I am beginning to see a pattern: arrive, hit the restroom, realize we have to go through security again, chug all the water in our bottles, go through security, find a place to buy more water.

This trip through security was made more special by having them unpack every single item out of my backpack so that they could swab most all of them. Re-packing was only a 10-minute diversion ... what's my beef? It's all in the name of security.

Arrival in London

1:00p London time (2p Graz time)

Arrived. Lost count of the number of times one of us said, "look at this ... it's in English!"

Grace chastised me for saying, "danke."

At our gate to London

Had to switch terminals, get boarding passes, go through passport control and security again ... would have been nice to be warned about that when we checked in! But hey, we're at our gate on time.

Vienna

8:30a

In Vienna enjoying our last Sacher Torte on our 3-hour layover.

On board and Grace ok

7:48a

On board. Great satisfaction in seeing all our luggage go up the conveyor to the luggage hold.

And with another dose of antibiotic in her, Grace appears to be doing well. She says, "at certain times a little tired and a little cold."

Bye, Bye, Graz :-(
Do you see that small, kind of H-shaped section of green in the middle of the Graz?
That's Stadt Park and the Schlossburg near our apartment.

At the Flughafen

7:14a

All ready to depart. It was touch and go at security ... both kinder had miniature Eiffel towers that looked suspicious on the X-ray :-)

Finally found that perfect souvenir :-)

Rise and shine

5:15a

Awake!

With any luck we will be home in 25 hours or so!

These folks look ready for a long day, don't they?

Packing Day

Sue and I designated today (Sunday) as "packing day."  It was time to figure out what was going and what was staying.  And then, how would we fit everything into its respective box/bag.  No easy task when you have much more stuff than when you came (and there are only so many kids clothes and shoes that you can leave behind).  Thankfully, we sent home two bags early (Sue's sister Sarah and a colleague Sarah who took home a bag from the conference in France).  As you'll see below, that helped a great deal!

And we had very, very generous help today.  Loulou volunteered to take the kids for the day.  I dropped them off around 10a and Loulou and Carlo entertained them with playing, watching movies, baking a cake, lunch, etc.  She brought them back at 5:30p!  You cannot imagine how much easier packing went when Sue and I could work through things without having every decision second guessed by the peanut gallery.  And you should have seen us ... we had a piece of paper that listed every box/bag, how much it currently weighed, and then how much all the stuff that we still had to pack weighed (e.g., swimsuits:  3.5 pounds, clothes in laundry:  5.2 pounds, medication buckets:  5.0 pounds, etc.).  We would look at the volume and the weight left in the bag/box and try things out until everything fit within the 50.4 pound (23 kg) limit.  Two engineers at their finest :-)

Anyway, in the end, we leave like the way we came:  4 boxes, 2 suit cases, 2 duffel bags (all 8 of these loaded to about 48 pounds), 2 roller-boards, 4 packpacks, 2 car seats and 1 honey bear.  We will be a site tomorrow night heading to the airport to check-in.  Which, by the way, we are doing the night before so that we don't have to show up much earlier and have that stress the (early) morning of the departure.  Isn't that a nice service (allowing you to check in the day before)?  We certainly think so and had never heard of it (another thank you to Loulou for telling us about this!).

Postscript (Monday):  We made it!

Hard to see ... 4 boxes, 2 suitcases, 2 duffle bags,  2 car seats in our entry way. 

Three cart's worth of luggage at the Graz Flughafen.

23 kg per bag gave us a limit of 184 kg ... what were we worried about?!

A victory lap of sorts ...

We've had a few fun moments lately and though they'd be more fun to blog on than packing (which has consumed us for a few days!).

Henry graduated from kindergarten!  His school held an interesting ceremony with songs and music that included the graduating children circling the play area in front of teachers, parents and younger students that will continue on in the school next year.

The graduates take a lap around the garden at the school

And then the teachers chased these kids with brooms to symbolically kick them out of the nest.  Henry enjoyed this immensely!

Henry makes it around another lap without being slapped with a broom!

Henry received his "gift cone" from his teacher, Frau Rita.  This is a traditional Austrian way of packaging presents for children, especially for the first day of class.  This is one that has Henry's name on it and he decorated it.  Sue and the kids tried to buy these as presents to bring back to the their friends, but they are not in stock this time of year.  In the fall, not only can you buy them empty and fill them yourself, but you can also buy them at the bakery filled with sweets.

Frau Rita is retiring this year.  Henry is part of her last, and best, class :-)

Bike ride with Loulou tough!  Last weekend we made a day trip with Loulou, Renato and Carlo.  The original plan was to head up to Schökel (Henry wanted to ride the carts again) and then stop by a lake for a swim on the way home.  Oh, and Loulou wanted to take me out for a countryside bike ride.

Sue heard this plan and thought, "that's a lot to pack into one afternoon!"  And Grace thought that it would be a tough hike in hot weather (or a long gondola ride in a really hot car).  So, we kept the bike ride and the lake, with Loulou and I riding there and Sue, Renato and the kids driving.  We would all meet at the lake, swim, and then we'd come home (ride/drive).

The bike ride there was 20 miles/33 km through rolling terrain.  That made it the longest bike ride of my life.  Combine that with the fact that I've not ridden outdoors in forever and not been to a spin class in Austria, and that it was hot, etc.  Anyway, I was beat when I arrived at the lake ... and I still had to ride home!

The lake was fun.  We all played in the water and the pool.  The kids played at the beach.  We ate some food, got ice cream, etc.  It was great ... except that I couldn't relax!  I had to keep hydrating and restoring my electrolyte balance.  I finally caved and asked Loulou if there was a shorter path home.  She said sure, but it was really steep uphill and then almost all downhill the rest of the way.  Thankfully Renato saved the day by offering to drive us to the top of the hill!  So, a very gentle 10-mile ride back was a great way to end a fun day and a new experience :-)

Final dinners with friends!  We are in the process of saying good-bye to our friends ... at least until next year.  It started last Friday with Francesco's family (Francesco being Graces's best friend at school).  Virginia and Pablo are from Argentina, lived in Germany and Canada before moving to Graz last year.  It was nice to enjoy dinner with them.  Grace then stayed over for a sleepover as I took Henry home and Sue went out for cocktails with the international women's group.

Saturday was the outing above with Loulou, Renato and Carlo.  It was to be the last time we'd see Renato for the year.  We've really enjoyed outings with him and his family and it's very sad to think that we won't see them for a while!

Sunday was a quick visit over to Silvia and Peter's.  Silvia adopted us early on and made sure we knew everything we needed to know.  And they had lent me the backpack I used in France.  So, we went over to return the backpack and have afternoon desserts.  It was also great that their two children, Anna, one of the kids' babysitters, and her brother Thomas were there.  With time spent in the US and then The Netherlands, before returning to Silvia's home country, they have great stories of time spent living elsewhere.

Tuesday I gave my final lecture at TUG.  I talked about my consulting project with SSI.  I tried to share both the technical aspects as well as the social aspects of introducing change to an organization.  There were some ups and downs on the project in terms of getting folks to open up to a new way of doing things.  And because I'm an American, I'm sure there were some cultural aspects that didn't go as well as they could have.  But in the end, every single person at my final presentation at SSI (which occurred the week before) was in favor of deploying the computer tool that I developed.  In other words, a big success!  Anyway, I gave my lecture and then the institute hosted a bar-b-que in my honor.  It was very well attended and Sue and the kids came as well to receive a couple of small parting gifts.

This Friday night we had dinner with Jörg, his wife Rita, and their 12-year old granddaughter Jolanda.  Jörg is who got this whole sabbatical started by hosting a conference here 8 years ago.  We reminisced on that event and how he made everything so easy to setup for the sabbatical.  The highlight of the night, though, was the extensive exchanges between Grace and Rita.  Rita was so pleased to see (hear) how much progress Grace has made with her Deutsch.  I even pulled out my John White (from the UofA) line, "I'm often pleased, but rarely satisfied."  But I told her that I was quite satisfied and proud with how well she's learned German this year.  And wouldn't you know it, I heard Henry saying a word or two of German under his breath!

No Jörg in the picture :-(

Last night we had dinner with Miriam, Robert, Antonia and Quentin.  Another multi-lingual family with a British husband, an Austrian wife, and time spent living in the US and Australia in addition to England and Austria!  We had dinner at our favorite pizza place (at our "usual table") and even the weather cooperated to make it "just like old times" ... it poured on us on the way home -- we've had rain every time we've gone to dinner with them!  Our kids seem like they are really starting to gel (their two are two years younger than our two) and when they came back to our apartment so that Robert and Miriam could pick up some of our books, the kids went right to work trying to demolish the place!  Thankfully our security deposit still looks secure :-)

Robert, Sue, Miriam (back); Quentin, Antonia, Grace and Henry.

And tonight, it's the last meal we'll share with Loulou and Carlo.  As I draft this, Loulou has had our kids since 10a this morning so that Sue and I could pack up all of our stuff without having a junior committee of two second guessing our every move/decisions.  It has been bliss, actually!  Loulou texted to say they've played well, made a cake together, were watching a movies and then they'd have cake and she'd bring them back.  What a great rainy day set of activities and what a great friend!  As I type this, the sun just came out for the day (it's been raining almost non-stop since dinner last night) and they are heading over to have a simple dinner together and to take some of our leftover food and wine home with them (and hopefully some books to save for the English-speaking group's book sale).  This will be the hardest good-bye ... our families have become close with all of our day-trips in the region together.

Loulou, Russ, Sue (back); Carlo, Grace and Henry.

France Trip

This has the potential to be a rather long post.  I'll do what I can to keep it short ... let's see how I do!

The basic overview.  The International Material Handling Conference is held every two years and every other time in the US or abroad.  I've attended every one since 1994 and I was part of the 4-person planning committee for the IMHRCs held in 2002 (Portland, Maine), 2004 (Graz, Austria), 2006 (Salt Lake City), 2008 (Dortmund, Germany), and 2010 (Milwaukee).  So, as you might guess, this is THE conference that I look forward to every other year.  And because I've been so involved, Sue knows many of the participants.  So, it's a good one to try and get Sue and the kids to (Sue has been to every one hosted outside the US and this was Grace's third one and Henry's second!), but because it is so jam-packed, they usually leave early or stay late.

The Rotunde Fountain:  We met here at 7:50a every day (conference)

The IMHRC this year was held in Gardanne, France, which is in the south of France.  We stayed in hotels in Aix-en-Provence (this is where Cézanne is from).  It started with a reception on Monday night and concluded with a dinner on Thursday night.  Sue and the kids flew in with me on the Saturday before and we had two days before the conference started.  They left on Wednesday morning so that the kids would (only) miss three days of school that week.  I stayed through the end of the conference on Thursday and then my annual hiking buddy, Brett Peters, and I were joined by research pal, Eric Ballot from a university in Paris, to hike the Alps on the France/Italy border Friday afternoon through Sunday afternoon.  Eric caught a train back to Paris on Sunday and Brett and I stayed in Lyon and parted ways Monday morning at the airport.  So, as you can tell, there is a lot packed into this trip!

I'll try to hit the highlights ...

Grace at the beach!

Before conference:  Henry woke up Sunday morning with a high temperature, a splitting headache, and no appetite.  I jumped into a cab to the only pharmacy open on a Sunday morning and got him the French equivalent to Tylenol for children.  Sue stayed with him in the morning while I took Grace to the beach in Marseille.  It took a while to get there and back (bus to subway, walk a bit to a bus, and then walk more to the beach), but Sue and Grace went out for a late lunch (for Sue) and ice cream while I stayed with Henry.  We also had some good fortune in that another guest at the hotel needed a doctor and the folks at the front desk knew about Henry and the doctor came by to confirm that yes, this was just a virus, and yes, the pharmacist recommended the correct course of action.  Interesting story:  After telling Grace that the lifeguards probably didn't have much to do (I actually said, "probably only one rescue a month."), we saw two children being rescued by adults that weren't the children's parents within half an hour of each other.  But like I said, the lifeguards ...

Woo Pig Sooie!

As luck would have it, our big plans for the trip were for Monday and Henry woke up feeling good with a strong appetite and no fever, so we continued with our plans.  And what plans they were!  As you have no doubt learned by reading our blog entries, Sue always finds the most fun thing to do with kids wherever we travel.  And AIX was no exception:  going for a hike with a llama!  That's right ... we journeyed outside the city a bit to a farm where they have llamas.  After about a 1-hour tour of all the other animals (dogs, chickens, ducks, geese -- more on one of these later!, a giant pig, horses, goats, etc.), we received instruction on llamas (don't touch their face or their legs), brushed them to get to know them, and then took them on a short walk around their property.  If we would have been up for it, she also takes guests and llamas on extended hikes where the llamas will carry the stuff (but not people).

Anyway, it was such a unique experience and a lot of fun.  I was so impressed to see Henry and Grace leading their llamas around the hills over AIX.  In fact, when the halters of Grace and Henry's llamas were removed, their llamas were so at peace with them that they just stood there to get more petting.

Grace, Henry, Susan and Sue lead their llamas away from the farm.

When I set up the outing (Sue's about ideas, I'm about execution!), the owner asked if we wanted to bring a picnic or should she provide it.  I said the latter.  So, when we were done with the llamas, she said to take a dip in the pool (we had brought suits) while she prepared our picnic.  We had in mind cheese and break and some wine (we're in France, right?).  Anyway, she prepared us a 4-course meal, complete with French foie gras, spreads, salads (course 1), steaks and potatoes (course 2), different French cheeses (including one that was close in taste to Gouda, which I told her the kids love, but she said that she couldn't serve because it's Dutch and not French!) for course 3, and then a local pastry for course 4.  Wow, does she need to learn what the word "picnic" means!

Group shot!  Bill, Susan, Grace, Russ, Henry and Sue

Bill and his girlfriend!

And one of the things that made this outing even more special is that we shared it with our friends Bill and Susan that have pretty much been our sabbatical counselors this year.  They've adopted us and shared the wisdom of their sabbatical in Munich about 10-12 years ago (their son was about 10 at the time) at key points and brought us US treats, etc.  So, this outing was a way for us to say thanks.  As it turns out, they had as good a time as we had, especially Bill, who attracted the top female goose who clearly thought of herself as a human.  They were almost inseparable.  I always knew Bill was good with the chicks :-)


Anyway, we highly recommend this if you visit AIX.  Here's the info.  Marie-Sophie Raud, Aix-en-Llama:

http://aixenlama.fr
mariesophie@aixenlama.fr
+33 06 68 18 84 27

We recommend you call vs. e-mail (she's outside all day and hates the Internet).

The IMHRC is a great conference, but the schedule is grueling (meet at the fountain by 7:50a every morning and return to the hotel around 11:30p or midnight every night).  Of course, the evenings were quite enjoyable, with lots of social time and good sites to see.

The IMHRC is known for its outings:  Russ on the cliffs above Casis.

In the interest of your time and mine, I'll skip to the post-conference hiking trip.  When you hike in the Alps, you hike hut to hut (much like in New Hampshire in the US).  Although I missed the camping, I didn't miss the weight of a tent, sleeping bag, stove, lots of food, etc. on my back, I can tell you that.  We hiked 4 miles in on Friday afternoon after driving 3 hours to the trailhead.  It was an easy hike and we enjoyed a great french lunch.

Backpacking ... French style :-)

Nice views, right from the start ... 

When we arrived at the hut, we claimed beds on the bottom level of the bunks, checked dinner time (6:30) and headed out for a 10,000 foot summit 4-5 miles and 4,000 feet of elevation gain away.  Well, we didn't make it to the summit, but we cleared 9,000 feet and saw some great terrain and make it back at 6:33 for dinner :-)

We were trying to make it up to that peak ... 

We almost made it by our turn-around time ... don't ask me what I'm doing ... skiing down the side of the mountain?

One of the differences between US and European national parks is the use of the parks by animals for grazing.  We had a herd of big, beautiful cows grazing pretty close to our hut.  One of the advantages, besides hearing their awesome cowbells, is that we had fresh butter and milk.  The milk was not homogenized and it had a little cream skim on the top, just perfect for making hot chocolate in the morning!

Eric told Brett and I that Saturday was going to be a "big day."  He even wondered if we should get up before sunrise to be ready to go at first light.  As it turns out, he was right.  We hiked for almost 12 hours!  Before the trip we told Eric that Brett and I usually go for 10-15 mile days and 2,500 feet or so of net elevation gain.  Well, in Europe they measure trails by time (which sounds bizarre at first, but you soon realize that either system is flawed) and total elevation.  So, your classic apples to oranges comparison when he said that this hike was 8 hours and 7,000 feet of elevation.  The 8 hours sounded do-able, but the 7,000 feet was way intimidating.  But hey, we had light loads and he was sure we could do it.  So, we tried.

One of our first passes of the day.

Ibex!  Most of you know that I'm a big fan of wild goats since my days on Crete in high school :-)

Well, we must be too old to hike at the speed they think because, as I said, it took us 12 hours (with two lunch breaks of 20 minutes or so each).  But that 7,000 feet was A LOT, especially with the heat (and subsequent dehydration).  But, on the bright side, another Eric surprise ("hey, do you guys have ice axes for crossing snow fields?  No?  I'll bring extras.") added a technical aspect to the hike and I can now say that hikes that require ice axes don't intimidate me anymore -- and it would have been nice to have more time to practice "butt skiing" down a glacier using the ice axe as a rudder -- fun!  As it was, we arrived well after the 6:30 dinner, but Eric must have used his "slow American hiking partners" to get pity from the hut owners and they still agreed to serve us (hot) food.  I cannot tell a lie ... I hit my bunk (the top level, of course, due to our late arrival) at 8:45p with my clothes on, my contacts in and my teeth unbrushed and didn't wake up until my first "bio break" at 11:30p (when I yanked out my dry contacts and brushed my teeth).

Not a place you want to be during a white out and/or thunderstorm ... 

Our last day of hiking was just one of those weather days where you are glad that you have options.  It rained hard overnight and then sporadically during the morning.  When we were a mile or so below the pass we had a decision to make:  hike over the (high) pass, risk a white out and possibly hiking through a thunderstorm above tree-line while exposed for a couple of hours or take a lower pass and come out quite a distance from our car (which would require hitchhiking back to our car).  We erred on the side of caution and it only took 4 cars for Eric to get a ride to our car.  Brett and I found a very small restaurant and enjoyed sitting by a fire and a traditional French dish that was a lot like the best scalloped potatoes I've EVER had while we waited for him to return.

Side note:  The road that we traveled to our car is the famous Col du Galibier mountain pass that is part of the Tour de France every year (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Col_du_Galibier).  The road was covered with encouraging notes to the riders.

Brett and I dropped Eric at the Lyon train station and he was able to get home a little early and Brett and I had enough time to go to a GREAT French restaurant a wet 10-minute walk from our hotel.  (Side note:  I chipped my tooth by biting down too hard on my fork.  I'm off to get that repaired today.)  Both of our flights went off on time on Monday morning (me to Munich and then Graz and Brett to Frankfurt and then Houston).  I was greeted at home with hot weather, but also my great and loving and supportive family :-)

Russ

A Common Topic of Conversation: Sue’s Good Health!

I just returned from 10 days in the South of France.  Sue and the kids came along for a short vacation on the front end of a conference trip.  They left halfway through and then I stayed on for a 3-day hike in the French Alps.  But this post isn’t about any of that … at least, not directly.

The post is about a common topic of conversation during the trip, Sue’s good health!  All of my conference buddies have met Sue over the years and they know about her lung condition.  And one way or another it came up in conversations that Sue has had a remarkable string of good health, lungs wise.  Here’s one way I illustrated it:  I haven’t heard Sue cough in months, which, considering I used to hear her cough every single day, is quite remarkable.  And here’s another:  she’s off all her maintenance medications … some of which she’s been on for 10 years continuously!

And this post isn’t to explain why (we have theories, but of course, don’t know for sure).  So, the post is really just to stop and give thanks … so, thanks for giving Sue good health!  And knock on wood it continues!

Russ

Really Wish this was a Two-Year Stint

Well, the title pretty much says it all.  For me, anyway.  Why, you ask?  We are just getting the hang of this!

I'm writing this at the end of a great Father's Day (more on that below or later).  And this weekend we've really had a few "I wish we would have had these experiences earlier!"  So, that's really added to my feeling of that it would be great to have one more year to REALLY have a good time.  But as most of you know, if I don't show up for work on Aug. 15, I owe a year's salary.  So, we are going back on July 17 (and truth be told, Grace and Henry are ready to go home and Sue is there or heading there).

Ok, so the experiences I was referring to.  On Friday morning, as Sue took in Grace and Henry, a mother from Henry's class came up to Sue and asked if she had been contacted about going to a classmate's house to make gifts for the teachers.  Sue said no, but she left a message on a phone number to say that she'd bring Henry after school.

The "graduating" kids were there (about 10 of them) and there were four moms (including Sue).  Sue said that the other moms were very nice (two spoke very good English), they fed the kids lunch, they made a couple of gifts, etc.  And though Sue thought this was going to be 1 hour, they were there all afternoon (until 4p).

Soon-to-be-graduates from Munzgrabenstraße Montessori Kindergarten

It was really nice and Sue definitely had that the feeling that if she would have made this contact earlier it would have been easy to call them up to ask for advice on things (that we were usually flying blind on!).  I guess the point here is that no one has ever said anything to us in English and we've felt a little isolated (and very clueless, most of the time!).  And on a related note, Henry now has a little pack of kids that he plays with and sees him for what he is, a really good kid and easy going.  And if you are interested, his "girlfriend," Matha, is the girl in the back row, far left.

Grace whoops it up with her 3C classmates!

And then, as it just happens, we had a similar type of experience with Grace's school this weekend.  Saturday was Grace's school's Summerfest.  It started at 10:30 on cloudless blue sky sunny day.  It may have reached mid-80's by the time we left at 2:30p.  Anyway, the entire school participated in a music/dance number to kick things off.  They chose a song in English (as Sue pointed out, this is an easy way to practice English for the students) and it was a country line dance.  Nice to know that's what they think of American culture :-)

The focal point of the event seemed to be the inner-school Fußball (soccer) tournament.  It was pretty exciting with Grace's class beating one of the other 3rd-grade teams and then winning a shootout (easily) with the other.  They advanced to the 3rd/4th grade match final and were defeated in a shootout.  Given that we've been following the Euro Cup the past week, we are now legitimate soccer fans!

But the nice cultural experience was had by me this time.  They needed volunteers to work at the festival and Grace's class was responsible for the drinks tent.  I spent a couple of hours taking orders for drinks, telling them how much it cost, making change, etc. -- all in German!  It was a personal accomplishment and I'm sure I didn't fool very many people, but it was great practice to say the same things over and over again.  My only real failure came from pulling drafts from a just-tapped keg of beer -- I need a lot more practice at that!

Too bad you can't see the kegs behind me in the drink tent.

After all that activity, we met friends at our in-town Buschenschank and had a great meal (but sat in the sun for another couple of hours).  In fact, it was so hot there that I didn't have any red wine.  I had a couple of Radlers, the drink of choice for Sue and I when we are hot.  It's 40% beer and the rest lemonade and they are quite tasty!

Creative artwork on our deck:  "I <heart> U, Dad."

Ok, so I'll end this (more than a week later!) on Father's Day.  What a great day it was!  I slept in AND went for a run (usually it is one or the other).  While I was stretching before my run, Grace came upstairs and cleaned up WITHOUT ANYONE TELLING HER TO DO SO!  The run was great -- clear blue skies for my view from the top of Schlossburg.  And when I came home, I received some nice presents from the kids (and not too much to take home :-), including some nice artwork on the deck (there's a good story that goes with this *).  Sue then made me french toast and bacon (my favorite breakfast).  We took it easy until the afternoon (we had a bit of activity yesterday!), but made it out for ice cream and a little stroll in the afternoon.  I cooked a very nice meal (yes, cooking without any rush IS a joy!) that we all enjoyed and then we played some games after dinner.  We even were able to call my Dad and Sue's.  Both were doing well ... in fact, all is well :-)

Russ

* A good story that I won't be able to communicate:  The week before Father's Day I came home and I heard the kids playing down in the courtyard.  It was a bit unusual as they rarely do this and I looked down on them and asked, "whatcha doin'?"  Henry replied, rather defensively, I thought, "we're playing with rocks!"  I thought that was such a funny thing for him to say/be doing, that I commented on it to Sue.  But I didn't give it any more thought, even during the week when I saw them washing the rocks.  And now, with Father's Day artwork revealed, Sue said that before sending them down the kids were worried that I might "catch them" getting the rocks for this project.  So Sue said, "just say that you are playing with rocks."  Henry knew his line!

Time is flying now!

Time is really starting to fly now.  It's been a couple weeks since I last blogged and I'm amazed at all the things that I could blog about.  So, though I always hope for a short post, that rarely happens.

Watch out, kids!

The weekend after Sarah and Beth left we spent a day celebrating Carlo's 9th birthday.  Carlo is the son of our good friends, Loulou and Renato.  He wanted to spend his birthday with Grace and Henry and his family treated us to a day at Styrassic Park, a dinosaur park whose name plays on our state's name, Styria, and the geological period made famous by the movie, Jurassic Park.  The life-size dinosaurs were impressive and the interpretive signs entertaining (it is hard to translate between German and English).

Carlo shares the "birthday seat" with Grace and Henry.

The obligatory, beautiful church shot!

That Tuesday I headed to Maribor, Slovenia for a day trip.  The University there invited me to give seminars on my two major research areas (warehouse design and the Physical Internet if you don't follow me on Twitter :-)  As I blogged back in the fall, Slovenia has a lot going for it and I'm sure in 20 years, they will be well positioned to have that "European lifestyle" that most people recognize as being a better balance than the US lifestyle of "go, go, go!"  Oh, except for some US politicians that find it a great idea to bash Europeans, but that's another story!

The weekend after that was a nice long weekend (Th-Sun) for the Saint of Corpus Christi.  With four days, we planned a get away to Schladming, Austria.  Schladming is where I went back in March with a couple of colleagues for a working ski trip.  The whole time there I felt guilty Sue and the kids were not there, as the place was so setup for families to have a good time.  So, with the mountains beckoning to be climbed, a 4-day weekend, less than 100 euros to go by train (1st class, no less!), we were all set.

Real life interfered though.  On Wednesday Henry had to go to the doctor and we got the diagnosis:  strep throat.  Highly contagious and yes, by Thursday morning (planned departure day), Grace had a full-blown case as well.  But as Thursday was a national holiday, we couldn't get Grace to the doctor.  We started giving her the medicine, but now Henry wouldn't have enough to last the weekend (and Grace didn't have nearly enough).  So, looking at the calendar, we decided to cancel our trip and spent Friday morning at the doctor's office so that Grace could be properly diagnosed and on the path to recovery quickly.

We love you ÕBB!

Side note:  No questions asked, the train company refunded all but 2 euros per person on our train tickets (we could have used them in the next year for no penalty!).  And the train company is making money while the airlines continue to lose money even though they gouge you every chance they get.  Hmmm ... ever wonder why folks actually *enjoy* train travel and think highly of the companies?

With both kids on the mend with multiple doses of antibiotics in them, we decided to rent a car on Saturday and take them to a water park.  It seems we were not the only ones with that great idea on rainy day -- it was pretty busy.  But even so, we enjoyed our time, with the kids hating to leave so that we could get them home for a normal bedtime routine (they were still technically sick after all).

Lots of Educational Displays and Fun Activities

Sunday was Vatertag (Father's Day) in Austria (one week ahead of the holiday by the same name in the US).  But with a long weekend planned, and then sick kids, we decided to celebrate on the "US Father's Day" weekend.  But anyway, we went to the Children's Museum in Graz and the kids enjoyed showing me around (I didn't go with them the last time they went) and rolling down the cushioned stairs (see video below).  I hear I need to come back on a non-rainy day, as there as some REALLY COOL outdoor exhibits.

This past week I had a trip to Vienna.  I met with the colleague that hosted me a couple of months ago to talk about getting her involved in our Physical Internet Initiative and then the next day gave my Physical Internet seminar at another university in Vienna (this one is more prestigious, but don't quite have the resource level).  The trip was interesting as I went across the Danube River for the first time and saw the "high rises" of Vienna (it's so different than the inner city).  But I also had lunch in one of the many garden districts that were put in place a long time ago to provide a respite for the bad air of an older Vienna.  I didn't have a camera with me and couldn't find a good picture online, but if any image comes to your mind when you hear the phrase, "English Garden," then you can imagine what I'm talking about.  Add to the garden a very small house (that until recently could not have electricity or heat so that you couldn't live it in year round) and you've got the picture.  We ate at a little restaurant in the middle of the district and it was quite lovely.  The other highlight of the trip was the train ride each way -- it is just so beautiful a ride.

Ok, so if you are keeping track, this heads us into the present weekend.  But really, there are quite a few things this weekend to talk about, so, I'll shut this post down for now and post another one soon, I promise!

But a special note to Jerry and Larry -- Happy Father's Day -- we love you!

Russ

Sarah's visit with her traveling pal, Beth

Sarah, Russ, Beth, Henry, Grace

We had the joy of hosting Sue's sister, Sarah, and Sarah's best pal, Beth.  They arrived on a Friday (just a wee bit jet lagged and cramped after sitting in middle seats in the middle section of the plane to Europe!), spent the weekend with us, traveled most of the next week, and then spent another weekend with us before heading back on Monday morning.  The visit went really well and we realized how much more we know about Graz and Austria than when Sue's parents, Jerry and Liz, visited us way back in late September/early October.

The first weekend was all things Graz.  We toured our favorite spots, which now include the Dom Church, the double staircase, Hauptplatz, Eggenberg Castle, Schlossberg, etc.  We gave Sarah and Beth plenty of opportunities to walk off that jet lag.  We also went to our local buschenschank (see prior post) on Saturday night and even Sommelier Sarah was impressed with the wines of Austria.

On Monday, the ladies, including Sue, took the train to Vienna.  It was a short visit, but Sarah and Beth wanted to see the capital city and enjoyed one its neighborhoods pretty close to the city center.  Unfortunately, I was leaving on a trip Tuesday morning (read a prior post about my trip to Romania), so Sue had to catch a train back Tuesday in time to pick the kids up from school at noon.  I really wish it would have worked out for Sue to spend more time with her sister on a mini-vacation.

Sue with Beth in Vienna (courtesy of Sarah)

Sarah and Beth also left Vienna on Tuesday, but instead of heading back to Graz, they took the afternoon train to Salzburg.  Salzburg is a beautiful city and Sue and I thought they split their time right -- more time in Salzburg than Vienna.  And we were convinced of that when Beth told us that her favorite movie of all time was "The Sound of Music."  And yes, they went on the Sound of Music Tour, which in addition to being a good time (complete with singing on the tour bus while watching the movie!), took them all over the region to see various sites of the movie.  Made me jealous we haven't gone on that tour yet!

Salzburg (great pic, Sarah!)

Friday morning found Sarah and Beth on a really early train back to Graz (6a!).  Why did they leave so early?  Well, it was so that they could spend the afternoon with the kids, of course!  Oh, and weather permitting, we were hoping to go to the wine region to show them the real countryside and what's become our favorite buschenschank.  As you can see below, the weather was good and so was the company and the wine.  Our friends Loulou and Renato (and son Carlo) were our travel buddies Friday night and Saturday.

Loulou, Sue, Sarah, Renato, and Beth raise a toast!

The beautiful countryside and vineyards (courtesy of Sarah)

Saturday morning was spent shopping.  Russ and Sue were doing the weekly shopping and Beth and Sarah were picking up gifts and souvenirs to take home.  That gave us the afternoon free to visit the Zotter chocolate factory and the castle nearby (see an earlier post about these).  It was another beautiful day and the kids played well together throughout.  We stopped at a local restaurant for dinner that worked out much better than I thought it would (inside joke!).  We got home late, but everyone thought it was just a great day.

Our walk up to Schloss Riegersburg (courtesy of Sarah)

Sunday we went to Schöckl, our local mountain (it's about 3000 feet or so above Graz).  It was the first time we'd been back since September, our first outing of our stay here.  The mountain was gorgeous, the weather cooperated with intermittent sunshine, and we were able to show off our views of the Alps to the north (which are really spectacular).  Most of us even rode what we now refer to as the "luge" (I can't recall if it was Sarah or Beth that coined that name for he cart on track "ride" at the top of the mountain).

The view from Schöckl (courtesy of Sarah) -- yes, that is snow on the mountains in the background

And so, after lunch in St. Radegund below Schöckl, we headed back to allow time for Sarah and Beth to pack, me to finish packing a big box of winter stuff for Sarah to take back with her, and dinner.  I dropped them off at the airport in the morning and they traveled home in an uneventful fashion, much happier with both of them in aisle seats :-)

Russ