Awesome Austria

Thank God, our dear toddler now knows how to turn the TV and electric fan on and off in the family room.  She can also wipe off her Crayola marker art on the mat and play fence when she wants to clean up.  She helps me baby proof her brother's play area and knows how to relate what she's seeing on TV to what she has experienced in the past. She still has to work on controlling her temper and being consistent, but who isn't having trouble with that?

At home we try to process what we have seen in our recent travels and try to recall as much as we can like how students come up with "what did I do/learn last summer" essays when they start the school year.  We wear our souvenir shirts at home to trigger storytelling for my toddler and appreciation of colors and shapes for her baby brother.  Their favorite picture book at the moment is that about the tragic Austrian Queen Sisi.  Leji thinks she looks a lot like Mommy (haha!) and tries to copy her lipcolor with either cake frosting or lipbalm while constantly peering into a tiny mirror locket with Queen Sisi's face on it.

My kids loved Vienna's relaxed summer vibe; it was very memorable for them. The community is über kid-friendly and I dunno why but everything just seemed to taste better there (even their rice and tap water had some sort of sweetness :p).  It was quite common to see independent toddlers and barefoot babies in the playground, their blond parents wearing white and light clothing pushing huge-wheeled strollers --perfect for the sprawling gardens and ancient cobblestones.

One morning, we saw a gorgeous lady (her hair was so nice) quietly coming down unassisted from a bus with a baby cart and two well-behaved toddlers in tow. It was so amazing; it like watching a breezy Carefree ad. Their buses are efficient and well-designed, even people with disabilities could roll and ride without worry through a special door. 

Public transport was cool but it was quite a pain for hubby to look for convenient parking space for our family van.  Parking is limited in this city and not all parking slots can accommodate tall vehicles. We had a slot reserved by Hotel Mocca (where we stayed) but it was still quite a walk to get to the parking area.

Leji admired the books and funky furniture in our boutique hotel. She enjoyed shopping in the convenience stores for cookies and milk. Despite not having aircon, she exclaimed: "Oh, I think our holiday is quite lovely!" Thank you, Peppa Pig.

Leon couldn't help but agree with her.  In this city, Leon learned how to sit more confidently in high chairs and reach for more stuff while eating solids.  The wooden chairs in our hotel were conveniently ergonomic.

Beer was served more often than still water and Leji got to pretend she was drinking beer too.  She kept ordering aplesaft to help her gulp down all the food!

"Good for 2" Whew!

 As for me, I was just giddy with all the greenery.

Leji and I spent quite some time chasing each other in Schonbrunn.  She looked so cute in her pink Dirndl. Thank you Lola Berna for sponsoring her outfit & Lolo Edsel for showing us around the city!

The Schonbrunn Rose Garden smells like Channel No. 5.  I was sort of expecting Sleeping Beauty to pop out of nowhere haha.  Everything was just overwhelmingly romantic.  Wish we could come back again in the future.