After 27+ hours in transit, my mom arrived here in Vienna yesterday evening.  (Yay!)  I went to meet her at the airport, brought her home, she played with Benjamin and Liam (mostly Benjamin, because it was late and Liam fell asleep shortly after she arrived).  We let Benjamin stay up late to play with Grandma — he was thrilled.

Today, we had a quiet morning playing here at home and this afternoon we set out for a walk to explore a little and have lunch.  Grandma got to see the Freyung, the Graben, Michaelerplatz, the Hofburg, the Volksgarten, the Rathaus and the Burgtheater — which sounds like a lot, but we really just walked by everything (except the Volksgarten, where we spent a little time and followed some ducks around).  Dan met us and we all went out to dinner.

Right now, she and Benjamin are down in our courtyard playing golf (or baseball, I wasn’t clear on which).  I am so glad she’s here.  Benjamin is so glad she’s here.  Dan is so glad that she’s here.  Liam seems really glad that she’s here (with Liam, it can be hard to tell).  Even Bailey is thrilled (“Oh good!  The cookie lady has arrived!”).  We have all missed her so much.

In some ways, I really can’t believe she’s here — I also can’t believe she made this journey, by herself, to come and see us, especially on such short notice (she’s a planner, like I am, and we do best with lots of time to think over every possible complication and come up with a strategy to handle it).  It is her first international trip in over 30 years, and we are honored to have it be to see us.  It is a wonderful part of our adventure here, and I hope it turns out to be a fantastic adventure for her.