We are very lucky to have a big apartment in the heart of Vienna.  We have 3 bedrooms — one for Dan & I, one for Liam and one for Benjamin.  But, with “Jo pair” staying with us for a while, and not wanting to have her live on the futon in the living room indefinitely, we needed to change our arrangement.

I’d been toying with the idea of moving the boys in together for a while (even before Jo decided to come) because they’d been asking to stay together, and also because we’d found that when they do share a room (which often happens when we travel) they actually sleep BETTER than when they sleep apart (which is the opposite of what we would have expected, but it’s been a pleasant surprise).

It seemed like the best solution to our current situation, and today, we moved Liam into Benjamin’s room and moved Jo into what was Liam’s room.  So far, they like it.  We had a successful nap time today, and they were really excited about being able to go to bed together (and the theory was that we were going to read them stories while they laid down in bed . . . but instead we read them stories while they ran around, which is pretty much what happens when we read in the living room, so no change there).

I actually feel really good about this change.  Jo gets an awesome room (really, I’m pretty jealous) and the boys get the experience of sharing a room together.  Growing up, I shared a room for many years with my sister, Amanda, and although I was frustrated by it a lot, it actually fostered a lot of closeness.  And, though I never would have admitted it at the time, it was, for a relatively anxious child like myself, a source of comfort to have my sister sleeping in the same room.

Besides, although it’s fun to have your own room, it’s not a situation that most people get to have forever.  We all end up with roommates eventually (college, grown up life, spouses) and the lessons learned in sharing space and stuff are better learned in childhood, I think, than in adulthood.

After nap time this afternoon, Benjamin told me that he’s glad that he and Liam are sharing a room so that he can tell him, “Everything is ok, Liam”, if Liam gets worried, which is another one of the sweetest things I’ve ever heard (I get to hear a lot of those).  I hope it turns out to be as much fun as they expect.

Being our second Halloween in Vienna, we felt much more prepared this year.  We knew we would go trick-or-treating (weather permitting, and the weather did cooperate), we knew where we would go (near the American International School in Dobling, the 19th district) and we knew how we would get there (or so we thought — we got waylaid using public transportation AGAIN this year).  So, we decorated treat bags for the kids and got them dressed in their costumes.  We didn’t go super elaborate on the costumes for the kids this year, and Dan & I didn’t wear anything that would count as a costume, because last year, the average level of enthusiasm and participation was pretty mild.  Of the adults, Jo was the most dressed up, with some devil’s horns and a red feather boa, but I thought she might be a bit overdressed compared to the other grown ups that would be there.

But, wow, were we surprised.  Even just since last year, things have changed.  Vienna is catching on to this whole Halloween and trick-or-treating thing.  We went to the same neighborhood as last year, and visited many of the same houses.  We arrived earlier than last year (when we actually got quite lost on the way) and encountered WAY more people trick-or-treating — probably 10 times as many as we saw last year.  The average age was a lot higher, too (particularly surprising because we arrived over an hour EARLIER than we did last year).  Most of the kids we saw were in the 12-15 year old age range, with a few closer to 8 and a very few younger, like around 5.  Other than one little girl we saw, our kids were definitely the youngest out trick-or-treating (although we saw several young kids helping to hand out candy).  With our slight misadventure on the way (missing a bus which put us half an hour behind schedule) we definitely arrived later than we’d intended, but we were still pretty surprised to see so many older kids out, and so few young ones.

A lot more of the kids were in costume this year, and many of the costumes that we saw were remarkably elaborate.  There were still a fair number of older kids not in any type of costume at all, but that didn’t seem to get in the way of their candy collection.  The average costume was more spooky rather than cute, even for the younger kids — some of the masks we saw were downright scary, and were probably being worn by kids younger than 10.

By far, most of the kids were out with none, or very limited (like parents waiting at the end of the block) parental supervision.  There were a few moments where things got a little too rowdy for the littles ones (Liam and I were narrowly missed by a thrown snowball) and in general, there wasn’t a ton of the “trick-or-treat etiquette” that we’re used to at home (although maybe we’ve just been lucky).  In general, the big kids weren’t keen on waiting for the little ones to finish their slow process through saying “Trick or Treat!”, receiving the candy, thanking the giver, and then admiring the decorations, costumes and/or treat bags.  They didn’t exactly push, but there was a lot of impatience.  We also saw a lot of shaving cream and silly string that had been spread around liberally (even at houses that were giving out treats) even though it was really early in the evening.

Among the houses along the route, the conventions we’re used to weren’t followed, either.  There were several houses with lit pumpkins and porch lights on where no one was home (or at least, they didn’t come when we rang the bell) and a few houses that did give out candy that had no outward indication that they would do so — we only knew because we saw other people there, collecting treats.

We had a great time, and the level of enthusiasm we saw was really fun.  Along with lots of extra trick-or-treaters, there were more houses giving out candy, and the ones that were seemed to be better stocked than last year.  (We visited several houses last year that ran out unexpectedly early, and they seem to have been prepared for the vastly increased onslaught this year.)  Several of the houses were much more thoroughly and spookily decorated (complete with elaborate scenes in the front yard, creepy music and costumes).

Trick-or-treating (and Halloween in general) are definitely catching on in Vienna, but most of the people we encountered, both trick-or-treaters and candy-giver-outers were still Americans, and those who weren’t were mostly English speakers.  But, there were definitely more German speakers participating this year than last.

In all, we probably visited about 15 houses that gave out candy — just the right number for a two and four year old who were walking the whole way.  My boys did great — saying “Trick or Treat!” and “Thank you!” at every house, helping each other out and walking the whole way.  (Liam refused my offers to carry him, even after we were done, and wouldn’t let anyone else hold his candy bag — “It’s mine!” he told us.)  We had another fun Halloween trick-or-treat adventure in Vienna, and we feel like we’re helping to blaze a trail and set the precedent.

Every time we’ve been invited to B’s school for a Parents Night or a Family Night, we’ve had a great time, and we had another lovely time this evening. Tonight they had the families come and help the kids make and decorate lanterns for the annual Lantern Night (celebrating St. Martin) which will happen next week.

We all got to go tonight — me, Dan, Benjamin, Liam and Jo. Benjamin decided he wanted an orange lantern, and we all helped him paint it, and decorate it with a few paper pumpkins and some more paint (red this time). Benjamin also gave us a mini-tour of his classroom (focusing mainly on the cars he likes to play with).

It was a lot of fun to do some messy arts and crafts with B and Liam, and really nice to see how well B has settled into school and how easily he handles transitioning between English and German. It was fun for us because we were able to actually socialize a bit with the other parents for the first time, and with three adults for the two kids, it was significantly less exhausting than usual.

We had a great night, and now we’re especially looking forward to Lantern Fest next week, because we’ll all get to see to see the fruits of the kids’ (and the adults’) hard work!

It was only a very light dusting, but we woke up this morning to a coating of snow on the rooftops and freezing temperatures. Winter does come early to Vienna — we’re supposed to get more snow tonight, and the high temperatures will be in the 30s and 40s for most of the week (it might get up to a toasty 50, with rain, on Friday).

We haven’t forgotten that it’s fall though — our main family activity of the day was carving our pumpkins and lighting them for the first time. B chose the design for the big one (kind of — apparently I did the wrong kind of happy face, but he’s ok with me trying again next year) and I designed the little one. I cut the big one, Dan cut the little one, and Liam supervised the inaugural lighting.

So, we’re enjoying autumn while welcoming winter. I wouldn’t mind a few cool, crisp autumnal days, though, before we settle in for our long, dark winter.

We’d had plans to go to another pumpkin festival today — one a little further away, about an hour outside the city, in Retz.  (We went last year and really enjoyed it.)  But, the weather was too unpleasant to spend the day outside.  So, we changed our plans from looking at pumpkins to hanging out with friends.

That still required going out in the weather, though, so we got the boys suited up in rain coats and boots and ventured out.  As soon as we got down to the courtyard, the boys galloped out over the cobblestones and started splashing enthusiastically in puddles.  The stomped and they jumped, in little puddles and in big ones, and they splashed water all around.  We met up with a neighbor and while we adults were chatting with him, we let the kids play.  Every time someone would walk by, they’d take a break from their splashing so it didn’t get any unsuspecting passersby soaked, too.

They went on like this for a few minutes, so that by the time we were 20 yards from our front door and had been out of the house for about 10 minutes, they had redistributed much of the accumulated water in our courtyard (and Liam had fallen down twice).  They were happy, though, and not too wet, and it was remarkable how unsatisfied they were by their long moments jumping in puddles — Liam insisted on stomping through or jumping into every puddle on the way from our building to the train station.

As much as I was a little disappointed to miss all of the pumpkin fun in Retz this year, I was glad to have my little guys stay mostly dry and warm today, other than getting themselves wet by choice, emptying every puddle in their path.

We had such a great time last year at the Kurbis (pumpkin) Fest at Am Himmel, here in Vienna, that we made it a priority to return this year.  Last year, we really didn’t know what to expect going into it, but this time, we were much more prepared, and ready for lots of wonderful pumpkiny goodness.

It’s a bit of a trek to get there from our house via public transportation (the only kind of transportation we have).  It took nearly an hour, and involved a strassenbahn (streetcar), a bus and a 15 minute walk — but, as last year, it was well worth the effort.  We started by playing for a short while on the nice, wooden playground, followed by about a half an hour of fruitless attempt to get our kites up in the sky.  (There was a tiny bit of breeze, but we just weren’t having any luck.)

Then, we got to the really good stuff — the pumpkins!

Next was lunch.  We had langos (a traditionally Hungarian fried flatbread type thing) covered with garlic, pumpkin seed pesto (which may be my new most favorite thing to eat) and pumpkin seed oil, as well as pumpkin cream soup.  Benjamin, who started the meal insisting he wouldn’t eat anything other than pizza, ate nearly an entire langos himself, and Liam consumed an entire bowl of pumpkin cream soup, pumpkin seeds and all.

Then, we went for face painting.  B had told us, repeatedly, that he wanted to be a red and orange dragon.  We were skeptical that this would be possible — I would have expected it to be impossible if we’d been able to communicate in English, but in German, I thought our prospects were dim.  I was surprised, then, when he reached the front of the line and told the face painter, “I want something red!” and she replied (in English), “How about a dragon?”  He turned out as the cutest dragon I’d ever seen.  Liam must have agreed, because he decided he wanted to be done exactly the same as Benjamin.  He sat, quietly and happily, but only through the red base paint, and then he decided he was finished (but he was thoroughly happy with what he got, too).

So, with our two cutest dragons in tow, it was time to select pumpkins!  B walked right up to the pumpkin stand and chose a pumpkin half his own size.  We have a family rule that you can’t pick a pumpkin that is too large for you to carry, so he selected the one immediately next to it, and was done.  He proudly announced, “I found the perfect pumpkin!”  Liam selected a tiny pumpkin, and he was happy too.  Last year, the boys wanted to wait until we got home to carve our pumpkins, but this year, they opted to do them at the festival, so we borrowed a spoon and a knife, and started work.

We didn’t get very far, though, because about halfway through, B got too cold to continue (it was only about 50 degrees, with a little breeze, and lots of clouds) so we scooped the pumpkins out (giving us less to carry home) and headed back home . . . with stops to purchase honey cookies and excessive amounts of pumpkin seed pesto on our way out.

We had a great time.  We feel very festive and autumnal and pumpkiny today.  It was our plan to attend a different pumpkin fest tomorrow, but the weather looks pretty dismal (colder than today and raining) so this will probably be our only pumpkin fest for this year.  It was a good one.

So, she made it!  All the way across the Atlantic, a layover at Heathrow and then on to us here in Vienna.  She’s in one piece, she has all of her luggage, and she’s been in surprisingly good spirits — especially considering Liam screamed through the entirety of dinner.  Welcome to Austria, Jo!

Truly, I’m impressed.  It was a big trip to take alone.  It’s a big step to take.  She’s here, far away from most of her family and all of her friends, stuck with me, Dan, Benjamin, Liam & Bailey.  (Ok, B, Liam and Bailey are pretty great almost all the time, but I’m not sure Dan & I rate at the same level of awesomeness.)  Our first 9 hours of being together have gone really well.  We found each other at the airport, got her (and all of us, and all of her stuff) safely home, took naps and ate dinner.  So far, so good.

I hope she has some notion of what she’s in for (or an awful lot of patience and optimism).  The boys are very excited to have her here — Benjamin invited himself for a sleepover with Jo already on her first night here, and although she’s making a valiant effort to sleep, he’s still awake (so I don’t know how well that’s going).  I am very excited that she’s here, and so looking forward to sharing Vienna with her — there is so much I want to show her!

Benjamin has fallen in love with storytelling. He’s always loved it when we read to him, and he’s been “reading” (reciting the stories from books that he has memorized) for about 6 months. But, until recently, he hasn’t considered it a “real” story unless it comes from a book.

Recently (and I don’t know why it has changed) he has started to make up stories, and to ask me to do the same. I love it — it’s fun and it comes easily to me to invent a story, and I’m not sure there is anything cooler than hearing him tell one (most often about Angry Birds, or Lightning McQueen, or sometimes a nearly verbatim recitation of a story I just told — I need to teach him about copyright infringement). He’s a pretty creative guy, though, and he tells some very good ones.

They always start with “One day . . . ” and end with, “. . . and they all lived happily ever after. The end.” I love it. I love watching him learn and try new things and find new ways of expressing himself. And I love hearing his happily ever after stories. They’re all my favorite.