Easter Egg Hunt - successful

We currently stay at the Avalon in White Plains and they put on an Easter Egg Hunt for the kids in the building on Thursday afternoon. It was really sweet and very well organized.

It started at 4pm sharp and they let the little kids go first - which was great. They had eggs all over the resident lounge and the library and the play room. We stayed only in the resident lounge which had plenty of eggs for us. The kids filled up their (little) baskets and had fun hanging out with the other kids. The staff of the building had put out juice boxes, doughnuts and jelly beans - plenty of sugar for everybody :-)
Finn also found one of the golden eggs and he got one of the big chocolate easter bunnies.

Overall it was a really sweet and nice event and I am glad we were able to participate because the next Easter Egg we went to was not so successful (more to come on that later).

Waiting for the hunt to start

Excited to find some eggs

Lots of eggs for everybody

Winner of the Golden Egg

Enjoying the Dance Party

We had fun!

Coloring Easter Eggs

Even though we are in transition and a lot of things are up in the air, we are trying to keep some of the things close to normal. So one of our yearly tradition of coloring eggs we kept up - yesterday we colored eggs with the kids. It was fun - for an overall of 4 minutes :-)
But we are looking forward to eating them tomorrow!

Papa explaining everything

Lilly got right into it

Finn was very serious about the eggs

Great result

First visit to the city - Big Apple!

Today we took the kids to NYC for the first time. It was fun and exciting and pretty easy.

The walk to the train station from our apartment in White Plains is about 10 minutes (with the kids in the stroller). The train ride into the city to Grand Central was 35 minutes and cost 17 Dollars roundtrip each - kids under 5 are free. The kids enjoyed the train ride and got a ticket from the conductor.

At Grand Central Station we met up with our friend Mark who showed us around town.
We saw a cool art exhibit at Grand Central and walked up to Ben's office - to check out his commute. We then continued to Central Park and there was a lot to see along the way - fire trucks, cranes, fountains, cool shop windows, etc.

First arrival at Grand Central Station

We decided to not visit the zoo at Central Park this time, but will be back for sure. We did get to see the seals though. We then took a walk in Central Park, climbed up some rocks and found a great playground with the coolest slide in the city (as one mom told us there).
The kids played, had a snack, went on the swings and used the slide several times.
And I got to have my first celebrity sighting - Bethenny Frankel was hanging at the same playground as us with her daughter.

Climbing in Central Park

I got my picture taken with Bethenny Frankel

Finn going down the coolest slide in the city

We then continued our tour and had lunch at a typical NY Diner. Mark even made me eat Matzah Ball Soup which I really enjoyed.

On our way to lunch

After lunch we made our way back to Grand Central Station and the kids were so exhausted that they both fell asleep in the stroller and slept the whole train ride home to White Plains.

Both of them were exhausted at the end of their first visit to NYC

Overall a very successful first trip to NYC! Looking forward to going back soon.

What I miss and what I love to have back

This is an emotional roller coaster - moving back home to Austria close to my family & friends and moving again (back) to the US to a new city and area within 1 year - with 2 toddlers. A little crazy and not easy at many times.

I currently really miss my mom, my family, my friends, good Austrian joghurt, delicous Austrian bread, Haribo, Milka, and a good Radler. All those little things you enjoy in life.

But I am also happy about many things that we did not have in Austria. Here are just a few:

TARGET
 - oh, how have I missed you. (Although the past year was better for my wallet without you.)

Casual Dining
- we hardly went out to eat with the kids in Austria. There are just not that many "easy" options to take 2 toddlers. But back here, Finn found his new favorite restaurant - Buffalo Wild Wings. He now wants to go every day :-)

Magazines
- I really missed Real Simple, Living, People, Parents, Family Fun, etc. I enjoy a good magazine to flip through.

Right now we are just taking one step at a time, one day at a time. Ben is starting work next week and the kids and I are going to explore the area. Hopefully we are going to find many more things that we are going to love!

Running again...

I had already posted about running a while back. When I was in Austria I did not run as much as I had wanted - weather, time, no running buddies, etc. Or just too many excuses. So once we decided we are moving to NY I decided to go back to running again and I signed up for the New York City Road Runners Club.
I hope to do several races this year and my goal is NYC Marathon 2014! Here, I wrote it out and now I hope you will all hold me to it :-) Nashville girls, wanna join me?

The great thing about NYC Road Runners is, that if you run 9 races and volunteer at 1 race in one year, you have a spot at the NYC Marathon the following year.
I have signed up for 5 races already until June and hope to finish my 9 races by October and I think I will volunteer at the marathon this year to get a feeling for it. I am excited about this and can't wait for the weather to get warmer.

This was me before my first half marathon in Memphis 2008

A week in Wilbraham

We spent our first days back in the US at Ben's parents house in Wilbraham. We had wanted to go down to NY during the week, but it did not work out.
So we got over our jet leg, got organized and spent time with Becky, Abbie, Maddie and Tony.

We also went to the Springfield library for story time - twice! We sang songs, read books, played and did art projects.
We went to the Holyoke Children's Museum.
We wen to the Mall and saw the Easter Bunny.
We went for a walk in the woods.
And we played outside every day at the neighbors swing set - "our playground" as Finn like to call it.

Story time at the Springfield library

Painting with the cousins

Lilly having fun at the Children's Museum

With the help of Papa they built this great castle

Dress Up Play

Where we will live for the next weeks...

As of tomorrow we will be New Yorkers :-)

While we are looking for a house and trying to pick the right area to live in, we will be in corporate housing. Ben's new job came with the generous offer of 8 weeks of corporate housing which will help us a lot. It will put us into the Westchester area for searching and exploring the neighborhoods and it will give us a buffer of not having to buy the first house we see. Although we might have to do that as they are selling like crazy - 10 out of our top 14 houses accepted offers this week :-(

Here is the link to our home for the next weeks: Avalon Communities in White Plains
I like it because it has a playground right outside and a gym in the building. It is also close to the train station and 30 minutes on the train to Grand Central Station. And a little perk for mama - housecleaning every week :-)

But we hope of course that we will find a house rather sooner than later! Wish us luck!

Travel to the US

So, we made it to the US. First step. Our trip was hectic and chaotic and nothing went according to plan, but we are here now. Here is just a little recap:

• Got up at 4am to make it to Zurich Airport on time
• Got there on time, but flight was 5 hours delayed: we only survived thanks to the great kids area at the International Terminal at the airport. We spent all our waiting time there!
• During the flight Lilly only threw up once into my hands - caught it all (I have gotten really good at that lately due to several sicknesses in the past months).
• Because of the delay we missed our connection to Boston and we got rebooked on another flight - on another airline
• Thankfully Immigration was no problem!
• We had to collect all our stuff (5 big suitcases, 2 small ones, 2 duffle bags, 2 carseats, a stroller, 4 backpacks, 2 kids) and go to Terminal 3. I wish I would have taken a picture of us doing that but honestly I did not have any hands free anymore and was sweating like a pig trying to push the cart up a hill after losing the carseat on the sidewalk while NY drivers honked at me. Picture me: pushing a cart with 3 big suitcases on it, carseat on top with Lilly and her backpack while having a backpack on and pulling a small suitcase with a duffle bag stacked on top.
• While rechecking our 7 bags plus carseats Finn needed to poop - RUN!
• And after driving and walking and riding the train through basically all JFK airport we finally got on a plane to Boston.
• And only had to walk from the furthest away gate back to baggage claim.

So that was our trip in a nutshell.

We are at Ben's parents house now (they are in Florida for the winter) and we will go to NY for the first time tomorrow to look at houses. We are lucky enough to be able to borrow Ben's parents car for now and don't have to buy one right away.

Wish us luck tomorrow and I will post some pictures of (hopefully) houses that we like!

Snow and sunshine

Before this recent come back of winter (snowfall since yesterday and cold temperatures) we had some sunny and warm days and we spent them outside having fun at the playground.

Name change?

So, it is happening. On Sunday we are going to move back to the US and we are going to live in NY. I have thought a lot about what to do with my blog and if I should continue writing it or not. I had originally intended to write mostly for our family and friends in the US to keep up with our adventure - but I have found out that lots of my friends here in Austria also enjoy reading it.

So I have come to the conclusion that I will continue posting, but maybe I should change the name. As we are moving to NY - how about "Project BIG APPLEstrudel"? Any thoughts or suggestions? Not sure yet, how this is going to be done.

Thanks for reading and to another exciting year!
Hugs, Ulli (with new short hair for a new adventure)

24h Ski Getaway

We decided to use the free babysitters we have here in Austria for a last little escape for Ben and me. As we have seasons passes for several ski resorts in the area, we picked the one furthest away and decided to spend a 24h Getaway there.

On Friday after lunch we dropped off the kids with my sister and mother and drove to Schröcken. We spent a beautiful spring afternoon skiing and ended with some beers at the apres ski bar.

We then checked into our hotel "Hotel Adler" (right on the slope - ski in and out) and we sat out on the terrace until the sun was gone and it was time to get changed for dinner.

We had an amazing 5 course meal with some nice wine and good conversation. After dinner we explored the rest of the hotel and played some ping pong. Ben then decided to go to the room and read and I went to the wellness area where I went to the sauna and steam bath and slept a little on the water bed.

After a good night sleep we had yummy breakfast from the huge breakfast buffet and went skiing for the morning. It was perfect weather, snow and conditions - unfortunately lots of people and we finished up at noon.

On the way home we stopped from some nice pizza for lunch and picked up the kids again after their nap.

Soaking up the last sun of the day

Great skiing and snowboarding

Well deserved beer at the apres ski bar

One of my yummy courses at dinner

Babyshower for Franziska

Last week I organised a baby shower for my cousin Franziska. She is due in May and a huge America fan, so I thought she would enjoy this sweet tradition I brought with me from the US.

After some considerations, we decided to go for a nice dinner in a restaurant she likes. We invited close family members and friends and got a good group together.

My mother in law sent me some decorations from the US which gave it an authentic touch. All the women were great and participated in the games that I had prepared (no crazy ones, just some sweet and simple ones). And as we do not have registries in Austria I asked them to bring a package of diapers - as a new mom you will always need them!

It was a really special evening and I am looking forward to meeting the baby girl !

Measuring the belly after guessing the size

Enjoying the nice dinner 

The group of ladies

Franziska with her friends

The two pregnant Schelling ladies

Günter came at the end to pick her up (and carry the diapers home)

Nice diaper cake

Building things

Finn and Lilly have been very much into building things lately. Lego and wood blocks are converted into castles, submarines, zoos, animals, towers, and other interesting things.

Philipp Birthday Dinner

My nephew Philipp turned 12 this week and when I asked him what he wanted for his birthday, he answered: "I would like to go and eat a steak." So we took him for a steak dinner on Friday night.

I had made a reservation for 3 at the Steakhouse 21 in Dornbirn and unfortunately we got a small table by the entrance - but it turned out to be ok. And as an apology they have us a huge desert platter for free!
Philipp had fun and ate all his steak!

Our big desert platter

Enjoying the night

Philipp had Steak and Fish

Night Sledding with the kids

Another Friday night my friend Sandra and I took the kids night sledding. In Au (about 30 minutes from our house) they are open for night sledding from 7 till 10 pm. We all dressed warm and put on our helmets and goggles. The sleds you have to rent there and then you get pulled up by the T-bar lift (or anchor lift as Finn called it). From the top you sled straight down on a floodlighted slope.
Finn came with me on the sled and going up the hill he sat in front of me and I held on to the lift - good ab work out! And coming down he sat behind me as the snow was spraying a lot.

Unfortunately it was really cold that night so after about 5-6 runs we had enough and went home.
But that was not too bad as we had promised the kids to have a chocolate fountain for desert :-)

Using the belt to the get to the lift

The kids loved the chocolate fountain

Nighthike with Ben

A few more posts about winter in Austria before we switch gears:

As we really had a great winter here, we took advantage of it in many different ways.

One night we put the kids to bed, asked my mother to come down to our apartment and watch TV and set out for a night hike. We hiked up our local mountain called "Brüggelekopf". It is about an hour or so up (maybe a little more), on top is a nice restaurant to refresh and have a beer and then we sled down with our headlamps on.

It was really great to get some exercise and we had picked a perfect night for it with a full moon.

Finally, the restaurant in sight

Having a much needed beer and schnaps