Day: April 28, 2007

Today’s outing after Leilani’s nap was a drive through the countryside, which is more of an adult activity. The weather has been nice for so long that the views were a bit hazy, but we won’t complain:

The small villages are very pretty, especially when we find an old wooden farmhouse:

We drove along the Steirische ÄpfelStrasse (Steirmark region Apple Road) which effectively runs through miles and miles of apple orchards. Fruit products are a big export in this region because the weather tends to be relatively warm and sunny. Most orchards are now dwarf trees under rows of netting, but we found some old-fashioned trees in bloom:

After the parents had their fill of sightseeing, we had to stop and let the baby out of the car seat. The town of Puch had a picturesque church, a swing for Leilani, and lots of flowers for her to smell (and for her parents to film and photograph):

Leilani is really starting to show interest in shoes. She likes to pick them out and try them on, eventhough she can’t really put any on by herself. When her friends came over back home, they sometimes get attached to them like toys (“MINE”) and we have to remind them to share.

I took this photo just before we left on vacation. I was thinking we won’t be seeing cute little shoes at our doorstep like this forever:

But since most adult shoes laying around in Hawaii are slippahs (flip-flops), she never really tried them on. Now that we’re on vacation with only our closed shoes, she finds them laying around and can’t resist playing with them. A few times now she got them on and took a few steps:

Due to the jet-lag, Leilani has been waking up at night and taking very long naps. But yesterday, she woke up in time so that she (and Mommy) could go with Opa to walk the dog Lara. Over hill and dale, and through the stream, she really loved the Austrian forest.

Opa (Gerd) taught her to blow dandelion seeds, which she now loves to do. She called them “bubbles” for a while. The first few times, she got her mouth too close and some seeds stuck to her tongue, so she made some funny faces trying to spit them out. When she got frustrated, she just shook the dandelion, and the seeds flew off … just like the bubbles.

After the forest, we went to the duck and “nutria” pond. Nutria are not otters, scientifically they are myocastors, which is Greek for rat beavers, and they are commonly called coypu. They look like muskrats to me and not very cute at all. We came with bread to give them, and Leilani was rather scared when they just slid out of the water and waddled up to her.

We are now in Austria, getting over our jet-lag and it’s really beautiful here, everything is green and flowery—spring is half over already. Trude’s garden is beautiful, but the cherry tree and the magnolia are done blooming already.

The first day in Ohio was really cold (around 50F/10C)!

In Ohio we experienced early spring, the daffodils were in full bloom and the tulips just starting:

At the duck and geese pond near the McKinley Monument:

Leilani got to ride a “horsie” in Ohio, an Austrian Haflinger named Cookie. Thank you Carol and Jerry!

“Tat-you Cookie!”

Four generations:

Arriving in Austria:

Playing with Franz-Opa’s antique toys: