Spring is in the air---for everyone!----Woche 12

This is a tree in our yard.

We had a busier week than some in the past.  Dan was about run off his feet at work.  He left for work early and came home late just about every night this week.  It almost seemed as if he were on another business trip.  He clocked a lot of hours, so the company definitely got their moneys worth.  He drove to the Czech Republic to help with the launch of a new product.  Things seem to be going well for him and the company.

The kids had a fun run at school this week.  It turned out to be beautiful weather and they had a good time.  Dane was the first to finish 20 laps.  Dyllan and Deagan had a smaller track and they clocked about 22 laps.  They had fun booths set up, where the kids could get their faces painted.  Dane opted not to get his done.  He was too concentrated on his laps.  Dyllan and Deagan thought it was fun though.

Dan and I set a goal to get back to our dancing.  We are planning on getting a group together to brush up on some of our skills.  We really need practice to get ready for Ball Season.  We've already done one night of Waltz with one other couple.  I think that we can get several to come next time.  We want to have a big group, as that makes it more fun.  The kids had fun watching a movie at the church while we danced.  Danyon enjoyed army crawling all over the floor.  He likes to be picked up and loves to waltz--especially the turns.



Even the cows wear bustenhalter's here

The weather is nice enough to go for walks.  We took the kids down to an ice cream shop just a few blocks from our house.  It was so nice outside, sitting on the patio.  We loved it!  Dan and I also got to go for a jog on Saturday morning.  We followed some trails through some of the vineyards and along a stream.  It was a very pretty jog.  We saw a black squirrel in the trees.  The squirrels here are slightly smaller than Indianian squirrels and they have big tufts of hair coming out of their ears.  They look kind of funny.



The kids got caught in a spider web, but we were able to free them before the spider had lunch.

We took the kids to the Schonbrunn Tiergarten (the zoo).  It is on the grounds of the Schonbrunn Palace, and it is the oldest zoo in the world.  We bought year passes so that we could go back often.  The zoo grounds are very nice and pretty.  We only got to see about a third of it.  We did see an albino peacock, and the normal colored one.  The bat cave was a highlight, as the bats are flying all around you (and even grazing your head) while you are there in the dark.  We had to go through it twice because it was so cool.  Danyon didn't really get into the zoo animals.  He had a front row seat to watching the otters play and he kept turning around to see all the people behind him, watching the otters.  We luckily were able to locate the Kasekriner shop and of course, the ice cream shop.  The most exciting exhibit was the bears.  There were two black bears that were fighting up on their hind legs.  They were yelling at each other and really having it out.  Well, then we learned that this was not bear-fighting, it was really bear foreplay.  The bears started to mate.  After a few seconds, Dyllan asked, "What is that bear doing to the other bear?"  We quickly explained that the momma bear was trying to get pregnant.  Dyllan wondered why it was taking so long.  Dane's idea was that, "Maybe they're trying to make twins or triplets."  After violating their privacy, we told the kids that we needed to go.  Dyllan and Deagan wanted to be sure to come back, "tomorrow, so that we can see the babies."  We told them we had to come back after she hibernated.  It seems that everyone is feeling the effects of Spring.