Es ist Heiss, Ich Weiss! -Woche 20

Dan traveled quite a bit this week.  He went by car, to Hungary and Slovakia and Czech Republic.  He had meetings to launch a new product in each of the areas.  Although traveling by car seems like it would be neat, this week, it turned out to be not so good.  We've had a heat wave come through here with record breaking temperatures.  We were in the high 30s (Celsius--it got to at least 96 degrees Fahrenheit) and for June, that is very hot!  It was hot enough that the car air conditioner could not keep up, and poor Dan did not have air conditioning at his hotel.  He said it was pretty miserable.  The meetings went well, however.

As for the rest of the family, when it's hot, we head out to the pool.  We spent quite a bit of time out there this week.  It was nice to get to use the pool.  It is a lot of fun.  The pool temperature changed from 14.7 degrees to 25.5 degrees in the pool, in one week. (For those of you not on the centigrade system, 22 degrees is room temperature.)  The first week of summer was spent just as it should be.  We swam and relaxed by the pool, we swam some more, and then we came in the house, slightly sunburned, and watched movies in the evenings.  We got Danyon into the water this week.  We learned that he really likes it.  He loves to splash in the water.  He floats around in his little tube and has a great time. 

I have started a summer type program to keep the kids busy and their minds from turning to jello.  We, of course, have our normal chores, but in addition, we have added some other activities.  Each of the kids do a research report during the week.  They type it up and then report on Monday.  I have not heard any of the reports as of yet, but I know that they all were on the computer this week, presumably working on their reports. (I think Deagan might have used his time to just play games, so we'll see what he has to report.)

Dane and Dyllan are required to plan, shop for groceries, and prepare a dinner every week.  Deagan's task is to make a dessert.  This is fun for the kids to plan their meals, gives them something to do during the day, and it saves me time.  I think it's great!!  Dyllan made some delicious quesadillas with fresh basil and had refried beans on the side.  We all enjoyed it so much that she is repeating her dinner choice again this week, so Dan has a chance to taste her culinary masterpiece.  Deagan made a large loaf of banana bread that within a few hours was reduced to crumbs.  Dane made hamburgers and a fruit salad.  Sadly, Dane's meal was consumed so fast that I didn't have time to get a picture!  We'll keep you posted on the future endeavors of the kids' culinary feats.

This is our street.

We tried walking to the store one day.  Our family causes quite a scene as we look like a parade, with just our family.  It was so hot, that by the time we got to the store, the kids were complaining that they had already melted and they couldn't possibly walk another step.  We had fun picking up a few treats and one box of ice cream treats seemed to rehydrate them enough to make it home.  Poor Deagan didn't fair so well, as his ice cream melted and it fell to the pavement.  I let him have another one, since he had only had a couple of bites of the first.  Unfortunately, that one melted all over him and his shirt, ran down his legs, and on to the floor.  I don't think he got to eat much of that one either--judging by the size of the puddle.

Friday, Dan got to come home a little early to join us at the pool.  He still had to work, but it was much nicer to work by the pool than at a desk.  He was starting to get a little envious of the summer life of the rich and famous, that his wife and kids got to enjoy, but he didn't.



The thousand year old church at the end of our street

Since we missed out sightseeing for the week, (it was too hot to even leave the confines of the air conditioned house--unless of course it was to go to the pool), on Saturday, we took the kids to the Schonbrunn Palace.  We took the tour.  It was the summer house of Franz Joseph and Sisi and Maria Theresia before them.  The tour was similar to the one at the Hofburg, but again, we couldn't take pictures.  We did learn more history that we hadn't realized.  Franz Joseph's mother was Maria Theresia.  She had 16 children (11 daughters), but we learned that it doesn't really pay to be royalty.  Of all the daughters, only 1 was allowed to marry for love.  The rest were arranged for them for political reasons.  The Habsburg Dynasty chose to rule and keep peace by forming alliances rather than wars.  So, all the daughters were married off to whoever was or could pose a threat to the throne.  One of these daughters was Marie Antoinette, another was married to Napoleon (his 2nd wife), and another was the queen of Naples.  I found it interesting (not being a history buff) that so much power in the world came out of Austria.  Also the fate of several of the children and grandchildren was not nice.  Of course, among them were beheadings, executions, suicides, and assassinations.  I guess there is a price to pay to live a life of seeming luxury.  After the tour, we took the kids to Zanoni & Zanoni.  It is an ice cream place.  They were in heaven eating their sundaes.  We had to eat fast, or else we were eating milk.

Saturday the weather was slightly cooler, but we decided to go for a swim that evening.  We got outside and found ourselves in the midst of a mosquito hey day.  We could not believe how many of them were mercilessly attacking us!  Our dinner by the pool was quickly canceled and we headed back inside. 


We did not see many bugs out during the heat of the day, but once it cooled down, watch out!!

We ran into a family at church today who we had known in Fort Collins.  They were taking a 3 month tour of Europe and just happened to visit our meeting.  It was great to catch up with them a bit and what a surprise!  It's a small world after all . . .