Anticipation, Arrival and Sleepy Fun Days

It seems John and I have become somewhat experts on how to handle the feeling of anticipation in the last several years. As far as life experiences go, parenting is one that will test and stretch one's bounds of patience and the ability to gracefully handle life's curve balls.  Moving internationally has exponentially increased that process.  So, while I was fairly ready to jump out of my skin with excitement, waiting for my parents and brother to arrive at our apartment Wednesday, there was also a new calm center that has somehow taken root in me.  That was cool.

Audrey and Bailey, on the other hand, were just so entertaining to observe.  Audrey is getting a much firmer grasp of the concept of time and the countdown chain we made in anticipation of our family's arrival helped a lot in explaining when the big day would be.  I also tried to make clear that everyone would be arriving in the afternoon--not waiting to greet them when they rolled out of bed in the morning.  So, we spend our lazy Wednesday morning grabbing some food from the store and treats at the bakery.  The girls played.  I tidied up a bit.  Audrey drew some incredible portraits of everyone who was coming to visit; she also drew a map of their "path to get to Vienna" including black lines that mean "stop", pink lines that mean "go" and three different colored splotches that mean: "Don't step on the owls", "Don't step on the birds" and my favorite: "Don't step on the hawk".  All very important aspects of a long journey. 

So, we whiled away the morning, lingered over the lunch table and then settled in to the big comfy chair by the open window in the living room to read books and listen for the arrival of a taxi from the airport.  We were a few pages into Cars and Trucks and Things That Go when we heard the unmistakable sound of car doors being opened and closed and the sweet sound of English being spoken from the mouths of some of my favorite people.  I leaned my head out the window to yell a greeting (You're welcome, Austrian neighbors!) and patted myself on the back for remembering to close the window (Lest B should decide to take a flying leap as her form of greeting) before I sprinted across the apartment to buzz my family in. 

My mom, of course was the first one leading the charge, lugging suitcases up the stairs and into the apartment.  Our foyer is quite small, so it became something like a game of sardines, squeezing around suitcases and bodies to make sure everyone was properly hugged.  Bailey was right there in the chaos, shouting greetings, yelling each relations' name and hugging every pair of legs she could get to.  Meanwhile, my sweet Audrey girl waited on the couch, torn between excitement and her standard overwhelming shyness.  I scooped her up and we did a second round of bear hugs for everyone.

Shortly after this, Bailey realized she had a captive audience and took the reigns in what has become the most side-splittingly hilarious tour I've ever seen.  If it were possible for an individual to burst out of their skin from excitement, this would've been the moment.  The Bear bounced from room to room screaming excited jibberish about who lived where (mostly her animals) and who sleeps in which rooms.  She did a fine job and has officially been given the title of: Chief Head in Charge of Stellar Greetings. 

Audrey, in her more subtle way, took her time warming up to people she was trying not to let know how much she wanted to hug.  She handed out the portraits she had done and even gave Grandma her favorite drawing of a hawk.  This girl may not be overt in her love, but it is solemn and well-earned thing.

We spent the entire afternoon in the apartment; Joe crashed after not sleeping on the flight over and Dad dozed on the couch in between loving attacks of affection from Bailey.  When she wasn't playing Castle with Grandma, Bailey was hovering in the door of Joe's room, watching him sleep.  Any time someone found here there she would exclaim: "I just lookin'!  I just lookin'!".  Eventually, Joe did wake up and Papa came home.  It was just a joyous evening of celebration.  I know the chaos was a little overwhelming for Audrey, but I was really proud of how she handled it.  She was sure to advocate for herself any time she needed something, even if it was as timid as coming to whisper in my ear. She also took the initiative to leave the room and find a quiet place to play when she needed solitude.  Being an introvert isn't a bad thing and I'm glad she's figuring out at a young age how to recognize when she needs down time to energize.

Our table that night was such a happy place. We all ate dinner together in our typical rambling, chaotic, hysterical fashion and then took off in the cold rain for a walk around our neighborhood.  It was obviously more for the exercise than the sightseeing, but we did catch a peek at Karlskirche before heading back home.  It had been a long day for everyone, so we called it a night.

The next morning, Bailey woke up early, eager to know if everyone was still here.  She woke up the Grandparents at some ungodly hour, but anyone who knows Bailey knows if she's conscious, then the party is on.  It's obviously a bigger task than normal to get six people ready and out of the house, but we managed to make it out at a decent hour to pick up some second breakfast which we carried through a short tour of the Burggarten and Heldenplatz before stopping to nasch.  From there we hopped on the number 1 tram around the ring and watched grand buildings parade by before heading into more obscure areas of Vienna and eventually the Hauptalee portion of the Prater Park.

This place is home to an incredible sprawling playground.  It's just phenomenal stuff.  So, of course Bailey kept getting distracted by little mole hills of dirt that needed to be crushed into oblivion instead of realizing there were swings that were likely designed with monkeys in mind or some of the best sand pits I've seen in the city.  She did manage to give her Grandma a heart attack when she climbed a really high tower with gaping holes on each side, though.  She likes to keep her fan base on their toes.  Audrey, meanwhile, took off running across the open fields and made it all the way to the far end of the playground before her sister had even come back to the ground.  We spent a lot of time just playing, which is really what the girls love best.  Making sand ice cream sundaes and eventually stopping to eat lunch.  Before we left we spent about half an hour on the swings, which is Audrey's absolute favorite.  Bailey and I rode on a tire swing together the entire time and she alternated telling everyone else: "You want to push me!!  Big, not little!!".  It was a lot of fun swinging with my little Bear.  I think she liked it too.  From her vantage point she could see Uncle Joe pushing Audrey's swing and she kept telling me: "I love that guy, Mama.  I love that guy."

And does she ever; they spent the evening snuggled together in our big leather chair. Our afternoon and evening was pretty mellow.  Everyone needed some time to recover from travel or excessive excitement. Besides, Emily ordered us not to have any fun until she joined us Friday morning.  We were just following orders.