Bad Aussee

We went to Bad Aussee in the lake district.

We are staying at a farm owned by the family Stangl.

They have a lot of cool animals.

We jumped on the trampoline.

We went to Gabi's Mostschank and her husband Karl played some waltzes for us.

Today we walked around the Alt Ausseer Lake.

Here is Thomas and Auntie Elisabeth's friend Susie with her

sister-in-law Maddie. The girls are (from the left) Constance (daughter of Susie),

Miranda, Alice and Bobbie.

The dog is called Tolstoi (Dolly).

We saw the most beautiful flowers.

We saw an old Citroen 2CV. This thing is called a "duck."
That's why these people had a rubber ducky in the back.

Here are Thomas, and the three English girls Bobbie, Miranda and Constance.

A Schnitzel is a wonderful thing!

Here we have from the left: Thomas, Susi, Elisabeth,

Miranda, Nick, Alice, Constance and

Nick's wife Maddie.

They live in England.

We took a Children's tour through the salt mines in

Bad Aussee.

We all had to put on these white outfits and it was very cold.

We took the slide down just like the miners.

Magister Universitatis Juventutis Multiplex

Today we went to the University of Vienna to celebrate Thomas' graduation from the Kinderuni.

These are the four rectors of the different disciplines.

The students took their oath on the scepter from the 14th century.

For two weeks every July the University of Vienna offers courses for children

between the ages of 7 - 12.

The courses are taught by the professors of the different disciplines.

They love it when kids ask a lot of questions.

During graduation today all students promised to keep asking questions and keep studying.

Thomas received the academic degree

"Magister Universitatis Juventus Multiplex" -

which means "Master of the Youth-University".

Multiplex means that he has already earned more than two of these degrees in previous years.

After the academic festivities we met our friend Melanie (left)

in the courtyard of the University building.

This is Thomas' certificate.

After that we went to our favorite ice cream place called "Tichy".

We had our favorite ice cream dishes.

We found Thomas' picture from last year in this year's Kinderuni Program.

We showed it off to Opa and Oma.

He looked very sharp.

We went to the Heurigen Piriwe and had some great food!

This is how one eats a poppy seed cake correctly.

Meanwhile in San Diego...

...we left Brett, Krista and Logan like this...
...and on July 15th, they got Stella Bea.

Krapfen

Krapfen are apricot jelly doughnuts - only better.
Thomas demonstrates here how you eat them correctly.

Uncle Leo and his Family

We met at a restaurant owned by the monastery of Heiligenkreuz.

They are famous for their wine and chicken dishes.

This is my Onkel Leo, Thomas, my sister and Anne (sister of Nicholas).

My cousin Sabine and her mom Traude.

This is my cousin Sabine in the middle with her boyfriend Nicholas and Therese.

Sabine and Nicholas live in Paris and are expecting their first baby around Christmas.

This is my cousin Andi, his girlfriend Therese on the left, my sister Elisabeth

behind him and my cousin Susanna on the right.

At the Pool and with Oma and Opa

This is Thomas' new U-Bahn book from Tante Elisabeth.

Another day at the pool.

We checked out the U-Bahn book with Oma.
He got it from Aunt Elisabeth as an early birthday present.

We went to the Heurigen.

Heat Spell

It is so hot here that we go to a pool every day.

Today we went to the pool by Opa's house.

Thomas was on the giant water slide about 100 times.

He had a great time.

It was a 'two-ice cream-day.'

At Tante Elisabeth's House

We were hanging out at home.

We watched Spain win the World Cup.

Burg Forchtenstein

We went to Castle Forchtenstein. They have a medieval wonderland for kids there. We did all kinds of stuff.....

We tried on some armours.

We shot some arrows.

Thomas and Tante Elisabeth.

Thomas met Forfel, the pet mouse who lives in the castle.

Thomas looked at a trained hunting falcon.

We were knighted.

We did some arts and cafts.