Certain Caesura

Salzburg, Austria: Schloss Hellbrunn

2009-11-16T03:33:00.002-06:00

Many places in Europe are known for their Christmas markets in early December. Not to mention the music performances that are available all over town. Schloss Hellbrunn was one location for a market. It was built to be the summer day palace for the Archbishop of Salzburg, and since he always returned to Salzburg for the evenings, there isn't even a bedroom on the premises.

Another big draw are the grounds. There are trick fountains that get you very wet, but they are only open in the warmer months. Usually there are also tours of the palace itself, but since we were there during Christmastime we instead were able to walk through the rooms and see craftsmen and women making a variety of things by hand. It was very interesting.

This is the courtyard. The green stand in the center is selling warm drinks and food. Mostly mulled wine I imagine. Had we not had our rather fuzzy experience the first evening, we may have indulged; it was certainly cold enough for it.

I am not sure if it is clear in the above photo, but it had begun to rain by this point. I have one photo that is all umbrellas. What amazed Rocket Man and I most about this was that every individual had their own umbrella. No one shared. This made for some very interesting navigation, especially in the small winding streets in old town Salzburg. To say that we were poked a few times is definitely an understatement. On the plus side, neither of us had umbrellas, so not only could we move faster, but we were covered quite a bit by everyone else's umbrella.

The inside of the palace was decorated for Christmas, including a few trees like the one above. We always use artificial trees, but the real ones are beautiful. I didn't feel comfortable taking many other photos inside since there were so many people making and selling original work.

We walked around the grounds a little bit before the rain got very heavy. I am sure some of you recognize this gazebo from a rather popular film. There is a tour for The Sound of Music that many people encouraged us to take. The above photo is of the gazebo now located at Schloss Hellbrunn that was recreated in Hollywood (larger) for filming.

We chose not to do the tour for a few reasons. For starters, Rocket Man isn't exactly into that sort of thing. Another is that much of the movie is a fabrication; the family did not do what the movie claims, and the people of Salzburg don't understand how people believe it to be true as it was not. The von Trapps did sing as a family, but the entire storyline about his being forced to join Hitler's army and all that results is made up. Hollywood chose picturesque Salzburg as their location, but some sets were created (like the cemetery scene) while many other portions were filmed outside of the city.

More than anything, we wanted to see Salzburg for what it has to offer. We wanted to know its history and see it for what it is, not for what someone imagined. We had a really good time. There was a lot of rain our final day, not to mention a ton of people, but as we had seen most of what interested us the first two days, we did not mind. We spent our afternoon purchasing gifts for family members and finding warm, dry places for lunch and dinner. In all, it was a very good trip and I would suggest going to a European Christmas Market town in early December to anyone.

Tomorrow? I have no idea what I'll write about...but something, so stay tuned!

Salzburg, Austria: Untersberg

2009-11-15T03:33:00.003-06:00

On our final day in Austria, we decided that we would get out of the city for a while. Included in our Salzburg card was a trip up the Untersberg as well as entry to Schloss Hellbrunn, both of which are a little ways away. We had to pay for the second half of the bus ride to the lift up the mountain, but that was less than two euros each.

Our drive through the countryside was not too long, and we were able to see some very quaint small towns along the way. It would be very easy for someone to stay in one of those towns and still get into Salzburg whenever they please. If you were looking for a place to stay that is very quaint and has less people, it would definitely be the way to go.

The day was shaping up as chilly and cloudy; there was a lot of low cloud cover our last day. This meant that we didn't get the best views while up on the Alps, but you can't control the weather, so it is what it is. We still had a lot of fun up there.

The building above is where you go to get your lift tickets and then ride up. I think the man on the side of the building is pretty funny. We headed inside, obtained our tickets and then had a couple of coffees while we waited for the lift to return and pick us up.

Just before going in, I took some photos of the area around the lift, and this one? It is for Jenky:

I would show you what our view out of the car was like, but basically it was a photo of a window out of which one could see nothing but white foggy clouds. Oh, yes and occasionally some rocks came at us out of nowhere. The visibility was only five feet at most, so we couldn't see much at all aside from the car itself.

I probably shouldn't even have had my camera out up there, as the air was very moist and the temperature was definitely below what we had been experiencing down in the valley. Rocket Man took the camera for a photo of me and then he tried to get a photo of the nothingness that was our view. Imagine whitish-gray. That was it. He pointed the camera, messed with the zoom a bit and declared that it wouldn't focus.

Um...yeah...

'Cause there was nothing for it to focus on.

There were a couple of men up there who were planning to hike to the next station, which in decent weather, is supposed to be quite a nice thing to do. Considering the weather and also the fact that my leather shoes had very slick soles, there was no way we were going anywhere. We did walk a tiny ways uphill away from the station and to get back, I had to walk right behind Rocket Man and basically let his feet stop mine from sliding all over the place.

Good times.

Everything up there was frozen. Pine bushes, leaves, and every other thing you can imagine. We did notice the markers for the trail, which are painted to look like the Austrian flag.

After just a little time, we were frozen as well. My hair was completely stiff and even Rocket Man's eyelashes were frozen. We took refuge in the lift station and waited for the car to take us back down to the bus.

From there we took the bus back towards town but got off at Schloss Hellbrunn. We saw some crafters making all sorts of things by hand and also the gazebo that was created in Hollywood for The Sound of Music. More on that tomorrow!

Salzburg, Austria: Veggie Pizza

2009-11-14T03:33:00.004-06:00

So.

Our dinner on day two in Salzburg.

We had a very busy day, full once again of walking here, there and everywhere to see all that we could see. That evening, we were looking for a place to eat.

When we visited London, I made reservations and/or arrangements for dinner for every night that we would be there because it is such a large place and I wanted to know where we had to be each night so that we would actually manage to get there. In Salzburg, I made no such plans. This was in part because the area was so much smaller and also because I thought we would decide once we got there.

In a way, that was a mistake. In another, it was great as we found some really good food by just choosing a place based on the menu outside. Unfortunately, the December holiday we choose to travel on was one that much of Europe also chose...and quite a few came with us. By our second night, restaurants were filling up and we weren't having a lot of luck for eating, especially over in the old town.

We walked all OVER that area and found no place that had room. We went across the river to the Linzergasse area (major shopping and newer) to look around. There were sausage stands/restaurants everywhere we looked, but of COURSE Rocket Man won't eat THAT.

Duh.

So we became more and more hungry and more and more tired which made for a more and more irritable version of us. Since Rocket Man refused any place with sausages or the like, I chose a stand that sold these:

Mmm - Can you smell it? I got to watch the man make it from the street. We managed to communicate about what I wanted on it and how spicy he should make it.

Man, oh man did it smell good and taste good. All in all, it hit the spot.

While I suggested to Rocket Man that he get one as well, just without the mayo-looking sauce (which is actually YOGURT, which he LIKES), he refused. Instead he took a look at the menu, which was very limited, and chose a vegetable pizza.

Okay.

That sounds normal enough.

The man running the stand (hole in the wall) informed us that he had to make it fresh. Fresh! It will take a few minutes because he must get the fresh vegetables and make the pizza for us!

So, we are waiting.

Then he insists that we come inside to wait. He feels bad that we are waiting for his Fresh! Vegetable Pizza and that we are standing outside in the cold while we do so. And by insist, he really insists that we come inside. I really think it would have offended him if we had stayed outside.

We go in, and the hole in the wall place has a couple of tables and a few locals who obviously spend a lot of time in this place. They are smoking like ca-razy, so we are really excited about how our clothes and winter coats are going to smell once we leave.

We wait a while, with old scruffy men looking at us like we are a little off our rockers, and finally the Fresh! Vegetable Pizza is ready.

We pay, thank the man and then hike back over to our hotel to eat our dinners. As you can see from the photos above, mine was fabulous and delicious. It was huge and I couldn't even eat it all.

Rocket Man's pizza, on the other hand...well:

Oh, yeah. Your eyes do not deceive you. Those are green beans, corn and carrots on that Fresh! Vegetable Pizza. Basically, it looked like he took a bag of frozen veggies (and we all know how yummy those taste) and put it on there with some sauce and cheese.

Oh, and the sauce was very reminiscent of Spaghettio's...he didn't even finish one slice.

Yum.

Let's just say that Rocket Man learned his lesson about that.

And now we all know why those scruffy old men were looking at us like we were ca-razy.

'Cause seriously - who gets a vegetable pizza at a Döner Kebab stand?!?

Salzburg, Austria: Around Town

2009-11-13T03:33:00.008-06:00

Each morning, Rocket Man and I would eat breakfast in our hotel (a decent included breakfast is usually one thing we look for) and then head off into town towards our first destination. Depending on where we crossed the river, we could see a variety of buildings and views. The first post on Austria showed you what it looked like if we took the bridge across to the old town further away from our hotel. This first photo shows what we saw when we crossed over very close to our hotel and then took a river-walk to the old town:

The buildings above are built halfway into the rock. I imagine that they have excellent temperatures inside. In Spain, people choose to live in cave houses because they provide warmer temps in the winter and much cooler ones in the summer.

On our second day, after we visited the gardens at Schloss Mirabel and the Baroque Museum nearby, we took some time to go here:

This building is where Mozart and his family lived. It is not where he was born (you can visit there as well; it is in the old town), but it is where he spent more time. There was a good presentation of family portraits, musical instruments, and general information about the Mozart family. Since most people only hear/know about Amadeus, it is a good way to learn about more members of the very musical family.

There are a variety of ways to get around Salzburg. One of the easiest is to walk. The city does experience something called string rain, which is rain that falls not in drops, but in never ending strings of water. We experienced quite a bit of it our last day there, and were very happy that there is an excellent trolley-bus system that runs on the cables pictured above.

One rather fun thing about being in Europe during the holiday season is the chance to see how other cultures celebrate; there are many different traditions and it is interesting to compare them to our own. I am sure you know that there are different versions of Father Christmas everywhere and that they travel in different ways and have different clothing.

An Austiran/German holiday tradition that we were able to witness was that of the Perchten and Krampus runs. On December 5th and 6th, these creatures roam through the streets. The Perchten come to scare evil from your home; the Krampus are there to scold the naughty.

The Krampus have horns, wear bells at their waists and are rather loud and scary looking. You can see the face of one here. They go through the city on the 5th of December looking for those who have been bad. Some even have baskets they wear on their backs: "The better to take you away in, my naughty child!" Kris Kringle walks through with them carrying a book that has all of the names of the good and bad for the year. The above photo was the best I could get as they were moving quickly through the streets.

Throughout Spain, cities and towns normally have a tile mosaic representation of themselves. Many of them are small, but some are quite large. This mosaic of Salzburg was inside the entry to the Mönchsberg lift. This is an elevator that takes people from the ground up to the top of the mountain and to the Museum der Moderne. As it reminded me so much of Spain, I had to take a photo.

We were immediately greeted by this fantastic view of Hohensalzburg Fortress overlooking the old town. As it was towards the end of the day, the light was fading fast. We ran into a couple of other tourists up there and we took each other's photos.

We did not go into the museum, but we did take a look at a couple of the exhibits that were outside. Then we investigated a few of the paths that lead away from the city. Only a couple of minutes in, and you'd never know that you are so very close to Salzburg:

In addition to the city and all that it has to offer, the environs of Salzburg are certainly worth seeing. We would spend our last morning in Salzburg doing just that.

But first, I simply MUST tell you about our dinner experience...

12 of 12 November

2009-11-12T20:30:00.000-06:00

Guga, Papa Jim and Grandma are visiting this week. What this means for all of you is that I actually have something worth photographing for this month's 12 of 12. Thanks to Chad for the idea; be sure to check out other participant's contributions.

We traveled up towards Brenham today, so all photos were taken in Washington County, Texas. We visited the Antique Rose Emporium, then went into town and ate lunch at Must Be Heaven. After that we went to see miniature horses at St. Clare Monastery's ranch. We couldn't leave the area without checking out the Bluebell Creamery. Finally we returned home, had dinner and Little Miss had a bath before bed. That was our day; hope you enjoy the photographs!

11:04 am; Bird

11:10 am; Wind Chimes

11:22 am; Hug Part One

11:22 am; Hug Part Two

11:34 am; Family Portrait

11:51 am; Meow

1:03 pm; Hats

1:42 pm; Horse

1:43 pm; Eleven

2:15 pm; Hat

2:32 pm; Ice Cream

6:45 pm; "Mooooooo"

Thanks and have a happy Friday!

Salzburg, Austria: St. Peter's Cemetery

2009-11-11T03:33:00.000-06:00

As my closest friends can tell you, I love cemeteries. I cannot really explain why; I can tell you that it is not an obsession with death or the dead. Something about them is completely fascinating, calming and beautiful to me. I especially enjoy those that have markers that are old and weathered. That would be because I like old stuff. Yup, old stuff is the best.

Many people recognize Saint Peter's Cemetery because a scene in The Sound of Music took place there. That is to say that they created a set that looked like this cemetery for the movie. Most recognizable are the vaults that run along the walls. They belong to families who pay to basically rent them.

In fact, all of the plots in the cemetery are rented. As long as you or a descendant of yours pays the fee, the plot is yours. Once no one can or does pay for the spot, your remains are dug up, moved somewhere else, and your resting place is put on the market. Although this sounds very strange, especially to most Americans, it is fairly common practice, especially in places where space is limited.

There are a wide variety of markers in the cemetery. Some, like the one above, appear hand painted; quite a few of them were very worn from the weather. Others are made of marble and carved with names and figures that range from patriotic to grotesque. Others still are statuesque. Some plots are surrounded by stones, some by wrought iron gates, and others had no official border markings at all.

All of the graves within the cemetery are very well tended. The families of those buried there obviously take pride in caring for their loved ones' resting places. We saw lots of candles and even some flowers. The whole cemetery was crammed full of beautiful things; it was tough to decide where to look or which part was our favorite.

Saint Peter's is located right along the Mönchsberg which means that when they needed a catacombs, a natural solution was provided. The rock was cut to allow for a place to keep the remains of those whose time in the ground had run out. From below a window and door in some rather worn brick are all that is visible of the old catacombs.

Entry to the catacombs is partly hidden. Behind the vaults that run along the mountain is a tunnel that climbs up into the rock. The short skinny tunnel leads up to a room that at one time held the bones that had been disinterred.

These days all that awaits visitors are a couple of altars, murals and the barred off door and windows leading to a dangerous drop off of the cliff. The climb wasn't too long or difficult and the area was mildly interesting; I am guessing that is why the cost is one euro (if you don't have the Salzburg Card).

On the way up to the main catacomb room, there is a landing. There are also some windows along the way that provide views of the cemetery and Romanesque Chapel of the Holy Cross.

While we could not enter the chapel, we could visit Saint Peter's Church. This was probably the most beautiful interior we saw while in Salzburg. Photos were not allowed, but if you'd like to catch a glimpse, go here. It is done in the Baroque style and is breathtaking. The interior decorations of silvery blues and greens as well as the cream/white surrounding the paintings makes the church feel very lofty and light. This contrast with the exterior and one's general feelings after touring the cemetery combine to provide for an almost shocked feeling when you enter. It is quite literally like a breath of fresh air.

Salzburg, Austria: Schloss Mirabell

2009-11-10T03:33:00.002-06:00

Our second day in Salzburg began at Schloss Mirabell. This palace was built for the mistress of one of the Prince Archbishops (who was also the mother of his children). It is most famous for its gardens. We were there one of the first weeks in December, and even then things were very pretty. I can only imagine what it must look like in the spring when everything is growing and blooming.

The gardens are done in the baroque style and are open to the public. There are a variety of flower beds as well as statues and reflecting pools. There is an open air theater as well. When we were there, the flower beds were mostly empty although some had been filled with appropriate plants for the season:

One of the draws of the gardens is that some of The Sound of Music was filmed here. I am not sure on all of the specifics, but we were told that the Pegasus fountain was a scene in the movie. I have no idea if that is correct, but the fountain was pretty:

Just over a little bridge from the fountain was the dwarf garden. Some are said to be modeled, though in a caricature fashion, after servants who were living in the palace at the time. Others were recreations of peasants and farmers in the area.

Some of the statues appear as if they could be from other lands.

For the most part, each one has something it is holding that explains its job within the palace.

I got the distinct impression that this one was the food taster. You know, to be sure there wasn't any poison in the edibles? Then again, this could be someone's idea of a singing dwarf...

Once again, we had to go for a photo-op. This one was too cute not to smooch.

As this was either the only or one of only two women, Rocket Man chose her for his kiss.

In addition to the dwarf garden, the fountains, theater, reflecting pools and beautiful plants, there was also a maze section of the gardens. It was rather useless due to the time of year, but I got a couple of good photos out of it:

Who is that in there all fuzzy-like?

Why, it is Rocket Man, looking at me like I am crazy for taking longer than necessary in all of this cold weather!

From the gardens we visited the Baroque museum, which was very informative and then also Mozart's residence while in Salzburg. Both allowed no photos, so I don't have much to show you there. That afternoon however, we visited St. Peter's church and cemetery, which was very interesting indeed. So tomorrow, that is where we'll visit here! See you then.

Salzburg, Austria: Store Signs

2009-11-09T03:33:00.002-06:00

Throughout the old town of Salzburg are fantastic signs advertising everything from where you can get your hair cut and styled to the best place to purchase a Christmas ornament in the form of a real egg that has been painted.

Oh, yes. You can.

Actually, you can buy a large variety of painted eggs for every season or event imaginable.

Most of the signs are wrought iron and have gold-leaf embellishments. Even the McDonald's has a sign that includes golden arches. Literally.

Some appear to have only been painted to match the items sold within.

If you are ever in need of traditional Austrian clothing, I imagine that these people would know how to help you:

Then again, they could just sell clothing or be tailors.

Rocket Man and I went to this toy museum one afternoon:

It was full of old toys, musical instruments and marionettes. 'Twas a fun way to spend an hour or so.

This fancy schmancy looking stylist's shop was located very close to a restaurant, called Nagano, that we chose one day for lunch. This was the beginning of our tradition of finding a sushi place at which to eat whenever we went somewhere new. As it was fah-reezing the day we chose to eat there, it really hit the spot. They had warm soups and Japanese grill items as well as squishy, jiggly things, so it had something for both of us. A word of caution, however: fresh fish in a land-locked country in the middle of Europe? Not the most inexpensive place to eat sushi. Very tasty, though.

Salzburg, Austria: Evening

2009-11-08T03:33:00.006-06:00

[And now we return to our regularly scheduled posting...which I should point out details a trip we took in December of 2006 while we were living in Spain.]

When Rocket Man and I travel, we like to go see as much as we can. We only people watch a little bit, and while I am sure we are missing out on that front, we have done a trip where we didn't go see much and we weren't very happy with it. We feel like trips to the beach are for sitting around and doing as close to nothing as possible. When you're finally visiting a part of the world you've never been to, we agree that you should see and learn as much as possible.

That being said, it can make for some very tiring days. We usually plan to go back to the hotel in the afternoon for a rest and/or a nap. This becomes very entertaining when you add foreign television into the mix. We had no television in Spain really, only about 4.5 channels or so of completely spanish channels, so going to other countries to see their television was always a bit of a treat - mostly because the game shows? They are awesome.

Each afternoon in Austria we would head back over the river to our hotel and rest up for a bit (and dry out, if needed) before we would head out on our side of the river (newer side of town) to find a place to eat.

This is where I should point out that I do all of the planning for our travels. Rocket Man was always working and it was like pulling teeth to even get him to take the vacation days as it always meant even worse hours leading up to and following the trip. He would just come along for the ride, and that was fine by him. I do the research and just lead him around the town telling him whatever I had already learned from my reading and planning.

Usually I try to include places to eat in my plans. In London, this was very necessary as the city is so big and time was of the essence. It was also very easy because many places were listed online with reviews, etc. Not that I am saying they weren't listed for Salzburg, but for whatever reason I didn't plan places to eat for this trip.

This meant, especially for dinner, that we would simply walk around and eventually choose a place on a whim. The night we arrived (which was after the huge luggage debacle and late airplane which led to running mess), this wasn't a big deal as not too many other tourists were there.

We ended up choosing the Gabler Brau. In fact, we ate here two of our nights in Salzburg. It was very good. One thing that was different about eating out in Austria is that at least in some restaurants, you don't wait to be seated; instead you simply find a table with enough empty seats for you and have at it. I think this is fairly common in Europe as we experienced the same thing in Dublin.

As we did not know this bit of information there was some awkwardness at first, but eventually it all got sorted out. We enjoyed our meal and a bottle of very good Austrian wine.

Many travel to Europe for the Christmas markets that pop up in many towns near the holiday. We walked around and stall-shopped for a bit. We also purchased some mulled wine while there.

And that, my friends, was basically enough to end the evening.

We'd already split a bottle of wine at dinner and adding the mulled wine from the market made for a rather entertaining walk back to the hotel where we both crashed. I am fairly certain that the rest of the evening looked a bit like this:

Oh, yes. Blurry indeed.

It was tasty stuff, and a little will go a long way.

Needless to say, we did not drink any more mulled wine during our stay...

Halloween Day; Take Three

2009-11-07T03:33:00.001-06:00

Some friends of ours were getting together on Halloween night to grill hotdogs and then trick-or-treat together and we were lucky enough to be invited. There were six kids there in total and they were running, climbing, riding and having so much fun!

Perpetual Motion saw this tricycle and immediately had to get on. She had a really tough time pushing herself forward, but didn't seem to mind.

This car was a huge success. She loooooved it; she even had some trouble allowing others to play with it. As in she would be done and get off and go do something else. Then another kid would go to play with it and HOLY SMOKES she needed to be on that car RIGHT NOW. So, we had some practice with sharing and taking turns and being upset when we don't get our way.

This little girl is only a few months older than Perpetual Motion. She has two older siblings and therefore knows how to do many things that PM doesn't have a clue about. I would show you other photos of all the children, but seriously, they were moving soooo fast that I couldn't get any good shots! There were a couple of rock stars and some super heroes.

We had dinner, which consisted of PM grabbing the hotdog off of the plate before I could cut it up and downing it in less than two minutes. She may have been hungry. Then we changed into costumes, and her first reaction was What is this?

Then she got into it a little more and stomped around like we had been announcing her and applauding.

And then? THEN we got the PUMPKIN. THAT was THE BEST EVER.

Oh, yeah. We all dressed up. I figure we should for as long as we can manage it. So here we are, The Mad Hatter, Queen of Hearts, and Alice. Considering I sometimes feel like I must be living in Wonderland, it is all very appropriate!

PM had a good time trick-or-treating. I could only convince her to go up to the first door by telling her that there was a dog that lives there. Then, once we rang the bell and the man opened the door, she totally tried to just walk right into the house and love on the dog. She cared nothing about anything else...until he put some candy in her pumpkin. That was A-mazing. She took it out and put it in and then decided that she just HAD to hold one piece while we walked from house to house.

Mmm - warm melty chocolate.

She was very good at saying Thank-you. She rang the doorbells, sometimes more than once, and finally, at the last house (we only went to about five or six), she said Trick-or-Treat.

All in all, Halloween was a success!

Halloween Day; Take Two

2009-11-06T03:33:00.000-06:00

After Perpetual Motion woke from her nap and played a little while outside, we carved our pumpkin. She seemed interested in it at first and then she appeared to get quite concerned with the fact that parts of her pumpkin were not in her pumpkin any more. She loves pumpkins, shouts their name, says hello to them, climbs into neighbors' yards to touch them and see them...so I can understand her concern. Here is a photo-story of carving the pumpkin:

I don't know what this bowl and spoon are for, but I'm ready!

What is Mama doing?

Whoa - what is THAT?

It feels kinda icky...

Let me get a closer look at this stuff.

Daddy, you missed a spot!

Two hands...

Let me try it this way...

There we go; let's cover that up, Daddy.

Oh, No!

There you have it - the pumpkin to Jack-o-Lantern process with a 17-month-old. Tomorrow I'll have some photos up of our evening, including our costumes!

Halloween Day; Take One

2009-11-05T03:33:00.005-06:00

I apologize, but I must interrupt our regularly scheduled posting to fill you in on our very busy Halloween Weekend 2009:

This past weekend was a very busy one for all of us here at casa Clementina. For starters, a play house that friends of ours dropped off a week ago was finally put together on the patio for Perpetual Motion to enjoy.

She found it fabulous. It took us a week to put it together because Houston was Rain Central last week. Boy, was it fun to be stuck inside all week long. Since the rains have stopped, we've been outside every day multiple times.

This house? It is great for her. She can open and close the door, the shutters, and there is even a small tunnel-like exit in the back of the structure.

Then there's the grill. Those knobs? They click and clack when you turn them and that is so much fun to do! There's also a phone inside, WITH BUTTONS, and she loves to pretend to be on the phone as well as pushing buttons on anything that has them.

I must tell you about a birthday party we received an invitation to. It says Calling All Superheroes and that costumes are encouraged.

Well.

We don't have any superhero costumes, but Rocket Man had a very good idea. We are thinking she can go as Aqua Woman:

Oh, yeah.

On her head is one of the bottoms to a bathing suit she wore this summer. I think she can wear that as her hat and then we'll just make up the rest of the outfit as we go.

So that was our morning. Aqua Woman made an appearance, and then we played on our slide and in the house outside.

Take Two is on its way...

Salzburg, Austria: Residenz

2009-11-04T03:33:00.002-06:00

The Residenz building, located in the center of town near the Dom (cathedral), is where the Prince Archbishop lived and held events. As per usual, we had audio guides included in our visit to the palace. Again, the Salzburg card, at about thirty-six euros per person for three days, was incredibly worth it.

Then again, if you don't like listening to all of those guides and would rather people-watch, then perhaps you'd be better off just looking around. In most cities, if this is more your style, then I would immediately tell you to forgo the cards and just look at the free stuff. In Salzburg, I think it could still be worth it. You get free transport around the city and entry to almost every site/museum in town. You could easily spend twelve euros a day getting around and seeing just a couple of things...and no one said you have to listen to the guides. As much as I enjoy learning about old stuff and the like, I certainly have pushed the fast-forward/stop button when I just don't care to listen.

Further proof of this is the fact that when Rocket Man and I visit museums, we are far more likely to make a fast walk-through and marvel at only that which really catches our eyes rather than read every.single.thing. in the place. Our fathers can take the blame for this approach. They read everything. As in absolutely everything. Which is a feat, indeed, but not one which we are inclined to repeat everywhere we go.

We love you Dad and Dad. And we appreciate the places you've taken us and what we learned.

Well, except for the battlefields.

I mean, you've seen one and you've seen them all.

Especially when you're a kid.

Ahem. Moving along...

Upon entry to the palace, tourists are greeted by a large room with huge marble doorways on either end. This is where, if one so chooses, a concert can be appreciated during your stay in the city. I am sure you can all see the musicians' stands set up and a few of them getting ready for an afternoon performance:

The staircase at the far end of the room is beautiful in its construction, but it serves a dual purpose. In addition to its beauty and function, it is also a musical instrument. That's right. Each of the brass banisters are tuned to a different note and can be played.

I found that to be excellent. What kid, no matter their age, could resist that?

Next is a close-up of the fabulous marble doorway at the other end of the room. The reddish-brown stone is something I had never seen before. Austria certainly has some interesting mining opportunities. Marble and crystals indeed.

Much of Salzburg is done in a baroque style. While Rocket Man and I were somewhat aware of what this means, we weren't one hundred percent on the details. Luckily Salzburg also has a baroque museum, which made things more clear for us. The Residenz had typical ceilings for the style, painted with many depictions of the life of Alexander the Great:

All over the palace were beautiful crystal chandeliers which of course required a photo or two:

Ooohhh, sparkly.

I am sure that many of you have heard of the slightly famous musician who was born and grew up in Salzburg. He was a bit of a child prodigy. There were a few rooms in the palace in which he performed, one of which I am fairly certain was at the age of six or so.

That would be Mozart for those of you who are going eh?

If you look in the back left corner of the above photo, you can see a large cylindrical ceramic object. Basically, these are the fireplaces within the palace. They are ovens made to heat the rooms.

In the back of each is a small door where servants can stock the fire with coal to keep the place warm. So that the workers do not interrupt there is a doorway and passage in the walls that leads to the back of the stove where they can work unseen.

The tour takes you in a round-about path so that you end up in the same room in which you began your tour. The vast room is certainly impressive. There were tapestries and other impressive items within the rooms of the palace, but you can usually find those things in any royal palace you visit. I tried to point out the things that are different or better than things I have seen in other cities. Granted, we haven't visited that many in all, so I am sure some of this is a repeat of somewhere.

Anyway, that is all for the Residenz. Tomorrow I shall talk a bit about our first two evenings in the city.

I know, I know; you are waiting with bated breath...

Salzburg, Austria: Goofing Off

2009-11-03T03:33:00.001-06:00

Let us begin with the fact that we had only seen snow once since our move to Houston in 2003. And no, we didn't get to experience the freak foot-high snow that Houston received in 2005 because we were out of town...in Ohio where it had snowed and snowed.

When we arrived in Salzburg and it was cold and spitting stuff and all of that, boy were we excited. We were also a bit worried about the string rain that the city is so well known for as they tour books tell you to expect it while you are there no matter what.

Did we bring any gear to protect ourselves?

Um, of course not!

Here is Rocket Man, in December of 2006, in front of what was left of the snow that had fallen on Salzburg before we arrived:

At least he is smiling in this photo. In the one other I convinced him to take, he is looking at me like I am Ca-Razy for wanting a photo of the dirty stuff in the first place.

It Is SNOW.

Take A PICTURE.

Up in the fortress, once we finished our guided tour, we made our way to the so-called Marionette museum. It was more of a display in a depressing stone dungeon room and a half. Thankfully, there was silliness to be had with the stick-your-face-in-it photo op.

For those of you who were/are HAMSters and experienced Opera-Fest, I am fairly certain these are a reference to Papageno and Papagena in Mozart's The Magic Flute. My costume is strange enough, but I especially like Rocket Man' head dress and tail.

Just before entering the tour area, there is a large bull statue sitting in the courtyard. It seems strangely out of place considering the city, and if one knows nothing about the organ, then I am sure it would flummox. Even knowing about the organ, I thought it very cheesy. In Spain, I would not think twice about seeing something like this, but in Austria it seems very strange indeed.

Obviously it is in reference to the organ, and even more than that, it screams photo-op, so who are we to disappoint?

Well, I take that back, Rocket Man greatly desired to disappoint at first:

See that look on his face? Let me translate that for you: "What in the *** do you mean, take a picture with the bull? Ca-Razy. Who are you again? How did you get me to marry you?"

So I had to step it up and show him what was to be done:

[An aside: Notice how I have no feet? And the bull, he only has two, poor thing? This would be the first of maaaaaany Rocket Man photos of the no-feet variety. Oh so many. Le sigh.]

Once he was finished giggling and chopping off feet, Rocket Man got into the action and attempted what I imagine very few adults over the years...if any...had done:

Ah, yes.

You're welcome.

Tomorrow shall be less goofy and more Residenz.

Salzburg, Austria: Hohensalzburg Fortress

2009-11-02T03:33:00.000-06:00

There are a couple of ways to get up to the fortress from down in the old town: you can navigate a path up the side of the cliff or you can take the funicular. Want to guess which we chose to do? I mean, we've taken the stairs to climb the Eiffel Tower, so we aren't exactly adverse to some exercise. Here's a shot of the funicular tracks to give you an idea of how steep the cliff really is:

Granted, the path zig-zags (Is that a verb? Methinks not) back anf forth as opposed to going straight up, but still, it is a mighty good workout. Given that we were going to be out and about all day and that it was a bit chillier than any weather we'd seen in, oh, about 4 years, we decided to take the tram.

I would like to point out that although I am only just now getting around to writing about our trip to Salzburg, it was our second place to visit during our stay in Spain. We had visited London, but without the fancy new SLR. I even managed to bring both lenses with me to Salzburg and was brave enough to change them from time to time in the cold weather. I mention this only because it means that photos were a large part of our trip and it made me very happy.

Back to our first morning and a visit to the fortress:

Riding the funicular was interesting indeed. I am sure you can see in the above photo that there is only one track for most of the trip; it splits into two about halfway down and then comes right back together again. There are two trains, and they must travel at the same time, one from the top and one from the bottom. Timing is important because they must arrive at the split at the same time, occasionally braking to a crawl or stop to allow the other to make it, and then they pass each other and continue on their way. Efficient and interesting for those riding, to see another car coming straight for you from the top of the hill.

We disembarked and walked to a patio that was a short distance away, took a few steps towards the edge and were greeted by this:

Those are alps there, people. Super high, magnificent mountains the likes of which we'd never seen. We grew up with mountains, but really rounded short ones, and Houston has none to speak of. Granted, Spain had some mountains where we were living, but they look quite different from these.

To say that they are very, very, very, very tall is an understatement:

Breath-taking is accurate. I had only a few dozen photos similar to this on my card after our first ten minutes up there. We were very lucky in that we had a fabulously sunny and crisp morning in which to view the fortress and its fabulous views. The strategic location is evident when up there as to all sides there are cliffs and very clear views of anything and everything, including whomever might try to attack. In fact, it was never captured by enemy troops.

A short walk took us into the courtyard within the walls of the fortress. This might be my favorite photo from the morning.

Rocket Man had left all of the planning to me, and as usual I had searched for the most inclusive and inexpensive way to see the city and its environs. Most cities have a City Pass or Card that allows entry to certain homes, museums and exhibits for a fee. Some also include transportation costs. Usually one can purchase the pass to be good for one, three, five or seven days.

Occasionally these passes are not worth the cost. For example, in London we did purchase the passes, but I had to strategically plan every minute of our day to get our money's worth. Had the London Pass not included transportation, then it would not have been worth the money, especially since quite a few museums there are free and also because the main attractions, such as Westminster Abbey and Buckingham palace, both of which we visited, were not included at all.

Barcelona's city pass worked differently. Instead of gaining free entry to everything on the list like in London, users were given a reduced price with the card. At first I thought this would prove to save us nothing, but once I planned our trip and added up the costs with and without the card, it did indeed save us some money. Plus, if I recall correctly, travel was included once again.

I am explaining all of this to you in order to explain how very completely worth it the Salzburg Card truly is. It cost us thirty-six euros each, and included free entry to everything we had even a tiny desire to see. It included free audioguides to each building and also included free travel in Salzburg and out of the city a certain distance. I believe the only things we had to pay for aside from the card (and food and lodging of course) was a very reduced price to get out to a cable car up the Untersberg. Essentially, this was the cheapest trip we took in large part due to the exceptional value of the Salzburg Card. We paid for the card with the first day's activities.

Ahem.

Back to the fortress, yes?

So we took the tour, complete with free audio guide, and I got some more fabulous photos. On one of the watch towers, looking back towards the green space created for the Archbishop's use:

From the same tower, looking in the opposite direction, a great shot of the Franciscan church and University church:

Included in the tour is a visit to the state rooms. The large doorways into each room appear at first to be surrounded by carved and lacquered wood, but upon further inspection are found to be made of an Austrian marble that has this unique reddish-brown coloring. Perhaps it is the age of the building, but the marble blends in so well with the surrounding wooden walls that it took us a while to realize that they were different materials.

The fortress was first constructed and later enlarged by the Archbishops. It was first built during the middle ages to protect the interests of the Archbishop, since he served as both important political figure and as that of religious leader. During an expansion in 1502 an organ was added. The Archbishop at the time wanted a way to tell the townsfolk when it was time to get up and what time to go to bed. Here is The Bull, as the organ is named due to the roar heard when the automated instrument plays an F-Major chord:

Imagine being woken up by that thing every morning.

Ugh.

Along the corridor leading to the organ were small windows that provided nice frames for views of the city:

Although the audio tour was over after the viewing of the organ, there was much more to the fortress, including prison cells, a marionette display as well as a silly interpretation of the bull itself. We'll get to all of that tomorrow. Prepare to giggle!

Salzburg, Austria: Morning Stroll

2009-11-01T02:33:00.001-06:00

We arrived in Salzburg, Austria pretty late at night. We flew from Jerez, Spain through Palma de Mallorca and on to Salzburg. We had a late departure from Jerez, and our layover in Mallorca was originally only about 45 minutes...which was cut down to about 25 once we arrived.

The airport there is tiny, and none of the planes disembarked at a gate, but on the tarmac. Everyone had to get on buses and wait and wait and wait before finally being taken to a terminal. Then we ran and ran and ran (this sounds like a kids' book) to get to our second flight. We just made it.

Upon arrival in Salzburg we found that some of our luggage did not.

Luckily, I had decided to pack our items equally in two bags. This meant both of us had some clothing in each, and although I did not have pajamas the first night, at least we each had new clothing for the following day.

We caught a cab to the NH Salzburg, which is located on the opposite side of the river from the old town. We walked down to the newer section of the city and found a place for dinner. It was mighty tasty and we ate there two nights during our stay.

The first morning was cool and brisk (winter, yay!) and we had plans to visit the fortress first thing, so we walked through town towards our destination. First we had to cross the river:

Then we walked through the small streets where we were able to see the spires on the Residenz and the Cathedral:

Murals cover many of the buildings in the town:

We made our way down to Mozart Platz, where an ice-rink is set up around the statue of Mozart, which has (of course) been tagged by someone with spray-paint.

Nice.

From there, we could see the fortress peeking at us between the glockenspiel and the cathedral spire:

It was a fabulous morning and as you can see, very sunny, which made walking around fabulous. Tomorrow I'll show you the fortress!

Bath Time!

2009-10-25T08:50:00.000-05:00

One of Perpetual Motion's very favorite activities is taking a bath. These days we do it in the kitchen sink as it is the perfect size and height. When I ask her if she is ready for a bath she starts saying "Bath! Bath! Bath!" If she is not immediately put into the water, which is the norm as I am typically still getting everything ready when I ask her, this turns into "BATH! PLEASE! BATH, BATH PLEASE BAAAAAATH!!!!!!!!!!"

Then when I plop her in, I get this:

It is followed immediately by a discussion of one of the most fantastic things ever: BUBBLES! Our conversation goes something like this:

PM: BUBBLES!!!
Me: That's right, those are bubbles.
PM: BUBBLES!!!!! (accompanied by much smacking of bubbles)
Me: Thank you, now I have bubbles on me as well.
PM: BUBBLES!!!!!!!!!!! (At this point she usually picks them up and tries to eat them)
Me: Mmmm, bubbles.

When she is all wet it is very easy to see that her hair, though still practically nonexistent, is actually growing. It would be easier to tell if it were a darker color. We think it is finally long enough to put bows and things into it, but I am fairly certain she would just take them out and I definitely don't want any more things to keep track of, so no bows or other hair things yet.

Her absolute favorite part of bath time, aside from the initial bubble discussion, is when I do this:

I don't really know the appeal aside from the sensation of warm water rolling down her head. She asks for me to do this over and over. I usually give in a couple of times just because it makes her so happy. And look: teeth! She's finally got some molars, though they are only about half-way in. Slow goes it on that front, as with the hair.

For the most part, this is what bath time is like with a toddler. Don't you wish you had one? Strike that, cause lots of other things are no fun at all, like the oink flu. Instead, see if you can borrow one for bath time; it is fun indeed.

Just make sure the parents know you are borrowing their kid; otherwise you could run into some problems...

Oink!

2009-10-21T19:17:00.003-05:00

My child? She is sick. I am sure you can guess the ailment based on the title of this post. Good times indeed.

It began yesterday evening when, after a perfectly happy and rambunctious visit with Guga on the web cam, she began getting fussy. I thought she was just getting hungry a little early.

Silly me.

In less than thirty minutes her body temp went from normal to four billion gazillion degrees. I am not a medical professional, so yes I am exaggerating a bit. Also, my calculations are directly related to how much holding her made me sweat.

Buckets.

Nothing would calm her down. She did not want to eat. She did not want to drink. She would not could not in a house, she would not could not with a mouse. Every single toy, no matter the size, was suddenly the only thing that would comfort her. Oh, and it was a cumulative comforting, as in we added to our loot as we walked around the house.

Also? None of it worked, so she just kept screaming.

I gave her meds right off the bat, what with the steam rolling off of her body. The first did not do much, so I added the second. While I was waiting for that one to take effect, I put her in a warm bath to try and lower her temperature. Oh, how we all enjoyed that.

I put her in all of her night time regalia and held her in a chair and finally she began to calm down. Much to my relief, we were not holding all of the toys in the house. Then she fell asleep. Right there, in the chair, without dinner or anything to drink. So, I put her to bed and then called the doctor.

The first thing they asked was if I took her temperature and sure I did, but not with any formal thermometer of any sort. Nope, I used my own personal meter and the answer was REACHING IMPLOSION.

Is that even possible? Can something implode from heat? My guess is no, but I am no scientist.

Anyway, the on-call nurse took my info and called my doctor who very promptly called me back, said it was probably the oinky mess that's been going around and to bring her into the office in the morning. In the mean-time, keep the meds in her and check on her through the night.

All of which I did. After a 2.5-hour-plus doctor visit, a nasal test (that came back negative, but probably falsely), a pricked and squeezed finger as well as a urine sample (boy is that fun when you're itty bitty), he told me that it is most likely the oinky mess and prescribed the appropriate treatment.

They didn't have it at the pharmacy.

No kidding.

Luckily, they knew one that did, so it wasn't all that bad, but dude that kinda stunk.

So now we've been home since around noon and she ate fairly well but slept practically none at all. I am fairly certain the medication makes her CA-RAZY 'cause she's never acted like she did this evening.

Ever.

With any luck we'll all have it in a day or two and boy oh boy, welcome to the fun house!

Chase!

2009-10-21T03:33:00.006-05:00

One of our favorite pastimes on the weekends is when Rocket Man has a few minutes and can play with Perpetual Motion. She has learned how much fun chasing can be and she will chase him and loves it when he chases her. I think these photographs will demonstrate how much fun this really can be:

TGR Exotics

2009-10-20T19:50:00.000-05:00

In addition to the pumpkins and hayride we enjoyed while at TGR Exotics we were able to see quite a few, well, exotic animals. Some animals were in cages, like the fourth largest rodent (Sorry, there's no photo of that one. You're welcome.), and others were in pens, like the chickens.

Others were behind fences. Kangaroos were hanging out in the shade at the back of an enclosure. Perpetual Motion had quite a view while sitting on her Dad's shoulders:

A joey (baby kangaroo, not college roommate) was being carried around in a bag by different workers. No photos of either as they were difficult to get.

While the kangaroos, along with horses and even the chickens, were nice to look at there were also a few animals that were...interesting rather than nice. This guy, for instance:

Nice teeth, fella.

A few goats were eating grass in one field when all of a sudden the whole group of them took off towards the fence, found a hole in the wire, and escaped! They ran all over the place to the amusement of most of the kids there.

Perpetual Motion's favorite animals, mostly because they were pretty unconcerned about her, were the miniature horses.

They were also just her size. She could walk up to them and pat their sides or poke them in the face; it was fabulous as far as she was concerned. We only had one moment where I really wasn't sure that the horses were going to be okay with her attention. She had been patting them and poking them and was so very excited about it that she was getting more and more vocal as well as louder and louder...and it all escalated into a primal toddler yell of some sort.

One of the horses? It literally froze. As in immobile. From "I could care less" to "Holy crap" in an instant. It slooooowly turned its head to stare her right in the eye and made its judgment: no worries.

We walked all over the two fields of animals that were open. There were a few port-a-potties over near the pumpkin patch and of all the animals to be hanging out in the shade right there...

Oh yeah, a pig. He got up at one point and circled around a bit only to plop right back down in the shade for a nap. There was one other pig that we saw, worth over $3000.00 or some such amount. Apparently he is really rare and very intelligent.

His face, it shows all of that and more:

Oh, so much more.

He wouldn't let anyone get close to him at all and therefore you are missing the best part of him: his belly. That thing was so big and round it almost touched the ground.

Needless to say, Perpetual Motion was not all that impressed with the swine population at TGR Exotics. Well, except for one...

...but he's really small and made of concrete, so I don't thing he really counts.

Tomorrow I'll post some photos of one of her favorite weekend activities. See you then!

Bounce!

2009-10-18T03:33:00.000-05:00

In addition to a slew of strange animals mixed with your everyday farm animals, TGR Exotics had an area full of one of the most fun items ever:

Oh, yes. There were kids bouncing all over the place! Some bounced solo, some bounced with parents, and some even bounced into one another just so they could fall off!

Yes, those were boys doing that last one. I imagine if Jenky and Rocket Man ever had the opportunity then they did the same. In fact, I think they would do it now if given the chance.

Perpetual Motion did not know what to think of the field of bouncy balls, so we showed her how to bounce on them and Rocket Man dribbled one for her.

She was not impressed with either.

She showed us the way to do things, you know, if you're only sixteen months old. Apparently the thing to do is to get behind the ball and bounce/push/roll it.

That is waaaaaaay fun.

It keeps you happy.

Once you've mastered the bounce/push/roll there is really only one thing left to do:

Drag it back so that you can do it all over again!

Pumpkins!!

2009-10-17T20:05:00.000-05:00

This morning we all went over to TGR Exotics for some fall fun. We saw many animals and enjoyed a hayride before we chose a pumpkin.

Perpetual Motion wasn't too sure about the hayride at first, but then she began to warm up to it.

She chose to express her delight by sticking her tongue out of her mouth...

...and throwing her head back to laugh.

Although she tried and tried to pick up pumpkins, they were all too heavy for her.

Finally her Daddy picked up a pumpkin so that she could give it a hug.

We had a lot of fun and I have more photos of the various animals at the place, so check back later for more!

A Review: The Lost Symbol

2009-10-16T20:07:00.004-05:00

I don't usually post reviews of things on this here site. As much as I read, I should do it more often since it would give me more to talk about than just my kid. Oh, and my dog. Don't get me wrong, I am oh so sure that you all love nothing more than to read about our life...but well, I imagine most of you are getting bored, so I shall talk about a book I read on Thursday.

Okay, so I read about sixty pages Wednesday night. The rest I read on Thursday.

This book? I am sure you've heard of it, as it and its predecessors get a lot of hype.

Let me start by saying that I have read all of Dan Brown's books: Digital Fortress, Deception Point, Angels & Demons, The Da Vinci Code, and The Lost Symbol. The first two in the list are interesting and separate entities. The final three, however, have quite a few connections.

My favorite of the last three was Angels & Demons. This might be because it was the first that I read, but I think it has more to do with the fact that it is crammed full of information. Full to the brim and overflowing with everything from the manner in which a new Pope is chosen to all of the buildings with sacred and secular symbols in Rome, and the list goes on.

The Da Vinci Code felt a bit like a rehashing of some of the information in Angels & Demons, and honestly it read like a blockbuster movie, which is never really a good thing. Whether you agree with the story it tells or not, books are supposed to be better than the movie, not the same as or less than. I should admit here and now that I haven't seen the movie, but my point is that if a book reads like a blockbuster, then it isn't doing its job; it should be much more than that.

Anyway. Back to the latest novel, The Lost Symbol.

Freemasons are the group with all of the intrigue this go 'round, and symbols are the name of the game once again. As far as that part goes, like Angels & Demons, and the portions of The Da Vinci Code that are about the works of Da Vinci, etc., things are fine. You learn about buildings in D.C. and some of the history of the place, although you have to take it all with a grain of salt, as Mr. Brown is most certainly a fiction writer, not a historian.

Unfortunately, reading the book feels a bit like Déjà vu because of the ingredients. Insert [group surrounded in mystery] here, mix with [symbol] here, add a dash of professor turned super-duper-CIA-foiling (or other military super-group) hero, and bake for approximately 700 pages.

And don't forget the super intelligent girl about half-way through.

There were other things about the book that were a let-down. One was the fact that the identity of the villain is supposed to be a shocker at the end. Um, hello? Dan Brown? If I can figure out where you are going with that...oh, say the second time you talk about the villain (which was in the first little bit of the book), then you've got a major problem. I honestly don't see how anyone could not figure out who he really is. Then again, I guessed the puppet master in The Usual Suspects very close to the beginning of the movie (BU! can attest), so maybe I have super-powers.

You know, like Robert Langdon apparently has in the books. I know, I know: it is fiction and he is supposed to be able to evade, etc. It is also supposed to seem realistic, people. At least enough to pull the wool over your eyes.

Anyway. So the reveal at the end where we all are supposed to gasp about his identity was lost on me as I already knew who he was.

The most irritating thing about the book was the last bit where for quite a few pages we are lectured to regarding ~~Dan Brown's version of~~ the Freemason's beliefs. I mean, I can see where you're going with the conversation, so just get there already and save me the lecture.

One thing I believe will be most controversial about the book (once everyone gets past their obsession with figuring out if his Freemason information is true) is his inclusion of what he called Noetics. I have done no research on it and have no idea if it really exists, but according to Mr. Brown, it is the scientific study of the power of people's thoughts. This is then translated directly into the power of prayer, etc. Of course, he also ties it into things like astral projection and moving objects with your mind (How could he not, right? This is a conspiracy theory, man.), but overall the message is that the power of prayer works.

The reason (according to The Lost Symbol) it works is probably not everyone's cup of tea. He walks a very fine line on his...theological...information, and hoo boy can that be a doozy. Whether you agree with him or not is up to your personal beliefs, so I am going to leave that for you to decide...but it means you have to read the book.

Which I am guessing you can tell I am not so sure you should do.

Basically, he wrote another blockbuster. He even included things like i-phones and twitter to make it easy to get sponsors. I mean really.

Also? Mr. Brown should make things more difficult to figure out. Especially if it is at the end of the novel and therefore is supposed to be a big 'un. Aside from the identity of the bad guy, I also figured out the location of the secret...erm...secret...as soon as the final symbol puzzle was solved. Not even the protagonist did that. To which I say: "Um, really?"

Anyway. There's my review. If you just want something to read that will keep you busy for a day and you can get past the fact that he makes it too easy to figure out (and drags it out a bit, in my opinion), then go for it. Otherwise, read something else...

...preferably something that will not be in theaters any time soon.

A Look Back, Take One

2009-10-16T13:15:00.001-05:00

Way back in June, we had a birthday party for Perpetual Motion. We decorated the dining area a bit and purchased some balloons and bubbles to give to those who attended.

Miss Thing was completely unaware of what was going on. She was a tad concerned that all of the people she usually saw at the playground were suddenly in her house, but no worries - they all began playing soon enough!

She received some rather nice gifts, including a Dr. Seuss book. She still won't really let me read it the whole way through as she is far too busy to sit for that, but she really enjoys the crazy cow that came with it. She can tell you that the cow goes "mooo"...and if you ask her what she says, well, "mooo" again.

All of her gifts are being put to good use and have been since her birthday, but this magnetic farm animal toy has just taken on a new meaning. The farm has two slots on it where you place the front end and back end of animals. You can make a match or not, and each has a song to go with it. Recently, we discovered that the front of our dishwasher is magnetic, even though it is stainless steel, so she races from the side of the fridge to the front of the dishwasher moving the animal halves back and forth.

Good times.

Also? Keeps her busy while I take care of things...for about a minute.

Kids: They certainly teach you how to make the most of very short periods of time.

I have a couple of other photos of Perpetual Motion opening her gifts, but in most of them she is fascinated by the paper. Oh, yes. The best gift of all...

...in fact, once she realized that the paper was off of a couple of gifts, that was all she wanted to play with, so I was going to open the gifts for her. Fortunately, one of her friends noticed her absence and immediately took advantage of the fact that it appeared as if whoever was sitting with me got to open presents. Too funny.

We had enough gifts that each of the kids who cared enough about it was able to open one. Good times ensued as everyone was then able to play with whatever we had received! The youngest kids played with paper and the older ones managed to break in the toys the right way.

We grilled hot dogs and hamburgers and then we had cake! Perpetual Motion had no clue what we were doing in the above photo.

She had experienced solid foods a bit, but nothing like this cake. We poked it, we grabbed it, we licked our fingers...

She soon discovered that the icing was indeed her favorite part and managed to get most of it off of the cake.

Very soon thereafter she was showing her exhaustion and the thumb took up residence in her mouth. Off to bed she went...after a good bath of course.

The following morning the leftover balloons were fading and she managed to get this one and play with it. Oh, how exciting and fun that was! She still loves balloons and points them out when we ride in the car or if we see them in a book.

Overall it was a very nice weekend and a good first birthday!

An Update

2009-10-14T11:45:00.001-05:00

Why this photo:?

Because it is awesome, duh.

We've been traveling basically since the Thursday before Labor Day. Perpetual Motion and I have been on eight flights in a month. Thankfully, she only had one illness as a result. Granted, it consisted of fever and stinky diarrhea of the leaky diaper variety, but it only lasted a couple of days and since then she's been healthy (knock on wood). I, on the other hand, have had a cold that turned into a strange cough that has lasted over two weeks. I finally went to the doctor's office yesterday and now have some antibiotics. Hopefully they will do the job 'cause if not, then I don't even want to think about what in the world we will have to do to figure out what is going on.

So.

The above photo is from a playground in Virginia near Papa Jim's and Guga's house. You are looking at a plastic tunnel with a crazy child in it. Look, here's a hole. Let me put my face against it and chomp it!

Why not, right?

Miss Thing is slowly but surely turning into a child (as opposed to a baby). I think she would look even less like a baby if the hair would grow a little more. It is finally growing, however, so that is good.

She is way into wearing things these days. Mainly necklaces, bracelets, shoes, and hats. Anything can be a bracelet. One of her favorites is empty toilet paper rolls. Oh, yes, the height of fashion.

She knows that shoes go on her feet, but not quite how to accomplish it just yet, so that is a tad bit frustrating.

Also? Please. She says it. Repeatedly. Without fail if she needs/wants something. We are working on adding the thing she needs/wants to the request. Just for sanity's sake.

Rocket Man and I were lucky enough to be able to go to Brian's and Rebecca's (of Uri! Zone fame) wedding the first weekend of October. The ceremony was at a vineyard and outside and it was beautiful.

There was good food, great wine, and lots of internet people I "know" but I don't really know. Strangest part of being there. I can only imagine what a bloggers conference must be like.

I especially enjoyed the first dance of the couple and also our final seat for dinner. Originally, we were at the right table but at the wrong time, so we moved to allow the families to all sit together. This gave us a slightly elevated view of the place and room to be silly, as documented above. That photo? It is totally for Rocket Man's siblings, M and R-Shelly.

Briecca had frisbees ('cause who doesn't like frisbees?) made with their photo and wedding info on it as gifts for everyone who attended. They really are pretty cool and Perpetual Motion already enjoys using her feet to slide it all over the place. Obviously we need to work on her frisbee skillz.

As a tribute to Rebecca, and therefore Brian since hello, he loves her, I posed with the awesome gift and made a face. I can't tell you how many photos I've seen of Rebecca, and even of Brian, where they are posing crazy-like with funny faces. I thought it fitting.

They are an awesome couple who deserve every happiness and we were honored to have been invited.

Of course, right now they are in Hawaii and are posting photos to show us "how awesome it is where [we] aren't"...and that's kinda a slap in the face...but since Brian ended up with strep throat (How's that for an awesome wedding gift?) for the first week of his honeymoon, I guess I'll still wish them all the best.

The day after the wedding, Rocket Man and I traveled to a conference for his work. The above photo was taken in the city where the conference was held. Anyone know where that is? Perpetual Motion stayed behind with her Grammie and Pop-Pop and had so much fun she could hardly stand it.

I am thinking that holds true for the three of them.

We're home and I am working on some posts for November. Yeah, yeah. Hold the complaints. November is the goal, so deal with it.

If I have time, I'll try to post again this month.

I'm out.