Good bye Canada

We had a couple crazy weeks saying good-bye to all our friends and family.  Finally, we made it to the airport on the final day - Aug. 21st. Our flight took us to Chicago, then to Munich and then to Vienna.  It was our kids' first plane ride.  They were very excited.

In total we had 24 pieces of luggage!  This included 2 car seats and a playpen and 5 carry-ons and 5 personal carry-ons and 2- 50lb suitcases each and one 50lb suit case for Kate.

After 18 hours total of flying, we finally made it into Vienna where it was 30 degrees C.

Benedict, as we flew into Austria said, in regards to all the houses, "Look at all the toys dad.  I want to play with them when we get to Austria."  He also said, "Dad look at all the snow outside," refering to the clouds.  He was so so cute.

We were pleasantly surprised at our living quarters. 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and quite a large dining area with a kitchen fully furnished. It opens onto a courtyard complete with a splash- water fountain where the kids are safe to play with the other children. We were expecting much less! We were gifted some groceries by one of the families here- it was such a blessing.

We dined with the dean (who is also a Byzantine Catholic priest) and his wife and 7 children. It seemed a delightful ending to our first day in Austria. Tomorrow we will grocery shop, attend Mass, sign forms, unpack more and attend a student bbq.

We miss everyone in Canada- I sang Edelweiss (from the Sound of Music) to the kids as their bedtime song tonight and we were singing of Canada for the part in the song where it says "Bless my Homeland forever".

Our kids were awesome on the plane.  I was very proud of each of them.  This picture was in the German airport and we were sweating to death as there was no air conditioning.  Hiya!

Dearest little Kate slept well in our arms throughout the flights and has faired the best of us all.

Next post: our new home