October is a busy month for cousins!  As the years have been drifting by, even living countries and continents apart, we realized through an old Facebook photo that we’ve gathered a decade of memories.  Thanks to Uncle Nate who is always ready to jump on a plane to get these kids together, it’s time to add Vienna 2019!

This is what we were doing in 2017….

2014…

2012

And October ten years ago in 2009.

They are still like peas in a pod!  And now, there is one more cute pea in the pod.

I like this little pea.  She’s very cuddly,.  She’s also very good at math, crafts, and playing Sorry.

Our weather could not have been more perfect.  An Indian Summer weekend with crunchy golden leaves, and enough sunshine to coax the kids off their iPhones to walk around Lichtenstein Palace and play in the park.  How many more years do we have to play in the park?

We also strolled through the baroque majesty of downtown Vienna, something I will never get tired of, but the kids sure don’t care anymore, so we bribed them to do it with the promise of pizza and an afternoon of water slides.

Along with some screen time, more Sorry, and a pile of waffles….

And a trip to a Chocolate Factory.   (For more pictures see Zotter Chocolate Trip 2018 )

This time was even better because Sahara and Hunter were there too!

We rented a car and booked a stay out in the country, at a place that had cats and bales of hay.  The frost was on the pumpkin and the fodder was in the shock, and our dinner at an authentically Austrian buschenschank was cozy, smoky and crowded.

We woke up to roosters, autumn fog, and soft-boiled eggs, then drove to the Zotter Chocolate Factory to learn how chocolate is made.  From bean to bar, the sludgy chunks of chocolate paste rolled through the factory on their way to becoming something delicious!  They looked quite a lot like huge turds, which caused some immature hysterics, but I think we were in good company with Mr. Zotter.  He seems to be a brilliant, immature genius.

From the endorphin sculptures,

Toilet seat recycling bins,

and a graveyard for flavors that didn’t make the cut.

Not to mention a petting zoo with camels and wallabies, a field of solar panels to power everything, and chocolate fountains, chocolate bars, chocolate drinks, basically enough chocolate to make everyone slightly sick.  It got a little gross by the end.

There were even movies and music to accompany some of the flavors.  It was like a synesthesia of chocolate!

Our Styrian weekend was over too fast, but we can always count on Uncle Nate to start planning the next one.

So there will be lots more memories like these,

And hopefully next time an Auntie Leila too :).