Aunt Iris and a great end to a great trip!

Sam had so much fun playing in the backyard. He played with Dad on the trampoline and then decided he needed to wear Dad's socks. I don't know if you can see it here but his legs aren't nearly that white in real life... :)

Ok, so I'm putting this one in for Arnold. Me sitting on a swing and eating icecream :P

We had a great dinner outside and I think this is the only picture I have with most everyone in it except Arnold and I.Hannah (sorry if I spelled that wrong) became buds with Sam in the one day we spent there. She got some loves from him too! :)

Ok, so now for some videos. They are a little long but I have to brag on Sam and his amazing abilities. This one is of him climbing up the ladder to the slide at their house. I didn't know a 12 month old could do this but apparently it's possible. Arnold was there with him but didn't really do anything to help. No wonder I'm so tired all the time trying to keep up with all the new things he does.

Ok, so this one I feel a little bad about, but to be honest he had stopped himself every time previously at the bottom of the slide before getting off. So of course the one time I decide to take a video instead of catching him if he needed it he falls off at the end. He thought it was funny and wanted to go again so I don't feel too bad it's just funny and hard to watch.



Ok, so if that wasn't enough to convince you how amazing Sam is then this should do it. I didn't know a 1 year old could swing by himself on a swing. A normal swing that is... He is simply amazing! The best part of this video are the little squeaks of pleasure that he makes. It's a little hard to hear but he kept making the cutest little squeaks. Oh, and it is long so don't feel obligated to watch it all.

Last look at Graz

We went on a walk the last evening there and got pictures of all sorts of things. Unfortunately there is not enough room to do them all here without being annoying so here are a few more to finish off with.

Sam loves rocks and any time he finds them he likes to pick out his favorites and give them to people he likes. It's really cute because it's like getting a little gift from him.

Sam also loves his greatgrandmother. I think he knows just how special she is. This is just one time he stopped and gave her a little love. It was so precious and I'm glad we got a picture of it.

The old family castle

Ok, so I know it's not much but not too long ago this house, mini castle, was in the family and it's pretty cool. It left the family through marriage under a time of changing laws. I'm kinda glad things turn out the way they do but it's fun to get cool pictures like this and be able to say, "That was in the family once".

This is the really fun gate or entrance and Sam enjoyed sitting in the small opening. He won't be able to do that for much longer since he's growing too fast.

These pictures are of the house we stayed in while we were visiting Arnold's grandmother. It was so neat since it seemed like everywhere we went we were kind of stepping back in time.

To Grandma's house we go...

Arnold's grandmother lives with his Uncle on the bottom floor. His Aunt has a bunch of animals that she currently has running around the property and Sam just loved getting to see and pet them all. He was so cute with the bunnies, causious of the geese and scared of the chickens.

He loved the horses eventhough they were the ones I was the most worried about. They were friendly and just walked around not necessarily seeing the things down below like Sam.

This is the house where his Grandmother and Uncle live. I think Arnold's father spent at least part of his growing up years here. It's an old house but a beautiful and fun one.

Graz

We went to Graz where Arnold's father's family is more recently from. We spent a little time in the city and took a look around at all the fun stuff there. We decided to go to the top of the hill and when we got to the stairs decided that although it would be cool to say we walked up the elevator was looking pretty nice.

This is the view from the top. Sam was being pretty silly and curious as always so he didn't hold still well for the picture but he's still cute and smiling.

We went to check out the Armory which was absolutely amazing. I've decided every little boy should get a chance to see it. Although we couldn't take our cameras in we did get to see a glimps of some kind of military thing that was going on just outside of it.

Sam fell asleep by the time we finished with the Armory so I guess that's a good excuse to take him back later to see it again someday when he's a little older. :)

Flying...Glad I didn't do this one :)

Getting ready for take off. The checklist was complete and all we needed was a picture before we turned over the camera to the boys.
It was probably good that they weren't gone for too long. This is Arnold with his long legs in the little plane.

This is Dirk the amazing local pilot we found hanging around us while we were there. I think he was excited for a good excuse to fly again.

Sam was very anxious to see his Daddy again. They were only gone for an hour, but since Arnold was gone for 3 days to take the Bar he didn't like him being gone for that long.

Sam loved playing in the plane for a few minutes while we waited for a helicopter to move so we could put the plane back. However, I think the sunglasses case was his favorite part. :) I'm sure that will change as he gets older.

Sunday afternoon on the Danau

After lunch we headed to the Danau River to have a relaxing time in the shade and a bit in the water too.

Sam was so cute as usual and Dirk got some great pictures of Arnold and Sam.

Sam loved the water although it was a little chilly so he got a bit cold after a while. If it wasn't for the temperature I think he would have played all afternoon! :)