Our Swiss Adventure

A Perfect Piece of Time

2010-07-25T06:37:00.003+02:00

Our new blog can be found at www.aperfectpieceoftime.com

Catching up: Stop in Milan

2010-07-22T05:45:00.005+02:00

Via train, Milan is halfway between Morges and Venice, so on the way home Pat and I made a very quick stop there before heading on to Morges. Tickets to see the Last Supper were all sold out and it was quite rainy, so we just went to the cathedral and then to Peck for some cheese (burrata--yum!) and miscellaneous other treats. The inside of the cathedral felt very dreary and grim to me, though perhaps that was partly due to the weather? But the top of the cathedral was amazing, and we had a lot of fun wandering around up there.

Catching up: Venice (sans enfants!)

2010-07-20T19:55:00.000+02:00

While Pat's parents were here they gave us the fabulous opportunity to spend a few days away without the children. When Pat and I had first talked about doing this, months before the moving madness began, it had seemed like such a good idea. By the time the dates for this trip rolled around I felt traveled out and I was sorely regretting having planned a trip to Venice so close to our move back to the States. But because the tickets were booked and I knew I'd probably regret it later if we didn't, we went anyway. And sure enough, looking back now, I'm so glad we went.

It was hot, humid, rainy at times, crowded, and sooo touristy. But it was also beautiful, and amazing, and fun. We got to eat at restaurants, wander the city later in the evening, indulge in gelato at least three times a day (okay, that was just me. Pat was more restrained in his gelato consumption), and even took a cheezy gondola ride, which felt exactly like a Disneyland ride for grown-ups. I was actually able to read a little about the art and architecture we saw, though I still didn't fully understand or appreciate it. My photos seem a little bit empty to me without the children, but it sure was nice to take as many photos as I wanted, when I wanted, and at as leisurely a pace as I wanted.

Even though much of Venice was sadly over commercialized and overcrowded, in looking back over my photos I've realized that in the middle of all that there were still many completely enchanting corners.

Thanks so much, Ann and Mike, for watching the kids for us. I know we all had a great time!

More photos on Flickr!

Catching up: Visit With Grammie and Bumpa

2010-07-20T13:27:00.003+02:00

Pat's parents came to see us one last time in Switzerland at the beginning of June. I've just realized that the memory card that holds many of those photos (and others, like the trip my little sister and I took to Paris) is not with me. I hope that it is with all of our other stuff on the boat somewhere. Anyway, so I don't have many photos of the very nice time we had with them.

We did one day trip to Zermatt, in hopes of getting a glimpse of the Matterhorn before we left. Unfortunately it was behind clouds the whole time, so it turned out to be another one of the gazillion Switzerland things we had to leave undone. But fun was still had--a scenic train ride, riding the cable car, hot chocolate at the top, sausages for lunch...good times. You might notice that we seem one short in the photos. This is because Muriel stayed behind with our babysitter, Audrey.

iPhone Images From Our Last Days in Switzerland

2010-07-05T05:52:00.000+02:00

view from our hotel

Rowan and Niamh with our lovely babysitter, Audrey

napping in the hotel

R. in front of our hotel, the Mont-Blanc

the street our old apartment was on

Muriel, Zoe, and Niamh

playground antics

Rowan with Julie, a friend from school

goodbye

Though our Swiss Adventure is over, this blog isn't quite done, as my big plans to get completely caught up before we left failed. So stay tuned!

Last Saturday in Switzerland

2010-07-04T22:03:00.005+02:00

On Saturday we went to the market in Morges and got some snacks for the kids before taking the train to Lausanne.

After making a few farewell stops (chocolate shop, toy store, Ladurée, chocolate shop), we took the metro down to Ouchy and caught a boat back to Morges.

a view of Morges we didn't often see

Then in the afternoon our friends, the Girardins, drove all the way from the Jura for one last visit in Morges with us. It was so nice to see them!

Goodbye Apartment

2010-07-01T19:55:00.006+02:00

As I write this there is likely a new family getting settled into our apartment. We had our inspection and handed over the keys yesterday, and I believe the new family was to move in today. It feels so strange!

The inspection went pretty well, with only one thing I feel we are being unfairly charged for (the paint on the ceiling above our shower is peeling). But even that is not a big deal, because apparently it's standard that insurance covers most damages to the apartment.

I do not know if it is like this in other European countries, but in Switzerland your apartment/house is supposed to be in pristine condition when you move out. We have heard horror stories of landlords going through with white gloves, counting dents in the floor, or even requiring that the entire apartment be refloored. With that in mind, most expats hire a cleaning service to get the job done. Do most Swiss as well? I don't know. I have been wondering if there's some sort of racket going on to take advantage of harried expats who don't have the energy to fight.

Anyway, It cost us 1,700 CHF ($1,600) to have our four bedroom apartment cleaned. This did not include the window blinds. They would have been an extra 200 CHF. I was not there when Pat got this quote and decided that cleaning the blinds would be easy, and we could do it ourselves, no problem. He bristled when I got angry at this, and insisted I wouldn't have to worry about it, he'd do it all by himself. In retrospect, I believe I can safely say he's learned
a) in regards to cleaning, one should listen to the person who does the majority of the cleaning in the family (AKA me)
b) ten hours of cleaning blinds in the midst of relocation madness is worth 200 CHF

From other families we have heard of quotes ranging from 1,500 CHF to 4,000 CHF, so I guess all in all it's not too bad, if you look at it as just another part of the exorbitant cost of living in Switzerland. And the apartment really was spotless when I went back to look at it one last time yesterday morning.

Quiet Time at Hotel Mont-Blanc

2010-07-01T14:48:00.003+02:00

...not so quiet:

have just been informed that "adan" (aidan? adam?) is a boy at niamh's school who speaks english. hmmm...i didn't know that any of the kids there spoke english.

Morges Book Club

2010-06-30T13:18:00.002+02:00

Monday was my last time going to the Morges book club. In fact, it was not only my last time, it was also two other members' last time as well, and we are all leaving within days of each other.

It was a great evening with talking, eating, and drinking wine late into the night. I will definitely miss being part of such a nice group! More pictures are on Flickr.

End of the Year Spectacle (the sequel)

2010-06-29T21:30:00.008+02:00

Last night Rowan had another end of the year spectacle at school. The first one happened when my sister, Georgia, and I were in Paris. I was so sad to have missed it, so was glad that they had another one. The first, that I missed, took place in Ro's classroom, and was only his class. This one involved the entire school. He was so nervous that he ordered Pat and the girls to stay home, and only allowed me to come. In spite of his fears he did really great, and there were no tears at this one, like there was at the last.

Here are a couple of not-so-good videos, for those who are interested:

Afterward he and I celebrated with some ice cream at the stand across the street from our hotel

Three cheers for a successful evening!

There are a few more photos up on Flickr.

Catching Up: Neuschwanstein & Playmobil FunPark

2010-06-27T19:32:00.012+02:00

In May (Really? Only May? This trip seems ages ago.) we took a road trip over the Ascension holiday to Neuschwanstein and the Playmobil FunPark.

Neuschwanstein was fun to see, though it did rain the whole time we were there.

It was also one of the most touristy places we have visited. The courtyard was packed and there were tours going through at very regular intervals. In fact, I don't think there could have been more than five minutes between tours because Rowan and I stopped for a couple of minutes to linger over the "cave", and in that short time the next tour caught up to us and we'd lost our tour group.

Anyway, in preparation for our visit Rowan and Niamh (mostly Rowan) watched Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and read King Ludwig's Castle, The King and his Castle, and Stephen Biesty's Castles. I recommend The King and his Castle and Stephen Biesty's Castles, but was not so impressed with King Ludwig's Castle. But I'm afraid that not having looked at them in a while, as well as not having them on hand, I can't get more detailed on the books than that! One or more of the books mention the King Ludwig loved the story of St. George and the Dragon, and at least one of them had a picture of the wall in the castle on which a mural of St. George is painted. So knowing that story definitely helped keep Ro interested while touring the castle. But even with all our preparation, I'm afraid that the children's favorite part was probably not seeing the castle, but riding in a carriage up to the castle.

In fact, poor Neuschwanstein was not even the 2nd star of the show, because everyone's favorite part of the weekend was the Playmobil FunPark. Though the kids haven't been exposed to much Playmobil yet, Pat has very fond Playmobil memories, and was quite interested in going. It is a three hour drive from Neuschwanstein, and five hours from Morges. Because of the amount of driving involved we'd decided not to go, until my friend Laurie visited. Before coming to Switzerland, she and her children had stopped at the FunPark, and she couldn't stop raving about how wonderful it was for young children. When she pointed out that it was also the only one in the entire world (none of the other parks have the outside play areas, which is really what made it all worthwile), we were convinced.

I took a lot of photos at the park, but in looking back over them, I feel that I did not do a good job at all of capturing the park as a whole. It was huge, and there was just so much for the kids to do. There are no rides like at Disneyland, it was instead more like a giant playground, Playmobil-style. I wish we could have stayed for one more day. Thanks Laurie, for talking us into it!

More photos from our trip can be found, as always, on flickr.

Packed Up

2010-06-26T22:00:00.005+02:00

a few select items waiting to be boxed up for the air shipment

The movers finished packing up today and the apartment is almost empty, except for a few items we still need to take to the hotel and very large herd of dust bunnies.

Niamh was too tired to be bothered by dust bunnies (the photo has been carefully framed to hide them), and took a nap on the bare floor. She's been running a fever all day. Rowan had it first on Monday night, then Muriel got, it. Fingers crossed that it stops at Niamh. She seems okay as long we keep up the children's motrin.

This afternoon I took the kids to the beach, leaving Pat behind to work on the apartment.

Niamh obviously feeling much better

But by dinnertime Niamh was burning up, and was sick enough that she not only didn't eat dinner, but couldn't even manage ice cream afterward. So I took Ro and Muriel outside the hotel for some ice cream while Pat stayed behind with Niamh.

Rowan showed Muriel how to walk through the sprinkler puddles, leaving footprints like a dog.

I have to say that this all looks fairly idyllic from the photos, but the reality has not been so much fun. Sick kids, Muriel not sleeping at night, living in a hotel, moving stress, and Rowan throwing the worst tantrums I have ever seen every thirty minutes or so, all have me looking forward very much to putting this all behind us.

Goods Shipment

2010-06-20T08:04:00.003+02:00

Emily and I are trying to get a bit organized before the movers come to pack everything on Thursday. They will return on Saturday to load the truck. The air shipment will travel via Zurich and should arrive in Loveland on July 12th. I don't understand why it takes so long if traveling by air.

Our sea shipment will cross the ocean aboard the CMA CGM Rossini. The ship will depart Bremerhaven on July 4th and should arrive in Houston on July 27th. Customs clearance and delivery should occur by August 13th. Anyone want to take bets on when it will actually arrive?

Niamh's Pistol

2010-06-09T06:03:00.002+02:00

The kids made lego pistols today. Niamh's can be seen below. The picture was taken prior to adding the trigger guard, but after adding the pilot.

Rental in Loveland

2010-06-02T13:47:00.002+02:00

We submitted an application for a rental house yesterday and should hear back sometime on Thursday.

The rental market for larger houses is very tight here. Agencies were calling and cancelling our appointments all morning, as their houses were now off the market. The general hypothesis is that people are being kicked out of their house due to foreclosure and are now looking to rent.

The house we are moving into has four bedrooms, three of which are fairly small. Rowan and Nimah might end up in bunk beds. The backyard is currently only partially fenced, but the agency indicated they would fence the rest if we asked them to.

The house is located here.

Niamh Turns Four

2010-05-24T05:49:00.007+02:00

Niamh turned four years old yesterday!!!! She had a good day, I think, marred only by the fact that Pat had to leave at 8am to catch a flight to the States. So we had cupcakes for breakfast! Her favorite part of the day was probably getting her beloved pink scooter, which she has been wanting for well over a year. We did go to the park with it for a bit in the morning, but she spent most of her day on the balcony with her scooter, talking away to herself the whole time.

Random Things

2010-05-13T04:56:00.008+02:00

The whirlwind before our departure from Switzerland has started, making me too exhausted to do any posting lately. Pat was traveling for business for two weeks, we showed our apartment to a million different people, 3/4 of whom seemed desperate to get the place (The company who own the building have finally decided on someone. hooray! Now if the calls from people wanting to see the place would just stop...), had some lovely visitors from out-of-town, and now Pat and the kids have a few days off for the Ascension holiday, so we are headed off to Germany/Austria. I have a ton of photos I've been meaning to post, but for now I'll just post a few random ones I've taken since returning from Provence.

Rowan and his classmates were in a parade for the tulip festival. Here he is with his friend Sébastien.

Muriel at the park one morning.

Our friends, the Girardins, stopped by another morning for a quick visit.

Rowan and Niamh and their friend Ben playing in the sprinklers at our apartment complex.

I took the kids to the park early one morning specifically looking for that nice golden morning light. I found it, but getting the kids to sit still, not make funny faces at the camera, and face the proper direction for the right light turned out to be more difficult than I thought. This was the best I got.

Four of six Blaukopfs came for a visit, all the way from Israel! We were so happy to see them again before leaving.

May 7,1943

2010-05-09T17:37:00.004+02:00

I realize I'm a few days late with this, but better late than never. I believe Friday was the 67th anniversary of when my grandparents first met. The picture below is from that evening.

Making progress

2010-04-23T11:37:00.003+02:00

We are slowly making progress on the move back to the US.

We will be house/apartment hunting in Loveland the 1st week of June
The movers are coming to do a preliminary review of our stuff on May 19th
The movers will be back on the 24th and 25th of June to pack and move our stuff.
Our apartment is listed for rent

Our Sablet Gîte

2010-04-18T20:51:00.004+02:00

The house we stayed at in Sablet was right next door to a winery, Domaine de Piaugier. Not being into wine at all we can't comment on that, but the house was practically perfect. It was actually a converted barn, one half of the house still being used as a barn. It had three large bedrooms, full kitchen, 2 bathrooms, a great yard....everything a family with three small children could want. It was definitely one of the best places we've stayed in during our travels.

There are more pictures of the house and the rest of our trip up on Flickr.

Roman Ruins Overload

2010-04-17T20:53:00.006+02:00

We were really excited about all the Roman ruins when we first got to Provence.

at La Villasse in Vaison la Romaine

At the Nîmes arena

Under Pont St. Julien

Posing for Rowan in front of Pont du Gard

At the theatre in Orange

Outside the arena in Arles

Our excitement had definitely waned by the end of the trip. On our last day when we visited the arena in Arles, I think Pat and I both secretly echoed Ro's sentiments: "Another arena???"

Olive Tree Love

2010-04-15T05:17:00.006+02:00

Sablet

just outside of Sablet

near Pont du Gard

view of Les Baux from an olive grove

Wonder if there's any way an olive tree could survive a Colorado winter?

No Training Wheels!

2010-04-14T03:00:00.005+02:00

For Rowan's 5th birthday last November, one of his gifts was a balance bike. We should have gotten him one sooner, as he was almost too big for it at that time.

He's used it off and on throughout the winter, but because of the cold weather didn't ride it very much until a month or so ago.

He's had a bike with training wheels for almost a year now, rarely rode it, but yesterday asked us to take the training wheels off of it. Within just a few minutes of getting outside on his newly two-wheeled bike he was riding without assistance. Those balance bikes really do work!

There was a little of this:

But mostly a lot of this:

He's so proud of himself!

Cassis and Calanque Port-Pin

2010-04-13T20:52:00.003+02:00

Sablet is in the Côtes du Rhône region of Provence, which was unfortunately an hour and forty-five minutes from my favorite place we visited. Cassis is a little village by the Mediterranean, which Rick Steves says is a poor man's St-Tropez (don't know anything about St-Tropez, but assuming it means not very glitzy), and popular with the French. I dragged Pat and the kids there to see the calanques. Calanques are inlets created by the steep sides of cliffs that line the shore of parts of the Mediterranean.

Our first stop upon arrival in Cassis was the Tourist Information Office to see if any of the three calanques were doable with three small children. Thankfully we were assured that the kids could make it to the second calanque, Port-Pin, with no problem (the first, Port-Miou, was just a dock for boats). The third calanque, Calanque d'En-Vau, would be too long (at two hours each way from Cassis) and too hard. It is supposed to be the most spectacular of the three, so I was a little disappointed, though not surprised.

Most of the way to Calanque Port-Pin was ridiculously easy, but about ten minutes or so before we reached it the path became very rocky. The rocks were extremely smooth and slippery, and Ro and Niamh both found it quite difficult.

It was well worth it though. Calanque Port-Pin was amazing (how I wish we could have gone on to d'En-Vau!). The photos I took didn't turn out so great and hardly capture the beauty of the clear, sparkling blue water. Maybe because we were there when the sun was directly overhead?

Niamh tripped in the water while wading, so we stripped her down to her skivvies and laid the wet clothes out in the sun to dry. Didn't work so well, and she had to hike back to Cassis in a wet dress.

Muriel and I on the way back to Cassis.

After we returned to Cassis, we stopped Plage du Bestouan, the beach across the street from where our car was parked, for much deserved ice-cream and some more play time. Rowan was in heaven playing in the waves.

Niamh and Muriel went down to the water for a bit, but were mostly happy to just sit and play in the sand/rocks.

Back to Morges

2010-04-12T20:04:00.011+02:00

We arrived home in Morges yesterday afternoon after a windy, but uneventful drive home. Sunday was for sure the day with the strongest infamous mistral wind, and it must have followed us all the way to Morges as it's been quite windy here as well.

We made a couple of stops on the way. One was a rest area for lunch, and a little bit of playing (too windy to stay out for very long). In the above photo Rowan is demonstrating his jumping skills. He was SO proud of himself for jumping off the third rung of the ladder. Perhaps it was less of a jump though, and more of a drop.

The other stop we made was just outside Montélimar at what appeared to be an aire (service station/rest area) centered completely around the sale of nougat. I wish I had thought to take a photo, it was tourism at it's finest. There were several restaurants, bathrooms, a play area (I think), and a gas station, all of which were obviously there to get people to stop in and shop at the nougat boutique.

Though I'm sure it wasn't Montélimar's best nougat (I'd imagine you have to go into town for the quality stuff), it was still fun to see all the different kinds, flavors, and brands. Most had nuts, which I do not at all like in sweet things, but I was able to find a small selection sans nuts. I got lavender honey, orange flower honey, licorice, raspberry, anise, mint, and lemon. And that's not even all the flavors that were available! Anyway, I found the last two paragraphs in this Wikipedia entry on Montélimar very interesting. The nougat aire makes more sense now.

To Provence!

2010-04-11T05:27:00.003+02:00

On Monday we rented a car and drove down to Provence. The drive wasn't too bad at all, and took about four hours. I don't think I'll ever tire of seeing road signs pointing to exotic places.

Our journey down was definitely made easier by this fabulous rest area we stopped at along the way. I guess that's the benefit to all the toll roads!

We've been staying in a converted barn (a Gîte, actually) in a small village called Sablet, not too far from Vaison la Romaine.

Sablet is beautiful and looks exactly like a Provencal village out of a coffee table book. It's been a wonderful place to stay, and not too far from most of the places we've visited. We're headed home this morning sometime, so there will be much more on our time in Provence to come.

Happy Easter (2010)!

2010-04-04T05:23:00.003+02:00

We dyed fourteen eggs yesterday, though I'm not sure who is going to eat them but me (and I feel certain I cannot eat fourteen by myself, as much as I love them). Am contemplating seeing if Muriel is okay with them. She is fine with egg in baked goods, so she'd probably be fine with hard boiled eggs as well. But perhaps that's not a risk we want to take on a)a holiday and b)the day before we leave for Provence.

Pat arrived home last night, safe and sound and with lots of American Easter candy. I'm thinking that SweetTarts jelly beans are the best thing ever.

Passing the Time

2010-04-03T11:00:00.005+02:00

We've just about made it through another one of Pat's business trips. Everyone is excited that he arrives home tonight, just in time for Easter. Things felt pretty dismal at the beginning. The kids are out of school for two weeks for Easter vacation, all of our friends are away, and rain was forecasted for the week. But it turned out not to be so bad. It did rain, but not constantly, so we were able to get outside a bit.

Our friends, the Girardins, who live in the Jura, needed to get some stuff done in Lausanne, and stopped by for an afternoon.

We also got together one morning with a new American family that has moved into our building. They have a 5 year old girl, a 3 year-old boy, and a 1 year old girl (sound familiar?). No photos from that morning, but the kids all had a great time together. The next day I overheard Niamh signing to herself part of a song I sometimes sing to her and Rowan before bed. But instead of Niamh/Rowan she inserted the eldest girls' name: I love you, Fiona, I love you Fiona, I love you Fiona....

Another thing that really helped the week go by was the Elko Toy Library. Our neighbors, the Elkos, were away this week, and they left us their keys so we could borrow their toys while they were gone. What a lifesaver! We went over almost every day and got new toys to play with.

Here is a picture Rowan drew, inspired by their castle set. The king is standing on top, and the castle is surrounded by water, with sailboats on each side.

Martine

2010-04-02T09:09:00.003+02:00

I adore these Martine board books by Gilbert Delahaye and Marcel Marlier that Muriel is perusing! They feature a little girl named Martine, with guest appearances by various friends and animals. If I'm reading the copyright info correctly I think they were first printed in 1949, though Wikipedia says they were first published in 1954. The illustrations are very sweet and definitely look straight of of the fifties. I especially love the idyllic portrayal of European village life. I am not sure how many books there are in mes premiers Martine (my first Martine). The backs of each book list a different number of titles, from 18-28, on just the 8 or so books we own. According to Wikipedia there are over 50 Martine books, but I think it is including non-board books like this one, which look more like early readers to me. The Martine books can be found translated into English under the name Debbie. They are out of print now, but Alibris and AbeBooks carry a few titles.

Marker Face

2010-03-30T08:21:00.001+02:00

Shoulder Top Peek-a-Boo

2010-03-29T13:39:00.002+02:00

Sister Play

2010-03-28T11:54:00.002+02:00

Niamh and Muriel playing one Friday morning while Rowan was at school. They play so differently when Rowan is not here!

iPhone Prints

2010-03-25T11:29:00.004+01:00

I just received prints of several of my iPhone photos in the mail. I used Mpix, and most of the photos turned out beautifully. Really, I still can't believe how nice some of them look printed. There were a few that didn't work so well, but by and large they were great. One problem I've run into is the odd size of some of the photos when run through different apps. I think that should be easily remedied though if I can just figure out how to use Photoshop Elements to put the odd sizes on a white canvas for printing. The largest size I printed at was 8x8, which looked so nice that next time I'm going to see if I can go even a size larger and still get good quality.

Napping

2010-03-24T04:47:00.002+01:00

A week or so ago Rowan took a couple of rare afternoon naps. Must have been a hard week!

Three Little Horses Eating Hay

2010-03-23T05:36:00.001+01:00

Recent Drawings By Rowan

2010-03-22T08:53:00.004+01:00

Spaceship. Go to Flickr to see Rowan's extensive notes on what everything is.

Airplane. Again, there are notes on Flickr as to what everything is.

Festival du Chocolat

2010-03-21T21:55:00.000+01:00

On Saturday we rode the train to Versoix to attend the chocolate festival. There was a lot of chocolate crammed into a fairly small tent. For someone wanting to sample one of everything the festival was a little overwhelming. 100 CHF doesn't buy as much chocolate as one might think!

I love empty eggshells filled with chocolate (have seen these in the States at Cost Plus), so got a couple of these for the kids.

It seemed like every other person was buying these little chocolate cakes from Philippe Pascoet, so I naturally needed to try them too. They were quite good, but I wish I had not bought them because I'm certain they could be made easily enough at home. I also got a small box of his chocolates. So far I've only eaten one, the thé chocolate (jasmine tea). It was fabulous. I think tea is one of my favorite flavorings for chocolates. I'm glad he has a place in Geneva, because I will definitely be going once or twice before we leave in July!! If for nothing else than a box of filled with only the thé flavor!

Just a random little girl sampling some chocolates. We took the kids in for about five minutes before deciding it would be best if they waited outside with Pat while I took photos and acquired chocolate. There were way too many people-it was shoulder to shoulder inside the tent.

These macarons from Sebastien Brocard were for sure the best macarons I've ever had. Take that with a grain of salt though because haven't actually sampled very many macarons. Every time I've had them, even from nice patisseries, they don't taste very good. Or often, like anything. But they're so pretty, I keep trying them occasionally. Thank goodness for perseverance! These macarons were delicious. I'm not sure what flavor the black were, but I liked them a lot. There was also a tea flavor (early grey, I think) that was very nice. My favorite were the caramel with salted butter filling.

Rowan and Niamh each got a chocolate duck from C. Boillat (no website).

Niamh confirmed my suspicions that she is quite possibly the messiest eater ever.

Muriel even got her very own little chocolate bunny.

More photos are up on Flickr, as usual!

Happy First Day of Spring!

2010-03-20T15:35:00.005+01:00

The tulips are coming up!

It is a gray, slightly rainy day here in Morges, but it is warm(ish) and smells and feels decidedly like spring. Hooray! We celebrated by going to the Festival du Chocolat in Versoix. More on that to come.

St. Patrick's Day 2010

2010-03-18T20:48:00.005+01:00

Our St. Patrick's Day was filled with a lot of Irish cheer--a mischievous leprechaun turned the milk green and left some chocolate gold coins and new books for the kids. Rowan and Niamh did a bit shamrock filled drawing, green cookies were made, green clothes were donned, and Irish music filled the apartment.

That evening we were graciously invited to our neighbor's apartment for some cookie decorating and a lovely and delicious dinner of Guinness stew over mashed potatoes, with Irish soda bread on the side, and shamrock shakes for dessert. Yum!

This past week we've been making our way through Tales From Old Ireland. This is a fabulous book, but the stories are a bit above Niamh's head, and I don't think she's been really listening. In spite of this, she is so excited because tomorrow we're on the last story which is her story, about Princess Niamh.

There are more photos from yesterday up on Flickr!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

2010-03-17T08:00:00.007+01:00

Devenish Island Ruins, Ireland.

The Library of Congress has uploaded some really cool old photos of Ireland. You should check them out if you haven't seen them (via Flickr blog)!

YouTube Clips of Rowan

2010-03-12T13:32:00.002+01:00

Marker Memories

2010-03-11T10:30:00.002+01:00

One of the things Pat brought back from his recent trip to the States were some Mr. Sketch Scented Markers. Like salamanders, M&Ms, Campbell's Chicken & Stars soup, Madame Alexander dolls, Froggy-Went-a-Courtin', and The Giving Tree, these Mr. Sketch Markers always remind my of my grandparents. They were kept upstairs in the office and my sisters, cousins, and I used to draw with them on the back of old documents that had been cut up for scrap paper.

This is Niamh's drawing of a rainbow with snow from yesterday afternoon. She worked a good 30-40 mintues on it, and was very deliberate about every detail. With Rowan's growing interest in drawing, she too has become increasingly interested (of course--she must be just like Rowan in virtually everything), and has started to do something other than just scribble. No picture from Rowan because he kept making mistakes with his attempt to draw an "Indian horse". He has gotten very particular about his drawings, which I suppose is not too surprising.

Baking: My Survival Tool

2010-03-10T05:48:00.001+01:00

While Pat's been gone I've done a lot of baking to pass the time. Too much, probably, considering the extremely small size of our freezer and that Niamh can't eat eggs. I think my pants are feeling a little bit snug. No wonder:

-chocolate pudding from The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook: fabulous! though perhaps making a double recipe was a mistake, even though we did have four extra people for dinner that night. There was an obscene amount of pudding.

-St. Louis gooey butter cake from Smitten Kitchen: delicious! Loved the top, but am not sure about the bottom. Wondering how the top would taste on top of the blondie recipe from Baking Illustrated. That might be too rich. Will have to try on Pat's next business trip, which is all too soon.

-whole wheat apple muffins from Smitten Kitchen: wonderful! I did have a problem with the batter curdling when I added in the yogurt. This has never happened to me before, so I didn't pay much attention to her warning. I think next time I'll follow the muffin mixing method from one of my Cook's Illustrated cookbooks. In spite of the curdling, the muffins were very, very good.

-thick chewy granola bars from Smitten Kitchen: (yes, I'm on a Smitten Kitchen kick at the moment. I don't see it ending in the foreseeable future either, because while writing this post coconut milk fudge has caught my eye.) really, really good! Next time I think I'll try adding a bit more almond butter to see if I can make the granola bars stick together just a little more.

-corn muffins with cheddar and bacon from The America's Test Kitchen Family Baking Book: so-so. Could not taste the cheddar or the bacon. What was the point?

Several of the recipes called for corn syrup which can't be found in Switzerland, so I've been using wheat syrup as a substitute. Seems to work fine!

I wonder if Europe uses wheat the same way that America uses corn. I couldn't really find any info about it with a quick google search.

Random iPhone Photos From the Past Week

2010-03-08T20:28:00.005+01:00

Pat's been in the states on business for the past ten days. The weather here was nice for the first couple of days, but then turned clear, windy, and cold. Very windy in fact, making the already cold temperature very cold. So other than the big kids going to school, there's been lots of time spent inside the apartment. The lone outside photo here was taken outside Ro's school. Not good when you have a serious case of spring fever! But at least Pat returns tomorrow. Hooray!

The Sea Serpent and Me

2010-03-03T15:44:00.002+01:00

Every time we get to the last page of The Sea Serpent and Me Niamh spends the next five minutes thinking about the little girl in the story.

"Mama, I want to go to her house."
"Mama, where is her bed?"
"Mama, I wish I could play with her toys."

Sweet Niamh!

Back to Where it all Began

2010-03-02T09:10:00.013+01:00

Things are finally certain enough that we can formally announce our upcoming move to Colorado, where Pat and I met when he was 20 and I was 17. Seems like ages ago! We will probably be moving in July. Perhaps a bit before, but not any later.

We are very sad not to be returning to Seattle, but glad that at least we'll be in Loveland where we already have good friends. This photo was taken on our last intentional visit to Colorado in 2005 (we accidentally ended up staying one night when returning to Seattle from a Switzerland preview trip and we missed a connecting flight in Denver). A lot has changed--John and Jen have another child, we have two more children, and my sister Amanda (not in the photo. I think she was at school in Tennessee?) and brother-in-law Mike have sadly moved to Oregon.

Rowan is very excited to be living at the bottom of the Rocky Mountains. A while back my mom gave us two books about the Rocky Mountains, Trails Above the Treeline and Who Pooped in the Park. We have been reading them both a lot lately, and Ro is eagerly anticipating all the animals he will see. Yesterday he pointed out to me a dinosaur in a different book that has a dew claw just like! some of the animals he's been reading about in the Rocky Mountain books.

Morning Walk 27.2.2010

2010-02-27T15:44:00.004+01:00

All images were taken with the iPhone using the Hipstamatic app.

Masque de Carnaval

2010-02-25T12:10:00.003+01:00

Niamh came home from preschool today wearing this mask, which is probably about the extent of the Carnival celebration here in Morges.

Sun, Rain, and a Little Shadow

2010-02-23T14:30:00.000+01:00

The weather on Sunday was gorgeous, and though I knew it likely would not last long, I couldn't help but hope that it would.

Incidentally, I have no idea what these flowers (except that they're not. I just call them that) are. But I love them, and have been taking a lot of photos of them this past month.

...probably too many photos of the funny winter flowers, actually.

At any rate, we did get another day of sunshine, but today it has rained all day long. Muriel loved running errands with me in her stroller bubble while the big kids were at school. There was usually just a little hand peeking out.

But towards the end of our errand run she was getting much less tolerant of the bubble.

Once home she spent the rest of the morning following me from room to room with Niamh's little red stroller...

...and wishing that she could go outside to play.

Getting Closer to Spring

2010-02-18T20:46:00.004+01:00

This morning started out dreary and rainy, but considerably warmer than it was a few days ago. Late in the afternoon the sun came out, and as it was still pretty warm (maybe 50 degrees F) I opened up the windows and balcony doors. When Rowan came home from school, instead of immediately asking for his daily TV allotment, everyone played outside; racing, having a picnic, and playing house "like Emily".

We are SO ready for Spring!!!

Further Proof That Art is Not My Thing

2010-02-18T05:26:00.003+01:00

This is a window I walk by on the way to drop Rowan off at school.

Not sure what those things are on the window? Here's a closer look:

Yes, that is a cherry tomato, cut in half, and taped to the window. This window always has interesting displays up--for some reason, the only other one that's coming to mind at the moment was a few months back when the display was slices of pizza rotting away.

Anyway, I did visit the website pasted onto the bottom of the window (oloap), but do not feel any more enlightened.

Rome Pictures on Flickr

2010-02-17T21:05:00.004+01:00

The rest of the pictures from our trip to Rome (and Pompeii!!) are up on Flickr now.

Where are the parks?

2010-02-17T15:15:00.000+01:00

Where are the parks in Rome? The only playground I saw in Rome was behind Castel Sant'Angelo.

Mount Vesuvius

2010-02-16T16:42:00.000+01:00

Complete with smoke, lava, and flaming rocks...

Italian Trains

2010-02-15T14:15:00.001+01:00

We decided to go to Pompeii while in Rome. We followed Rick Steves' advice and took the 7:30 AM train from Rome's Termini station to Naples' Centrale station via Trenitalia. We purchased our tickets at the ticket window and ended up with 3 reserved seats (children 4 and under do not need a ticket). The coach we were in and those near us were very full, which meant that I had to stand in the aisle so Niamh could sit in my seat. It was only a two hour trip, so it wasn't too bad.

From Naples to Pompeii we took the Circumvesuviana narrow gauge train. Although we had read that this train was full of con artists and pickpockets, we met only nice and helpful individuals(and returned with all our possessions).

We missed the standard train in Naples on our return trip, so we ended up on the Eurostar Italia. It was mostly empty, faster, and significantly cleaner. It was more expensive, but the extra cost was well worth it when traveling with 3 kids. After our morning adventure we were going to purchase a ticket for Niamh on the way home. I told the person at the ticket window that both kids were 5, so he would sell us a tickets for Niamh and Rowan. He told me that both kids were 4 and wouldn't sell me a ticket. I am assuming he knew the train would be mostly empty and was trying to save us money.

Happy Valentine's Day!

2010-02-14T15:54:00.000+01:00

Jimmy's Pink Cookies from A Homemade Life (basically shortbread cookies generously spread with cherry flavored frosting), heart flower bouquets from maya*made, and lots of paper heart collages.

Hope everyone has or had a wonderful day filled with treats, love, and piles of glitter!

Rome!

2010-02-14T13:46:00.004+01:00

I think that we had a successful trip to Rome and saw everything that we could reasonably expect to see during a 4.5 day visit with three kids. If we exclude the luggage arriving 30 hours after we did and Muriel vomiting in the taxi on the way to the airport, I would say we had a very good trip.

Our apartment was located at Via dei Coronari 222, which was within walking distance of most sights. The Colosseum was a bit of a walk for Niamh, especially in the rain, but she managed to do it. It might have helped that she knew there would be gelato at some point.

Our double stroller was about 5 cm too wide to go on the busses without disassembling, so we used taxis every day. Using a taxi was less expensive than I had expected and saved us quite a bit of time. It was nice having a taxi stand about 100 meters from the apartment. We didn't use any car seats, so I was a bit nervous about getting into an accident. That being said, the driving was not nearly as scary as I had expected it to be. There was only one time when I thought we would hit somebody and that was the pedestrian's fault.

If you have been following us in Facebook, you will know that we ate our (or maybe more than our) share of gelato. Here are a few of the places we wanted to visit. I'm not sure how many we actually sampled.

Rome Reading and Watching

2010-02-14T05:53:00.004+01:00

We got a lot of books about Rome before our trip to Rome.
This is Rome by M. Sasek-this one was disappointing. We love This is Paris, but Sasek's Rome book is much drier and read more like a guide book than a picture book, for some reason. Even so, I'd say it's worth reading, but probably much better suited for older children.
Rome Antics by David Macaulay-thumbs up from kids and I. Pat wished it was more like his Castle and Cathedral books.
Madeline and the Cats of Rome by John Marciano-thumbs up
Vacation Under the Volcano by Mary Pope Osborne-thumbs up from Ro and I (Pat didn't read it, and Niamh wasn't interested)
Ancient Rome and Pompeii by Mary Pope Osborne and Natalie Pope Boyce--thumbs up from me, though the kids were not super interested.
The Roman Colosseum by Elizabeth Mann--Definitely meant for older kids, so I didn't even attempt this one with the kids, and haven't read it myself.

And then picked up some more while we were in Pompeii!
The Usborne Time Traveller: Rome & Romans-thumbs up
Romans by Katie Daynes-thumbs up
Pompeii by Karen Bally-thumbs up--Rowan adores this book. He was torn between this one and a similar book about Gladiators, but ultimately the people running in terror from the erupting volcano won out over men being forced to fight each other or animals to the death.

Here he is reading it in our apartment in Rome after we got back Tuesday evening. He's so sensitive about some things, it always surprises me when things I think would be scary seem to fascinate him rather than scare him. At any rate, I do think it's a good book. It's a fictionalized account of the time of the eruption through a several people's eyes, and then at the end there is a chapter on how Pompeii was rediscovered, the excavations, treasures that have been found at Pompeii, and a nice map of the city.

We all watched Rick Steve's video clips about Rome. Niamh wasn't so interested, but I think this definitely helped Rowan get more excited about the trip.

I meant to read The Seventh Sinner by Elizabeth Peters and When in Rome by Ngaio Marsh, and also watch Roman Holiday, but got sucked into some other books instead. Not to mention just general craziness limiting free time. I'll get to all three in the next week or so while Rome is still fresh in my mind!

Bringing a Small Taste of Rome to Morges

2010-02-12T12:04:00.010+01:00

We made it back to Morges yesterday afternoon relatively unscathed. While we were in Rome it felt chilly, but the weather here makes Rome seem positively balmy! The three main things we ate in Rome were gelato, pizza, and hot chocolate. Once in a while we did throw in some apples or oranges. But I'm afraid that unless there were vegetables on the pizza (broccoli on pizza--delicious!), none were consumed. Anyway, I do not really have the equipment needed to adequately replicate gelato and pizza, but I figured I could certainly manage a cup or two of thick and creamy Italian hot chocolate. And the cold, windy weather in Morges seemed the perfect excuse for some hot chocolate experimentation. A quick Google search produced several promising recipes; this is the one I used as a base.

Unsurprisingly I had a bar or two of chocolate on hand. I buy the above chocolate in packs of ten or so when they go on sale at the supermarket and use them for baking, though I think they are intended for eating. For some reason chocolate specifically for baking is difficult to come by in Switzerland.

The main difference in Italian hot chocolate vs. good quality regular hot chocolate seems to be the thickness. I saw several methods used for thickening the drink--flour, arrowroot starch, and cornstarch all came up. I imagine potato starch would work pretty well too, but I used cornstarch.

My recipe ended up like this (only two changes from the recipe on bell' alimento):
-100 grams of 70% or higher chocolate, finely chopped
-1.5ish cups whole milk (I think I added a bit more).
-2 tablespoons sugar
-3 teaspoons cornstarch

I mixed the chocolate, sugar and cornstarch together in a small saucepan placed over medium-low heat. Once the chocolate was melted I slowly added the milk.

Or at least, that is ideally what would have happened. First of all, I only had 2.5% milk in the fridge, so used that instead of whole milk. Secondly, I mixed 2 teaspoons of cornstarch, the sugar, and chocolate together. Then whisked in the milk. Then decided that the hot chocolate wasn't thick enough (did I not cook the hot chocolate long enough? It was hot! Or maybe it was the lack of whole milk?) and added another teaspoon of cornstarch. The hot chocolate ended up with quite a few "bits" (as Rowan said) in it, which I think was cornstarch that I couldn't get blended. I'm assuming if I follow the aforementioned ideal method next time, I can avoid the bits. At any rate, the bits were easily strained out, and the hot chocolate ended up being delicious! Better, in fact, than most of the stuff we had in Rome, as we didn't often have the luxury of being picky about the establishments we stopped at for refreshments.

More on Rome to come!

NOTE: I made the hot chocolate again with with whole milk, and 3 teaspoons of cornstarch was too much. So if you're using whole milk try with just 2 teaspoons of cornstarch.

Rome Perspectives

2010-02-08T20:12:00.005+01:00

Rowan's:

It's been a long time since anyone has wanted to take my picture as much as Rowan does.

He (and Niamh too) has loved spotting all the SPQRs

Niamh's:

Niamh likes to take photos while walking. Sometimes they look like this.

But a couple hundred others look like this.

Mine:

Rowan and Niamh each received a camera for our trip to Rome, and they've been a big hit, as you can see (a brilliant idea from Dana). We've been here since Saturday and have a couple more days left before we go home. Too exhausted at the moment to write more, but there's sure to be much more to come!

Cloudy Morning on the Lake

2010-02-02T16:52:00.002+01:00

Taken with the iPhone, processed using Pro HDR and CameraBag.

International Festival de Ballons

2010-02-01T10:30:00.005+01:00

Yesterday we took Rowan and Niamh to the Balloon Festival in Chateau D'oex. Muriel stayed home with a babysitter...it was SO nice to travel without a baby. Wow, what a difference! So incredibly easy--even with a five and three year old. The kids are all so close in age, I think it's been five years since we've done any sort of trip without a baby.
The infamous Chateau D'oex weather let us down though. Thankfully when we arrived it was only partly cloudy, and a big bunch of balloons were just preparing for lift-off. But after that it clouded over, and we only saw two other balloons go up. By the time we left it was snowing.

I'm glad we went though. Niamh was her usual...let's say, three-year-old self (enough said), but Rowan had a blast playing in the snow. I only wish we had brought a sled, as there was a hill behind the center of the festival that was filled with children sledding.

More pictures are up on Flickr! The iPhone and my Nikon were vying with each other for my time. Secretly I just wanted use the iPhone, but I figured I would probably regret it later if I totally ditched the Nikon.

Hands and Fingernails By Niamh

2010-02-01T07:10:00.000+01:00

Niamh's Balloon

2010-01-31T17:26:00.002+01:00

Ballons!

2010-01-31T16:03:00.006+01:00

Today we went to the Festival International de Ballons in Chateau-d'Oex. Pictures and info will come later, but here is what Rowan expected to see.

Forget the DSLR

2010-01-30T15:21:00.004+01:00

The following pictures were taken this morning around town with my iPhone.

Trendy, but oh-so-fun!!! Lo-Mob is my new favorite app.

Baby Mischief

2010-01-27T16:08:00.005+01:00

For the 578th time, I am SO glad we do not have wall to wall carpeting anywhere in our apartment.

A Note on Rowan's Recent Artwork

2010-01-27T05:08:00.007+01:00

This is how our table often looks these days.

Since the beginning of January or so Rowan has spent a good chunk of every day drawing, which has been so fun for Pat and me to watch. Before starting school last fall, he really did not draw except for the occasional person and a lot of scribbling. Which always made me feel a bit remiss in my parenting. I really had no idea how to teach him (I can't draw), or if I should teach him (isn't this something kids just do on their own?), and though we have a plethora of art supplies I'm just not able to sit down and do much artwork of any kind with the kids very often.

But slowly, slowly, his drawings have become more and more detailed. Last week Rowan had his friend Sebastien over to play. When they asked to do some drawing I readily agreed and got down all the necessary supplies. Looking at their finished pictures I realized that their trees were the same. Their flowers were the same. They had been coloring in their windows the same way. The houses had the same general shape. This is something I have noticed with the artwork he brings out of school too--it looks almost identical to every other kids' artwork. It seems there is little creativity in his class. Is this how it is in all schools at this age? At all ages? Is it a good way to do things at the beginning? On the one hand I feel like creativity is being squashed a bit, but on the other hand, Rowan loves drawing now. And coloring! Something else he didn't do before last fall.

Which brings me to the Ed Emberely drawing books he has fallen in love with. Auntie Katie got the kids one for Christmas, and then I picked up another two for them a couple of weeks ago. They are fabulous!! Rowan (and me too!) has been drawing trucks, trains, farms, deserts, etc., and having so much fun with it. I am not at all opposed to drawing books...so I don't know why it irks me a bit that all the children in his class at school are obviously getting pretty specific instructions on how to do their art projects. It's not all that different from what goes on with a book on how to draw things.

A Very Slippery Slope

2010-01-26T05:13:00.006+01:00

On Sunday Niamh and I took the train to Geneva with our friends Sandra and Alyssa and saw the Disney Princesses on Ice show.

Niamh has only seen two of the Disney princess movies, and though she'll sit through parts of them and seem somewhat interested, it's really Rowan who likes Snow White and Sleeping Beauty. Not the princesses, mind you, but the stories. Anyway, I had originally bought Rowan a ticket too, but he had a birthday party come up and could not go. Which actually was a good thing. I'm sure the loud volume and the dark arena would have terrified him.

In fact it took a lot of whispered persuasion to get Niamh to stay once the lights went out and the music came on. After that she did pretty good in spite of her complete indifference to the show itself.

So, Niamh's favorite parts of our afternoon? Hanging out with Sandra and Alyssa, the popcorn (I finally had to tell her no more. I was sure she was going to make herself sick), and the new magic wand she got after the show. There are a few more pictures up on flickr if you are interested!

Swiss Train Pics

2010-01-24T10:01:00.000+01:00

Here are a few web sites with pictures of Swiss trains.

http://davids-railway-photos.fotopic.net/c1797347.html

http://railportfolio.fotopic.net/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/trams-lisbonne/sets/

http://swissrailways1948-70archive.fotopic.net/c1803723.html

http://www.flickr.com/photos/johannes-j-smit/

We're in the Shoe Phase

2010-01-24T05:46:00.003+01:00

More Artwork

2010-01-23T14:54:00.002+01:00

A bee, a ladybug, a spider with her web, a caterpillar, and a snake.

More artwork

2010-01-18T17:33:00.000+01:00

A giant and four people in the United States.

Doodle Jump, I Love You

2010-01-18T05:44:00.017+01:00

There's a new member in our family. Didn't know we were expecting? I was a little surprised too! When I got an iPhone in December I was certainly not expecting to love it as much as I now do. Nor was I expecting to be vying with Pat, Rowan, and Niamh for time with my little toy. I probably would not love it so much if I hadn't received a couple of iTunes gift cards for Christmas (thanks Pat, Ann & Mike!). I'm not really into music or movies. I don't like audio books. I refuse to read books on an electronic device. So I started browsing through the thousands of different applications. And of course was sucked in.

I think my favorite (and yet, also the most pointless) app right now is Doodle Jump. I've logged an embarrassing amount of time playing that game. But I do have a variety of pretty cool and yet practical apps like SBB Mobile (my phone IS my ticket!), a English-French dictionary, Skype, and a Fromage app (c'mon, totally practical living in Switzerland), to name a few. I may, in fact, have gone a little app-crazy.

I even got several apps for kids, which Rowan and Niamh both love. The one they are playing here is DinoMixer.

Oh, and there's the whole phone thing. Yeah, sometimes I use the iPhone as a phone.

Learning to write.

2010-01-17T09:04:00.001+01:00

An example of Rowan's school work.

Dress Up Fun

2010-01-16T15:23:00.001+01:00

When I learned that H&M sells Batman costumes year round I couldn't resist going to Lausanne almost immediately and getting him one.

He is having fun with it, but doesn't love it as much as I had thought he would...perhaps blankets and rain boots are better for the imagination.

I contemplated getting Niamh a Superman costume (H&M only carries two superhero costumes), but she doesn't really care about superheros and ultimately I got her another fairy set. She has actually been begging for months for new slippers and a magic wand, as the ones she got for her last birthday were too small/broken.

There were a lot of tears when only a few hours after this picture was taken her new magic wand got caught in a door hinge and the end broke off. It was deemed unworthy and thrown angrily to the ground. However, the next day she grudgingly agreed to continue playing with the damaged, but still functioning, wand.

More artwork

2010-01-16T11:35:00.003+01:00

A scene from Saint George and the Dragon.

Snowy Wednesday Morning

2010-01-15T05:35:00.009+01:00

We were greeted on Wednesday morning with yet another blanket of fresh snow over Morges. It was the perfect day for it since both Rowan and Niamh have Wednesdays off from school and we could go out first thing to play in it. We saw a lot of dogs being walked, but not one other child the entire two hours we were there. Which is so odd to me--we weren't out that early in the morning!

Two Is Better Than One

2010-01-14T20:54:00.005+01:00

I've been experimenting this week with putting Muriel's hair into pigtails. I'm loving it, as Niamh's curly hair never did this when she was a baby!

Snowy Sunday Morning

2010-01-14T07:40:00.002+01:00

We've had quite a bit more snow here this winter than in the previous two when there was maybe one or two days of very light snow. The kids were delighted to wake up Sunday morning to a fresh blanket of white over Morges.

The best part of playing in the snow is coming home afterward to hot chocolate, mint Hershey's Kisses, and snacks from the boulangerie.

New Years 2010

2010-01-13T20:26:00.005+01:00

Though we had a quiet New Years with just us and my parents, Rowan and Niamh were so excited about our "party". Staying up late, special cake, ice cream, popcorn, hot chocolate, watching some TV, sparklers...what's not to love?

Rowan and Muriel check out the New Years cracker (I have no idea what these are actually called, so I'm just calling it a cracker). They sell these all over in Switzerland, year round, but are especially popular for New Years and August 1st.

Everyone is ready for the big bang! Rowan hid in his bed.

Basically, the wick gets lit and then all sorts of toys and party favors pop out of the top.

Niamh puts together a little puzzle that was in the cracker.

Sparklers!

I was so surprised that Rowan was willing to do the sparklers (this is the first time we've done them with the kids), but apparently he had already done them at school, the last day before Christmas break.

Three snails, a snail home, and a snail building

2010-01-13T19:17:00.000+01:00

Visit With Grammie Krista and Papa Gary

2010-01-12T21:07:00.004+01:00

My parents arrived for a visit a couple of days after Christmas. We had a lovely visit! The kids loved having them here--helping them to make coffee, playing board game, after board game, after board game, talking them into marching around the apartment in a line, singing "Hi Ho, Hi Ho, it's off to work we go...", "writing" email messages to various people on their laptop, etc., etc....unfortunately poor Grammie was sick for most of the trip (we're cursed!). Just posting a few of the pictures from their time here. I'm glad they got to come see us in Switzerland one last time.

Per request...

2010-01-12T18:12:00.002+01:00

Rowan requested that I put this picture on the blog so everyone could see it.

Père Noël, Part Two

2010-01-11T05:34:00.005+01:00

Here are some more pictures from our visit to see Père Noël.

The passageway to Père Noël's office

Père Noël's desk

Rowan talking to Père Noël

Afterward we got a chance to play in the snow for a bit. It was not ideal--the dry snow was not fresh and it was very windy, blowing it right into our faces. Rowan might have been the only one of us who really enjoyed it.

Snowball!

Muriel and Rowan on the train ride home.

Today's artwork from Rowan

2010-01-10T17:33:00.002+01:00

In case you couldn't figure it out, this is Rowan standing next to a house.

Maybe there is hope

2010-01-10T17:14:00.003+01:00

This picture gives me hope for mass transit in Seattle. Not much hope, just a little.

Christmas 2009

2010-01-10T10:50:00.006+01:00

Here are some photos from Christmas Day, finally! Only three weeks late. I just got done weeding through all the December photos and we ended up with only 250 for the month. That's probably the lowest photo month for 2009, by far which is indicative of what a lovely month December was. Muriel and I were both sick on Christmas day. But the whole family has now been healthy for more than one whole week--it's been so nice! Hopefully we can put those pathogen filled months of November and December far, far behind us.

Anyway, here are some pictures. I only had the energy to take photos in the morning, but the rest of the day was pretty quiet and uneventful anyway.

Santa came!

And he was feeling a little crazy...

I'm not sure what got into him, but he gave the kids their first licensed Disney toys. And he didn't even give them grudgingly! He was, in fact, a bit sheepishly excited about it. 5 years sure can change a person.

Niamh received Snow White and the Prince.

Here is Muriel, up for the first time, checking out the shopping basket full of Swiss food. She didn't last long, and was asleep again about thirty minutes later.

Grammie and Bumpa gave Niamh her much longed for doll car seat. She was thrilled!

This is Muriel after her morning nap. Santa brought her one set of alphabet blocks in French, and one set in English.

Muriel felt a little more chipper once the ibuprofen kicked in.

My little Batman (shirt and mask from Santa). Notice the boots? Batman always wears boots. A little while later Ro added Daddy's black gloves to the ensemble.

Niamh and Muriel

2010-01-08T15:29:00.004+01:00

Okay, these are pictures I took today and not catch-up photos, but wanted to post them because I don't think I'll get to catch-up photos today and this will hopefully appease the sisters and grandparents!

La Fête des Rois 2010

2010-01-07T10:44:00.001+01:00

Yesterday was La Fête des Rois or Epiphany. My Kugelhopf has a good post up about Three Kings day in France and the German speaking part of Switzerland. I do not know if the "celebration" in Morges is traditional in the French speaking part, or maybe it's just a Morges/Vaud thing? I put celebration in quotes because I'm not sure that taking your sad, old Christmas tree to the train station to get sent through a wood chipper really qualifies as a celebration, even if there is a stand giving out tea, mulled wine, and couronne. Though this far past Christmas it does feel great to finally get rid of the tree that's been tied up on our balcony since the 26th.

In addition to the wood chipper set up at the train station there was also the more traditional and festive Gallette de Rois or Couronne (here they sell both) that could be bought at the supermarkets or boulangeries.

One boulangerie had les fèves for sale, so I picked up a bunch for hopefully baking into cakes on Three Kings Day when we're not living in Switzerland any longer.

We ended up with two Gallette de Rois. The first I bought at Migros (supermarket), thinking I'd be too lazy to go out to a boulangerie the next day. But once I got it home, I noticed that the box said it was not for children because it contained kirsch. The above gallette we bought at Fornerod tasted so much better though, I'm glad I was forced to go get a second one!

My mom found--or maybe I spotted it and gave it to her--the fève in the Migros gallette (which by the way did not taste booze-y at all), and I found the fève in the Fornerod gallette.

We also happened to have two kids who really wanted to be king, so having two crowns worked out nicely (Grammie and I didn't mind relinquishing our power). The very first thing Niamh did this morning when she got out of bed was to put her crown on again.

We took a bit of a blog break due to being sick, and having visitors, and all the usual holiday craziness. I'll hopefully be able to catch up the blog in the next couple of days with photos from the past couple of weeks.

Fine Art: Christmas Tree for Grammie and Bumpa

2009-12-25T17:42:00.000+01:00

Rowan has been asking for this drawing to be sent to Grammie and Bumpa. I figured it would be easier and faster if I just posted it online.

Mes dessins de Noel

2009-12-25T16:33:00.003+01:00

Rowan had been working on this at school and brought it home on the last day of school with strict instructions that he continue to work on it each day.

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-25T00:53:00.000+01:00

Has the end of the world arrived?

2009-12-23T21:56:00.002+01:00

This clock at the CFF station in Montreux was 7 minutes slow. I checked both my phone and my watch (sync'd to Morges train station main clock) to validate that it was wrong. I couldn't believe it. It is the only train station clock I have seen in Switzerland that has not been correct. It is a sure sign the end of the world is coming.

A visit to Pere Noel

2009-12-23T21:02:00.003+01:00

It took 2 hours and 2 trains, but we made it to Pere Noel. Please note the following:

The lines across the picture are from an issue with our scanner, the actual picture is fine.
Niamh was totally uninterested in being on Pere Noel's lap.
Muriel was only slightly more interested in being on Pere Noel's lap
The spot on Rowan's head was caused by Emily letting Rowan play with the clippers after she was done cutting his hair.

Rowan actually talked with Pere Noel this year, which is a significant improvement from the last visit.

Somersaults!

2009-12-23T20:38:00.002+01:00

Rowan learned how to do somersaults at school and now the girls are joining in on the fun.

Letter From Santa

2009-12-20T05:17:00.003+01:00

Rowan and Niamh received their letters back from Santa (AKA the Swiss Post) last week.

The letter, in English, included a random short story about a snowman, which seemed to end and begin in the middle, as well as some Christmas window decals. It wasn't, in fact, really a letter at all, which I found to be slightly disappointing. But I'm glad that the Swiss Post went to the trouble to at least send something back!

Second Sight

2009-12-18T20:11:00.004+01:00

Today I am feeling like I'm gifted with second sight, as yesterday I forced myself to go out shopping for snow gear for the kids in preparation for the train up to Rochers-de-Naye on Monday to see Père Noël. And then woke up today to snow! Coincidence? I think not.

My second sight must be a bit spotty though, because I was certainly caught completely unaware yesterday afternoon when Pat learned that his office here is to be shut down and we'll out of Switzerland sometime in the next nine months. Where next? Who knows at this point.

But for now let's focus on something a little more festive and cheerful, like unexpected snow! I hope it sticks around for Christmas, I can't remember the last time I had a white Christmas!

We were able to get out the door about 15 minutes early today so the kids could play for a bit before Ro had to go to school.

Later that morning I took the girls out to play.

Muriel love it....

for about two seconds. She spent the rest of the time in my arms, or looking like the above photo. Maybe gloves would have helped? The sleeves on her snowsuit go way past her fingers though, so I thought she'd be okay without.

Niamh on the other hand, thoroughly enjoyed herself!

Cookie Thief

2009-12-17T20:07:00.005+01:00

Wrapping Presents

2009-12-16T21:37:00.003+01:00

We are having what is probably (mustn't get my hopes up) only a brief lull between illnesses, so I thought I'd use the respite to post a couple of recent photos.

I haven't wanted to put any gifts under the tree to tempt the children (mostly Muriel), so Rowan and Niamh took matters into their own hands on Tuesday morning. They spent a good hour or so making wrapping paper and then wrapping up various toys. If Niamh hadn't had to leave for school (Ro stayed home sick) they probably wouldn't have stopped until every toy they own was wrapped and under the tree.

Muriel has actually shown zero interest in the "gifts" under the tree, so perhaps I could put the real ones under it after all.