We're on our way home!

This will be my last post for a while as we're leaving in 5 minutes for the airport! We are all so excited to see everyone! Aidan is practically jumping out of his skin. We were awaked this morning by him yelling "Rise and shine sleepyheads! It's time to go see Mamaw and Papaw and PatTone and my cousins and Lainey's cousins and everyone we know!"

Unfortunately, when we opened our blinds we saw that it is snowing like crazy. It's absolutely beautiful outside (I'll take pics and post them later :), but I'm hoping it's not snowing so much down in Zurich at the airport. I would NOT be happy if our flight is delayed or cancelled!

So...here's hoping we're on time and we'll be back in the USA by 8pm tonight!

Look at the pretty Unicorns!

I'm really going to miss it when Lainey can speak clearly and correctly. She never fails to make me laugh when she misuses pronouns ("let's go to we house", instead of "our house") or when she says "nexta to" instead of "next to" or "no-no" instead of "yellow".

Lately though, my absolute favorite mistake is how she calls Christmas ornaments "Unicorns"! So, according to Lainey, we have pretty unicorns all over our tree. The funniest thing is that I'm not even sure she knows what a unicorn really is!

She is simply too much.

St. Nicholas Day and Night

Just like on the Travel Channel!

Samichlaus and Schmutzli

Lainey was not too sure about Samichlaus! December 6th is St. Nicholas Day. It's a big deal in Switzerland. Santa doesn't come on Christmas morning here, Samichlaus comes on the 6th. He visits schools, does parades...he's just about everywhere the week leading up to December 6th. Lainey went to see him at Gymboree, and he came to Aidan's school. Samichlaus doesn't bring lots of toys, usually just a bag of goodies like peanuts, oranges, and chocolate. But if you leave your shoe out on the night of the 6th, he may come to your house and leave a small toy. (Aidan and Lainey each got a puzzle ornament this morning)

We went out last night with some friends. We went into the city to an Indian restaurant, then to a typical Swiss bar. It was a fun, crazy night! We were with 8 Brits and 2 Aussies who I met through the English speaking playgroup. When we went to the bar, Samichlaus and Schmutzli were there too! Quite an interesting crowd to say the least.

Before we moved here we watched a Travel Channel video about Zurich. We've done most of what was shown in the video except for the part where the host is in a Swiss bar and is offered this tobacco-like stuff that you snort up your nose. Apparently, its a very Swiss tradition and its kind of rude to turn down when someone offers it to you. Well, we can check that box now!

A local at the bar sitting next to us had some and was sharing it around (I think I even saw Samichlaus with some!). At first only the guys in our group did it, but then even us girls tried. I don't really think it's tobacco, its more like cinnamon, but it's not something I'll be doing again! Just look at my face in the picture above!

In 2 weeks, we'll be home (but hopefully just for a visit!)

In 2 weeks we'll be home! I'm really looking forward to visiting with all our friends and family (and shopping!) I've got my shopping list ready (Twelve Oaks here I come), we know where we want to go out to eat (Taco Bell and Compari's top the list:), and I've got appointments for haircuts, doctors, and dentists all lined up.

I can't wait to hang out with my girls and to see our parents. The kids are so excited to see the grandmas and Papaw. We have to make a date to visit Maddy. Oh, by the way...we have to fit in Christmas into all this!

I just really hope that we'll be able to come back to Switzerland in January. CNN is rehashing the Big 3 Congressional hearings right now. Here's hoping they'll bail out the auto industry. I can't believe how many rumors are flying around about bankruptcy and what could happen to us ex-pats. Jason got a text from a friend at GM in Detroit today asking if we were planning to row our way home with all our belongings when GM goes bankrupt and strands us here. Real funny.

So, here's hoping that we'll be here long enough for all of you to visit us! But, if I were you, I may plan the trip to Zurich for sooner rather than later!

Lainey on Football

So, just now I was looking at the Black Friday ads online and wondering if shopping online will be as exciting as actually getting up at 4am and hitting the stores with Andrea. (I've decided it's definitely not). Jason is happy because the local channel NASN (North American Sports Network) is playing the Lions game live. He and the kids are watching the game while I'm here on the computer. I'm having a fun time eavesdropping on their conversation.

Jason- "Oh no! Typical, the Lions just fumbled"
Aidan- "What's fumble?"
Jason-"See how the guy dropped the ball? Now anyone can take it."
Lainey-"That's not fair. He shouldn't take someone else's toy."
Jason-"Well, in football it's okay. If one guy drops it, another one is allowed to take it."
Lainey-"That's not nice. It's not his ball."
Jason-"Football isn't a nice sport. It's kind of rough."
Lainey-"They should share. Friends should take turns"
Jason-"They aren't friends they're opponents"
Aidan-"Opponents are people who fight each other."
Lainey-"Fighting is not okay. They shouldn't fight."
Jason-"Opponents don't really fight, they just play against each other, not together."
Lainey-"I would share the ball. I don't want someone to take my ball."
Jason-"In football that's how the game is played. Both teams try to get a touchdown."
Lainey- "What's a touchdown?"

You can see where this is going....Anyone ever read If You Give a Pig a Pancake or If You Give a Moose a Muffin? I see where Laura Numeroff got her inspiration! She must have had a 3-year-old!

Happy Turkey and Football Day Everyone!!!!

Disneyland and Paris

We just returned from our trip to Paris and Disneyland Paris. We had a great time! It was a wonderful trip with the kids. We spent one day in the city and 2 1/2 in the Disney parcs.

We drove from Zurich (about 8 hours) and spent the rest of the first day in Disneyland (like Magic Kingdom). We were only there 3 hours, but we were able to ride lots of rides since there wasn't much of a crowd. November is a good time to beat crowds since school is in session and it's a bit nippy! But if you don't mind your kid playing hookey and wearing a coat and hat, you're good to go!

We spent Thursday in Paris. I love that city! It's so beautiful and historic. (However, it's huge compared to Zurich, and I'm glad we live here instead. Zurich is even more pretty and much more manageable) In the morning, we took the train into the city and walked along the Champs-Elysees. We had fun just "being there" and window shopping. We walked down to the Tuilleries Garden and the back of the Louvre, but we didn't go in. I don't think the kids would've liked it enough. After lunch, we did a short bus tour, which was a good rest time for the kids, but I wouldn't bother with again. It was kind of "here's this, here's that" as you pass it. At least the tour ended with a trip up the Eiffel Tower. That the kids really liked! They've both seen Madeline DVD's and books so they had a little familiarity.

We spent the rest of our time in Disneyland Parc and Disney Studios. The Parc is set up much like Florida, just on a smaller scale. They have all the same lands and most of the same rides (although some of the rides are in Studios and vice-versa). It was all decked out for Christmas so we really got into the holiday spirit! You'd think you were in Disney World except for the frigid temperature and the French speaking characters! Really, though language wasn't a big problem. All the brochures and and shows were in English, since Great Britian is so close. Plus, even though it's been a long time, my French is WAY better than my German so I was able to understand most things.

Actually, the only time language was a problem was when I jumbled the three languages up! I call it "Frengman" (French-English-German). I'd get all confused when I'd try to speak that I'd end up saying something like "Bonjour, je voudrais (FR) the steak and mashed potatoes(EN), bitte(G)" But, luckily for me, almost everyone in Europe speaks at least 2 languages, especially in the parcs. I just don't understand how they can be fluent in multiple languages and not mix them up! I can't even get through a basic sentence without messing it all up!

We had a great time in Paris and drove back through the Champagne, Burgundy, and Alsace wine regions and Dijon mustard region. Only problem is that EVERYTHING is closed on Sundays, so no wine tastings or purchases for us. (We didn't think it was authentic if we bought wine and dijon mustard at a gas station.) We saw lots of farm land that I'm sure is stunning in the spring and summer, but just looked dead now. We'll definitely make that drive again on a sunny day during the week!

My kids are the "big" kids!

We went to a neighbor's 2-year-old son's birthday party today. It was quite nice and we all had fun. As I'm standing there watching my kids participate in the Kindermusik-like program independently, I realized how "big" my kids have gotten.

I had a deja vu moment when I remembered being at some kid event and looking at another mom with older kids who was just standing there talking to another mom, not chasing after one kid and holding a crying baby as I was doing at that moment. Today, I was that mom that I was jealous of 2 or 3 years ago! My kids were the "big" kids! I was the one standing to the side talking to another mom while most of the other moms were either holding babies and/or dealing with 1- or 2-year-old tantrums. My youngest kid was older than the other moms' oldest kids (does that make sense?). I have to say, it was nice being me today!

I remember those days of babyhood and toddlerhood fondly, but I'm really enjoying Aidan and Lainey being a bit more independent now. I'm sure in a few years I'll desperately miss them needing me as much as they used to (and do now), but for now, in this moment, I'm seeing light at the end of the exhausted-mommy tunnel.

Wine Boats

My fabulous neighbor, Megan, volunteered to watch the kids for us on Sunday so we could check out the Wine Boats. Every year, 5 boats dock in the city and vineyards and wine distributors come to offer tastings and sell cases of wine which they'll deliver right to your house. Jason and I had been looking forward to this since we heard about it this summer We were there for 2 hours and didn't even get through half the vineyards. Let me tell you, it was tough to try all that wine (especially without eating dinner first!). We ordered a case and a half, not bad considering some people I know who bought more than 4! But it was still a rough night and next morning.

Our neighbor upstairs was there selling his wine. He runs a vineyard in Tuscany-must be nice. He only lives here part time, but his $175,000 car is always parked here making all the men of the building drool. Unfortunately, we didn't see him there, but I keep hoping he'll just leave a case by my door. (He did bring me a Tuscan pumpkin, so maybe there's hope for wine next time!)

Next year, I think we'll pace ourselves and try to go over a few days.

Basel Zoo

We explored Basel this weekend. Basel is a city on the border of France and Germany. Supposedly, there's a point where you can stand in all 3 countries at once, but we drove around for an hour looking with no luck. I did however get a big scratch on the car when I had to pull a quick u-turn at the French border. Great.

So, we decided to check out the Basel Zoo. It was a great zoo, lots of cool animals that were pretty close to us, so the kids could see them easily. They had a great time and the weather was perfect.
Our favorite animals, by far, were the monkeys. They had an amazing exhibit of monkeys of all sizes up to gorillas. They were behind glass, but interacted with the people. I love this picture of Lainey with one. It looks like she's right next to him, but there's actually glass separating them, don't worry! This monkey looked at us and made faces and "played" with us for around 10 minutes.

Swiss Doctors

So far, I think I love the Swiss health system. I think I'm going to be irritated with doctors when we move back. The kids and I all had to go to the doctor this week as we've been sick for nearly a month and coughing like maniacs (so bad that Jason even kicked me to the couch one night before an important meeting at work). I called on Monday morning and was able to get Lainey in the same day and appointments for Aidan and me on Tuesday. We walked in to each appointment without a wait. No hoardes of germy kids sicker than my own. I didn't have to fill out loads of paperwork, prove I had referrals, or be screened by nurses before meeting the doctor. The doctors themselves met us in the waiting room!

The pediatrician and my GP were very thorough, asking lots of questions and listening to my comments. They even did tests (breathing capacity and blood) right in their own offices! I didn't have to shlep to a lab or anything! And, best of all, they give you the medication right then and there. No traipsing to a pharmacy with sick kids, waiting for the pharmacist to check your insurance and spend an hour counting out 20 pills. Just "here's what you need and here's how much and when to take it". I didn't even have to deal with waiting to check-out and co-pays, they just send you a bill later which you then send to the insurance company. I was in and out of each appointment, drugs in hand, flu shots had by all in 30 minutes flat!

That in itself made me feel better! I just hope that when I do get the bills, I don't have a heart attack seeing as I have no clue what medical care costs here. (But it is socialized medicine, so it shouldn't be too bad.) Hopefully, the kids and I will be better soon. Jason's lucky he's got to work so much and not be around us sickos!

Out of the Mouth of My Babe

This morning Aidan watched the election results on CNN with us. Jason explained what we were watching and how it was historic because Obama is the first black president. We asked Aidan if he knew who the current president was; he didn't at first but when we said George Bush, he said "oh yeah, I know who he is".

At dinner, out of nowhere, Aidan asked me, "Mom, is George Washingtion on my coins?" I said, "yes, on quarters, why?" He said "Oh no! Then I have to throw away all my coins! They aren't good anymore now that Obama is president."

That kid is always thinking. I'm constantly amazed by the things he thinks about, especially at his age. This one is going to keep us on our toes!

All I need to know about America I learn on Swiss Radio/TV

Europe is OBSESSED with the US election. Completely obsessed. There's more coverage of the election and economy here on TV and radio than I remember at home (at least we don't have the campaign ads, though!). I can hear info in English on BBC, in Swiss-German on the radio, and in German, French and Italian on other TV channels.

It's weird. For example I'll be listening to a Kid Rock song on the radio (the one that mentions Michigan-funny), the song ends and the Swiss-German-speaking DJ comes on to give the news and it's all "blah,blah-Barack Obama-blah,blah-John McCain-blah, blah, blah, General Motors-blah, blah-Fannie Mae-blah, blah, blah" I can't understand the German part, but I clearly hear the American names. When was the last time you can remember hearing about another country's election on American TV or radio?

We Americans live in a bubble (and I like it that way), and what goes on in other places doesn't really affect us that much. But, to other countries, America is NEWS. What happens there affects the whole world. All of Europe is watching this election so closely. They can't stand Bush here and are completely behind Obama. My friend here said she hopes for our sake Obama wins because other wise the US will be a laughing stock to the world for sticking with Bush's party. I'm not particularly fond of either candidate, but that's a pretty meaningful statement from someone from outside of America and I think that is what will happen, at least in Europe.

So, I'll either stay up really late or get up early to see the election results. The reporters will probably be speaking another language, but at least percentages look the same in every language! I'm pretty sure that if Obama wins, there will be celebration rallies all over Europe. Weird.

Halloween

In Switzerland, they do a lot of cooking with pumpkins-soup, bread, ravioli, beer, everything-but it's trickier to find the kind of pumpkins you can carve. We found these at the farm we went to for the pumpkin boat racing. Aidan carved his like a vampire, and Lainey's is a kitty. At Aidan's school we went "trunk or treating"

I had heard that they don't celebrate Halloween in Switzerland, and I guess mostly they don't, unless you're in an ex-pat community. I didn't bring many decorations with me, nor did I bring the kids' pumpkin baskets for trick-or-treating since I didn't think we'd need them. But, as like in so many situations, I was wrong.

At Aidan's school they had a big Halloween party, complete with "trunk or treating". Parents decorated the trunks of their cars and then parked in the parking lot at school and passed out treats to the kids there, instead of the traditional door-to-door in the neighborhoods. (Thanks mom for buying the 3 Musketeers and thanks Denise for bringing them here :) They also had a haunted house and crafts. It was great fun.

The kids finally decided what they'd be minutes before leaving for the school party. (On Thursday at our neighbor's party, Aidan refused to wear a costume, and Lainey wore a leopard cat costume). We lit up our "pumpkin head leaf man" on our patio and did a bit of trick-or-treating at the apartment with the kids here before the party.

As we were driving home, exhausted and filled with sugar, Lainey was chattering away in the back seat. She was deciding what to wear for the next Halloween tomorrow. All week we'd be carving pumpkings, going to parties, trying on costumes so of course she didn't realize that in reality Halloween is just one day. We had to explain to her that today was Halloween, and that now it's over. She didn't quite accept that and said "Daddy, don't give up, another Halloween will be here soon!" Seriously, where does she come up with these things?

So we decided what next year's costumes will be...and next year Mommy and Daddy have to dress up too. I'm just wondering how many times they'll change their minds between now and then.

Snow in October!

Yesterday, it snowed a bit. Just big, fat flakes that melted pretty soon after hitting the ground.

This morning we woke up to at least 6 inches! I couldn't believe it. This is a cruel joke. When we moved here, we were told it rarely snows in Zurich, "nothing like what you're used to in Michigan". Well that's true, I'm not used to 6 inches of snow in October in Michigan. Frankly, it really ticked me off.

Then I talked to my Australian friend who was so excited by it. I had to hang up. I couldn't talk to someone who was happy about snow in October. She and our other friend didn't take their kids to school today because of the snow. Now, being from Michigan, I didn't even consider not going out. However, there are laws about needing snow tires here, and we don't have ours yet (that's tomorrow). If I had gotten into an accident I would've been in heaps of trouble, but seriously who thinks to deal with snow tires before Halloween?

We made it to school and around town without too much trouble. The crews had cleared the roads well by noon. I'm just hoping we don't get anymore between now and tomorrow night. How are the kids supposed to trunk or treat with a foot of snow in the parking lot????

Not so excited anymore...

Remember how excited I was to find the frozen bag of chicken breasts? Well, I went to cook some and when I opened the bag, I found out they weren't boneless/skinless breasts, they are big legs with skin and bones. Grr! The dumb bag is opaque and I can't read German enough to get past "poulet" (which yes is really French, but it's what the Swiss German call it). Oh well. I guess I'm making soup and we're having a lot of BIG chicken legs with our BW's sauce during the next football game.

I Love Sparty!

GO GREEN! GO WHITE!!! Welcome to the D'Antonio era! 'Nuff said! I'm going to bed!

(At one point during the game I yelled loud enough to wake up my sleeping kids, I'm so glad this game is over. Now I can calm down.)

Great read!

I just finished the book The Pilot's Wife by Anita Shreve. It is such a good book! If you're looking for a book you can't put down, go get this one!!!

Kindergarten Homework

Aidan brought home his class "pet", Wembly, today. He had to do stuff with him and then write about it in a journal and take pictures. He was very serious about it. Wembly went outside to play with him, helped him paint, and told Aidan that Delainey was bothering him by pulling his ears. We worked hard on the journal. He did most of the writing, which is a struggle for him, and cut out the pictures I printed. He had to write more and have more pictures than the kids who went before him. He always wants to do better than the others in his class, which I guess is good as long as he doesn't get too competitive. It was nice to see him put forth the effort.

It's interesting for me being on the other side of the school "fence". I'm used to giving homework and being the teacher. I've got a new perspective now. I see now how sometimes homework can be a pain to deal with. I can also see how cool it is to see your own kid get excited about something at school. I had the chance to help in his class today. I baked an apple pie with some kids and read to the class. It sort of made me miss my own classroom, but it was also nice not having to worry about disciplining the kids or setting up/cleaning up and only being there for 1 1/2 hours!

Once a joiner, always a joiner...

I have always had trouble saying "no" to people who ask me to help out on a school committee or join a group, or a book club, or do a project, or watch their kids, or, or, or... So it shouldn't surprise me that I'm constantly busy here already! I've volunteered or signed up for so many things that I'm having to cancel some due to double bookings. Have I mentioned that I don't even have a job to go to here??? This is all "fun" stuff, though.

Tomorrow, for example, I have a meeting about the Halloween Party at Aidan's school at the same time that the Scrapbooking Club I joined through his school is supposed to meet at the same time that the new class at the gym I joined and told a friend I try with her is. Hmmm...so I think I'll go to the party planning meeting, then to scrapping for a while, and skip the class at the gym but go workout after I drop Delainey off at Gymboree, but before I go back to Aidan's school to bake an apple pie with the kids and read a book to his class. Whew! I think I can fit it all in!

Then I have to remember that next week is book fair set up, planning meeting for the Holiday Market, German lessons, pre-sale of Halloween party tickets, a class parent meeting, Gymboree, pumpkin carving in Aidan's class, the neighborhood Halloween party, Lainey's ballet class, and the Halloween party at Aidan's school.

Why do I always do this to myself?? Probably because I hate being bored!

Thank God my friend Megan volunteered to watch the kids for us next Saturday when the wine boats come in to Zurich! I think I'll be needing a night to relax with some vino!!

I'm excited!

I'm so excited! Here's why...

I just booked a cheap flight to London with my friend Megan for the end of February! No kids, no husbands, just us and SHOPPING! It's a ways off, but still something to look forward to. Hopefully, my favorite cousin will be able to find us a hotel room for a great deal (Erin rocks!).

I just found (finally) those big bags of frozen chicken breasts at a grocery store here (I know, lame thing to be excited about).

We got our Auslander cards yesterday! Now we are officially allowed to live in Switzerland for up to 3 years and we can get cell phones finally.

Just a few things that made my day today!

Facebook

OK, I did it. I succumbed. I now have a Facebook page. So many of my friends keep sending me invites, that I finally decided to check it out. I'm not sure if I felt old because I didn't have one and use it, or if I thought it was dumb to have one when mostly it's younger people on it. But, fortunately when I did explore a bit, I found a lot of 30-somethings (and older!) on it. I feel better about it, even if my husband did tell me I was acting like I was 16. At least it's not myspace!

I didn't do much with it, and don't anticipate doing much. This blog keeps me busy enough! But, considering I didn't think I'd blog much...who knows!

More Daytrips!

Here are a few more pictures of day trips... This is a funicular train. It goes up a steep grade from the lake part of Zurich to the University. Of course Aidan had to ride it, so we paid 1 franc and rode up and back on Tuesday.
Later that same day we went to a park on the edge of the lake, but on the other side from where we live. We played in the leaves and collected some. I love this picture of Aidan, but sorry, I can't turn it around!!!
The kids' favorite part of this day was our visit to the Lindt & Sprungli Chocolate Factory Outlet store. Can you say "sugar buzz"?!?
Lainey was at Gymboree today, so I took Aidan out for a special Mommy/Son day. We went to Kindercity, which is comparable to the Ann Arbor Hands On Museum. Of course, I got convinced to buy a yearly membership, so we'll be back with Lainey. Plus, they have these cool workshops for kids 3 and up where they learn how to make chocolate or bread and bunch of other classes which are included with the membership. Even better, we'll get in to the premiere of Madagascar 2 at the movie theatre there!
Last Saturday, we decided to drive to Konstanz, Germany-just over the border. We've heard the shopping prices are much better there. Things are cheaper, but not that much!

We had a good time walking around the city. That is until Lainey starting coughing uncontrollably and we decided to race home to get the inhaler!
On Sunday (Lainey's birthday) we took her out to lunch then went to Uetliberg, the "rooftop of Zurich". The kids brought their scooters and rode through Rail City to the train that took us up the mountain.
At the top there was a great playground and a nice hotel/restaurant with a great view. Uetliberg is known for all the hiking trails, but we weren't in the mood for long hikes that day. We'll attempt that another time!
View of Zurich from Uetliberg. We live somewhere on the other side of the lake just above where the highest part of the tree is pointing.

Ravensburger Spieleland

Since we couldn't go on vacation this week (Aidan's off school, but Jason has to work), I've been trying to do day trips in the area. Yesterday we went to a theme park in Germany run by the Ravensburger Puzzle Company. It's a great place for young kids. Think Camp Snoopy at Cedar Point, but more stuff to do and no grown up rides. It was a great day to go, 70 degrees, sunny and hardly anyone was there!This fire truck ride wore me out! I had to turn a crank to make the fire engine roll down, then turn another crank so Aidan could squirt the water to put out a "fire", then roll us back. This is when it would have been nice to have Daddy with us!
Clownin' around

Mommy got more exercise on the paddle boats.
Ravensburger is famous for their puzzles, so of course they had giant puzzles to put together, which the kids loved.

We spent a lot of time at the Grune Oase (Green Oasis) where they had lots of farm activities. The kids loved these pedal tractors and animals. They rode ponies and we went on a tractor ride and even milked a pretend cow.

"You're So Sharpei!"

Aidan loves High School Musical, just like every other kid under 10. We own both 1 and 2 and he's seen them a few times each.

Today, as he was telling me how he was going to buy himself a desk and computer to keep his map collection when we get back to Michigan (which is a story in and of itself!), Lainey said "I want a computer too, a pink one!" Lainey wants everything pink.

Aidan looks at her with disdain and says "You're so Sharpei, Delainey. Sharpei even has a pink car. Do you want mom to have a pink car, too? You want everything pink."

Lainey replied, "I like purple too."

I burst out laughing. What else could I do? My kids are nothing if not characters. God help me when they are teenagers.

Go State!

I can't believe how great MSU's football team is doing this season! And we're not there to see it first hand. Just our luck-the team's best season in years and we can't go to a game. At least we've got our SlingBox so we can watch the games on TV!

We're wearing our MSU shirts with pride around here, even though no one knows American football here (let along American college football!). I so want to be wearing these shirts at home right now, among all those U-M groupies! (Talk about a bummer, U-M losing to a MAC team at the Big House for the first time ever! Watching that was as good as seeing the Spartans win!)

I hope the Spartans can keep it up. There are still some big games to go, and I never trust U-M, not even this year. At least we're bowl eligible now. Hopefully, while we're home at Christmas, we can make a detour to Florida and catch a game there!

Go Green! Go White!

Nein, Danke!

Jason takes German lessons one hour a week. I take German 3 hours a week. Aidan has German 3 times a week at school. Lainey doesn't take any German classes, even Gymboree is all English.

Oddly enough, she is the one that is using the language without thinking! She now says "nein" instead of "no"-all the time! At her birthday party after opening every present she said "danke" instead of "thank you".

I think she's listening more than I am at my lessons! Just wait until next year when she starts at the bilingual pre-school...

Playing Hookie

I let Aidan skip school yesterday to meet our friends Kelly, Benjie and Cassie and their kids at Rhine Falls (Europe's answer to Niagra Falls). Cassie lives in Germany and Kelly and Benjie were visiting her. They didn't quite make it to Rhine Falls, though, since they didn't bring their passports and the Swiss thought they looked suspicious, I guess!

So, the kids and I went to the Falls anyway. They are MUCH smaller than Niagra, but still beautiful. We took a boat ride into the falls and went to the look out point. "Doing" the falls took all of 45 minutes.

Then we went and met the rest of the group in Germany, because luckily I did toss our passports in my purse before we left home. We went to a castle (I don't remember the name), but we didn't actually go in it. The walk up a super-steep mountain to the castle just about did me in and the others were already done with the castle, so we just let the 7 kids run around and play in the forest area.

Aidan is so into hiking and nature right now. I didn't feel too bad about him playing hookie since every Tuesday they do "WaldKinder" at school where they have classes in the forest. So he just had an extra WaldKinder class with his friends.

(Thanks for coming to visit, Kelly and Benjie! Keep the visitors coming-hint, hint!!!!)

Delainey's Birthday Party

All ready to party!
Lainey with Scarlet and Ellen and their mom from upstairs
She loves the attention!
Presents!
Aidan, Scarlet, William, Clara, James, Teddy, Lily, Lucy, Ellen, Lainey, Lea

When we were planning our move here, I was really feeling sad for Delainey. I figured that she'd miss out on having a birthday party since we were leaving all our friends and family behind. I think I really thought that for the next 3 years, it would always just be the four of us for celebrations. I didn't that we'd make friends quickly. Luckily, I was very wrong!

I just put the kids to bed after a 2 1/2 hour Disney Princess birthday bash with 14 kids. 14. Yep. 1-4. Ranging in age from 6 months to almost 13 years! I invited all the kids that live in our apartment complex, because they all play together so nicely. I couldn't leave anyone out, no matter their age. In fact, the 2 oldest girls (Ellen-almost 13 and Clara-11) asked me to move the party from it's original date of Friday to today because they were leaving for vacation right after school on Friday. They told me they really wanted to come, and they even asked their moms to postpone their trips until Saturday! Seriously? A 5th grader and 7th grader wanting to come to a 3 year old's birthday party? So, I switched the dates.

Most of the kids (and one cross-dressing mom!) came in Princess or knight costumes. They all played together, no matter what age or gender, and did crafts and ate a dinner of fairy wands (breadsticks and pizza sauce for dipping), princess parfaits (granola, fruit, yogurt), tea sandwiches, and tea in little tea cups.

I don't think Delainey walked anywhere at the party, Ellen was always carrying her! Ellen and Lainey adore each other. All I hear from Lainey is "Where are the big girls? When will the big girls be home?" Luckily, according to Ellen's mom, the feeling is mutual.

Lainey and I made cupcakes for dessert (Betty Crocker is a big hit around here where boxes of cake mix cost 9 francs!) and the kids sang "Happy Birthday" to her in 3 languages-English, German, and Swedish. It was so cool.

I'm sure she really felt like a princess today.