Boys will be boys...

Today, around lunch time I got a call from Aidan's school nurse. I'm proud to say, I didn't even freak out :). Apparently, he tripped over a chair and banged his head on another chair and was bleeding all over. Poor guy! The nurse checked him out and determined his cut wasn't deep enough to need stitches, but she did put on steri-strips/butterfly strips that work kind of like stitches to help close the wound and avoid scarring. Aidan also has a black eye. I guess this is what it's like having a boy!

I'll take a picture of him tomorrow and post it. He looks kind of tough and he's pretty proud of his steri-strips. He got lots of attention at pick-up time from other moms and dads.

On another note, did I mention where I was when I got the call? At my International Lunch club. I love this "club". Some of the other moms from other countries and I have started meeting once a month at someone's house for a fancy lunch. We each bring a dish (planned out ahead of time so we have appetizer, mains, and dessert) and have a 3 hour lunch together. We all bust out our best recipes and agree upon a theme. Today's theme was "light and healthy" (not as much fun as the "comfort food" theme from 2 months ago!) but still yummy. We exchange recipes and have the funniest conversations. Like the time the 4 of us Americans tried to explain the Greek System at college to the others who only know Greeks from Animal House or when we were informed never to say you're wearing "khaki pants" to a Brit. (To them it means "poopy underwear"!) At any rate, it's a great way to spend a sunny afternoon!

Gruyere, Montreux, Vevey, Geneva, Zermatt...oh my!

This weekend was a long weekend in Switzerland and with Jason's parents in town, we took advantage of the extra days and set off on a whirlwind tour of western Switzerland!

Jason and I dragged 2 kids and 2 senior citizens all over the place! We must have changed trains 20 times. We walked over 7 miles each day. We stayed in 3 different hotels in 3 different cities in 3 nights (and, therefore, dragged our luggage just about everywhere with us). We saw mountains, lakes, vineyards, factories, and castles. I have to give lots of credit to Aidan, Lainey, Mamaw and Papaw...they all kept up the pace!

We all had a great time. I never knew what a beautiful wine growing region there is around Lake Geneva. I also didn't realize how different Geneva is from Zurich-much more modern and metropolitan! And, the piece de resistance...the Matterhorn. Unbelieveably beautiful. Breathtaking, really.

I could go on and on, but I think I'll just let these pictures say a few thousand words...

Being cheesy at the Gruyere Cheese Factory
Hiking through the vineyards in Chebrexs along Lake Geneva

Chateau de Chillon

Yes, this is a real place! It is unbelievable. It is the most famous castle in Switzerland and the castle written about in the poem by Lord Byron, "The Prisoner of Chillon"

We did a tour of the UN headquarters. No meetings were being held as it was Saturday, though.

Mamaw and Papaw in Geneva.

In Zermatt, the Matterhorn is almost visible in the background. It was unbelieveably hot this day (almost 90 degrees!) in Zermatt, but there was still lots of snow up in the mountains!

The Matterhorn. No description necessary. Wow.

This kid is too cool!

We are off to Munich this weekend! Stay tuned for more pics...

International Festival

Yesterday, Aidan's school held their annual International Festival. Students at his school come from all around the world and the festival is a way to celebrate all the different nationalities. Parents volunteer to run food booths and serve food that is typical of their country. There were booths serving foods from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Japan/China, India/Pakistan, Nepal, Great Britian, Poland, South Africa, Switzerland, Germany, and of course the good ol' US of A.

The day started off with a parade of nations and our kids proudly displayed the red, white and blue. Here's a pic of our kids with our Swedish neighbors

I, of course, volunteered to work at the USA's booth. I served up Detroit-style Coney dogs, chocolate chip cookies, fruit roll-ups, and Dr. Pepper. The coneys didn't go over so well (not many people were familiar with chili), but the rest of the stuff flew off our table! We were out of hot dogs, fruit roll-ups, and Dr. Pepper by 12:30! We were supposed to be serving until 4! For 3 hours all we could sell was bowls of chili and chocolate chip cookies :).

We all had a great time tasting foods and wines from other countries, hanging out with our friends, playing on the playground, and watching performances from the kids at school.

Mamaw and Papaw were even able to join us! They liked seeing Aidan's school and tasting all the South African wines! Aidan was thrilled to have them here.

Naked Lunch!

I've already written about our blind dinner out at the Blinde Kuh restaurant, so what comes next naturally? A naked lunch!

Do you have repulsive images in your mind? If so, shame on you! Of course, this naked lunch did not involve adults!

Lainey had a friend over for a playdate and the girls wanted to have pasta for lunch. I know that Lainey + pasta sauce= big mess and ruined clothes, so I figured that other 3 year olds were just as messy. I couldn't send Lucy home covered in orange spaghetti sauce, so I figured tummies were easier to wash than clothes! Here are some great pics of Lainey and Lucy having their "naked lunch"...I only wish I had taken some pics of them after they ate. Lainey's tummy was orange for 2 days!

Cappucino Party?

Here's an entry in the ongoing list of "You know you're a child of the 2000's when":
-you offer another child cappucino when you play "tea party"

That's what happened at my house today! Lainey and her friend Lucy were playing with Lainey's tea set and I over heard Lainey ask Lucy if she'd like coffee, tea, or cappucino. Of course, Lucy being the posh girl that she is, chose cappucino. To make things even funnier, Lainey asked her if she'd like chocolate milk in her cappucino.

Mocha, anyone? I guess you can tell these little girls hang out with their mommies a lot! Although, I guess I should just be happy Lainey and Lucy weren't offering each other wine or prosecco!

Cheers!

Hail to the (Vice) President!

Many of you know that I'm a joiner. I don't really no how to say "no" when asked to join a group or when asked for help. So, when the Parents Association nominations committee asked me to be VP of the primary school where Aidan goes, I caved in and said "yes". At least, I had enough sense to ask a friend of mine to be co-VP with me!

Yesterday, my friend and now co-VP, Becky (also a Michigan/GM girl!) were officially instated to the PA board at ICS. Who knows how much work I've gotten myself into, but at least next year Lainey will be in school every morning, so I'll have more time on my hands. I really like Aidan's school and all that they do for the kids and for the parents, so I'm happy to give back to the school a bit.

So, from now on, please address me as "Madame Vice President". :)

Pretty In Pink

I keep stealing ideas from my friend Katy's blog...and this is another one! I'm tired of the same old background so I found a fun new springy look to spice up the blog. Let me know if it's hard to read, I know some of the grey writing is awfully light.

Good-byes and one-liners

This morning I had to send my mom and aunt back to Michigan. We were all pretty sad, but Aidan was a wreck. I had to tear him off of them like a band-aid. Quick, but still painful. He cried most of the way to school, but I finally got him calmed down. Getting him to bed later will be another drama I'm sure.

Lainey and I took Pat-Tone to the airport. Lainey, ever the independent say-it-like-it-is girl, told my mom and aunt she wasn't too sad about them leaving and went on to say something along the lines of "That's OK, I need to have some time to myself again." Seriously. This kid is too much like her daddy.

On the way to the airport, she was talking about Maddy again. We all miss her, but especially the kids. I told them when we move back to the US and have a house with a yard we can get another dog. So, the kids are always talking about what kind of dog we'll get. Today, in the car, I asked her what kind of dog she wants. Her reply: "a lower case Maddy". As in lower case letters=small letters so lower case Maddy=smaller version of Maddy. Honestly, what a nut. At least I should be happy she's retaining the stuff I'm teaching her about the alphabet!

I'm pretty sure this one has a future in performing. I first thought it would be ballet, then I thought maybe singing, but now I'm thinking stand-up comic. She sure keeps us on our toes!

Now we only have one week to clean up the apartment and make more travel plans for when Mamaw and Papaw come next Friday! Hopefully, Lainey won't be put out by more of her adoring fans visiting. What a character.

Paradise...otherwise know as Sardinia

Last week, Jason and I went to Sardinia to celebrate our 10-year anniversary (a bit early). My mom and aunt stayed in Zurich with the kids. We had 5 days to ourselves! No work, no cooking, no wild children...peace and quiet!

We chose Sardinia because we wanted somewhere beach-y and relaxing, but mainly because I got a crazy good price for airfare. We both flew there for under $200! We stayed in the Southern part of the island (which is in the Mediterrean Sea, just west of Italy) which is actually part of Italy. Where we stayed in Villasimius, we were closer to Africa than Italy, though! The southern part of Sardinia is said to be "unspoiled" by tourists and basically unknown on tourist radar. The northern coast is a playground for the jet set of Europe, but not many people go to the south, and therefore, hotels are much cheaper (but not cheap) there! In fact, one book we read said that Americans rarely go there because it's so hard to get there from America. Let me tell you, Americans are missing out!

The area we were in was amazing (as you can see from pics below). Blues like I have never seen before. Rocky mountains just hanging over the most amazing sea. Rocks in the water that look like stage props. Best of all, since southern Sardinia isn't a tourist hot-spot, especially so early in the season, we practically had our hotel to ourselves! We stayed at Hotel Stella Maris which is a boutique hotel, only 40 rooms in all. I think that only about 10 rooms were actually occupied until our last night when a wedding came in. It was perfect. It was like having our own AMAZING beach house with staff.

After the first day, the staff knew our names, our room number and what we'd order for breakfast or at the bar! We went half-board so dinner was included each night-and each night was a four-course meal! I think I gained 10lbs in tiramisu alone! But, if I did, it was worth every calorie. I LOVE tiramisu. I could write a whole blog entry on the tiramisu. Seriously. It was that good. Especially the last night when I brought a bowl of it up to the room and ate it in bed while watching Leno. Decadence. Even if the weather had been bad or the hotel wasn't great-it wouldn't have mattered to me. The tiramisu was that good.

Besides gorging on tiramisu, we also ate lots of yummy seafood and pasta. Luckily for our waistlines, we also played a mad match of tennis and took lots of walks on the many miles of beaches. I read 3 (!) books in four days, lazed in my beach chair, souvenir shopped, slept in...that's what I call a vacation! Apparently, Sardinia is good for your health too (tiramisu not included). It's considered one of only 5 "Blue Zones" where life expectancy is exceptionally high and happy. I definitely returned feeling like a million bucks! Dinner at our hotel-yes, that is tiramisu on my plate!

Jason standing on the edge of paradise

Ah...white sand, blue water...

View from my beach chair (from the hotel garden area)

View from our bedroom balcony!!!

Loose Tooth!

Aidan has been asking since he turned 4 when he was going to lose a tooth. At every dentist appt. he asks the dentist "are any loose yet?". Always the answer was "no."

Until today! Aidan came home from school today and said his tooth kind of hurt. He thought maybe it was loose. I checked and sure enough, it is! My baby has his first loose tooth. How exciting for him! I wonder how long it will take for it to fall out...

How much is the going rate for the Tooth Fairy these days anyway????