I'm moving in to school

Do not expect any posts from me for a while. I'm moving into the school for the weekend. I'm finishing up my Halloween goody baking today. Yesterday included making chocolate-dipped eyeball cookies, candy corn cookies, and chocolate chip cookies. Today's assignment is skeleton cupcakes, and possibly chocolate pumpkins. (Sadly the orange Halloween shaped finger Jello won't be making it to school. I ate it. Too bad, they'll make do.)

At 2pm, I'm due to bake in Aidan's class, fruit muffins, I think. Then tomorrow I'm carving a giant pumpkin at 9am with Lainey's class then going back to school at 1 to carve 6 pumpkins with Aidan's class. Then, Friday is party day. 10:30am-Lainey's Halloween Performance and Parade followed by an in class apero. You have to love a school that promotes parents bringing Prosecco to a mid-morning class party (for the adults to drink of course!). Then 1:30pm is Aidan's party. In between parties, I'll be decorating the main hall for the haunted house that will be later that evening. After Aidan's party I'll head back to decorate for the night's festivities, (thankully Lainey has a playdate that afternoon who will even take her to her swim lesson). Then around 4:30 I have to get both kids and jaunt home to dress in full costume and return to school by 5:30 where Jason will meet us for Trunk or Treating. By 9pm we should be able to leave the place.

Oh, and on Saturday we have 2 other Halloween parties.

I can't believe when we moved here that I didn't bring many costumes and/or decorations for holidays. I really didn't think we'd have a social life here. I couldn't have been any wronger!

A Shady Character?

Jason went back to the US this weekend for our friend Sean's wedding in Georgia. He just went for 2 nights (it was supposed to be 3 but thanks to Delta canceling his orignal flight he got screwed out of a night), but was able to meet up with his family and MOST importantly do some shopping!

I'm surprised the Swiss officials let him back in the country. He must have looked a bit shady. He left on Friday with one half-full suitcase and returned at 6:30 Monday morning lugging 2 50lb suitcases and a 20lb. carry on! That's a lot of luggage for 2 nights, right? Luckily, he cruised through and we got our "supplies"!

Even if it was a short trip, spending the money on the plane ticket paid off in our supplies alone, I'm sure. I know we saved a ton of money ordering things online and shopping at Target rather than paying Swiss prices.

I miss shopping in the US. Shopping in Switzerland is depressing. I heart Target, Macy's, and Gap. I do NOT heart Migros and Coop.

Smarty Pants

Should I be a bit scared that my six-year-old child beat me at a game that is meant for people ages 7 and up? Seriously, I did not "let" him win. He smoked me at a game similar to Scattergories where we had to come up with a word that starts with a certain letter and fits a category. My personal favorite of the night: the letter is M and the category is "something smelly"...my smarty pants child spits out immediately: "Mommy", then burst in to laughter. This kid is something else!!

It's London Baby!

In the immortal words of Joey Tribbiani, "It's London Baby!"

The kids and I spent 5 days in London seeing the sights, touring the country and visiting our good friends the O'Briens (whom we met here in Zurich, but are originally from Australia). Poor Jason had to work, even on Saturday and Sunday. Good thing Aidan, Lainey and I are around to spend the money he works so hard to make :).

Anyway...it took us nearly forever to get there, based on poor planning on my part. I occasionally need to look carefully at a "good deal" before I leap into it. I only paid 115 francs for all of us to fly to London, but didn't take into consideration where the airports were from where I wanted to go. So our cheap 1 1/2 hour flight, really involved 8 hours of travel time on 2 buses, 4 trains, and 2 London tube trains. Getting here and there was not a highlight of the trip, especially when it was just me and both kids and luggage.

But, when we finally arrived at the O'Briens we were met with a birthday cake for Lainey and 2 super excited kids (other than the ones I brought with me!). Aidan and Lainey were so excited to see James and Lucy again! They were all over each other and were super excited when they realized they were going to have their first sleepover all together! Lucy and Lainey (which Megan and I realized turns into "Looney" when you try to say both names together fast, which is very appropriate I might add) slept in one room and Aidan and James slept in another. They were so cute. We listened in a bit to their pre-sleep chats. Such sweeties! I slept in the "box room". Most English house have box rooms, which is what they call their 4th bedroom because it is basically the size of a box. A twin bed barely fit in the room, and even then you can't open the door the full way!

The first morning we were in England Megan and I rented a mini-van and drove 4 giggly kids to every little boy's mecca: Thomas Land! Thomas Land is like Camp Snoopy at Cedar Point...a little kid park inside a theme park. Thomas Land was great, the rest of the park, not so much. But we came to see Thomas and we did! And all his friends, too! The kids had an absolute blast and there were no lines since English kids weren't on holiday (James and Lucy skipped school to be with us!) Entering Mecca

Driving Terrence the Tractor

Riding on a Diesel (I think)

The one safe looking ride in the rest of the park...Lainey is such a ham!

Thomas, we love you!

After the park we went to dinner at a place like Red Robin or Fridays. Loud, packed with kids, good basic food. The kids were going feral on us by then, but we didn't care, so were all the other kids there! The best part of this place for me is that I could drink water with ice and lemon, all that I wanted, and it was free! Unless you've been to Europe, you have no idea what a luxury that is! Here's a picture of one of my 4 glasses:

The next morning we set off for Warwick Castle. Jason went here when he was in England with his mom when he was 10! It is such a cool castle, complete with sword fighting shows, a princess tower, and spooky dungeons (one of which was set up as a haunted house!) We had a great time.

Inside the walls of Warwick Castle

I love this picture of Aidan trying to pull the sword from the stone! So determined!

Lainey with her princess crown and wand souvenirs

4 crazy kids in the back of a mini-van. (and the reason I stopped at 2 kids!)

On Sunday, we spent a day playing back at the O'Briens then took a drive into the country, dahling, to Surrey where were ate lunch ate a proper pub. Fish and chips! Yummy! And, Aidan was feeling really adventurous and even tried broccoli! Amazing!

Then on Monday, our last full day there, I took the kids into London all.by.myself. Never. again.

London is WAY bigger than I remember and things are far apart! I dragged those munchkins from one side to the other! Overall, they were good, but a stroller and the London Underground do not really mix. We saw all the major sites, took lots of pics, and even managed some retail therapy for mom and kids. I think my kids are getting jaded though, with so much travelling. Not much impresses them any more. Buckingham Palace was "boring" according to them. But they did like the Tower of London. Lainey wanted to see the "jewelry story" otherwise known as the Crown Jewels display. (I really hope she finds a rich husband!)

(On a side note, I absolutely LOVE British grocery stores...America can take a pointer or two from M&S, Sainsbury, and even Tesco! Convenience food at it's healthiest best!)

Aidan and Big Ben

Getting on the tube..."mind the gap!"

The Tower of London, hanging out with a knight

We had to say good-bye on Tuesday. We'd had a great time with great friends and hope they will come visit us soon!

Here are our twins, Lainey and Lucy BFFs! Megan and I dressed the girls in the same shirt without realizing it! Gotta love the Gap!

James and Aidan, BFFs

Lainey's Other Party

Ugh, I've got the pics backward again! Here's some pics from Lainey's family party (in reverse)
Lainey and her friend Teddy enjoying a bit of dinner at the cool new table and chairs from the Mandle, Datema, and Perecki clans! Thank you!!!

Lainey with all her cool gifts! Clothes and make up doll from Mommy and Daddy, Playmobil sets from Mamaw and Papaw, leather jacket and Hello Kitty stuff from Pattone.

And the piece de resistance...her Belle costume from Pattone. Guess what Lainey is wearing for Halloween! Hmmm...wonder what this will look like with long johns and snow boots considering the weather lately?

Happy Birthday, Little Cupcake!

All ready to eat on her birthday plate

Delainey's Birthday Party

This year I had Lainey's birthday at Gymboree. I just couldn't handle another party at home. Our place is just too small and the weather is too iffy to plan on an outside party. But, the major problem with having a birthday party in Zurich is the cost. I called multiple places and was astonished by how much places want to charge! Most places quoted me over 300 francs for 2 hours and less than 10 kids without cake or food! INSANE. So, I called Gymboree.

I kind of knew they might cut me a deal since Lainey went there for sort-of preschool last year and they loved her. Plus, they have lost business since her school now offers the full day option (Last year, parents used Gymbo for after-half-day-care). Gymboree here usually charges, get ready for this, seriously, take a seat....600 francs for a birthday party!!!! Unbelieveable. But, I wheeled and dealed and got it for much less. That being said, I still had to provide the cake and snacks and such, and still ended up paying more than I paid for Aidan's Jungle Java party before we moved (a party that included cake and lunch!). But, Lainey got to invite her whole preschool class and a few siblings. We had around 20 kids there. It was a great time. Lainey loved playing there and adored her cake. I loved that I was able to walk away from the crazy mess that was left behind by 20 preschoolers. I simply packed up her new toys, paid my bill and walked out. In summary, I'll use the model of the Mastercard commercials:

Gymboree birthday party = over 200 chf

Cake= 3 boxed mixes and 6 hours of my time

No stressful planning and running of activities, no set up, and no clean up= Priceless

Lainey and Gymbo

Birthday cake time!

Make a wish

Lainey and her friend Kate

Dress up fun at Gymboree

Lainey and her friends from school

playing at Gymbo

Celebrating her birthday (and Diwali) at school

My masterpiece

Lainey was so happy with her Tinkerbell castle cake

Mt. Pilatus

This weekend was a beautiful one! We had sunny warmish weather and after our Spartans beat Michigan on Saturday, we decided to spend Sunday outdoors celebrating!

Jason has been to Mt. Pilatus in Luzern twice: once with his parents, and once when he climbed it with friends. The kids and I hadn't been yet, so we decided to check it out. It is beautiful, no doubt about it. We drove to Kriens, just a bit above Luzern and parked there, then took the gondola up to the middle station to have a little fun! If you're interested in a hike, take your pick of directions!

Half way up the mountain is the world's longest summer toboggan run! We each put a kid on our lap and rode down the mountain on a sled with wheels. It was such fun! At the bottom of the ride, you are hooked up to a cable that drags you back up, so you don't even have to hike it! Fantastic. The above picture is Aidan and Jason at the end of their run and below is a shot of the toboggan run. The curved part is down and the straight part is where they drag you up. The kids wanted to do it again, but we had more of the mountain to conquer!

We took a cable car the rest of the way up, to Pilatus Kulm. Here we had lunch and walked around a bit. It was really cold at the top and the kids weren't up for hiking much. I had really wanted to go to this cool church that literally hangs off the edge of the mountain (see the first picture, sorry it's out of order!), but instead we checked out the warm gift shop. Bummer.

Here's Aidan at the summit, where we ate our bratwurst in the wind.

Here's Lainey with a HUGE Alphorn and a model of the cogwheel train

This is as far as we got into our hike before the kids were complaining they were cold. It's going to be a long winter, and these kids are dying to go skiing??

After our mini-hike and visit to the gift shop we rode a gondola down to the first stop where they have a huge playground. We let the kids play for a while before heading home.

Here is the playground with the gondolas over head and the mountain off in the distance is Pilatus. We were at the very peak of it, just minutes before I took this pic!

It was a swinging good time!