Trip to France x 2

October was a pretty great month. I was able to take not one, but two trips to France. The first was with my friends Emily, Rachel, and our kids. The kids had a couple of weeks off of school, so we packed up and drove to Juan les Pins, a little beach town in the South of France. It was a fantastic getaway. My kids loved every minute and keep asking when we can go back. We did nothing for three days except relax and lounge on the beach. My kind of vacation!

Danny was addicted to the ocean. The kid seriously could not get enough.

Danny, Maddison, and Siena

Rach has always been a water baby, but this time around she preferred the sand.

The Girls!

Ellie, Rachel, Emeri, Maddison, and Siena

The second trip was to Paris. Matt had a business trip and I decided to tag along. Our friends, Rach and Tony, were kind enough to keep our kids for four days.

It was so much fun to go back to Paris alone with Matt. We have been there once together a couple of years before we moved to Europe. It was nice to have most of the major sight seeing out of the way so we could spend more time relaxing and enjoying the city. I LOVE Paris!

Day One: We visited the Rodin Museum, which is actually in Rodin's home. We were able to see some of his most famous works, The Thinker, Cathedrale, The Kiss, and The Gates of Hell.

Day two & three: Matt had to work and I was on my own. I spent one day shopping on the Champs Elysee. I found some great new jeans at Le Gap:) Now, if I was an American visiting Paris from the States, then yes, this would be pathetic. However, I have lived in another country for the past five years without anything remotely like a Gap, which makes this completely acceptable.

I planned to spend my second day alone exploring the Louvre. I totally missed that opportunity since it happens to be closed on Tuesdays. Fortunately, I had been there before. I decided instead, to get lost in the city. I jumped on the metro and got off at random stops and explored. I spent a couple of hours admiring the Eiffel Tower, visited an amazing bookstore/library, smelled the beautiful flowers at the street markets, and devoured crepes in the Latin quarter. That evening, Matt and I met up and went to our favorite Parisian restaurant, L' Abrach. Their steaks, cheesy and oh so creamy potatoes, and creme brulee were as delicious as we remembered them being 6 years ago.

Day Four: The final day also happened to be Matt's birthday. We slept in and then headed to Angelina's. This cafe is know for their rich pudding like hot chocolate and pastries. It is seriously amazing, but half way through our "meal," Matt and I looked at each other with the same 'I think I might throw up' look on our faces. So good, so rich, and SO worth it!

After seeing the sights, it was time to head to the airport. If it wasn't for the fact that my kids were back in Switzerland, I probably wouldn't have come back. I'm in love with Paris. My wish almost came true when we got stuck in traffic on the way to the airport and almost missed our plane. Fortunately the man working the SwissAir desk took pity on my pathetic pleading self and allowed us to run to the gate. I knew Matt's birthday would be ruined if he had to use his birthday money to buy us two new tickets home since the others were non transferrable. (Ladies, sometimes it pays to whine and complain) And so, relieved, but still quite reluctantly we boarded the plane and departed back to Zurich. I did, however, leave part of my heart (and one of my favorite earrings) in beautiful Paris. Au revoir Paris. Until we meet again...

Corinne!

One of my BEST friends in the whole world, Corinne, came to visit me in June. We've been friends since Junior High, and it was so much fun to have her here!

Fun in Switzerland - Jucker Farm, Lenzerheide, St. Gallen, and Thalwil

We left Matt with babysitting duty and went on a three day getaway to Sardinia, Italy. It was a crazy adventure! Unfortunately, the weather didn't cooperate and getting around town wasn't as easy as we expected. We did manage to spend one warm sunny day lounging on the beach and we ate a lot of great food. The gelato alone was well worth the rain and the crazy man that kept trying to get us to go with him to Egypt. It's a long story.

Sardinia

Love you Corinny. Thanks for coming to visit me!

Rachel Turns 3!

My baby girl turned 3 on June 20th. The poor girl was still recovering from a nasty stomach flu when we celebrated her birthday, but she managed to perk up for cake and presents.

Rachie is an explosive amount of personality crammed into a teeny tiny package. She's feisty, unpredictable, completely lovable, and attracts attention wherever she goes. She makes me rip out a considerable amount of my hair everyday, but she also makes me laugh...a lot!

Love you Rach! Life certainly would boring without YOU!

Bolanders Come to Switzerland

Our dear friends, the Bolanders, came out to visit us in early September. These two allowed Matt and I to live in their house for four months before we moved to Switzerland. They put up with us, all our stuff, our dogs, and probably most difficult, pregnant ME! Then they had to listen to screaming newborn Danny for several weeks. They're great friends, and we're so happy they made it out here to visit us. We crammed in as much as possible before they continued on to Rome.

Hanging out down by the river in Liechtenstein

We had some mean rock skipping competitions that day. Bo totally dominated, though I felt my skills were nothing to be ashamed of:)

We went to Lenzerheide, where you ride up the mountain on this...

...then get in a kart and ride down this

It's about a 7km ride and it's great fun. Well worth the ridiculous amount they charge you to ride.

Taking a moment to enjoy the view from the top.

We also visited Wildhaus, a resort up the mountain behind our house. You can take a tram up the mountain and then rent scooters to ride back down. Check out our very sexy, but only somewhat effective helmets!

We took them to our favorite Fall hangout. I LOVE Jucker Farm this time of year!

And of course, we spent a lovely afternoon in Zurich.

Our final destination together, Lake Como

(Sarah, can you send me your Como pics? I don't have many. I especially want the ones from our seafood dinner:)

Brian and Sarah, we're so happy you came and hope you had as great a time as we did. Let's not wait another five years to see each other again!

Triple Baby Shower

Three of my dear friends here in Switzerland were expecting babies! (Two, Baby Will and Baby Aiden, have already made their debut) My neighbor Emily and I decided to throw a triple baby shower. We're always looking for reasons to get this fantastic group of girls together! For dinner, we served up Cafe Rio sweet pork tacos and salads.

Everything turned out great! Especially considering all the craziness leading up to the big event. Of course, Rach had to come down with the stomach flu that day!

Corinne was in town and was kind enough to spend a day of her European vacation helping me make marshmallow fondant to top off our strawberry cupcakes.

Shortly before the party began, we noticed and unexpected visitor.

Persistent little bugger!

Jenna and Elisa

Alyssa and Roberta

Alyssa was visiting from the States. Switzerland hasn't been the same since she left!

Corinne, Eva, Jess, and Rachel

The whole gang! LOVE these girls!!

(Since the shower, FOUR of these girls have moved away--the worst part about living abroad is frequently saying goodbye to people you love)

Cousin Brant and Sardine come to Switzerland

July 21-August 5, 2009

My parents came to Switzerland! Their names are Brent and RaeDene. Most children call their grandparents Grandma & Grandpa, Nana & Papa, etc... Rachel is not most children. She prefers to call her grandparents Cousin Brant and Sardine. It makes me laugh just typing it!

We had such a great time while they were here! Even though I'm certain my parents would have been perfectly content to sit on our balcony and stare at the view for their entire trip. We did manage to pry them away from their perch for a bit of sightseeing.

We took a short hike to Heidi's house. Yes, even fictional characters have homes.
My husband, the goat trainer

Those goats were mean. Poor danny took a horn to the gut. Fortunately he suffered only a minor flesh wound.

(Click on the collages to enlarge)

August 1st is Swiss National Day. Matt and I had arranged to have breakfast at a local farm. For my parents, I think this was the highlight of their trip! Fresh cows milk, rosti (Swiss style hashbrowns) fresh eggs, homemade breads, jams, pastries, and sausages. It was to die for!

The kids had a blast playing on the farm. Danny couldn't get enough of the tractor obstacle course.

We also took a 3 day excursion to Bern and Interlaken.

I was in charge of finding hotel accommodations for one night in Interlaken. I checked on Trip Advisor and found a reasonably priced and seemingly clean hotel. Funny, neither Trip Advisor nor the hotel's online site mentioned anything about the fact that it was also a home for the elderly and mentally disabled. When we first arrived and walked into the lobby, we were certain we had walked into the wrong place. No such luck. My parents kept the kids in the lobby while Matt and I parked the cars and carried the luggage up to the rooms. After doing so, we met up with my parents and told them we may need to switch rooms because of the awful smell. My Dad then informed us that the smell came from the old man downstairs who just pooped his pants. We figure he saw the 'mess hall' sign and got a bit confused. (Da Dum-Ching) Fortunately, the mess was cleaned up an the smell eventually drifted away. Needless to say, I took a lot of flack for my choice of hotel. I told my parents that if they kept giving me a hard time about it, I would check them in PERMANENTLY! I can't remember the actual name of the hotel, but to us, it shall forever be known as The Poo Palace.

UPDATE: It was the Hotel Artos in Interlaken. After scanning the site a bit more meticulously, I found this in the photo section. I suppose if I would have taken the time to study the blurred figures in the background, I would have noticed that they were all OLD!

We also visited the Trummelbach Falls, Schloss Neuschwanstein, and beautiful Appenzell.

In Appenzell, my Dad bought me and awesome birthday present. A bell almost identical to the one in the picture above. I LOVE it!

Thanks Brant and Sardine! We had a blast. Come again soon!

Buckle up! It's going to be a long ride!!

Okay people, your badgering has paid off. I am fully aware that I am BEYOND way behind. It's not like much happened anyway. Our summer was pretty uneventful. Here's a little run down:

-Corinne came to visit from California and we took a mini vacay to Sardinia, Italy

-Em and I threw a baby shower for three of our preggo friends with a special guest appearance from Alyssa

-Rachel turned 3

-My parents came to visit and we took a three day trip to Interlaken and Bern

-Matt and I celebrated our 7 year wedding anniversary

-I turned the big 2-7

-As of August 24th, both my kids are in pre-school 5 days a week!

-Bo and Sarah came to visit

-Just returned from a 5 day trip to Southern France with two of my friends. Girls and kids only, no husbands

See, pretty much a whole lot of nothin!

I don't have pictures for everything (yet) and I'm sure it won't be in order, but I'm slowly working on getting caught up.

Here are a few random pictures to hold you over...

Mario and Princess Peach in our production of Super Mario Brothers, Old School