Italy

We took off for Italy for a few days with mom and dad. It was fun trying some new food, sunning ourselves like lizards and tasting gelato at every possible opportunity. Much to our surprise, dad managed to find a few bakeries while we looked for espressos and capuccinos. We took the road from the Valais to Domodossola and onto Stresa on the Lago Maggiore. We followed the lake north the next day back into Switzerland and to Locarno, where we took Ralph to the train station for the trip back home and to work the next day. We stayed in Ascona on the northern lake for two more nights and enjoyed the mild weather. On our way back home we encountered snow and numerous accidents which made our trip longer. We were glad to get back to the warm fire and the sunny weather seemed like a dream. It has been snowing ever since and we woke up to a few inches of the white stuff this morning. We managed to construct a snowman but he fell over already so must be melting! Dylan turns 6 today and he is anxiously awaiting present opening time.

Ski Vacation

It was our intention to enjoy a week of snow and sunshine, good company and beautiful scenery. All of these things actually happened and we found ourselves once again in love with Austria. The boys did well on their skiis and I even got on skiis for the first time in several years. I even enjoyed myself and felt only slightly disgusted when my five and seven year olds whizzed by me on the slopes, looking for jumps while I searched for the easiest possible way to make it to the bottom. I found that I enjoy the scenery just as much as I enjoy the feeling of swishing down the slope and I informed them that I would likely never be an excellent skiier but I would endeavor to join in the fun and become more instead of less active. It was a great week. We shared an apartment with a family from Germany and had some good laughs in the evenings with sharing stories, foot massages and children's charades, among other games. Valentine's Day was during our stay there and the four of us managed to go out to a peaceful wonderful dinner while the other family's daughter Melanie looked after all of the kids. Hooray for people who started having their kids before we did and now provide babysitters!

Sunday lunch company

Kim, Kaioa, Zoé and Daniel came over for lunch today. It was fun to spend the afternoon with them and the kids disappeared and we didn't see them until it was time to eat again. The adults sat around and chatted and planned bathrooms.

Terrible (-ly cute that is) Two

Let the fun continue! This weekend, the rest of the remaining bathroom was removed by a team of very enthusiastic and experienced destruction workers. They hammered, hammered, sneezed out dust and didn't take a break until the toilet, bathtub and sink lay outside on the grass. The aforementioned pieces are now at the dump and we are almost ready for the plumber and his minions to come by and assess the progress.

Weekend in Leukerbad

Our weekend away felt like longer..it was great to see the kids when we got back but I promised myself that I would make a greater effort this year to just arrange child care, announce to my husband that he is being abducted, and take off. It is good for us to be together without being 'mom and dad' and the kids had fun at Nani's too. Liam was sick when we got back and his stomach is still not quite back to normal but he is eating and drinking again. It has been a busy morning; Hannes took off on the bus for a week of school ski camp and the plumber came by and turned off all of the water to the bathroom so we are ready to demolish. He talks very fast and I had to explain to him this morning that french is not my mother tongue and could he please slow down a little bit. So now he is talking louder and enunciating, that sure helps. No, it is not my hearing sir. We need to decide on a toilet, sink (s) faucets and tile. Marie Helen arrives from Germany tonight and she has no idea that I have all these plans for her....which mostly involve child care while I go out and look for the above mentioned items in peace.

The big boy bed

While going through Liam's room today, I decided that it was time to break the bulky crib down into a toddler bed. I waited until the boys came home for lunch and then we tackled it together. They love to do things like that and they were good help. So now Liam has a broken bed as he calls it and is trying out his first nap in it. He was all tucked in and seemed very happy about it all so we will see. As you can see, he really is no longer a baby. He loves to pretend like he is a baby every once in awhile but most of the time he is trying to keep up with the bigger boys.