Summer in Switzerland

Ali smelling the roses

Wow - it is almost worth enduring a miserable winter to be rewarded with weeks of gorgeous summer weather.  It reminds me of Florida in October (my favorite month of the year)  - bright sunny skies (for the most part) and temperatures in the 70's and low 80's.  In addition, everything is in bloom.  I am not sure what the Swiss feed their flowers but they are spectacular.  The smallest rose bushes have hundreds of beautiful blooms and I am not exaggerating.  And much to Erik's happiness the strawberries and cherries are in season and are delicious.  There are also all kinds of festivals and events going on every weekend. Switzerland in the summer = not so bad.

Sorry for my long delay in updating the blog but I have been a bit busy juggling our expanded household.  It is hard to believe Miles is already 6 weeks old now.  As we enter week seven of life with our latest addition, I think I am starting to get the hang of it a bit.  I feel a bit more relaxed (albeit sleep deprived) and we are starting to get out a bit more (although never before noon most days). I wouldn't go so far as to say it is getting easier as it is still very challenging.  It is just I am much more calm with Baby #2, I'm not worried about feedings or a schedule or if I should keep him away from other people for however long I did with Alison.  So in that sense it is 'easier', but juggling two little ones is definitely not for the faint at heart.  It is exhausting and challenging all on its own.

Ali and Miles

So what have we been up to and what is life been like with our newest addition?  Well in a nutshell it has been pretty good.  Miles is doing really well, growing like a weed and just being a very cool laid back baby.  He is different from Alison in many ways and in some ways they are so similar. Miles is a bit of a momma's boy - he really likes to be held and fall asleep on my chest.  He puts up a bit of fight going to sleep in the evening just like Alison did at that age.

Alison continues to adore her little brother.  She asks for him all the time and loves to give him kisses and hold him.  Several times a day we catch her in our room when Miles is sleeping squealing at him, trying to wake him up.  It is funny when friends ask her how her little brother is doing she says "sleeping" and tilts her head to the side.  He does sleep quite a bit, he is a newborn and he was born a few weeks too early.  So he has some catching up to do.  Alison's vocabulary and funny antics are a daily reminder of what life with a toddler is like. 

My mom continues to be a vital part of our family unit at the moment.  She is mostly in charge of entertaining Alison while I am nursing, tending to Miles or cooking dinner.  She loves that part of her job.  She also is very good at doing the dishes, which we generate quite a bit of around here seeing as we hardly ever eat out and convenience foods aren't all that popular here.  The great thing about my mom besides her just being here and being super helpful is that we tend to think alike when it comes to domestic chores and tidiness.  We both like things to be put away and organized - I call it 'hamstering'.  We try to find the most efficient use of space and resources and tend to get rid of things we don't need or use.  So it's been great having her around to help tend to my domestic neuroses needs.  I am afraid when she leaves though, the flat will fall in a bit of disrepair and Erik and I will be up even later each night doing the large pile of dishes and laundry that will have accumulated.  Seriously though I can't thank my mom enough for all she has done for us the last few weeks.  Erik and I even got to go out on a date Friday night, as well as a walk one evening after the kiddos were in bed.

Playground at Murimoos

Looking back over the past several weeks I feel like I haven't left the flat that much but when I looked back at our pictures I would say we've ventured out a fair amount. One of our first family outings was to Murimoos which is this incredible working farm close to where we live.  It is so amazing, they have tons of animals that the kids can get up close to, a stork sanctuary, the most awesome playground, in addition to a nice cafe and grounds are super pretty. It also has a market where you can buy organic meat and produce.  And it is free to just go and walk around a bit.  

Meiringen

One Sunday shortly after Miles was home, Erik, Alison and my mom went to Meiringen which is really just a beautiful part of Switzerland.  I stayed home with Miles and enjoyed some quite time to myself.  I am pretty sure we will be going back there though as the pictures were just incredible.

Lenzburg pool

Now that the weather has warmed up, all the local pools are open.  And these are not your normal run of the mill community pools, these are mini theme parks.  The community pools here are amazing.  There is usually one in each town and they have multiple pools, some indoor, some outdoor, all with a separate children's pool complete with slides and cool fountains, as well as playgrounds and a cafe. We first met our friends Rachel and Oliver at the Brugg pool, where we had a nice lunch and let the kids splash around in the kiddy pool.  Then Mom and I took Ali and Miles to the Lenzburg pool.  It is much bigger and had a few more amenities including a sandpit and trampoline that Alison loved.  The downside is that the kiddie pool is a bit deeper. So I ended up chasing Alison around quite a bit (while wearing Miles) and got myself quite wet.  

My mom has been nice enough to watch Miles on several occasions so I could spend some one on one time with Alison.  I have taken her to playgroup on Monday mornings as well as one of the Holcim coffee hours.  We had a playdate with a new Holcim family who just moved here from South Africa and have a two year old that Alison enjoyed playing with.  We've also had weekly outings with Rachel and Oliver including a botched attempt to check out the Toys R Us close to Zurich. Lesson learned don't go to a toy store with two children under two thinking you can get any real shopping done.

Rhine Falls with sleepy Alison

One weekend, the entire family piled into our awesome car and travelled to see Rhine Falls in Schauffhausen. We had a lovely day except for the horrible Zurich traffic jam on the way home.  Yes they have traffic jams here in Switzerland.  It gets pretty bad as there are fewer roads and lots of tunnels so if there is an accident in the tunnel you are hosed.

Mom went off to Mainau in Germany one weekend on her own.  We would love to go but since we don't have a passport for Miles yet and I messed up the paperwork in the hospital (long story), it is going to be a while before we can leave the country.  For now we shall enjoy all that Switzerland has to offer.  

Me, Mom and Miles in front of Lion of Lucerne

We met our friends Rachel, Oliver and her husband in Lucerne last weekend and just enjoyed a lovely day walking around the lake, seeing the old town and covered bridges.  Unfortunately the one camera we brought with us died shortly after this picture was taken so not much documentation of that trip.



We've had a few social engagements that turned out super nice. We had dinner at our friends Sonja and Alberts new home in Berrikon.  They were our super nice neighbors who lived upstairs from us until mid May when they moved into their new home a few towns away.  They also had a baby girl in early June shortly after Miles was born.  The kids (Noah and Alison) had so much fun running around the yard and playing together - we ended up not leaving their house until almost 10pm. We also had brunch at the Birrfeld airfield with a coworker of Erik's and his wife who also just had a baby boy Thomas a few weeks after us.  We were so lucky as both babies slept the entire time. Alison really enjoyed the playground and loved to see the the airplanes take off and land up close. We had a nice BBQ with a couple of Erik's co-workers that live here in Lenzburg.  The company that Erik works for threw a huge and I mean huge Centennial bash.  So Erik and I got to go out on a fancy date last Friday night.  We stayed out until 1 in the morning and were like zombies the next day but it was so worth it.  Mom had the daunting task of caring for the two little ones on her own, something I have yet to do but will be experiencing the next few days.  She did great. Mom has been so good we are giving her a few days off to visit a friend of hers in Holland.  I am thinking I won't be leaving the house those days but you never know.

That about wraps it up from here for now.  Erik has started to travel a little bit for work.  He went to Slovakia a few weeks back and has plans for some time in Germany and Indonesia in the future.  We are hoping for a US trip this year but may have to wait until early next year.  We miss everyone very much and would love to hear from you all.

Miles being cute

Ali and Daddy zip lining at playground

Miles questioning whether he chose the right family

 

What is wrong with this picture

Hamming it up

Being a ham

Enjoying some finger painting

Her favorite place to see what's happening in the kitchen

Grammy and Ali enjoying the flowers

Me and my Mom at Rhine Falls

Our first outing to Murimoos

Ali about to eat her little brother

Picture perfect Switzerland

Ali and Grammy at the Brugg pool

The Tour de Suisse came through our town

Ali and Clara 

Ali at the Lenzburg pool

Ali riding her trike

Ali picked this spot to eat her snack

Ali loves the Swiss playgrounds 

Thermal baths (the Swiss know how to relax)

Erik at the Holcim Centennial party

Ali feeding her baby (like mommy).

Ali the artist