Baden

Here is the conversation I had with Sam and Luke last Friday night during dinner:

Me, "Hey boys! What do you guys want to do tomorrow?"

Sam thinks for a moment, and then replies, "How about we find a new cathedral and tour it!!"

(At this point I'm staring at him, thinking how desperately we need to cut back on this cultural business and get that 7 year old enrolled in a sport.)

While I'm thinking the above, Sam continues, "But I think we should go to Germany, and not France. The Germans are much nicer than the French."

(I then realize that I really need to start keeping my opinions to myself.)

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We settled by spending the bulk of our Saturday touring Baden- a little Swiss town about an hour away. It was beautiful (a cathedral was even briefly toured), but the highlight had to be the playground we encountered. Oh. My. Gosh. Watching our kids play, Andrew and I felt like our childhoods had been cheated. Set on a tree filled hill, beneath a huge bridge, this was a playground unlike any we had ever seen. My pictures do not even begin to do this place justice. In fact, it was so cool that I think we may just start touring the Swiss playgrounds from here on out.

And now... THE playground. What strikes us most about these playgrounds is that they are filled with things that you would NEVER find in a US playground- all because we would be too afraid that a child would get hurt. The Swiss really allow their children to explore and figure things out on their own. Also, I'm drawn to their simplicity and use of natural materials. Again, these pictures do not do adequately capture this place- it was enormous!

Afton coming out an underground fort and passage way. Behind her underneath one of the bridge's aqueducts was a soccer field. The other aqueducts contained a ball maze and chimes the children could play.

Oh to be a kid again...

This and That

As per the request of my sister, here is a video of Sam ice skating/ice running for the first time. He was VERY proud of himself. (Everyone except family may feel free to skip over this video.) Warning: now that I have figured out how to download videos on here, you all may be in for many, many more.



I also thought I would post some more pictures from Andrew's work trips over the last few months. Our extra camera is nowhere to be found so these were taken on his phone- surprisingly these pictures aren't bad.

Rome

Andrew's described Rome as an amazing "sensory overload". He also is convinced that were we to bring our children there, they would get run over by a vespa. Therefore, Hinsdale sisters, I am counting on crashing your trip to Rome!

Paris
Andrew had only a few hours to tour Paris, and in those hours he walked from the Louvre, to Notre Dame, Arc De Triomphe, and the Eiffle Tower. I've never been to Paris, but my impression is that that is a lot of walking.

Amsterdam
Enjoying a canal tour- the "Red Light District" was avoided.

And lastly, Andrew has always wanted to visit Norway- just not in January where the sun goes down at 3:30 in the afternoon.

Luke's Swiss Birthday

At Luke's Swiss kindergarten when a boy or girl has a birthday, that child does not go to school in the morning. Instead, all of the other kids meet at the school (as they normally would), and then they walk to the house of the birthday child. The class stands outside of the house, sings "Happy Birthday" and then the child with the birthday gets to ride back to school in a wagon pulled by his or her classmates. This child also has to bring muffins (no cupcakes- healthy food only!) to share with the class.

Well, today is Luke's 5th birthday, and can I just say that I am in love with this tradition? (Not so much the muffin part, but whatever.) Luke was so excited for this to happen, and although he was a little shy, I could tell he was loving every minute of it. The class sang "Happy Birthday" to Luke twice (once in English and once in German) and then they walked the 5 blocks back to school with Luke in tow. In the pictures below you can also see Luke's teacher, "Frau Taksaui"- whose name I ask Luke to say daily, because I think it sounds so cute when he says it.

The yellow motorcycle in the picture below is what the mailmen use here. There is a little wagon attached to the back which holds all of the mail. I've been trying to get a picture of it for months- so here you go...kind of!

Now, can I just take a "mom moment" and say how proud I am of Luke? We threw him into a school which is completely foreign to him, and he has handled it so incredibly well. I know they say that children are adaptable, but I've seen the effort Luke has put into getting adjusted here. He's now to the point where he loves school, has some good friends there, and looks forward to going everyday.

And lastly, some pictures of Luke's party which we had on Saturday with a few of his friends from school and church (I was too afraid to invite any kids from school who I wouldn't be able to communicate with- obviously I'm not as brave as Luke).

Europe: Behind the Scenes

Recently, after looking at this blog, my sister-in-law asked me if our children ever misbehave while sightseeing.

Ha! ha, ha, ha.

With our 3 kids, chances are that someone is either whining or crying (and no, I'm not just referring to those 7 and under). Managing those rascals during our travels is exhausting, and If I am able to take in 40% of what is around me, I count that as a success. I snap pictures like crazy, so that when we get home (and after the kids are in bed), Andrew and I can go through the pictures to fully appreciate what we were able to see... or not see.

So, in the interest of full disclosure, I would like to set the record straight on this unintentional, "perfectly-well-behaved-child" deception.

Below Left: Sam is actually a pretty good sport- unless he is hungry or has to use the bathroom. At that point, all reason goes out of the window with him.
Below Right: You'll notice that Andrew carries Afton in a backpack a lot. What you don't see are pictures of her screaming in his ear like the one below.

Luke uses a different tactic to express his anger or frustration in public: he throws himself on the ground in fetal position and refuses to move. I try to be discreet when I kick him to get up.

The picture below was taken in Neuschwanstein castle. We were prohibited from taking pictures inside, but since I had to leave the tour due to Luke's tantrum, I figured I might as well get something out of it.

While in Munich my friend Merry and I decided to take our kids to an art museum while our husbands went on a "Third Reich Tour". Our kids wrestled the whole time (see below- Afton is tackling Truman), while Merry and I did our best to view the art. As soon as I laid eyes on one of the most exquisite pieces in art history (Albrecht Durer's Self Portrait), Afton started screaming at the top of her lungs. I was left with 30 seconds to view the painting, and then forced to run out of the museum still drooling over it. It still breaks my heart to think about.

We also give our children "timeouts" a lot while in public. (Below is Sam, Luke and Truman getting a timeout in France.)

These pictures were taken 3 seconds apart. Is it so much to ask to have everyone looking at me at once? Why yes, yes it is. And might I add that the only reason Andrew is smiling in the last shot is because a group of people were watching me take this picture- he had to put on a good face.

And one last picture to leave you with...Luke, assuming the position.

Sam turns 7

I recently noticed that Sam skips a lot. He skips while going to school, he skips going to the tram, he skips when we tour different cities, and he really skips in the mall when he gets to go to the toy store. After observing him for a bit I realized that Sam skips when he is happy.

It is the best feeling seeing Sam so happy and content. We've seen a lot of growth from him during this past year, and we're really proud of how much he has embraced our move and new life here. Switzerland seems to have brought out a more confident and adventurous side of Sam. He revels in our explorations, has a running tab of the countries he's visited, and he loves those European castles. As for me, I love Sam's dimpled little grin.

For Sam's birthday we had a party at our house with the boys from his school class (the kids were well enough to have it on the date originally planned). It was the typical birthday fare with games and cake, and everyone seemed to have good time. The funniest part was that 8 of the 9 boys gave Sam lego...I assume he talks about his lego obsession at school a lot. He was in heaven. I also loved hearing all of those little boys saying, "Samuel! Samuel!" in their different little accents. Too cute.

What a lucky family we are to have been given such a wonderful little boy.