Chocolate...and something that looks like chocolate.

Last Saturday was awesome. We visited a Swiss chocolate factory where we took a tour and sampled the chocolate. The kids were excited and well behaved, and I repeat, we were able to sample the chocolate. Success all around! Afterwards we visited Gruyere, which will always be one of my favorite Swiss villages.

The hour and a half drive home is where it got not-so-awesome.

Things went smoothly for about 45 minutes, and then Sam started complaining that he had to go "number 2". Minutes later we hit traffic, and two minutes after that we were at a standstill. At this point Sam was crying and getting borderline hysterical. Since we were completely stopped, with not an exit in sight, we told Sam to just go in his pants. He was horrified, and started to scream in pain. With no other options left, Andrew pulled over and had Sam go on the side of the road- right in front of all the other motorist. I would like to say that there was a tree or something to shield my child, but no, he was right out in the open. More appalling was the "gift" he left on the side of the road. At least we no longer have U.S. license plates. The remainder of the trip was equally eventful, and without going into too much detail, I will just say that it involved a reststop port-a-potty, more "number 2", a dry heaving mommy, and a child who had to ride home wearing nothing but a blanket. Good times.

The Callier Chocolate Factory

Sam and Afton sniffing some cocoa beans.



Mmmmm.....chocolate.

Gruyere

All last week we had temperatures in the 60's. After the freezing temps we were previously having, this has been a blessed relief. Last Friday the kids (who were off from school for a week) and I joined Andrew in Basel for lunch along the river. Is it too much to hope that winter is over???

Luke Turns 6

When I think about the names of my kids, I feel like I nailed it on the head with Luke. He is a passionate child whose name can be sweetly, playfully or sternly pronounced. It is also the perfect name to cry out in exasperation ("Luuuuuuuuuuke!").

Luke is still by far the most affectionate of our kids, and I don't see that ever changing. However, with that affection comes a sensitivity which easily leads to hurt feelings. When upset he can often be heard spouting threats such as, "I'm not going to be your best friend anymore!"or "I'm not going to be your son anymore!" Luckily for us, these threats usually lack luster and Luke is always eager to resume his best friend/son status.

As far as best friends go, Luke considers Sam to be his, and is fiercely loyal to his big brother. A couple of weeks ago there was a minor scuffle between one of Sam's friends and an older boy on the school playground. Sam jumped between the two to try and break it up, and in the process got pushed. Luke, who was standing nearby, jumped in to defend Sam. For some reason I find the notion of Luke defending his big brother oddly sweet, and were I to put my money on any of those school kids in a fight, it would be Luke. He is one tough cookie.

It has been such a pleasure to watch Luke grow and develop over the last six years. He is one of a kind with a heart much larger than his years. Lucky for me- at least for the time being- his heart belongs to me.

Potty Training Woes

Did you know that training toilets have many other uses besides being peed in???

For example, they make great helmets-



and great castles.

So far I have bought Afton two training toilets, and not once has used them for their intended purpose. As you can see from the pictures above, she uses them for many different (and often disturbing) things, but not as a potty. When I first introduced them to her our conversation went something like this:

Me: Afton, you need to pee in this potty.
Afton: No! It will get dirty.
Me: That's ok, I will clean it.
Afton: No! It is pink!
Me: It's ok, just use it.
Afton: Um, how about I use it with my diaper on?

I have a feeling that this is going to be a long process...

Sam's Baptism

Sam was baptized a few weeks back, and I feel like it was a huge milestone for us. I cannot believe I have a child old enough to be baptized. How is time going by so fast? It is fun and all, but it can be too fast, and sometimes I feel like I have to stop and catch my breath.

For me the day was a little bittersweet- which I was not anticipating. I was so incredibly proud of Sam, but a part of me was sad that we didn't have any family to share the day with. I think that was the first time I've felt any real homesickness while living here. If we were back in Maryland, Sam would have been baptized with his cousin Peter, and there would be a ton of family to celebrate with. Here, we didn't know if we'd have more than 3 people coming- especially since the baptism service was in English. However, I was so happy to see a handful of families and people there supporting Sam. I actually teared up a bit...man I am getting sensitive with age. Again, I can't fully express the gratitude we feel for the members here who have made us feel like we have an extended family.

It was a special day, and most importantly, a day I think Sam will remember. Once he got over his initial nerves ("Gee I"m scared!") he was thrilled to be in the spotlight- especially when he discovered that here in Switzerland people bring presents to a baptism. More lego, yea!

After Sam was baptized we had people write their testimonies on these cards. I love what everyone wrote! I think the German ones are great, and Luke's (the middle drawing) was so sweet. He really looks up to his big brother.

Below is a pic from Sam's family party and a poster from his German class. For some reason I always think Sammy isn't learning any German, but then he'll surprise me by translating a sign on the road or something. Sam is continuing to love school. This year he has a teacher from England, so he is starting to use words such as "rubbish", "snow trousers", and "keen". Pretty funny.

Baby It's Cold Outside

Europe is going through a cold spell, and I can attest that it is freezing here. I'm looking forward to warmer days filled with walks in the park, but until then, we just have to content ourselves with winter activities. As a matter of fact, Andrew is currently sledding with the 3 oldest.

A couple of weeks ago Afton and I joined friends at the Basel zoo to see the penguins go for a walk- which they do daily during the winter. It was one of the coolest things I've seen!

We've also had a little snow which the kids are thoroughly enjoying. The cool thing is that unless it is really icy, the boys still have outdoor recess at school. That means that each day they truck to school in their and snow gear. They love it.

While we have been "enjoying" the freezing weather, Andrew was able to go to Sydney for work. Somehow he squeezed in a ton of touristy stuff- including touring the Opera House, going on a harbor cruise, and renting a long board to go surfing (luckily he was not attacked by a shark, that happened the day after he went to the beach). After seeing Andrew's pictures though, I'm not so sure there even was a meeting. He loved it there.

Passport Photo Blunders

We finally have a passport for Clara, and let me tell you, getting her passport picture was no easy task. We were warned off from the photo booth machines and told by the embassy to go to a photographer. Great, except that the photographer I called wouldn't take Clara's picture unless she was sitting up on her own. Ummm, she is 2 months old. The next option was for me to take a picture myself and have the photographer print it off for us. All for the steal-of-a-deal of 40 Swiss Francs! We did this, but only after having about 10 pictures rejected. It's not fun photographing a baby to look straight forward with her mouth closed and hands down. The picture below is as close as we got.

While sorting out Clara's papers I stumbled across some of our other passport pictures. We've had about a billion taken for different things here, and these were just too awful not to share.

Did I ever post about the wild night out Andrew had in Basel? I have the mug shot below as my proof.


Andrew's second attempt is still a little ghetto gangster, but at least he doesn't look like he has been partying all night long.



The passport photo booths are not easy to use with kids! You have to plop your child in the seat and hope they don't turn out looking like the picture of Luke below. For some reason the Swiss residency office wouldn't accept it. That was 8 francs down the drain.



I by far am the worst photo taker of the bunch. The photo on the left below is on my residency card here, and the photo on the right is my Swiss drivers license. I don't even know what to say about these except "gag".

I saved the best for last though. This is my ID card for Andrew's work. I look like a straight up alien. And a boy alien at that. I have no idea what I was thinking at the time, or better yet, what face I was trying to make. If you are left asking yourself if I have any shame after posting these, the answer is no, no I do not. As I've said before, it left the moment my kids were born.

For the grandparents...

...who I am dying to share this baby with.