Around Here Lately...

The great autumn parent visit is upon us and we are so happy. My parents flew in from California a few weeks ago and now Kevin's parents are here for a visit. PARTY PARTY PARTY!

We took my parents to the Olympic museum, which I will never get tired of.   That museum is so inspirational. If you're in town I'll be happy to tour you around this place!

Everyone has been taking full advantage of the beautiful fall weather we've had by being outside as much as possible. 

As always, my mom did what she does best while they were here and stocked up our pantry for the next six months. Thanks mom!

 Kevin and Quinn have been doing weekly baking on Sundays, and Anna and I have been reaping all the benefits.

I think I say it in almost every post, but park today, all day long! Anna sings this every chance she gets.

 The kids have been getting creative with the household items…and I'm happy to say that I finally looked up the Swiss emergency numbers.

 I ran a 10k on Sunday and didn't die, so that's a win. It was part of the Lausanne marathon and it was a really great time. I plan to do it again next year.

 Although we miss Vermont in the fall, we've been doing our best to take advantage of fall in this beautiful city. The kids have been collecting leaves like crazy, and I've been finding their treasures scattered throughout the house in the strangest places.

Does it get any better than falling asleep while eating chocolate bread? Nope!

xo

Weekend Hike

Fall is in full swing around here and we took advantage of the crisp weather this weekend with a hike through the vineyards of Lavaux. This area is UNESCO world heritage site and the terraced vineyards are an agricultural feat, they are set on the side of the steep hills above the lake and are reminiscent of a patchwork quilt of greens and yellows lined with rock walls and narrow paths.

We left our trusty stroller at home, brought a picnic lunch and took to the hills! Lately we've been helping Quinn to walk more and sit in the stroller less as we go about our daily life and it has paid off. He walked the entire 3 mile hike, and had a great time. Anna walked up the hill and after a small spill decided to ride in a backpack on the way down.

We stopped at the top of a rise, scrambled through the vines and found a small area perfect for a rest and a picnic. We ate, the kids threw rocks, and one of us had a minor tumble straight into the vines. Good thing she's a toughie, our poor girl got a bit of a shiner from this one.

We had such a lovely day in the hills of Lavaux, and can't help but notice that our babies aren't babies anymore. They are big enough to hike, but fortunately still small enough to carry!

Here is a funny little clip that Kevin took on the way down!

Call of the Wild

Quinn is out of school for two weeks for fall break, so last week we were able to spend some quality time together while Anna was at daycare in the mornings. Yesterday we went to a park and I witnessed the most hilarious thing. Quinn and another little boy played for about a half hour while only communicating in grunts and whistling. Not just a few quiet ones, loud ear piercing, calls of the wild kind of sounds. After I finished cracking up, I watched the two play and was so happy that no matter where we are in the world, children are children and they always find a way to play. These two little boys did not speak the same language, but that didn't matter, they ran, jumped, slid, and laughed all in the universal language of childhood!

So happy weekend everybody, now go out and have some fun!

Step right up, Step right up!

The circus came to town!! On a whim we decided to get tickets for the Swiss national circus Knie and it was such a good idea. We went to a morning show and let me tell you if you ever find yourself in a foreign country wanting to be entertained, the circus is the way to go. The show was low on words and high on death defying acrobatics, the perfect recipe to keep even the squirmiest of two-year-olds mesmerized.

Oh, and the giant rainbow lollypop didn't hurt either! 

The show lasted about two hours and the fifteen minute break in the middle, was the perfect amount of time to stretch our legs and grab that second bag of popcorn.

The kids loved the elephants and horses, I think at one point they had 25 horses in the ring all going different directions at once, so crazy. The acrobats were unbelievable, no nets, no ropes, just some seriously talented people! Here's a sneaky grainy picture that my mom took… the ushers were VERY serious about the no picture rule.

Aside from the show, I have to say that Quinn and Anna's pure joy and amazement throughout the whole thing was the highlight for me. Every time I looked at them they were totally enthralled; it's just so satisfying to experience life through their eyes. It makes all the rough stuff worth it!

We had so much fun at the circus, thanks Knie, we'll see you next time you're in town!

Date Night!

http://gearjunkie.com/everest-movie-trailer

We have secured a babysitter, let the date nights commence! We found a 16 year old and the kids absolutely adore him. Every day Quinn asks if that big boy can come over to play, and last Thursday all of Quinn's four year old dreams came true when that big boy came to watch the kids for the evening.

Kevin and I headed out for a night on the town, and decided to shake things up a bit and go see a movie. Since neither one of us could remember the last time we went out to a movie, we though it was about time.. and this movie night did not disappoint. We saw Everest in 3D and two days later I am still anxious about it. It was such an emotional experience. It's a Titanic type situation, you know things are going to get real bad, but you just don't know when. So you bite your nails and grow a stomach ulcer for the first half of the film and just cringe and wish it was over for the last half.

We were looking to shake up date night and Everest did the trick, although maybe next time we'll go for a romantic comedy!

ABC's and 123's

*Quinn and his little friend on the bus home from school!

I think we may have turned a corner on the school front, and I am so happy! Quinn has been excited for school the last week or so and has even been telling us more about what he does every day.

It's so hilarious trying to get information out of a four year old, I've found that the combination of good timing and pain au chocolat is key for getting the best school information. Mostly I get to hear about what he ate for lunch, "meat with something that looked like poop on top" which apparently was delicious.. go figure.

Quinn still loves his English teacher Sally the most, but the unnamed male music teacher is coming on strong for second. I believe the fact that they get to "play" the cymbals and triangle during class helps rank music a few steps higher on the list for Quinn.

His teachers tell me that at this point he mostly just sits next a classmate and watches whatever activity they are doing. They say for now that is fine, but soon he is going to have up his participation level! I can only imagine how exhausting it must be to have to negotiate a full school day in another language, but every day he seems to be getting more and more. The other night at dinner he reeled off numbers 1-10 in French. So that's progress.

I have spoken with many English speaking parents who have older children and they say their experience at the start was very similar to ours, which is a huge relief. So French school we're sticking with you!

Anna continues to be happy as a clam at school. She did go through a nice little crying phase when Kevin started dropping her off in the mornings for about a week or so… oh two year olds!

Anna's daycare is completely in French, and when they tell me what she did and ate during the morning I have no idea what they are saying. I usually just smile and nod politely.

There is one teacher who speaks English and the other day she told me that Anna knew the word for  mushrooms in French, so we've got that taken care of... Good.

Speaking of mushrooms, Anna's school serves the most delicious sounding meals. They all seem to have about four courses and usually start with a salad (that apparently Anna eats) and end with a desert (which Anna definitely eats)! Way fancier then my peanut butter and honey, no wonder she likes school so much.

That's it for now!

Around Here Lately...

Here is what we've been up to lately…

Last Saturday was Museum Day in Lausanne and all the Museums were open until 2am! We headed to the Natural History Museum and the kids had a blast checking out all the "stuffed" animals. The exhibit below had beautiful pictures of tiny winged animals that were magnified in these hanging tubes. So cool!

A friend recommended that we check out this outdoor cafe before it closes for the winter. It was such a great concept, they had bikes and a track for the kids to scoot around in while the parents ate. They also have a free drop off babysitting area, where you can leave your kids and run errands for a few hours. Our kids loved the bikes and track, and Kevin loved the coffee!

 Here is a pretty little church on the way to Quinn's school. See the rooster waaaaay at the top?

Here is our preferred after school activity these days!

Speaking of school, the Montessori methods are really kicking in. We don't hear much about day to day school activities, but Quinn has been pouring everything lately, so they must be teaching him something! It's so great to see him growing and becoming more and more autonomous. PS- Don't let those Cheerios fool you, they taste wacky and nothing like the ones from home!

 Since Anna began going to "school" as well, she seems to be growing up so fast! Her teachers tell me she's a little "Gourmand" and loves to have seconds of everything at school.

It's grape harvest season here and last weekend we went to a nearby village for their harvest festival. Early in the evening it was neat to see the bands playing but as it got later it got a little crazy. Our friends told us that this is the one time of year when the Swiss really let loose, the festival lasts until Sunday at 3am. By Monday morning, the city workers have the place spotless, Swiss efficiency for you!

That's all for now, have a great weekend!