Málaga Spain!

We just got back from a lovely trip to Spain, and now we all want to move there! The weather was great, the beaches were perfect for shell collecting and a low key beach week was just what our family needed. 

We stayed just outside of Málaga at an all inclusive family friendly resort, and in hindsight we probably would not do that again. The resort had lots of positives in the way of family entertainment and kid friendly activities, but the food was pretty bad, and we like to eat. Now we know that we are not really an all inclusive hotel type family. With that said, the kids loved to go to the mini disco every night and dance with the hotel mascot Beny the tiger. It was really amazing to see how many families with small children were out and about late into the night. 

 Oh Beny tiger, we love you and miss you every day.

Mostly we just really liked the beach. I think we might be beach dwellers trapped in the city! 

 

We spent one day in Málaga and toured the Picasso Museum which was really well put together and had some beautiful pieces on display. It's fun to see Quinn notice different aspects of art, he took a particular liking to some triangles in one of Picasso's paintings. 

They also had a temporary exhibit showing some of Louise Bourgeois' art. We didn't get to see much, of it but did get to experience this huge spider in the courtyard. I think the spider was a powerful female symbol for Bourgeois. She attributed the industrious spider to her mother who was a weaver. 

 We had cake in a gorgeous little courtyard, Málaga seems to be filled with neat little nooks and streets for wandering and getting lost in! The kids fell asleep and Kevin and I got to wander, do a little shopping, and even sneak in a some cafe lounging.

It was an almost perfect day. Our kids both may have gotten a bit carsick on the 20 minute drive to town and the 20 minute drive home. I'll spare you the picture that Kevin took from the front seat of the cab…

We all bounced back fairly quickly after spending a few days lounging. On our last day we visited the Delfinarium which thankfully was just a short walk from our hotel. The dolphin show was really neat and Kevin really enjoyed the penguins!

We like you and your cool tiles Spain, we'll be back!

Around Here Lately

Fall is here and we are slowly getting into the swing of things. Here's a little glimpse of what we've been up to lately.

"Park today, all day long." This is the song that Anna sings as we stroll down the street, and she's pretty much right on.

The kids have been enjoying play-doh these days, Quinn particularly enjoys making and tossing play-doh pizzas. 

Anna and her backpack are inseparable, here she is sharing some tea with her prized possession, who she calls "Cubby".

Ikea. Why does it always sound like such a great idea until the boxes arrive…. Luckily Anna is very skilled with the drill.

 We love to head to the square and watch the OLD clock do it's little song and dance.

 WATERSKIING. Yup I stepped right into the 80's and skied around in the lake. Kevin opted for wake boarding like the cool guy that he is.

A quick selfie before school drop off.

Annnnnnd that's a wrap.

A week with William

Thank goodness for family! Last week was a bit of a roller coaster ride with the kids starting school, and a pretty heavy work week for Kevin. LUCKILY my cousin William was here to save our sanity.

After spending a week in Italy, he flew up to the land of cheese and chocolate at precisely the right time. In the months leading up to the trip he had to shuffle his schedule around and change dates several times and when his trip ending up coinciding with the first week of school I was a bit bummed.   I of course, had big dreams of persuading him to schlep the kids up the Matterhorn with me while Kevin was at work. HA!

The start of school got in the way of my lofty travel plans and the fates aligned so that we were able to have William here to help make a hard week so much easier. It's funny how things work out that way sometimes. I only hope that we didn't scare him off!

He pulled into the train station and within the hour he was on the lake! Or should I say in the lake?

Smile!

We spent a sunny day with friends and thoroughly enjoyed what may be the last of the summer heat. William and I gave waterskiing a try, and Sully wake-boarded. Our sore backs thanked us for DAYS afterward!

Quinn and Anna were in Uncle-Cousin heaven, Will really knows his way around kids, he had them wrapped around his finger and even babysat Anna while I picked QP up from school. It's a very lucky lady that nabs this guy!

Here he is successfully convincing Anna not to jump in that fountain.

And here he is unsuccessfully trying to convince Quinn to turn around and smile, better luck next time Will, he's a hard sell!

Beside all the kid wrangling and dropping off and picking up, we did manage to see the Olympic Museum, a few late night movies and sneak in a few kidless-nights out on the town.

Although, I have to say, I think my favorite time spent together were all the pasta nights at home!

Thanks for coming Will, we had a blast! See you next month??? ; )

First Days of School

So many emotions, so so so many emotions! Last week Quinn started his second year of pre-school at a really lovely place called Ecole Nouvelle. He is in the Montessori program and is currently the only English speaking student enrolled--yikes! His teachers are lovely and very caring, they are well equipped to teach non French speakers and assure me that he will be speaking fluently in no time. 

BUT, in the mean time it's HARD! The most difficult part of transitioning Quinn to this new school is that it is a full day of school. We drop him off at 8:15am and pick him up at 2:45pm, it makes for a pretty long day for a kid who is used to napping for several hours in the afternoons! Every day when I pick him up he says "Mom, that was sooo long!" Usually after a little snack he's back to his old self.

The language barrier is real, and from what the teachers tell me Quinn LOVES his his four times a week English class… ha,  A+ there!   At this point the teachers explain things in both English and French to him and will gradually use English less and less as the year progresses. 

We've had lots of tears but also some smiles these first few days, and thankfully the tears seem to be less and less each day. In fact today he didn't cry at all when Kevin dropped him off! Yay!

Just look at how happy he looks….

That's better!

On Monday Anna started her "adaptation period" at her school. This adaptation period lasts two weeks and each day I leave her at the school for a longer and longer period of time. The first day I dropped her off for 20 minutes and today she stayed for an hour! By the end of next week she will stay from 9:00am until 12:30! 

This was the best picture we got of the two of them on Anna's first day of school and I'd say it sums up their feelings about school very accurately! 

After a rough first day, Anna has been thriving and her teachers say she loves to sing songs… the little ham! Her school is completely in French and she doesn't seem bothered by it at all. I think she may have the easiest time learning French of all of us!

Drop off and pick up has been a little time consuming this week, but once we get the hang of it I'm sure it will be fine. My cousin has been visiting us and his help and great attitude has been life saving! I think we would all be a mess if it weren't for William!

Here he is in action entertaining and feeding tired kids on the bus ride home!

I'll keep the school updates coming, but that's it for now!

Vacation in Italy!

My Mom came to visit for a few weeks and while she was here we spent some time in Italy, and boy was it an experience. We took the train to Milan and stayed right in the middle of the city which I highly recommend when traveling with kids. We spent a day at Expo Milano which is an World Exposition focusing on food and preserving resources. Each country has a pavilion where they showcase their resources and culture, and they were amazing! We walked through most of the pavilions fairly quickly, but could have spend days just at the Expo.

Anna and Quinn checking out the Swiss Pavilion.

The kids had a great time, and were serious troopers, we walked ten miles that day, and nobody had naps. The massive amounts of gelato they consumed must have helped. It was truly an unforgettable experience.

After our day at the Expo we checked out the cool Navigli District which is a neighborhood built around Milan's three remaining canals. I had no idea that Milan was a canal city, Venice and Amsterdam are always strutting their canals around, but in it's day Milan's canals were kind of a big deal. They're a little trashy and filled with boat bars and restaurants these days, but are still pretty cool.

 Unfortunately we visited on a bank holiday so most of the shops were closed, but we did grab some espresso and goodies at a very eclectic bar/coffee shop where a certain young lady may or may not have put on quite a show….of the tantrum variety of course.. Fun times.

We headed over to the Duomo and looked out over the city from the top of the cathedral. The view was stunning, but man did I have the death grip on our two little monkeys, and Kevin was practically a saint for lugging our stroller up ALL the stairs to the roof. After we climbed down, we walked around inside the church and the art and relics are really breath taking. Just thinking about all the history inside a place like that is mind boggling. We happily spent some time wandering around in awe.

Kevin headed back to Lausanne on Sunday morning, and my mom, and I headed up to the lake district to take the kids to a little town on Lake Maggiore for some R&R. We were a little nervous about getting the kids, our stroller and suitcase on and off the train but it worked out just fine (as it usually does).

See, no elevator, no problem!

We arrived at our hotel and were astounded by the beauty of the lake and surrounding mountains. The weather was perfect and my mom and I were excited for some mellow days.

For most of our stay we parked ourselves either at the pool or at the lakeside park, and the kids were HAPPY to be in their element!

Trucks forever. 

This pool was perfect for kids, Quinn could stand in it and Anna was happy to splash around.

Ice cream Anna having the time of her life!

We were sad to leave Lake Maggiore but have plans to take Kevin back soon. It was great to spend some time with my mom and hopefully she'll come visit us again after we dragged her to three countries in two weeks!

Is There a Doctor in the House?

After several weeks of calling around to various pediatricians in the city I finally found one! My mom and I took the kids to their first visit last week, and it sure was an experience to remember. The appointment lasted 2.5 hours and was the most thorough examination that I have ever seen. EVER!!

The appointment began with the doctor taking a full DETAILED health history for each child, then giving them a full examination that included the usual ears, nose, throat check. She was so detailed that she even saw and asked me about the tiniest spot where Quinn had bitten his tongue earlier in the day.. 

Yup, there it is doctor, he bit his tongue.

This ear machine was so cool. It made a small vibration in his ear and then showed a graph that related to his hearing.

The "physical fitness" test that followed was amazing, the doctor had them walk on their toes, then their heels, hop, jump, crawl…I was exhausted just watching! 

Swiss Doctor explaining the next physical challenge… Pay attention Quinn.

Here is a video of the doctor testing Quinn's hand/eye coordination, we may have to work on that…

The "French skills" portion of the exam was by far the most hilarious. The doctor showed Quinn pictures and asked him different questions about each one. He impressed us all by naming the colors in French (thanks Madame Brenda!). 

Then she pulled out a card with ten indians on it and asked him to repeat their names after her. These indians apparently were French and had the longest, craziest names my mom and I had ever heard! To Quinn's credit he did fairly well mimicking the French sounds, but it was hard.

At the end of the appointment lucky Quinn was given a vision and hearing screen that lasted the better part of an hour…poor nurse. He was a bit tired and couldn't be bothered to raise his hand when he heard the beep in his ears. Or maybe he really can't hear me when I'm asking him to clean up his toys…Hmmmm, it's a mommy mystery.

Anna was not subjected to the vision and hearing tests, we get to look forward to those in a few years for her. She LOVED the whole thing and I'm hoping that means we have a future doctor on our hands!

To go to school in Switzerland all children need a letter of health from their doctor saying that they are up to date with their vaccinations and in good enough health to go to attend school. Fortunately both kids passed, and are cleared for a Swiss education. Yay!

After it was all said and done we love our new doctor and feel very comfortable in her thorough Swiss hands!