Laowai

On Friday the girls and I had the most bitter sweet day ever. We joined our best little friends and mommy friends at our strandbad (the swimming place along the lake). We sat in the shade on our blankets and had a picnic. The kids shared food. My british friend brought a thermos of tea – tee hee heee. The kids played and laughed in the pool. They ran around free and happy in the grass. They dug in the sand. They swam some more and went down the water slide a hundred times. We wrapped our kids up in towels and sat them in the sun when their lips were blue and their teeth were chattering. They got ice cream. It was all perfect. I chatted and laughed with my friends. Everytime I looked at my kids they were completetly happy. But in the back of my mind I knew that this was the last day I would get to see my friends – particularly my friend Liz. Claire started getting tired and eventually fell asleep in my arms. It was time to go. I told Bea to say goodbye to her best friend Owain. I gathered up our sand toys and towels with a heavy heart and we said good bye with a nice big hug. I was weepy the rest of the day. Now I'm ready to go.

When I went to London I really wanted to go to the Liberty of London store. It seems like all the sewing blogs that I read rave about Liberty fabric. They have a line of lovely cotton lawn with the most pretty, delicate, flowery patterns. I bought a couple yards plus a pack of remnants and it was so fun to really be able to go to the old iconic store. It was one of the highlights of my trip to London.

Here’s the store from the outside:

Here’s some of my fabric waiting to be sewin up into something…

I couldn’t wait to use some of the fabric I bought and I wanted to do one last bit of sewing before my sewing machine gets packed up so I made a dress for Claire. I used the same pattern as her favorite dress and I put on two pockets, but she’s still not in love with it. Oh well – maybe she will surprise me and love it one day soon.

Dear Brian,
Please do not leave me alone in the house with the double cream again. I cannot resist it. Also, the chocolate sauce and strawberries just make the problem worse.

Without Willpower
– Kathy

Bea had her class trip today. This time of year you see groups of kids out and about all over. They are out there taking advatage of the public transportation and having a day of hiking with their teachers. Bea started out on the train then did some hiking, saw a waterfall, had lunch and snack and ice cream and then came home on a boat. We will miss days like this.

Here’s Claire feeding the ducks while we waited for the boat:

Here they come – the whole class was on the front of the boat yelling and waving.

So glad they had a sunny day for this special outing. Now she’s completely tuckered out but she’s all smiles.

Our weather is ridiculous lately. Day after day of dreary cold rain. I went to bed and it was raining hard, I woke up and it was raining hard. Uhg.

The girls and I were bored out of our little minds yesterday. We had a little get-together (I hate the word playdate) that was cancelled so that left a whole long day stuck in the house. We watched Dumbo and Alice in Wonderland. Then I let the girls have a long bath. I let them use up some bottles of bubble bath and shampoo that I was going to get rid of before our move. It was a very bubbly bath!

Please send some sunshine our way if you can spare a little.

It’s just a Wednesday, but I can’t help thinking that there are only two more Wednesdays here in Switzerland. 

Claire typically wakes up with terribly messy hair – today it was extra terrible.

Today I showed the girls some photos of Lake Michigan on the computer and then we painted.

Bea (I decided not to remind her that Lake Michigan doesn’t have dolphins):

Claire:

Me:

We sold Claire’s crib over the weekend. Wow – just like that the baby days are really over. The girls have been sleeping together in Bea’s bed. Bea insists on it and we decided not to fight it at this point. Here’s what their room looked like just before Claire was born:

And now that same corner of the room looks like this:

The girls played nicely together this afternoon. It doesn’t happen all that often. Claire likes to set up little houses for the kitties and penguins. I think she is maturing in her play and so Bea is more likely to enjoy playing with her. 

Brian is off to the US for a couple days. We have some more prospective buyers coming to view our apartment tomorrow so I really should tidy up. I’d rather sit on the couch and watch Mad Men…

I had the best time in London with my two friends, Liz and Claire. Everything was great – the weather, the sites, the entertainment, the shoping, the food and most of all the company.

Oh, Mr. Sun, Sun, Mr. Golden Sun,

Please shine down on me.


Oh Mr. Sun, Sun, Mr. Golden Sun,

Hiding behind a tree



These little children are asking you

To please come out so we can play with you.



Oh Mr. Sun, Sun, Mr. Golden Sun,

Please shine down on,

please shine down on,

Please shine down on me.

Rain, rain everyday. There’s even snow in the forecast for today. Yuck!

The doll clothes that I made don’t get used much on our baby dolls but sometimes I find penguins and other animals dressed up in them. These gals also have little bags around their necks and wings that Bea made.

Yesterday Bea’s friend Owain came over and they got stuck in the elevator. Yes – stuck in the elevator. We let them go down and ride bikes and I gave Bea a key to let themselves back in when they were done. After a while Liz (Owain’s Mom) and I heard some comotion in the elevator and we noticed that the light on the button was lit up. Luckily we could put our head close to the elevator door and talk to them. Nothing would work – they were stuck inside. We had to call the elevator company and then get them to find the specific elevator number inside. It’s a good thing Owain is a numbers man and he could distinguish the phone number from the other numbers in there. The elevator guy came pretty quickly and they were out in about a half and hour. Turns out that when two 50 lb kids jump in unison in messes up an elevator. 

My Grandpa Dice died in April. I haven't been able to write about it because it felt like everything I write would be too little for all that Grandpa meant. I was so so sad that I couldn't go to his funeral and be near to all my aunts and uncles and cousins. I think about Grandpa often and I think about Grandma too and I want to remember. Then I read a blog post the other day that inspired me to try to put some words down. The blog is called Dear Baby and she wrote of her grandparents and what she wrote seemed so right to me. Here's part of what she said:

"These are my grandparents, Dick and Pat. They are the foundation for my beliefs about what it means to be a family and to work hard and about what really is most important in life. These are my grandparents and this is what I know of love."  

I picture Grandma and Grandpa Dice in their kitchen with their arms around each other. I picture Grandpa's big strong hands. I picture his playful surprised face after we grandkids got to climb up into his lap and blow out the match that he used to light his pipe. I remember his love of strawberry shortcake and his appreciation for all Grandma's desserts. I picture, ever so vaguely, riding in his International and singing The Bear Went Over the Mountain with my cousins. I remember him telling us, as Grandma served us pie, that pie's not good for little girls. I picture the big big cards that he would buy for Grandma – because big cards equal big love. I picture him lifting and jiggling the end of the mattress to wake up a bed full of sleepy grandkids in the morning. These are all just little snippets – typical Grandpa Dice isms that all his Grandkids surely remember. I know there is more depth to Grandpa and his life but this is what a little girl remembers and they are what I loved about Grandpa. I picture him laughing at a joke at the dinner table and I picture the quiet, constant way that he was always there and this is what I know of love.