Claire E. turned two on Friday. Two! She’s starting to say phrases like “I dancing”. She’s full of smiles and giggles. She’s forming opinions about clothes already. She is very good at saying thank you – it comes out “tank ooo” and it’s so cute. She wants to do everything that Bea does. And she loves kitties more than anything.
Bea decorated a birthday pancake for Claire:
No, it’s not time to open presents yet Bea:
Mmmm – a taste of frosting.
A kitty cake… of course. I used a pink lady cake recipe. It was yummy and perfect for our strawberry lover.
Pondering. She knew something different was happening, but of course she doesn’t really understand her birthday yet.
In case you are wondering we are signed up for at least another two years here in Helvetica land.
Whenever Brian and I talk about our time here and how long it is going to last it is so painful. I tell Brian that I am completely torn when I try to sort it out in my head. On one hand we obviously love it here. For someone with a design passion it is a dreamland to live in a place where everything is done conciously and carefully and deliberately. Everyday life is simply pleasant. The views out all of my windows magically change throughout each day. Just last night, talking to Brian on the phone, I had to tell him how the light on the mountains was more pink than I’ve ever seen. It was irresistably beautiful. We love the trains. We love exploring the charming towns. We have taken the most lovely hikes through beautiful woods. We’ve seen specatcular mountains and gorgeous lakes. Brian is pure bliss when he gets to go out for bike rides. He loves his work here and he has been very successful – making himself essential to the office. He gets to travel around Europe almost every week. He works crazy hard but that’s all he knows how to do and it makes him happy. We have loved all the things that Switzerland offers for kids. It’s easy to get the kids out into nature. They have enjoyed so many cool museums and events that are done so well for kids. I love that Bea is learning German. I love that she has forest day at school every week or two. I love that our kids will be able to look back on this interesting part of their lives. I could ramble on and on.
And then there is the hard stuff. The hardest part is being so far from family. I miss out on that chill out time when I go to my parents house and the kids are entertained and the pressure is off me as a mommy. I don’t get to connect with my sister like I wish I could. The time when we do go back to the US is great but it’s stressful too and it doesn’t replace all the little moments that I would get with them if I was living closer. And a little part of me feels guilty for taking my kids away. These young years are precious and I have to put myself in my Mom’s shoes – I would be heartbroken not to be able to spend more time with my grandbabies. And then I have guilt about putting Bea through the difficulties that she has had with school. It’s been so hard for her to adjust and learn the language. I want it to be a positive thing in the end but some of our days this year have made me wonder. And even if everyday life is pleasant it can still be hard when you don’t fit in. I can’t contribute like the other mom’s at Bea’s school. I don’t know the cuts of meat at the grocery store. I feel like I stick out like sore thumb sometimes. I’m not particularly outgoing and so the little trials of everyday can put a dent in my confidence. I feel stupid for not learning German and yet my heart is really not into it and I can’t get around that.
Brian has said that he would be happy to live here forever but I just can’t do that. While I feel so lucky and grateful for this experience I just can’t picture sending our girls to high school here. I can’t picture turning our backs on what we know and love in the US.
So I always end up where I started. I’m torn.
And here is my other major problem lately. Claire seems to have a permanent bird’s nest of a messy hairdo. This is how she wakes up every morning and she is NOT happy to have me brush it. I’m putting out an urgent request for Johnson’s No-More-Tangles. Do they still sell that stuff?
Brian had the day off yesterday so we went to a nearby castle.
Schloss means castle.
The casle is up on a hill.
Claire wants to walk and climb everywhere. Brian and I struggle a bit with this new pace. Sometimes we feel like we are missing some sights because we are spending so much time doing something mundane like throwing stones in a fountain. But if the kids are happy then I guess we should be happy too.
The castle was really kid friendly. The upper floors were filled with things for kids to do – like making paper crowns. Bea was very into this.
Another special feature for kids at the Lenzburg castle were these little cabins. The girls loved them.
I’m finding Claire so funny and cute lately. And Bea just looks beautiful and grown-up. How did we get here so fast?
And that cat. Jennifer – she loooooves it. You should see her cooing and talking to it. Hugging it and loving it up ALL THE TIME! Good gracious. Can you say obsessed?
Wow – our week with Grandma and Grandpa C. went really, really fast. Today for our last day with them we went into Zurich, walked around and saw the sights and spent some time in the big toy store. Then we rode a boat back to our town. It was an extremely windy, but beautiful day.
Windy!
Now Grandma and Grandpa are off for a river cruise down the Danube. We had a super fun time with them.
Here are some photos from our trip to the Seleger Moor Garden. It’s a quirky private garden full of Rhododendrons and lots of other pretty woodland plants. The rhododendrons were not at their peak yet but we still saw lots of color and had a great time.
Laowai 