Laowai

Bea is on vacation for the next two weeks. We are sort of freakish for not going skiing – in fact they call this the ski holiday. We did decide to take a little vacation though – we went to Montreux. Montreux is in Southwest Switzerland on Lake Geneva – it’s the French part of Switzerland. The mountains push right up to the Lake and the area is known for it’s mild climate. It wasn’t exactly balmy but two out of our 3 days were sunny so I won’t complain. I had fun taking photos of the architecture. I’ll post some people photos later.

I just dropped Bea at school with her Birthday cake. Today is her day to celebrate with her class and her teacher. She woke up early to decorate the cake with a rainbow. 

I’m feeling wistful. These milestones and the million little moments that come with them are so precious. Making the cake, peeking excitedly into the bowl of frosting while I mix it, seeing her concentrate while she sprinkles candy, her proud face. My darling almost five year old.

And now I must go because my other darling is trying to unload the dishwasher.

Thank you to all the Grandmas, Grandpas, Aunts and Uncles who sent cards and goodies. We wish we could give you all big bear hugs today.

I made another quick tunic for Claire. It’s made from and old shirt of mine and I copied a kitty design from a shirt she has. Meow.

Yikes – it was cold out there, but I’m glad we went back to the Sihlsee for some ice skating today.

Lots of pictures:

Last night, at about 11:45, I was reading in bed and Brian was sleeping beside me. Suddenly the house and the room and the bed shook. I gasped and called out to Brian – I thought he would have felt it and woken up, but he didn't. I shook his shoulder and told him that something strange happened. I had no idea what could have made our whole building shake. We looked out the windows and I wondered if there had been a train crash or an explosion at the manufacturing company near us. But there was no loud sound. I shook. Brian went out and had a look around our apartment building, but there was nothing out of the ordinary. Then I started to feel like I was crazy. I tried to remember what happened, but it happened so fast it was hard to recall. I couldn't blame Brian if he thought I was nuts. We turned on the TV, but there was no breaking news, nothing to explain what had happened. So we went back to bed – I had a hard time getting to sleep.

In the morning Brian found out on the internet that there had been an earthquake. A 4.2 magnitude earthquake! Wow. I'm not crazy.

OK – I’m officially ready for spring. It’s been bitter cold here so we can hardly get out to play. We’re ready for some warmth and green. In the meantime I’ll sew some tunics for Claire. She can wear them over long sleeve shirts now and on their own when the warmth arrives. Here’s one that I made over the weekend.

Bea’s latest artistic obsession are these sort of neighborhood map drawings. She uses a stencil for the house and then adds roads, paths, bike paths, playgrounds with swings and slides, ponds, etc. Fun!

Every year I have a book made of our family photos. I'm still amazed that we can have an actual book printed and bound for a reasonable price. For me it's much more slick than my old scrap books. I've just finished up the book for 2011. I use Blurb – they make such nice books and Jennifer gave me a gift card so I added a few more pages. The books are a great reminder of all the fun things we do throughout the year. If I'm having a tough day I can open up our photos books and find lots of smiles. I can't wait 'till it comes in the mail. 

We are taking advantage of the cold temps here. We made some ice decorations. I wonder if they will last ’till Valentine’s Day?