Laowai

Best advice my mom gave me: First of all, I like that my mom isn’t the kind of mom that is always preaching advice to me. I learned from just being close my mom. When I was learning to drive and as I was trying to pull out into traffic she would say You’re turn will come. I always think of being next to her in the car that feeling of being monitored she was very patient and supportive. I think it’s good advice for general life too – be good, be patient. You’re turn will come.

Favorite childhood memories: Making egg shell igloos. Eating around a camp stove. Always having her there at sporting events. Gazing up through the Christmas tree. Being in the garden and watching Whiskers streak across the yard. Seeing her come through the door at my Grandma and Grandpa’s house after sailing night. Lying in my bed after waking from a nap listening to woodpeckers and finding shapes of things in the branches outside my window.

Favorite thing to do with my mom: Walk in a garden – chat and vent and think of the names of plants. Watch her hold my babies and giggle with them.

This is fairly new and so tender sweet to watch. 

We didn’t celebrate Claire’s Birthday yesterday because Brian was out of town. We did however have a nice picnic. Bea played by the water and Claire wanted to crawl all over and eat grass.

It was time for the day of the opening of the wine cellars again over the weekend. We went with our friends Julie and Matt (and their dog Whitaker) and had a lovely time. This year I was not big and pregnant so I actually felt like walking around and sampling the wine. It’s so pleasant to be outside, surrounded by the vineyards, sipping free wine with friends.

I associate this event with being very pregnant. Claire was born two days after we went last year. So yesterday I couldn’t stop thinking of how I felt being so close to my due date waddling around the vineyard. Here’s my post from last year.

So if I hadn't mentioned it before – Claire is getting around. She has her own style of crawling that doesn't really involve her legs much at all. She mostly pulls with her arms while her legs are straight and she propels herself a little with the tips of her toes. She also has a great technique for sitting up and going back onto her belly – she does the splits and there's a lot of rotating of the hips. Take a look:

 

This doesn’t happen everyday! I was just putting Claire down for a nap – about to close the shades when there was a loud noise and then a helicopter that seemed like it was coming right at us. It went right over our apartment and landed just on the other side of the railroad tracks. It was only about a hundred yards away from us and it landed on the lawn between apartment buildings – a seemingly tight spot with power lines nearby. All the neighbors heard the helicopter circling before it landed and came out onto their balconies and yards. They were evacuating someone to a hospital – they got the person out quickly and took off again. Bea went inside and got her own helicopter – it was very exciting. And hopefully the person is on their way to health.

And one more photo – proof that the Swiss are die-hard swimmers.

We saw this sign this weekend – any guesses what the store is selling? Hint: the horse should not be so happy.

Not something you’d find in the US. It’s a butcher shop selling horse meat.

This is what our family would look like if we were royalty. Of all the nice things we did on our trip to Thun Bea’s favorite was this cheesy face-board thingy. It just reminds us that it only takes simple things to entertain her when traveling. 

Sorry you were left out Claire E.