Nass and Co visit!

 We had such a wonderful visit with Nass, Erf, Leo, lua and Ava.  I can't believe it took so long for me to meet Ava in person, but am grateful it could happen before the big move they will make to Canada next year.  They came at the end of July and stayed 11 days, and boy were they hot ones!  It reminded me of the last time they visited when Nass and I were both pregnant - her with Lua and me with Liam.  This time we had 5 little people to keep us busy, but with our expanded house it really was quite manageable as everyone had some space.  It was great that they could fly in and out of Lugano airport as it just makes for easier travel.

The tinies meeting for the first time!

A bit blurry, but this was so cute - Christy read some books to Leo, Lua and Liam (her trip overlapped by a couple of nights!) 

Taking the steep walk back up from the Arasio playground - Leo and Liam holding hands (it's quite a walk for an adult, never mind little people!)

Parallel play - Ava and Eowyn enjoying some tummy time

 They were here a couple of days and then we took a road trip down to Tuscany where we stayed at our favorite B&B (Le Due Volpi), for 3 nights.  Thankfully the place has a pool and this was the first time we were there in the summer time and could actually use it.  The kids had a wild time swimming and Liam became quite brave with his two older cousins so close to swimming on their own.  He would jump in to James without holding his hands and let himself go under for a second even!  The first night we had a lovely dinner at the B&B and managed to do so with the kids mostly in  bed and asleep.  It was quite luxurious to have an hour or so of adult time!  Otherwise our attempts at excursions tended to be a bit tiring with the car travel, but we tried to even it out with pool time, and a visit to see some animals.

Dinner at the B&B - Ava did join us at the beginning while we had some appetizers and watched the beautiful sunset

Nass, Erf and Ava almost looking restful! (dinner at the B&B) 

Erf and James were in meat heaven trying to find a way to polish off 4kg of florentine steak!

An ambitious trip into Florence - perhaps not the wisest choice, but Erfan had never been to Italy 

Taking a quick walk through the major walking street with the replica of David in the background

Eowyn and me in the crowds of sweaty tourists

Leo and Liam

Lua wasn't part of this picture because she was scared of the two Lion statues guarding the outdoor sculptures

The family with a view of ponte Vecchio - almost at the end of everyone's rope!

Finally at the pool - the babies hanging out in the hamock.  I think Ava may have been trying to chew on Eowyn's hand!

Nass and sweet Ava at the pool

Eowyn with Sophie at the pool

A true Tuscan view - taking a short drive to an agriturismo place  

Leo and Lua at a local farm (agriturismo place) hoping to spot some animals

Finally chickens!  Liam had been hoping to see some chickens since we arrived!

Watching the farm vehicles drive by 

amusing face by the pool

More playing around in the pool

Naked bottom

Back in Lugano the temperatures were just as hot as Tuscany so we made sure to head to UBS pool to cool off in the water.  Lua was such a little fish always wanting to swim, and Eowyn certainly didn't mind the dips we took.   We were luckily able to borrow a friend's car so that they could get back and forth to places, which made life a bit easier.  We didn't do anything dramatic, but it was nice to go into town once, to get to the pool quickly, and to have dinner out at bellavista one night.  Oh and Eowyn began eating solids right after we got back.  Funny how I assumed she'd have a bite or two here or there, but within a day or two she was eating half a small jar!  She seems to be a really eager and keen eater!  (I'll try post a video later)

At UBS pool - Eowyn with her shades (which I seem to have lost!)

Erf and funny face Lua chowing down on pizza at Bellavista

So it was a lovely time, and I felt so sad to see them all go.  I loved having us all in the same place for once, and felt so sad to think that won't be happening too much in the near future.

Nass and Eowyn 

A Couple of Day Trips in July

To round out Christy's visit we wove a couple of day trips into the last 10 days she had in Switzerland. So not long after our return from Spain we drove down to Milan for a day.  Besides getting lost trying to find parking on the way in, we managed to have a good day in the city with a visit to the Duomo, lunch at Obika (the mozzarella bar across from the roof of the duomo), gelato from Peck, and a bit of shopping.

Our family at the duomo

Eowyn looks so concerned - perhaps she is looking out for pick pockets!

Liam getting tired after a no nap excursion day

We also managed a drive up to Luzern so that Christy could see the German side of Switzerland.  It was a gorgeous not too hot day and we made great time getting there and back, which left us with a good chunk of the late morning and afternoon to wander the streets of the old town.  We had a delicious lunch at the restaurant at Hotel Balance (definitely a favorite!), and we were sure to stop in at Starbucks on our way home, and obviously pick up some brezels and berliner along the way!

Christy, James and Eowyn

Liam loved the tomato gazpacho that came with James' appetizer plate - he has such a refined palate!

Eowyn is either unamused or tired! What a patient little one she is!

An instagram shot of the flowers on the old bridge

View of the old town from the bridge

Sitges, Spain - July 2012

Finally, here are pictures from our two weeks in Spain this summer.  What a fantastic trip that was!  We  had the use of our friends house in Sitges (a beach town 20 mins outside of downtown Barcelona), and had no big agenda but to go and hang out.  Christy was with us and got to enjoy the beautiful house and pool.  We spent many days grocery shopping, hanging out at the house and swimming in the pool. We also ventured into Barcelona by train 2 times, and spent time at the Gaudi park and just walking the streets.  Since we had the use of a car it was also easy to nip down to the town of Sitges and wander around there a bit, doing a bit of shopping or browsing, and having a snack or something along the way.  It's quite a sweet town, with a lovely beach promenade and a great pedestrian zone.  Perhaps less than we anticipated, we did go to the beach 3 times during our time.  The funny thing is that with access to the pool it just wasn't as appealing!   During our time Liam because much more confident being in the water, and he was happy to zoom around the pool with his tube on, all by himself.  Eowyn started rolling over the day we got there.  

Here's James and Liam doing the "balancing" game in the pool:

 Eowyn looking beautiful for her daddy's birthday!  

 Barbecue outside for James' birthday.  The view was really spectacular from the house!

 Eowyn and me in the pool - she loves the bath, but because she was so unenthused about the water in Greece we weren't sure how things would go with the pool.  It turns out she did quite like it!

 Christy making Eowyn smile!

 A cute smiley girl!

 I enjoyed using instagram to catch a few artsy shots of the house - here's the staircase up to the second and third floors.  Quite dramatic, and definitely made us nervous.  We were all sleeping on the 3rd floor and were apprehensive about Liam trying to go downstairs on his own.  Thankfully we left without any accidents!

 The dining/living area

 View of the pool and sea

 We took a trip into Barcelona and visited park Guell on a hot day.  We had intended to get home for nap time after lunch, but that never happened.  Thankfully the kids handled things as well as we could have hoped.  Christy and Liam with the salamander:

 Flowers and Liam, Eowyn and me

 The benches area of the park

 Downtown Sitges looking out to the water and all the boats

 By the church in Sitges

 Taking a break from the heat to have something to drink in Sitges

 Our second trip to Barcelona - another very hot day and this time a lot of walking through the little alleys and streets, and out to the port area

 We felt very adventurous one day and decided to explore a town called Tarragona - the drive was about 40 mins and we were unfortunately underwhelmed with what we found.  For whatever reason some planners thought it a good idea to place the railway tracks right along the beach.  I guess it makes for a nice train ride, but probably not the most enjoyable beach day.  Tarragona has some ancient ruins but felt very much like a has been (or never been) kind of place.  We stayed for lunch, bought some tea and headed home!

 One of my favorite scenes was the morning routine at the house.  Eowyn was often up quite early.  She was sleeping with us in our bed, and I think she was right at the age where it was starting to become a bit disruptive for all involved.  It wasn't too bad though, and as soon as Liam woke up he'd come running into our room and start chatting and playing with Eowyn on the bed.  I love to see them hanging out and interacting together!

 One of our visits to the beach was on a slightly overcast day, which, to tell you the truth, was a relief.  There were tons of beach toys at the house to bring with us, so Liam had a grand time digging in the sand.  He was also a lot more playful in the waves and happy to go into the water with one of us.

 And this is what Eowyn did at the beach!  Poor thing!  The water was too chilly for her, so I'd have to spend a while just getting her to fall asleep.

 Eowyn and Liam both did well with their afternoon naps.  Most days we could count on about 2 hours of quiet time with both kids sleeping.  On one particular day Eowyn woke up after less than an hour but was really fussy.  About 20 mins later she fell asleep on James.  Awww!

 Walking along the promenade we never got past this bus without Liam having a ride.  James managed to fit in as his passenger once!

 The bakery below (very odd looking place, by the way) sold the most ridiculous thing.  A deep fried, cream stuffed croissant.  It sounds pretty crazy and tastes even more so!

 Just a random view of the living room area from the second floor