Christmas in Lugano

Being at home this winter break and not traveling really allowed us some mellow family time.  We we've been able to spend time altogether and really do things as a family, which has been a treat.  On Christmas eve we bought a mini tree to decorate and get into the spirit of the holiday a bit.  I think Liam was really happy about that since he'd asked about all the big Christmas trees outside.  (here they like to decorate the big live trees in certain locations, which is really kind of fun to see and so much better for the environment)!  I asked James for food requests and the Christmas eve menu was: Ham, gratin potatoes (no boxed mixes here, so made from scratch), spinach, and marshmallow cupcakes for dessert for James and me, and lichees and grapes for the littles.

Getting ready to decorate the tree - we each got a special ornament to hang on it too

Our little decorated tree

Eowyn and Liam loved seeing the tree all decorated, and while Liam was old enough this year to not break any ornaments or knock things over, Eowyn was all about trying to grab a small something and get it into her mouth.  We're just lucky she can't stand up yet, because then we'd be in big trouble!

Christmas morning we had belgian waffles with berries and fresh whipped cream.  Everyone approved of that!  Liam was so funny.  He didn't recognize that the wrapped boxes under the tree were presents, so he actually asked what they were there for!  Finally I told him they were presents and then he really got Gesited, as he likes to say!

Waffles for breakfast - look at the berries around Eowyn's mouth!

Ready to open presents

Trying to get to the ornaments - cheeky little girl!

Liam unwrapping his first gift - books

Eowyn gets a stacking toy

We kept things somewhat minimal, but still, I was amazed that even with 3 presents each, it seemed a bit overwhelming to them.  Liam wanted to do/play with each thing, but also wanted to see what else was coming.  It's a bit confusing to me how to negotiate this whole gift giving business.  I feel like a heavy dose of moderation is probably not a bad idea, and small and simple should count for a lot.  Let's see how we go forward.  Liam's gifts were: 2 books, a puzzle box with 4 little puzzles in it, and a play dough machine.  He has read one of the books about 10 times already (no jokes), made the puzzles at least 3 times, and spent about 2 hours yesterday playing with the play dough.  All successes in my books.  

Eowyn got a small elephant puzzle, a stacking toy with rings she likes to put in her mouth!, and a stuffed animal dog.  She's only vaguely interested in all of them, mostly in the same way she's vaguely interested in all toys at this point.  Hopefully in time she'll figure them out better, but she's young still.

So it was a cozy day at home, with yummy food, and lots of family time.  We had a good chance to chat to many other family members on skype in the afternoon and evening, which really made the day!

A Quiet December

We decided to stay put this Christmas break.  After the trip to Olympia (by the way, still waiting on news of that, though at this point we're guessing it's a "no"), we realized we didn't have any strong desire to pack and get going again so soon.  We actually had our first snow fall on the last day of the semester (dec 14th).  It was beautiful, and just made our home seem more like the fairytale location it already is.

Just a cute picture of Eowyn taken the day of our first snow

Before everyone headed to wherever they were going we took a day trip to Lucerne with Josh and Jen to check out the Christmas markets and just get out of town a bit.  Going by train with the kids really makes it so much easier, and with half price cards it totally makes sense.  We could eat and play games and get Eowyn to nap, so it didn't really upset the schedule too much.  We got there around lunch and had some Thai food, followed by a lovely walk around the old town.  We had no agenda so things were relaxed and enjoyable.

James and Liam in front of a hand carved manger scene

Thought this was a funny shot - looks like daddy day care!

Jen and me on a mild winter day

A compulsory Starbucks stop

Back in Lugano it took us a few days to start to unwind and slow down.  Liam remained very "gesited" (excited) about the snow, and so we made numerous excursions outside for him to get in some snow.  You may have noticed our patio has changed.  We had a small landslide a few months back now, and then decided to build out a deck rather than fix the landslide.  The update is that we actually have a railing now, but these photos were taken before it went up.  We also put Eowyn in a snow suit for the first time so she could experience the snow. Unfortunately she could barely move and kept toppling over because of the thickness of the clothing.  She wasn't a huge fan but stuck it out a little bit.  

Eowyn on the patio

Liam and Eowyn enjoying sun and snow

Skeptical Eowyn and daddy

For some strange reason, Liam spent a full day pooping on the potty - I know, you've been waiting to hear about this!  Well it was a major turn of events for us and he was doing it on his own volition after a comment by James about needing to know how to go before he could start school.  Well, he went about 3 times in one day, and that he was done again.  Back to diapers.  So weird, but we're just waiting it out.
And speaking of waiting it out, we can't seem to figure out a way to convince Liam that bed time is bed time.  He has taken to coming out multiple times over a span of anywhere from 40 mins to an hour and half.  It kind of drives me batty because I can't seem to explain to him that he just needs to stay in his room, but thankfully James is slightly cooler about it.  At any rate, we've had to implement some consequences recently as it's getting out of control - "I just have to tell you one thing, if I EVER need to use the potty I can come out", he says to us as he has waltzed into the living room.  This happens about 3 more times with a few other excuses or things he just has to tell us.
Speaking of things he just has to tell us, the other night after bath he put his finger in his ear and said:"
Look mama, my food came out my ear. I ate too much and it come out on my finger!"  Hilarious!

Meanwhile Eowyn is very vocal and continues to shout and indicate with gestures when she wants of needs anything.  She also is slowly figuring out the hall step, which is a good thing as she has fallen down twice now.  In the last few days she has even been engaging her legs more and standing with much support, for a few seconds at a time!

I know she's blurry but they were so sweet and excited to be in a shopping cart together - her first time riding in the seat!

Our Crazy Olympia Adventure

It's hard to believe that this trip even happened since it was over so quickly, but what a ridiculous endeavor that was!  James is a finalist for a Head of School position in Olympia, Washington, and although the whole thing started off with not a whole lot of thought, and his resume was sent in on a whim, by the time we got to this stage it has become a serious consideration that may change all our lives very soon.  The trip came about because they required him to go for his finalist interviews, and the decision was then made that if we are going to be serious about this, we need to see the place as a family to actually get a sense of if we could live there.  So, despite it being a terrible idea to drag two babies half way across the world for 4 days, we did.  Let's be clear, it was exhausting.  But with that as a given, I think all in all we did well.  With 13+ hours flights there and back, plus travel around that, we had two very long days.  Thank goodness we were traveling off prime time and both journeys we had extra seats to spread out on.

Eowyn slept very little on the way over, and but wasn't too grumpy about it.  It just meant that by the time we arrived in Seattle we were all dead on our feet.  Liam was also really well behaved and cried a little a couple of times due to ear aches, but otherwise was quiet and kept himself busy with the ipad for a bit, with the tv screen, and eating and napping.  On the journey home we had 2 full rows of 4 seats so Eowyn slept about 6 hours, which was amazing.  I think we all got a bit of sleep on that flight.

All in all we were just basically exhausted or tired and so jet lag wasn't a real problem.  While we were in Olympia Eowyn did amazingly and slept well through the night.  The rest of us spent a fair amount of time awake in the early morning, but we expected all that.  We were nervous about all being in one room while we were at the hotel, but it turned out to be fine.  Liam was pretty quiet even when he was awake for 2 or 3 hours, (or just from 2am onwards one night!)  We went to bed as early as we could each day, and did the best we could with a busy schedule.

In the few shorts days we were there we had a tour of the school, met a yoga teacher/mom of small kids, met up with Justin and Jane who drove from the military base to visit us, had a real estate agent show us homes for two mornings, meet up with a Baha'i family who took us to an amazing children's hands on museum, checked out the farmers market, ate dinner with the board and search committee for the school, had meetings and interviews for a full day for James and met with two other women with kids for me, did a bit of shopping, and that's about it!  People were so so kind, helpful and just generally nice, which is definitely a plus for the place.  The near constant rain was definitely a minus.  Otherwise it's certainly a sweet enough town, on the water, and nature all around.  Progressive kind of feeling, it seems.  Who knows though!  At any rate, the poor kids did what they could.  Napped where they could, and generally held in there.  Sweet Eowyn almost fell asleep in her high chair at the board dinner.  So cute and sad at the same time.  Liam had bathroom issues due to the scary sound in the airplane, which resulted in some embarrassing moments of him peeing in a garbage can.  Ask James about that!  At any rate, we've had some bathroom struggles since then, but mostly all was ok.

Eowyn and James close to the end of our second flight to Seattle

Meeting up with Justin and Jane - nice to see friendly family faces in the midst of chaos

Dinner at a BBQ place with Justin and Jane

My birthday breakfast at a Budd Bay restaurant

Cheeser from Liam on the day of departure

Birthday photo - breakfast before another long travel day

Waiting at the airport for our flight

Now that all the traveling is over we are just waiting on the final decision.  We have been back and forth about leaving here, so it definitely isn't an easy choice, but we are also aware that our time here is coming to an end sooner rather than later.  Perhaps it will be as soon as the end of this year, and if not, most likely in the next year or two.

Thanksgivings

 This year we kind of ended up with two thanksgiving celebrations, which was rather lovely.  We had a nice dinner with the Miller family on Thursday after school, and despite it being chickens instead of turkey, all was delicious and the company good.  Eowyn managed as usual to start eating before everyone and end after us all.  She's a trooper!  She also somehow scored a piece of chocolate cake and was just shoving it in her mouth when I saw her and exclaimed loudly!

This is just a funny photo of Eowyn wearing a skirt as a hat.  I thought she looked really cute and was also just thinking how different she'll look when she finally grows some hair!

On Saturday of the Thanksgiving weekend we had  a family friendly pot luck thanksgiving hosted by Leigh and Gavin in their new house.  We were quite a crew (10 adults and 8 kids!)  so it was definitely quite a rowdy event.  We all brought various dishes though and had a lovely feast of a meal in the late afternoon and early evening.  The kids had a great time and even enjoyed some time outside on the balcony!  It was good to keep them out there a bit and have the burn off some energy.

Eowyn and James - she got all dressed up for the occasion!

Drake, Liam and Sam tearing it up on rider toys on the balcony!

We even got to sit down for dinner!

Here are just a few pictures from around the same time.  Eowyn is at such a fun and cute age.  She's crawling full speed ahead and chatting away in her nonsense shouts.  She's still ever so fond of food and has the most adorable sniffy snorts to indicate when she doesn't like something.  When she wants something, especially in the food department, she shrieks at you and at what she wants.  It's kind of funny and definitely very LOUD!

Liam has become very brave in water and he will even lean all the way back into the bath and float around for a long time now.  It's quite funny when he starts shouting "can you hear me?!" because his ears are under water and he can't hear properly!

Not the greatest photo but I love how it shows her belly off and their playing together!

Liam playing in the bath

Eowyn's introduction to blackberries!