A Long Overdue Visit to Mannheim

After seeing Amu and family in May, we wanted to make sure we made a point to actually get up to Mannheim to visit them before we leave Switzerland.  We hadn't made it before because it is a substantial 6 hour drive, but the kids are a bit older and traveling a bit better, so we figured we would take a few days and go up over this Christmas break.  We had no other travel plans for the break so it felt really manageable.

We left on Friday 19th in the morning and drove up to Zurich where we stopped for lunch and walked about a bit and enjoyed some of the day.  Then we headed back to the car for another 3.5 hours straight from Zurich to Mannheim.  We got there at about 7:30pm and just in the nick of time because it started pouring as we exited the highway.  The kids did so well on the drive, sleeping for a portion of the second leg, and then just being really chilled out for the rest of the way.  When we arrived Auntie Fariba had a giant pot of delicious fessenjoon waiting for us!

Parya came down from where she lives, and Sana was home and working her last few days at the department store, so we got to spend time with everyone.  The kids were a little worse for wear due to lack of sleep (They were so excited to sleep in the same bed together in the same room as us, that they stayed up till almost midnight the first night!) Still, it was lovely to spend time with family and to talk and catch up more.

The kids loved riding the tram to downtown Mannheim where we got to eat yummy turkish food, wander around the christmas markets and visit Sana at work.  We of course made sure to tuck into all the German essentials: bretzel, Berliner and dumpfnudeln!  Yummy!

Trying a yogurt drink at the Turkish restaurant - Eowyn wasn't such a fan 

Amu and Parya

The kids hanging in there after being out and about for 6 hours

Amu, James and Parya

 Amu is a saver of all things, as we know, but who knew that he still had some of the kids toys?! He dug up some legos for the kids to play with and that along with 2 new books we bought in Germany, went a long way.  Sana spent ages reading Winnie the Witch to the kids!

Liam with Sana and Parya's old legos

Parya and Sana avoiding the camera!

Amu's creation of a hat lamp for James

 On Sunday we went to Heidelberg for the afternoon and evening.  It was pretty chilly out but we enjoyed walking through the old town and wandering the christmas market.  We also had lunch at an interesting burger place called the Laughing Cow, and had a delicious persian dinner at a Persian restaurant.  

Mucking around a statue! Sana with Liam and Eowyn

All bundled up in the cold - so nice that they are willing to keep scarves on now! 

Christmas market playing

Eowyn trying to ride Amu's bike

Christmas market

 The most poignant moment for me was when Liam and I passed a homeless man sleeping in a doorway with no shoes on.  Liam immediately asked why he was there and had no shoes.  We talked a bit about how some people end up without a home for various reasons, and the importance of compassion.  All the while we talked and continued to walk.  He became quiet and sad and after a while I asked him what was wrong.  He said he felt bad for the man.  So we talked more and I asked him if he wanted to do something to try and help.  He nodded.  So I suggested maybe we could bring him something to eat and he felt immediately ready to do that.  So that was the plan - to go back and give him something to eat.  James and Liam bought a sandwich, but by the time they got back to the doorway the man had already left.  Still, I was amazed at the impact it had on Liam.  It also made me realized how sheltered he is here.  They have hardly ever seen poverty.  Anyway, it was a good lesson for us all to remind us of all we have, and how many don't have, and the gift of compassion.

The other thing I really wanted to do was to show James where I was born, so we ventured over to Brandenburger Str. 11 to visit the old house.  It looks so much like it always has and it was quite nostalgic walking around in the backyard.  I'm glad to have gone back there one more time, but I do hope Amu can sell the place and have that burden lifted from his shoulders.

Amu, me and Eowyn at the back of the house 

Eowyn and Liam running in the backyard - I left at just about the same age as Eowyn here!

Tuesday we woke up bright and early and headed home.  We stopped for a quicker lunch in Zurich and otherwise plowed on to get home in good time for dinner and bed.

It's been good to have a couple of weeks of quiet family time at home now.  Sometimes I don't like being here when it's quiet and things are closed, but this time after a few days away I welcomed the peace of our own space and just spending time together - the four of us.  We have had slower mornings of snuggling in our bed, lots of reading, puzzles, and little excursions to go shopping etc.  The kids have been great about getting back into our rhythm after the few crazy days away, and we've even had a few days where they slept in till 7:30 or 8am!  What a treat!

The Circus Zoo, Thanksgiving and Other Happenings

The Knie Circus was in town one weekend late in November.  We considered taking the kids to see the actual show, but found out it was 2.5 hours long.  Given Eowyn's age we thought it might be a bit tough for her to sit through the whole thing so we opted to visit the Circus zoo instead.  It actually was small but quite sweet, and we went with friends which always makes for a better time.  They had all the little ponies out and the kids could go for a short ride for 2CH.  Liam and Cassidy really enjoyed it.  Eowyn was a bit nervous to try so we just watched from the side lines with Jamison.  They also got to see and pet the zebras, camels, and even the trunk of an elephant!  We saw the big horses too.  All in all, a worthwhile hour or two!

Liam and Cassidy on the pony ride

Patting the zebra 

Eowyn and the zebra

Cassidy and Liam in awe of the huge elephant

We are always in short supply of new books, so when the Usborne book fair came to TASIS I made sure to stop in a get a few new books for the kids.  One of their favorites is a book with some short stories from around the world.  Baba Yaga is their favorite of all the stories because there's a witch who rides around in a bowl! We are now reading a childrens' version of some classics like "The Wizard of Oz", "Black Beauty", "Little Women" and others.  That book was given to them as a christmas present and we've had very long story times since! 

"Reading" together - we find them like this on a fairly regular basis 

 We had another wonderful friends thanksgiving this year.  Again we did the potluck and Leigh and Gavin graciously hosted.  We also hired 3 babysitters to help out with the kids.  The spread was amazing and the company fantastic.  If it weren't for the pink eye that Liam came down with, it all would have been perfect!  This year the Dibberts, Doves, Us, Walsers, Loves and Bryn and co were all together.  It was a bit bigger than last year, but with the help of the babysitters keeping the kids in order while they played downstairs, it really was a good time.

All dressed up - Eowyn finally getting to wear her fancy dress from Amu, Auntie Fariba and kids 

Happy thanksgiving - some of the ladies - Carolyn, Leigh, Nura and Bryn (missing Alexi and Kat)

The lads being goofy - James, Michael, Nate and Gavin (missing Chris and Eric)

peaking in on the kids downstairs (with Gloria, one of their sitters)

Eowyn brushing daddy's "hair"

Eowyn with us by the fire

The spread

Poor Liam came down with pink eye right after thanksgiving (or during!) We had no idea it was coming and all of a sudden his eyes were totally pink.  In true classic form though, he didn't complain about pain, itching or anything, so it was a bit hard to figure out if it was just an allergy or if when he had been playing something hit his eye or actual conjunctivitis.  When it hadn't improved by the next day we figured it was the latter.  The first day before we called the dr for a prescription I made him lie with tea bags on his eyes.  He wasn't a huge fan but put up with it a few times during the day.  Amazingly Eowyn and the rest of us seemed to escape it, well until yesterday when Eowyn suddenly woke up with one pink eye (and chicken pox!)  So funny how these things spread and incubate.  We unfortunately spread pink eye to a bunch of our friends, and now Liam and Eowyn seem to have Chicken pox from Grayson's shingles!

 On a fateful Saturday afternoon - the saturday after my birthday in fact, I had been enjoying the luxury and freedom of a day to myself downtown (thank you James!).  When I got home, and I mean minutes after I got home, James called me from Eowyn's room.  I went upstairs to find this:

the entire contents of Eowyn's wardrobe emptied into the middle of the room

I guess she really didn't want to take a nap (which is what she told James), so she kept herself very busy for two hours instead.  It was pretty unbelievable, and took me the better part of 2 hours to put everything away.  On top of that, she and I had to miss a christmas party with friends as her consequence.  Of course we reacted to all this and then realized that the reaction might make it happen again.  We were ok for almost a month, but just last week she did it again.  I made a point not to react to it, and have taken some precautions to block her drawers so she can't access everything again.  Time will only tell if that is going to happen again.

Shri, Glo and Chap visit

What fun to have Gloria come and visit for the first time - actually the first time she met James too!  And shirin and Farbod came at the same time so we got to see shiri and her belly and have some time together.  We had a few days with them all before they went off to Venice for a couple of days.  Eowyn took to Gloria immediately and even let her do her bedtime!  Unheard of for her since I am the only one she really wants doing bedtime.  She also called Farbod "Faribod", which we all were highly amused by.

Both Liam and Eowyn were very curious about the baby in Shirin's belly and kept asking if she could come out so they could see her.  We had great weather and were able to spend time down town and go for little walks around Montagnola to give Gloria a sense of Lugano.  It's always so comfortable to be around family and to have the kids surrounded by that kind of love.  They are always thrilled to have guests and loved being able to wake Shirin and Farbod up in the mornings.

Eowyn with her ladybug outfit from shirin 

Family dinner with tadiq rationed out fairly!

A visit down town - cheeky monkeys 

Playing around down town

Fall in Lugano - happy family days!

Funny family picture time!

Liam illegally climbing a tree in parco ciani

urban slide! 

Driving up Mt. Bre for some views

Sister love! 

A Visit to TASIS

Halloween and other bits of Fall

 This fall is flying by!  I can't believe we are already coming to the beginning of November.  Liam is doing well enough at school, though we did have some challenging times at the beginning of the year with one kid who was not socially adjusting and kept hurting the other kids.  Liam would tell me that he's not very big, but still somehow was being bullied by him.  One day he came home with this:

bite marks through his shirt taken 5 hours after it happened!

 Thankfully the boy is doing a bit better, but still seems to have a lot of issues and outbursts.  Meanwhile Liam is doing Soccer club after nap time on Friday afternoons.  I'm really happy to have gotten him into something as I feel like it's definitely time.  He finds it hard sometimes because there are lots of directions to follow, but it seems to be going well and it's really good for him because he's learning some real skills in listening and following direction as well as what it can look like to play a team sport.  He's the youngest one there so it's also pushing him and his coordination and such.

Liam is at the far back of the 3rd line (shortest one there!) - coach Matteo is a champ to try and teach this age!

Daddy and Liam post soccer hour

My days at home with Eowyn have been interesting.  It feels like she's not stimulated enough here, so if I don't take her out running errands or going somewhere she often gets a little stir crazy.  Every time we take the big kids to school she asks to stay.  I get her together a lot with Jamison, which helps, but it's still a tricky time.  I also meant to make note of her "gloriflied!" word, which cracks me up all the time!  We also did get to share this gorgeous double rainbow right out our windows one morning!  

We could see the start and end on both sides!  Amazing!

With a few weeks of no rain and some beautiful weather we have made a few trips to town and out and about.  A week or so ago we went down town for Liam's haircut and had a leisurely time wandering about afterwards and eating lunch outside!

These two hams ran up and sat here ready to take a photo!

The last couple of weeks have been full on for me with work and lots of extra massages to boot, so unfortunately I missed the excursion to the zoo, but the kids went with friends (Stirling, Grayson, Iona) and had an awesome time feeding the animals and going on the go carts!

Liam sporting a haircut and feeding the monkeys 

Eowyn reaching out!

Happy kids at the zoo

Yes, this zoo has guinea pigs! They loved feeding them!

I love this expression after Eowyn gave the goat some food!

Liam had a blast driving around!

This year TASIS had a full on Halloween event the weekend before Halloween (Because of Academic Travel).  We had an awesome brunch at school with decorations, music and actually good food.  After nap time they got into costume and we went to check out the fall festival.  The TPA decorates the palestra and has all this stuff going on with music, a dunk tank, balloon creations and a lot more.  At first both kids just froze and Eowyn was covering her ears, but they got used to it a bit.  We went trick or treating in the dorms for just 3 rooms, but it was plenty for them to get the experience.  It was fun to do it in a safe environment too, and to keep it limited.  They are definitely into the whole Halloween thing and Eowyn keeps asking to do it again.

My little Witch and Cat

Room on the Broom? Eowyn wouldn't smile! 

Staring at daddy in the dunk tank

Daddy getting dunked on 

Scary Halloween decorations

Everything's better with friends (notice Cassidy's life size balloon replica of herself!)

Trick or Treat!

Trick or Treat  

The crew post trick or treating, pre dinner at the dining hall