As promised

Watch out, videos ahead!

Marion at her lesson this morning. She refuses to use the tee, likes to put the balls in the tee holes, and throws her club occasionally. I like her spunk!




Betti chatting a little bit AND eating her hands. What a multitasker ;-)

Don't confuse me with Tiger.

Marion has been taking golf lessons recently. She has shown an interest in the sport and so, when children's lessons were offered on the local Yahoo groups board, I jumped at the chance to take her.

She has taken two lessons and is the youngest by far in her group. Despite that, she is having a blast! She loves playing and thinks the orange golf balls are "the prettiest". And, according to her instructor, she is doing great for her age and is putting the toe of her club up in the air naturally during her swing.

Sadly I keep forgetting my camera during her actual lesson. However, today we were able to purchase an iron from her teacher so she was able to practice in our backyard.

Check out our little golfer!


I will definitely try to remember to get video of her at her lesson, with real golf balls, this week!

4 months old.

Betti is growing more and more. Funny how babies do that. ;-)

This week she found her voice. I love it when both of my daughters are yapping away. We are going to have a very loud house; they both love to chat!

Unfortunately I couldn't catch the nonstop talking on video. She just wanted to stare at the camera and eat her hands. But I tried!



Betti now weighs 6.6 kg and is 61 cm long. That converts to 14.5 lbs, 24 inches, and puts her in the 75% for weight and 50% for height. And as a birthday present, Mommy forgot her four month pediatrician's appointment. So she gets to wait another month until the office comes back from holiday for her shots. Lucky girl!

Add this to the things that will never, ever happen in the US

I ordered another accessory for my babies, Betti and my new stroller. A friend sent me some informtion so that I could purchase this item from a store in Switzerland online. Switzerland has some weird rules about baby items and, as a result, you can only purchase these things in Switzerland (not allowed to order it from the UK or Germany and ship it to a Swiss address).

So I went to the website. All in German. Fortunately, I am learning key words that help in this type of situation and was able to purchase the item. Only I paid for it using Rechnung, which means bill.

I assumed they would send me the bill, I'd pay it, and then I would get my item.

Nope. I received my package today, with the bill attached.

Can you imagine this happening in the US? Stores sending out merchandise with the bill attached, expecting you to pay for the items you've already received?

Hahahaha. Me neither.

Why yes, I do have a fallout shelter in my cellar.

My building was built in 1995, complete with shelters. Why? Because it is in Switzerland!

Just when I start to feel comfortable

After more than a year here, I feel pretty comfortable with things. I know where things are and how to get there, I am getting used to the insanely high prices, I am okay with my awkwardness with the German language, and I am used to my role as the foreigner who occasionally gets looks for being different.

And then something small happened that wasn't expected in the least that threw me for a loop.

I went and acquired a taste for water with gas, or wasser mit kohlensäure. With sirop no less!

Is nothing sacred?

The constant tourist

Part of the reason we've been so crazy busy lately is that we've been trying to see as much as possible while we are in Switzerland. We lost eight months with that pesky pregnancy and all of its joys. I don't want to leave here and regret not doing and seeing as much as possible.

So, I'd love some suggestions from you all. If you were in Europe, where would you go? I have a running list of places I want to go and trips to the Black Forest, Italy (Tuscany & Cinque Terre), and the North Sea capitals currently planned.

Hit me with some suggestions people!

Just keep swimming...

Yep, still here. I am crazy busy right now and running around doing a million things. All with around ten posts drafted in my head. Just as soon as I have a chance to sit down and write them all you will hear about our adventures in Malta, London, and Switzerland in the past couple of weeks. Yes, yes! Crazy busy!