It's just too good not to post.
Friday, May 28, 2010
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Marion turned 4!
And I didn't even blog about it.
*hanging my head in shame*
So here is her post.
Our original plan was to barbeque at a local park. But it ended up raining and didn't stop for weeks. So last minute we were able to rent a party house on the lake in our town. It is a fantastic place- has a kitchen, a yard, and plenty of space for Marion and all of her friends.
Brian managed to get a pinata for Marion's birthday and it was a huge hit. And when I say huge, I mean literally, this thing was huge.
Everyone got a turn beating the crap out of this dog. Some were more enthusiastic than others.
But that dog was well built and was not budging. So some of the dad's helped it along. The placement of the hole was rather unfortunate...
but it didn't stop the candy grabbing madness.
I bought candy for the size of the pinata and not for amount of kids so everyone ended up with a very large bag of candy. Sorry parents!
Afterwards, the beating on the dog didn't stop.
Poor thing. The dogs pieces quickly became costume pieces.
Ahh well, money well spent, right? A pinata and dress up wear!
Then it was cupcake time. As you can see, Marion was waiting very patiently to blow out her candles.
Finally! Look at that huge grin on her face!
And then she dug right in.
Amazingly enough, my 13 month old finished her cupcake before my 4 year old.
This girl loves to eat.
Before the celebration was over, we attempted to get a family picture. All I wanted was four people looking at the camera at the same time.
Maybe we should have attempted this before the sugar high set in.
Now, my four year old. Four sucks. Two was manageable- distraction worked really well for Marion and she never had huge tantrums. Three was a little harder but bribery worked wonders. Four. Wow. Well, Marion has always been confident, independant, and social. She is an outgoing person and knows what she wants and isn't afraid to say so. But it was manageable until a couple of days after her fourth birthday. Then a switch went off and from that point on, it's been difficult. Imagine Brian or I asking her to do something and one of two things happening:
1- She will ignore you.
2- She will tell you no, I don't want to.
It makes me want to tear my hair out.
However, aside from her asserting her independance, she continues to be super sweet. She enjoys talking to people, says hi to everyone, and is kind to others (she told me she liked my jacket the other day). Half the time I wonder where she comes up with the things she says; the other half I wish she would just settle down for a second!
Sooner or later, we will figure out a way to handle her asserting her independance. Or we won't and she will walk all over us for the rest of her life. I hope it is the former :)
So here's to you, my four year old with a mind of her own! We love you!
*hanging my head in shame*
So here is her post.
Our original plan was to barbeque at a local park. But it ended up raining and didn't stop for weeks. So last minute we were able to rent a party house on the lake in our town. It is a fantastic place- has a kitchen, a yard, and plenty of space for Marion and all of her friends.
Brian managed to get a pinata for Marion's birthday and it was a huge hit. And when I say huge, I mean literally, this thing was huge.
Everyone got a turn beating the crap out of this dog. Some were more enthusiastic than others.
But that dog was well built and was not budging. So some of the dad's helped it along. The placement of the hole was rather unfortunate...
but it didn't stop the candy grabbing madness.
I bought candy for the size of the pinata and not for amount of kids so everyone ended up with a very large bag of candy. Sorry parents!
Afterwards, the beating on the dog didn't stop.
Poor thing. The dogs pieces quickly became costume pieces.
Ahh well, money well spent, right? A pinata and dress up wear!
Then it was cupcake time. As you can see, Marion was waiting very patiently to blow out her candles.
Finally! Look at that huge grin on her face!
And then she dug right in.
Amazingly enough, my 13 month old finished her cupcake before my 4 year old.
This girl loves to eat.
Before the celebration was over, we attempted to get a family picture. All I wanted was four people looking at the camera at the same time.
Maybe we should have attempted this before the sugar high set in.
Now, my four year old. Four sucks. Two was manageable- distraction worked really well for Marion and she never had huge tantrums. Three was a little harder but bribery worked wonders. Four. Wow. Well, Marion has always been confident, independant, and social. She is an outgoing person and knows what she wants and isn't afraid to say so. But it was manageable until a couple of days after her fourth birthday. Then a switch went off and from that point on, it's been difficult. Imagine Brian or I asking her to do something and one of two things happening:
1- She will ignore you.
2- She will tell you no, I don't want to.
It makes me want to tear my hair out.
However, aside from her asserting her independance, she continues to be super sweet. She enjoys talking to people, says hi to everyone, and is kind to others (she told me she liked my jacket the other day). Half the time I wonder where she comes up with the things she says; the other half I wish she would just settle down for a second!
Sooner or later, we will figure out a way to handle her asserting her independance. Or we won't and she will walk all over us for the rest of her life. I hope it is the former :)
So here's to you, my four year old with a mind of her own! We love you!
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Grilling it up in the sun.
One of our favorite things to do here when it is nice is to grill out at Park Im Gruene. So when the weather was nice for TWO WHOLE DAYS in a ROW(!!!!), we decided we must get out of the house and enjoy the sun.
So, off to the park we went. Lucky us, it was bounce day at the park so it was complete and utter madness.
We got there early enough (9:50 am) to grab a picnic table and get on the grill first. Do not, I repeat, do not go to the park late on a Saturday or Sunday. Especially on bounce day. Spots will be few and far between.
But we got there early and had a wonderful time.
Marion on one of the bounce houses.
Marion and her friend Starla with happy faces (Park Im Gruene has these chairs for use for free. I told you this place rocked!)
Digging in to the spread.
Betti and Jet in their swim gear.
Marion, ready to spray anyone in her path.
Betti, not as thrilled as Marion to be in the water.
Betti hightailed it out of there.
My girls.
Lounging.
Ahhhh, it makes me sad to see that the weather forecast is for rain for the next week. No more rain, please!!!!!!!
So, off to the park we went. Lucky us, it was bounce day at the park so it was complete and utter madness.
We got there early enough (9:50 am) to grab a picnic table and get on the grill first. Do not, I repeat, do not go to the park late on a Saturday or Sunday. Especially on bounce day. Spots will be few and far between.
But we got there early and had a wonderful time.
Marion on one of the bounce houses.
Marion and her friend Starla with happy faces (Park Im Gruene has these chairs for use for free. I told you this place rocked!)
Digging in to the spread.
Betti and Jet in their swim gear.
Marion, ready to spray anyone in her path.
Betti, not as thrilled as Marion to be in the water.
Betti hightailed it out of there.
My girls.
Lounging.
Ahhhh, it makes me sad to see that the weather forecast is for rain for the next week. No more rain, please!!!!!!!
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Wasserauen-Ebenalp and the Seealpsee: our Saturday hike.
I've heard rumors that the Swiss hiking times and classifications are exaggerated, usually against you. Despite knowing that, I've been wanting to try out hike #2 for awhile. The summary said easy, and although it said steep in some portions I figured we (read: Brian) could just carry Marion for those portions.
We totally underestimated this hike. While it is easy for adults, not so much with kids. And "steep in portions" is actually about 50% steep.
Despite that, we went with some friends, completed the hike, and had a lovely day. The weather was perfect, the kids helped each other along, and it was a perfect way to spend a Saturday.
We began our day with a cable car ride up (take your half fare card if you have one, they accept it).
Once at the top we admired the view, tried to count how many people were going to paraglide (a ton), and started on our way down to the Wildkirchli cave.
The cave wasn't far from Ebenalp. Marion LOVED the cave but was sad that her friend, the big hungry bear, wasn't there.
After the cave there has a little hut and church followed by Ascher, a small guesthouse and restaurant.
We stopped there for a short snack and then continued down towards the Seealpsee where we planned to have lunch.
This was the steep part. Doable with kids, but proceed with caution!
Towards the end of the steep portion of our hike, we came upon a turnstile. In the middle of the woods.
I got nothing. If you know why this is sitting in the middle of a hiking path, please share!
My favorite part of this portion of our hike was when Marion's fear of ants (came out of nowhere) sent her into hysterical fits that made it impossible for her to walk. We took turns to try to console her, reason with her, move her along, but this girl was so over the edge nothing really worked. Finally the ants subsided and she was back to her old self. Finding a flower patch helped.
Eventually we made our way to the Seealpsee Gasthaus, settled in with drinks, and let the kids play on the playset.
Happy kids with ice cream!
Have I mentioned how gorgeous it was? I can see why the Swiss spend all of their time outside when the weather is nice.
We left the Seealpsee and continued down to the cable station. On our way, we realized that there were a TON of paragliders above us.
Yes, those aren't birds. Those are all paragliders! Insane.
We were not 10 minutes down from where we had lunch when Marion announced that she had to go pee. Brian helped her out and I just couldn't help but to document the process.
Sometimes it sucks being a girl. And poor Brian, Betti's on his head and Marion's taking her sweet time!
Betti finally passed out on the way down.
And then Marion decided she didn't want to walk. So Brian carried her on top of our sleeping baby.
What a man :)
The cherry on top of our day were the cows we ran in to at the end of our hike.
The one on the left checked out Brian's bum.
I'm not even lying.
It was a full day and the kids were pooped once we got back to our cars. So we left pretty quickly to get them home to bed. Great, great day. I hope for more of these in our future, if only the weather would cooperate!
We totally underestimated this hike. While it is easy for adults, not so much with kids. And "steep in portions" is actually about 50% steep.
Despite that, we went with some friends, completed the hike, and had a lovely day. The weather was perfect, the kids helped each other along, and it was a perfect way to spend a Saturday.
We began our day with a cable car ride up (take your half fare card if you have one, they accept it).
Once at the top we admired the view, tried to count how many people were going to paraglide (a ton), and started on our way down to the Wildkirchli cave.
The cave wasn't far from Ebenalp. Marion LOVED the cave but was sad that her friend, the big hungry bear, wasn't there.
After the cave there has a little hut and church followed by Ascher, a small guesthouse and restaurant.
We stopped there for a short snack and then continued down towards the Seealpsee where we planned to have lunch.
This was the steep part. Doable with kids, but proceed with caution!
Towards the end of the steep portion of our hike, we came upon a turnstile. In the middle of the woods.
I got nothing. If you know why this is sitting in the middle of a hiking path, please share!
My favorite part of this portion of our hike was when Marion's fear of ants (came out of nowhere) sent her into hysterical fits that made it impossible for her to walk. We took turns to try to console her, reason with her, move her along, but this girl was so over the edge nothing really worked. Finally the ants subsided and she was back to her old self. Finding a flower patch helped.
Eventually we made our way to the Seealpsee Gasthaus, settled in with drinks, and let the kids play on the playset.
Happy kids with ice cream!
Have I mentioned how gorgeous it was? I can see why the Swiss spend all of their time outside when the weather is nice.
We left the Seealpsee and continued down to the cable station. On our way, we realized that there were a TON of paragliders above us.
Yes, those aren't birds. Those are all paragliders! Insane.
We were not 10 minutes down from where we had lunch when Marion announced that she had to go pee. Brian helped her out and I just couldn't help but to document the process.
Sometimes it sucks being a girl. And poor Brian, Betti's on his head and Marion's taking her sweet time!
Betti finally passed out on the way down.
And then Marion decided she didn't want to walk. So Brian carried her on top of our sleeping baby.
What a man :)
The cherry on top of our day were the cows we ran in to at the end of our hike.
The one on the left checked out Brian's bum.
I'm not even lying.
It was a full day and the kids were pooped once we got back to our cars. So we left pretty quickly to get them home to bed. Great, great day. I hope for more of these in our future, if only the weather would cooperate!
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