Heidelberg: The rest of the trip

I just realized that I never posted about the rest of our Heidelberg, just the chocolate store. Guess you can tell what I really enjoyed in that city!

After the chocolate store, we walked along the main street, stopping at various shops.


We found a great shop where you could make your own tourist shirt.

Marion chose hot pink with 'purple sparklies'.

After lunch Marion treated us to a game of 'yell as loud as you can in Betti's face'.
Unfortunately, Betti loves this game. Townes, our travel companion, did not. Marion slowly learned this over the course of our trip.

The following day we got lost but eventually made it to the Heidelberg Castle.

You could see portions of it without buying a ticket to the group tour but, unfortunately, could not see inside without that group tour. The group tour was 50 minutes long... we decided to not put Marion, or ourselves, through that torture.

However, you don't have to pay extra to see the big ass wine barrel at the castle. This thing holds 228,000 liters.

I wonder how many Marions that would be?

Other highlights of the castle: great views...


and a cool clock.


On our final day in town, we walked along the Philosopher's Walk. It was a beautiful day for a work out, I mean walk. But well worth it when we found our picnic spot.

The Philosopher's Walk is across the river from the castle and has great views as well.

I really enjoyed Heidelberg. It was nice to spend several days in one city and really get to know it. If you get the chance, go! And don't forget to swing by the chocolate shop.

When toddlers attack

She spots you.

She charges.






And then, when she is close enough, she falls into you with a fit of giggles.

Marion's world

Last night I bought some socks, brought them home, and asked Marion to put the pile on my bed.

She said she was counting them out.

Right now Marion's enjoying her lounge chair in the nice weather while Betti naps.

Strawberries and bubbles add that special touch. Unfortunately she has a special habit of shaking the bubbles bottle and spilling it everywhere.

That doesn't stop her from making it work.

Such a cutie, I wish she would look at me when she smiled once in awhile.

What is that about?

Gotta run, she's created a 'beach' outside and wants me to join her on the lounge chairs. She'll be the perfect spa partner one day!

Celebrate!

We had a small get together on Friday to celebrate Betti's first birthday.

First, Marion and I made cupcakes for Betti- green cake, pink icing, and sprinkles.

Next, Betti got dressed up in her birthday outfit and played with her friends.


And finally, Betti devoured a cupcake.


Maybe we'll get a better reaction from her after her next birthday cake?

Marion, on the other hand, loved the cupcakes. I think she had two, although she could have snuck some without me noticing. And when Brian got home, she shared his by taking the first bite. She managed to bite off the entire iced top half, stinker!

One year!

My littlest girl is one year old today!

She's gone from a blue baby, pissed at being in the world...

to an observant, inquisitive toddler running after her sister and parents.


Nothing about her pregnancy or birth was easy. She convinced us that even if we wanted to have a third child, there was no way we'd attempt it overseas again.

She's made up for her trying entrance by being a joy to be around. She loves "head kisses" (touching your forehead to hers), emptying the plastic recycling bag in our kitchen, and playing with her sister.

Until it goes too far.

She weighed 10.26 kilos (22.6 lbs) and was 79 cm (31 inches) long at the doctor's yesterday. According to her pediatrician, "A big girl!" She prefers vegetables to fruit and loves cheese and pasta. She has also been caught eating markers, chalk, and crayons.

Betti loves her bottle and is always coming up with new ways to get around while drinking it.

And she loves getting caught in the process.


We can't wait to see what she does next.

Happy Birthday Betti!

Has it really been a week already?

Wow, time flies when you are busy planning your life. Who am I kidding, we've been busy planning for the last several months. But while we've been planning for months, nothing was happening. I can plan with the best of them but I had to wait on alot of things. And, amazingly enough, everything happened in the last week.

Here's the rundown...

Brian's contract is officially up in a few months. We decided we would like to stay through the summer for various reasons and, last week, we received approval for that.

At the same time, we've tried our best to prepare for the move while we waited for approval. That has included looking at and applying to preschools for Marion, contacting our daycare provider for Betti, and looking for houses. We started the process for all of these way back in December and then...

On Wednesday we received word that Marion was accepted into our first choice preschool.

On Thursday we heard from our daycare provider who thinks she can accept Betti but will know more in July.

On Friday we put an offer on a house.

On Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday we negotiated with the sellers of the house.

On Wednesday we came to agreement and went under contract on the house.

It's amazing how everything came together all at once. Of course we are far from over but I won't bore you with all of the details of our move. But needless to say, I have several good reasons for not posting lately! And, while these developments have been excitement, sadness is always right there with it because each step is one step closer to leaving Switzerland and our friends. But I'm trying not to think about that right now... we still have a good amount of time here!

So what did you do this week?

Gentle Schmentle.

I'm throwing the word gentle out. My girls have fun without it.

Note: Betti's true reaction was so much better than what I caught on camera. She just gets a little distracted when there is a camera around. So take what you see here, multiply by about a thousand, and then you've got the insanity I witnessed today.