Life Got Busier.

We seem to have lost that slow pace of life we were enjoying so much. This Fall, we have:

• 3 kids playing for the local football (soccer) club
• 2 kids playing on the school football (soccer) team
• 1 child playing on the school uni-hockey team
• 1 child wait listed for a dance class

Balancing practices, games, and other commitments is challenging with one car, distances to travel, and language barriers. But, a hectic life also shows that we are settled and enjoying life to its fullest. It should be a great sports season. C.J., with his beloved coach from last year, and Brendan, with a new coach, both have coaches who take the time to translate pertinent instructions and make the boys feel a part of the team. Abbie is one of two girls on her team, and her practice is conducted entirely in German (or Swiss German). She noticed the lack of girls first and the lack of English second. I'm not sure if that supports my theory that she doesn't listen half the time or just goes to show that young kids don't need verbal communication to follow instructions and make friends.

In other news, Brendan spent the weekend building a robot to deliver a soda from the kitchen to John on the couch. Of course, in the amount of time it took to program the robot, he could have delivered about 1,000 sodas, but no one cared to hear my statistics.





Today, Brendan brought home a trumpet from school. Ever the supportive parent, I told him that I guaranteed he'd get better over the next few days. Being a smart cookie, he asked, "Why?" and I was forced to answer, "Because it can't get much worse."




There was a bit of stress yesterday when Abbie lost the first of two front teeth. You see, picture day is tomorrow, and while two missing teeth look adorable, I was a bit worried that one missing tooth looked a bit.... shall we say Hick? Abbie was delighted to lose the second tooth tonight, and I'm excited that she'll sport this adorable smile for school pictures this year.

1st Day of School

It's that time of year again when mothers cheer, 7th graders groan, 2nd graders wear the perfect back to school outfit and hair do while striking a pose, and 4th graders reorganize chairs in the classroom so that all the boys are together and there aren't any "girl cooties" too close.





A year makes a big difference. All the kids happily greeted friends and exchanged "Where did you go this summer?" stories. It was just like home, but with an international flair, as these classmates had spanned the globe, traveling to India, Italy, Russia, Sweden, the USA, and too many other countries to count. (My own three hit Switzerland, England, Denmark, Norway, Germany, Russia, Estonia, Sweden, U.S.A., and Ireland this summer. Not a bad travel schedule!) It was a busy day for me as well. I met a friend for tea, recruited class parents for all my kids' classes, and hurried home to bake chocolate chip cookies as an after school snack. Now, I'm off to a "Yippee! They're gone!" lunch with some girlfriends.



She doesn't seem nearly as old as C.J. at the same age. My baby is growing up!

CA Trip

We had a fabulous vacation in California. The kids loved being able to relax with friends and family, with no pressure for "excursions."

The four amigos at Shadow Cliffs:

I guess it's as close as we'll get to a beach vacation this year. The kids are already wondering when we can go to Mexico again.

Without a friend at Shadow Cliffs, Abbie entertained Elaine and I with her many faces.


C.J. was able to golf with Troy:

Troy offered to loan C.J. some clubs when we mentioned that C.J.'s clubs were in Switzerland. I asked if they were left-handed, and his mom said no. Imagine her surprise when I turned to C.J. and asked, "Are you OK with the right-handed clubs?" C.J. said it worked out fine. It must be nice. I can't even imagine if I tried to golf left-handed. Then again, it might actually improve my game! They played at a local par-3 course. I think C.J. appreciated not having to wear a collared shirt, but he noticed a few differences from Castlewood.

We hosted swim afternoons at Castlewood:



Abbie was thrilled to be reunited with her best buddy from kindergarten. Our favorite thing about the vacation was watching the kids interact as if they had never been apart.

We had breakfast with Keegan, Conner, and the latest Locher - their nephew.



Somehow I got no pictures of our visit with the Heckmans or the San Jose Giants game with the Colemans. I guess I was having too much fun! Nor did I get pictures of our day at Christy's house (where I was really homesick for my own pool and backyard) and our lunch with Abbie's preschool friends. And to think I'm usually accused of taking too many pictures!

We loved seeing all of our friends. If we missed you this trip, we'll be back for Christmas!

In addition to friends, we had some great times with family.

The kids enjoyed time with their cousin.

Abbie read to her:


C.J. showed off his Mickey shirt:


and Brendan just loved sitting with her:


I was pretty happy that no limbs were torn off while they wrestled for who could hold the baby.

The boys ran with Gramps:

Yes, he's still running! I wonder if he thought he'd be trekking along this many years later when he started running at 40?



Abbie and I walked with Nana, but we didn't photograph the event.

We even managed to get in some culture by seeing Peter Pan:

As there was no photography during the show, you just get the outside shot. It was a great show. I highly recommend it if you're in SF (or it comes to a city near you). It's a bit like Cirque with an outdoor tent.

Other trip highlights for Abbie were seeing the Ramona and Beezus movie (even though it made her sob her little heart out) and getting a manicure/pedicure. The princess sure does like to be pampered! The boys had more sleepovers with Neil and Innes than I could track. They even spent the last night with them, which gave me a chance to have an almost adult-only meal with my parents. I'm not sure we'll be repeating the night-before-a-12-hour-flight sleepover in the near future, though.

Lest you think we didn't do our part to support the U.S. economy, we shopped at Target, Costco, Nordstrom, Macys, J. Jill, Gap, Kohls, Abercrombie, World of Shoes, Sephora, Apple, Borders, Best Buy, Old Navy, Safeway, and Amazon. And we ate. A lot. We hit up Taco Bell, Chipolte, Chevys, Panera, Erik's Delicafe, McDonalds, 7-Eleven, Panda, and McCoveys. We even exceeded our food and beverage minimum at Castlewood.

I asked the kids if the trip home met their expectations, and they said it "did all that and more." I was a bit worried about the next question, "How do you feel about going back to Switzerland?" but they all said they felt fine about going back. Phew. It's the best of both worlds when you can have a fabulous time at "home" in the US and look forward to returning to your Swiss home at the same time.

Even though the trip was relaxing, the kids are really enjoying having time this week with nothing to do at all. Isn't that what summer is about? I'm even getting a small preview of their teenage years. At least one child has slept past noon every day.