Superman

Here's a pic of Kai this morning, wearing a shirt that was Iain's when he was little. Isn't he cute?? =)

A day in Switzerland

Last night, Heidi and I had dinner in the strong gusts of an approaching storm. My fitnessteller almost blew away! Heidi is a friend of Allison and I from Allison's past life living in Zurich.

In the square at Rapperswil.

The fortress in Rapperswil, across the Zurichsee from Altendorf.

We stumbled across a boy's tournement of Swiss Alpine Wresting, called a "Schwingfest." About 100 competitors each fight six rounds on a thick bed of sawdust, all with the ambiance of blaring Swiss traditional accordion music called "laendler." The looser brushes the sawdust off the winner. For a video, see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HL0gjLk3-0E to watch Heidi's sister's boyfriend, named Reto (the wrestler wearing all white).

Cow bells are the prizes for the four top winners. Heidi's nephew Cornel won second-place in the competition.

The other prizes earned by the four top winners are adult rabbits (who end up invited to family dinner).

A ski-jumping venue with no snow. This isn't an impediment to the Swiss. They ski on top of astro-turf at 90km/hr. I didn't try because I wanted to come home in one-piece.

A welcoming cow.

Heidi, a living stereotype of true "Swissness" at her family's farm, where she grew up.

A Blast from the Past

This is from November 2008 when Audrey was 21 months old.

Thanks to Grandma for capturing this!

For Iain

Here's a little glimpse into your old life, dear. =)

For all others, this is Iain's last takeoff from San Diego.

Classic

I put the girls to bed last night and laid down between them while they went to sleep. Audrey was asleep in less than 30 seconds. Ten minutes later, pitch black, no movement, I hear a loud whisper:

Avery: Mommy! Mommy!
Me: Yes Avery.
Avery: At Germany, where Daddy has his work, um, maybe there's a pizza store and maybe Daddy's going to bring pizza home to our house.
Me: Yes, maybe Avery. I love you!

That girl can really make me smile!!

Jumping and Breath-Holding

So you can obviously see where we're spending most of our time this week! =)

Here's a video from yesterday afternoon of the girls jumping off the step in the pool and then Audrey jumping off the edge with her floaties. Believe me, this is a BIG deal! Also a video from this morning of her putting her face in the water for a couple of seconds. Also, a BIG deal, since before today she wouldn't put her face under the water for more than about a millisecond. Both of these things she started doing by herself without me asking her to try it, which is the third BIG deal of this posting. =)

The Girls Swimming

From this morning. Audrey's getting more confident in the water without her floaties, though today she has reverted to more pushing and less swimming. Still, great progress!