BIRTHDAY SEASON

It's always that darn intriguing paper...

The big ONE

On a boat ride with Grandpa on Lake Walensee

All of our birthdays are in late spring and summer.  Luke kicks off what we have deemed "birthday cake season" at the end of March and the rest of us celebrate in May, June and July.  It is also notable that if Chris "healthy" Courts has a nutritional achilles heel, birthday cake it is…so we all enjoy our cake that much more as we watch him truly enjoy a dessert.  With my Dad in town to add another birthday celebration to the roster (the day before Levi's), we pull a double header as we celebrate Grandpa Bruce turning 61 (hope you don't mind I put your age in here, Dad) on the 7th and our little prince Levi Ryder turning the big ONE on the 8th!!!  

Of the birthdays I've shared with my Dad, one of my favorites was when I turned 21 camping with my parents in the Grand Tetons.  My dad made me a G and T neat, and we enjoyed it watching a breathtaking sun set light up the sky over the mountain peaks.  Being able to grill up a tasty birthday dinner for my dad on our deck--looking out at the sunset light reflecting off of the Swiss Alps--has now been added to my list of birthday favorites shared with him.  I love you, Dad!  Thanks for being the person you are and the best Dad a girl (or five) could have.

As for the littlest man in my life, I have been caught off guard with how emotional I feel to see my last baby leave behind babyhood.  Levi is our sweetie.  He is pretty quiet, very flexible (with his first passport stamp at 5 months and A LOT of traveling since then I guess he has to be).  He LOVES to go places (he gets so excited if we say the word bye-bye, picture a dog catching a glimpse of his leash in anticipation of a walk).  His favorite toy is a ball--any ball.  He will toss them, chase them, even kick them for minutes on end…which is saying something for a one year old.  His hair is crazy out of control, but so wispy and blonde I can't bring myself to cut it.  He tends to be shy, but did relish in the spotlight as we sang him happy birthday.  He just didn't seem to know what to do with himself, but he was all smiles and a bit bashful.  He was scared to touch the sprinkles on his birthday cake, and would only eat the cake-no frosting!  It has been a fast year, little man.  But we are so glad you are a part of our lives.  You bring us so much happiness and a lot of laughs.  We love you, Levi!

WELCOME TO SWITZERLAND MOM AND DAD--TAKE TWO!!

After such a disappointing first 10 days of my parent's trip (due to the weather and two rounds of the stomach flu)  we were determined to make up for it and see as much of this little gem of a country (when the weather cooperates) as we could.  Over the next 11 days we accomplished driving three awe-inspiring mountain passes (spanning the entire central and southern section of the country), hiked along two gorgeous mountain lakes (Wallensee and Sisikon), saw and hiked along the longest glacier in Switzerland (the Aletsch Glacier), took a cogwheel train up to see the most famous peak of the Alps and enjoy some hiking (the Matterhorn), enjoyed a boat ride, toured two castles in Belinzona (in Ticino-the Italian speaking region of the country), revisited Luzern for a tour of it's old town and Cathedral, and finally toured home base-our amazing Zurich.  Phew.  I really think we made up for our slow start.  What I was most impressed with was my parent's willingness to just be spontaneous.  We stayed in what are called "zimmer freis", which are little bed and breakfasts.  They are privately owned by individual couples who rent out rooms for very reasonable rates.  They have bathrooms that the hallway shares, but here in tidy Switzerland I was pretty convinced that the floors of the first two places we stayed were cleaner than my own kitchen floor.  Even better, a homemade breakfast is included.  It makes for a very "locally flavored" way to see the country.  We were brave enough to book them on the run and were pleased every time!  

It felt good to see my parents…and, traveling with four extra hands to help with the kids was such a treat!  It really made sightseeing much more relaxing for Chris and I.  Above all though, my parents spoiled me with being tremendously helpful around the apartment.  It was profoundly evident how much they love me as they did everything they could to give me a break from my daily routine.  They were super-grandparents with the boys: playing, reading, doing crafts and teaching them how to birdwatch (among countless other nature-oriented activities).  They did tons of laundry, all of the dishes, and helped me clean the whole place more than once.  They helped me shop for groceries, and changed dirty diapers, and watched the boys so I could run some errands on my own.  And before they left, they took care of the boys so Chris and I could take a trip, sans kids, to Paris (more on THAT in a later post).  What a gift.  To lend insight to just how generous it was of them, it is important to note that Levi was: a) teething like crazy, and b) not yet fully weened.  For anyone who has spent time with a twelve month old who is going through weening AND teething, you realize that it is only your own mother who would volunteer to care for your baby during such a time and STILL manage to be supportive and encouraging of a trip.  Thanks so much, Mom and Dad!!