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!!

BARF-O-RAMA

Luke in his German speaking role

Warning *spoiler alert*…this post gets personal.  After trudging through rain and fog for the first week of my parents visit, we were all giddy with excitement at the thought of sunshine and mountain views...but the first sunny day also delivered a stomach virus to poor Luker. It hit him the night before his first German speaking part in his class play.  We thought at first it might be nerves, but as the night wore on we realized that it was indeed a very aggressive bug.  Although the virus hit him hard, it fortunately hit him fast, and he somehow rallied to recover enough to make his German theatrical debut.  As I watched him stand up there with perfect German coming out of his mouth I just had to smile with awe and pride. I couldn't believe that was my boy speaking fluent German-- it just seemed so surreal (and regretfully so confusing--I didn't have a clue what he was saying).  With Luke relieved to be through his performance, Chris scheduled to return to Switzerland from Korea, and the rest of us pumped to have sunny skies we planned our first mountain adventure.  But alas, our bad luck continued.  Chris arrived home with just enough time to take two sleeping pills in his attempt to get back on a normal sleeping schedule when the stomach virus hit the rest of us.  Within 15 minutes.  I've always wanted my husband to bond with my parents, but this was more than any of us could have bargained for.  With all four bathrooms being put to good use, poor Chris was left to manage a sick Levi AND Isaac as my parents and I had all we could handle trying to manage ourselves.  It was really a night from hell-the worst case scenario you just pray never happens.  And the only thing that kept me from crying was watching Chris tackle his worst nightmare (dealing with puke), half asleep (rubber gloves up to his elbows), soldiering through what must have been the most disappointing homecoming ever.  At one point with his eyes at half mast he mumbled, "this is a barf-o-rama, I'm so tired, I don't think I can do this".  But, he did in fact pull us all through.  His reward: waiting with the feeling of impending doom for the virus to hit him.  We calculated that it was roughly a 48 hour incubation period.  So, Chris bravely decided to come with us for a drive through the mountains and some easy "recovery" hiking to take his mind off of what was inevitably on it's way.  Our goal was to have him home BY the 46 hour mark.  He was a warrior, and pushed it to the limit…we were delayed in traffic, and Chris turned greener by the minute as I raced towards home.   We made it home at the "47:45 hour mark", and Chris was "man down" the minute we walked in the door.  Amazing, even the Swiss flu viruses are right on time!  I can only hope that after paying our dues of battling illness and braving the rain and cold, we are in for some excellent weather and healthy travels for the remainder of my parent's stay.