Week by week 35

(February 21-27) It has been seriously FREEZING here! Needless to say we have been staying indoors. James needs some creative outlets and I try to accommodate him but he has never left that everything-goes-in-the-mouth stage. That makes it hard to get out lots of crafting supplies because he often just chews on them and that really kinda bugs me a lot! Well, I finally found something that he can ruin and I don't seem to care. Watercolors. They are so easy to just wash off! This week we did a bit of painting. He ended up taking all the little paint buckets out and stacking them into a "temple" which he loves doing with most anything that is remotely stackable. Sometimes he stacks castles and towers too.
As you can see Bubba got a lot more paint on himself (right around his mouth!) than on the paper. These are the times when I love my removable shower nozzle that I can just take down and use as a huge hose on him! Oh, and he gets such a kick out of seeing himself in the mirror prior to the clean up. He really loves being that messy! (Except he does not like to be sticky or to have boogers dripping down his face. yea!)
Now you are going to have to enjoy some random pics from this week. Johnny-Lu continues to move like crazy. He perfected pulling up and started working on cruising around the furniture.
I'm not sure why but every time I see a pic of James running it makes me happy. He loves to run and jump. I hope it makes you happy to see him so happy too!
These are his "frog-on-my-bump" jammies. I think it is really a grasshopper but James believes it is a frog.
We go out as often as possible and visit the local indoor play places. This is why.
Luckily, it is washable kids paint but I did get pretty irritated that the pink was wasted (I even tried to scrape it back into the bottle). These paints are now safely 7 feet off the floor. Even I have to climb to get to them. Bubba is very resourceful and now I generally keep the chairs stacked on the table when I have to do anything like feed the baby or clean (doesn't happen too often). Ready for a hose down! I think we go through 2 and sometimes 3 outfits every day!

Johnny-Lu is so darn fun right now (except when he thinks he is starving and I don't immediately drop everything to feed him). Unfortunately his cuteness is being marred by many little bruises from falling down a lot. Notice the two straight bruises that he got from taking a head dive onto the t.v. stand (the corners are covered but not the straight edges). Still though, isn't he adorable despite the bruises? Just eating some avocado mixed with home-made rice cereal. Yum!We also FINALLY made it to the Swiss Temple on Saturday. It was a most glorious day! The work was great and we traded babysitting with our friends which worked out great for us and not at all for them. Their car had trouble on the way so my friend went into the temple alone while her husband dealt with the car people. I felt bad that they didn't get to go in together. Don't you love the blue sky we enjoyed?
On the way home, James fell asleep. He woke up about 10 min before we got home. It was not a pleasant 10 minutes. At all. He was very mad! I think me taking pictures made it worse.
But it was worth it to go here. (And that is saying a lot coming from me, the mega nap stickler).
Saturday Johnny-Lu turned 8 months old. He is getting a bit difficult to pose properly for his monthly photos. As you can see he is too busy to stop for a photo with a monkey. (Don't worry the scrub brush is one that I bought as a toy for James' little kitchen and so it is clean).I can't believe how much faster the time goes with the second kid! Next up: Johnny-Lu's 8 month pics!

The Cow Festival

On October 3rd, before the break of day, I dropped my mom off at the airport to fly home. Then I went home and went back to bed. Then....we got up to see...the cows come down from the mountains at the St. Cergue Cow Festival (not sure if that is an official name but that is what I'm calling it). It rocked!! They make a super big deal out of the whole thing. There are numerous cow festivals all over Switzerland but this is the one that is closest to us. They decorate the cows with flowers and HUGE bells.Then they parade them down the road with no barriers between the cows and the people (keep an eye on your little ones). There was poop all over the place and noise and food and friends. What else could we ask for?
Check out the video. The cows were really right in front of us and it was super LOUD. James was totally enthralled!


Watching the cows parade.
There was a "band" of cow bell players. They each carried an enourmous cow bell and went clanging down the street with an ancient old guy waving the Swiss flag behind them.
James got his own cow bell. Can you tell he is super excited? Actually, Brian was probably more excited about buying it for him.
They had the big horn blowing people do a little concert. (It is late and I can't remember what these are called. Swiss horns?) Anyway, it was cool.
They had some traditional Swiss dancing.


We had a bit of lunch with our friends and played at the park. They also had a parade of their tractors and then set them out for the kids to climb all over them. James liked that part a lot.
John-Luke slept most of the time!
I ran over a mega pile of poop with the stroller (not on purpose) (Brian cleaned it up). They also had some ponys and cows out for everyone to come look at. James petting the pony.
And they had a few kiddy rides set up that James could not resisit and Brian couldn't say "no."
Needless to say, James was asleep about 3 minutes after getting in the car. Yes, that is Swiss chocolate all over his face!
We will definitely be doing that festival again next year! It was a blast!

Yvoire with my mom

On September 28th my mom and I decided to take a little day trip. It is a day trip that I have done once before with some friends here. Basically, we drove to Nyon, Switzerland and got on a boat (Barely made it. Had to buy the tickets on the boat.) to Yvoire, France. Yvoire is across the lake from Nyon and so it is only a 20 minute boat ride. It was a perfect day! Here we are on the boat. My attempt at a "self-portrait" with James. An even worse attempt with my mom in the picture. Do you like the view up my nose? At least my mom looks good.
Lukey-Lu is just happy to be alive and along for the ride. Seriously, he was very good the whole time. I was shocked!
James and my mom looking at Yvoire as the boat is about to dock. James loved exploring the boat. He loved the horn and the huge ropes. And the French and Swiss flags.
Just off the boat and James is already straining to get out of his stroller. The flowers were just beautiful. Yvoire is known for having amazing flowers/gardens.
More flowers.
Just outside the mideval city. Inside the walls it is a pedestrian only area (exept for locals). The wall was originally built in the 1300's.
Just an example of what the village looks like. Beautiful old buildings (I mean really old) and lots of flowers.
We got to Yvoire at about 10:45 and just looked around for a bit (and shopped a bit). Then we bought some bread and cheese at a little shop and had that for lunch. It was good. J-L decided he would be kind enough to sleep for a while during lunch so that we could all eat.
James trying to climb a tree like the "big" kids.
After lunch we wandered some more and checked out the churchwhich was my first time. There is a map inside that you can put a sticker on to say where you are from. We were not the first from SLC or Dallas on the map. Then we wandered down to the lake where James and my mom fed some swans and I fed John-Luke.
More feeding the swans.
My mom and the lake. The shoreline in the background is Switzerland.
Me and my boys.
My mom with the chateau which dates back to the 1300's and is still a private residence. Not open to the public. When it comes up for sale I'm going to buy it. Unfortunately it has been in the same family for almost 400 years. Figures.
James having a refreshing drink of eau potable.
More flowers.
Please, do not disturb.
Waiting at the dock for the boat.
A particularly bad attempt at a "self-portrait."
We took the 1:45 boat back across the lake. The view as we were leaving.
It was a bit windy on the boat ride back.
After we got back to the car, James was asleep before we even made our first turn. J-L did great and it was an awesome day! Oh, and Thanks, Mom, for the great souvenir! Come back soon!

Gruyeres

Well, I thought I would finally post a bit about my mom's second stay here in Switzerland. We got home and crashed. It took a long time to adjust but we did it and by Saturday we were feeling up for a day trip to Gruyeres. It is a little village in the mountains in Switzerland where much amazing cheese is made. The kind of cheese they make is called Gruyeres. Yes, they have a habit of naming cheese after the place it comes from. Here is my mom and me posing at the bottom of a tall hill that the town is actually located in. You can't drive up to the town (that is common here). You have to park and walk a little ways (not a lot). It was a most amazing day. Perfect weather and temperature.James and Brian when we finally got to the top. I wish the pictures could do this view justice. It was BEAUTIFUL!
Brian and I (a rare non-self portrait of us) standing outside the chateau wall.
James and Brian inside the courtyard of the chateau.
This was the best picture of all of us together. Can you see why I desperately need a new camera?
A view of the surrounding area from a balcony on the chateau.
Looking the other direction. And, yes, there were cowbells clanging in the background.
The best picture of the chateau that I got. Doesn't do it justice at all.
Me in the gardens. The flowers were beautiful and blooming still. I think that Switzerland has the longest growing season ever. It seems like almost anything can grow well here.
Brian helping James quench his thirst. James usually becomes suddenly parched whenever we see a drinking fountain.
Gruyeres is a most picturesque little town. Of course, I kind of think that about all of the places I visit here. It has cobblestone streets and lovely flowers everywhere and plenty of shopping and yummy eating. Can't beat it! My momma and an angelic John-Luke cuddled up and sleeping.
Leaving the chateau grounds.
My two "big boys"
I have to say that I LOVED GRUYERES! It was a beautiful place. We had an awesome time. The kids even cooperated (miracle). We had an awesome lunch of fondue and raclette and I even got a little souvenir. What more could I ask for? And it is only a couple hours from home.