Daddy's Birthday

Today we celebrated Rob's birthday. We now have 3 winter birthdays in our family. It's great because they provide a nice distraction from those cold, dreary months. I made Rob a "Velodrome cake". For all you non-cycling enthusiasts, a velodrome is an indoor biking center where cyclist ride around an oval bowl-shaped track. You can't see from this picture, but I purposefully "sank" this cake so that it took on the shape of a velodrome. I then used licorice to make the bike body, smarties and British smarties for the bike parts and a piece of cinnamon gum for the seat. The wafers are supposed to represent bleachers. Anyhow, the cake looked a little crazy, but tasted great. It was chocolate with carmelized butter icing -- great combination. Unfortunately, I didn't get great pics of the birthday night because I lost my camera. These are from Anna's camera.

The velodrome cake masterpiece.

Mariah helped Daddy blow out the candles. She and Anna are both very excited by birthdays and insist on helping with all aspects -- cake decorating (and snitching), crown-making, balloon-blowing, etc.

Tyler mostly slept through the whole celebration. But he looked really cute in his little "Swiss cow" outfit. The girls gave him a stuffed cow when he was born, and Mariah makes sure he takes it with him everywhere.

A Frosty Trip to Appenzell

The Appenzeller region of Switzerland is not just known for it's cheese -- but also because it's the heart of "cow" Switzerland -- the part full of rolling hills and cows on cowbells, made famous by the book "Heidi". We thought we'd explore the region a bit while Grandma Judie was here. Unfortunately, the day we went, it was FREEZING cold. We made it to the town of Appenzell, but all we wanted to do was stay inside the shops. The Folk museum there was quite interesting and had really elaborate costumes from the region. I really wanted to buy a darling fondue pot from one of the touristy stores, but I controlled myself for now. I definitely have to buy a real Swiss pot sometime before we leave.

Here we are, freezing to death. Notice, poor Tyler is in a pinkish-mauve snowsuit. I didn't want to waste money on a a new boy snowsuit that would only be used a couple months -- so the poor booy has to wear mauve. (Fortunately, after this, a friend of mine lent me a tan and blue one.)

Christina's Birthday Party

Anna's and Mariah's neighbor friend, Christina, had a birthday party at Planeta Magic, a favorite play place for the girls. Not only did they get to romp around in balls, they also got to eat junkfood and cake! I got to go too and enjoy myself while Rob's mom watched Tyler. What a treat!

All the fatty hotdogs and crisps you can eat!

Here is the Birthday Queen for a Day!

Daytrip to Luzern

Luzern, one of the most visited towns in Switzerland is just 35 minutes from our place. We finally decided to check it out. Of course, we had to get Tyler all bundled up for his first extended adventure into the cold Swiss winter.

Luzern is picturesque -- even in the cold, gray winter. It sits right on a lake and is full of old Swiss buildings.

Grandma and Mariah enjoyed walking along the Luzern lakefront.

Anna Claire got a bit tired of the cold and jumped into the stroller under a blanket to warm up. They are standing in one of Luzern's famous wooden bridges. They are full of beautiful paintings from the 1700's. Unfortunately, the bridge caught fire a few years ago, which scorched many of the original pantings. You can see where parts have been replaced with new wood.

Mariah enjoyed all the love and attention from Grandma as well.

A few days later, while Anna Claire was in pre-school, Grandma, Mariah, Tyler and I made a little trip to Rapperswil, a cute little cobble-stoned town across Lake Zurich.

Hanging out with Grandma Judie

Grandma Judie came to relieve me for a couple weeks after my mom left. She was such a great help! She absolutely adores newborns and has become an expert on anything concerning newborns -- feeding, burping, swaddling, etc. She is actually known in the family as the burp-nazi -- she is so insistent on getting babies to burp so their tummies don't hurt later--very helpful. Tyler felt right at home with her.

Of course, Anna and Mariah adored having Grandma Judie around too. She brought Valentines and cupcake decorations from the U.S. and the girls had a Valentines party. Mmmmm, mmmmm good!