April - May 2007 Springtime in Switzerland

This Spring has been absolutely gorgeous. The flowers are in full bloom along the lake and pastures and vineyards couldn't be more green. We've done lots of biking trips -- especially up to Lac de Joux. Rob rides the 60K up and down the mountain pass and I meet him at the lake where Rob pulls the girls and I follow him. (It evens us out!)

Hangin' out on Lake GenevaPicnicking at Lac de Joux The Morges Tulip Festival -- right across the street from our apartment!Check it out Mommy! Tulips!Mmmm. . . they smell sooo good!Anna Claire with her friends, the LynchesOh what do you do in the summertime when all the grass is green?Rob zooming along in the Lausanne velodrome (he's the higher one). Go Daddy go!Anna Claire's music class. Although she may appear bored in this photo, she LOVES it!"Shake, shake, shake your eggs"Hanging out with the sister missionaries and Anna's church friend, Mael.Anna thinks she owns this helicopter at the grocery store.FAMILY TIME - jumping on the bed!Daddy and his two girls!Hi everybody!I love my baby sister!

ANNA CLAIRE'S 2nd BIRTHDAY

I'm the birthday princess!

Mommy made me a beautiful ladybug cake.Here's a close-up. Mommy's proud of it -- with her limited resources here. Mmmm, that cake was delicious!Check out all my presents!Mariah's having a grand old time!Anna Claire's big birthday gift. She's not too sure about the pedals!

THE PAPILLON (BUTTERFLY) GALLERY

We went on a little family outing to a Butterfly Gallery near Neuchatel. Anna couldn't get enough of it!

April 2007 - Viva España!

In April, we set out on our first big road trip since Mariah was born -- to the Costa Brava in Spain. On the way we stopped in Carcassone, a gigantic medieval fortress town in southern France. What a fun place -- especially for a 2-year-old! The Spain part of our trip was a little disappointing. (It was nice, however, to be in a country where we could actually speak the language!) We had planned on cycling a lot, but it rained every day so we didn't get much biking in. In fact, we ended up leaving a couple days early so that we could do some biking in the glorious sunshine bathing Switzerland. We did get one nice hour or so at the beach and did a couple fun day trips into Barcelona.

CARCASSONE

Here we are in front of the huge fortress town.

This photo illustrates what I spend my time doing in most castles -- feeding Mariah.

Anna Claire had the time of her life running around the place.
BARCELONA

La Sagrada Família -- Gaudí's famous cathedral that is still only half-built. We came on Palm Sunday, so the front side was packed. This is the back. It is impressively vertical from afar, but up close I could only think of Hell melting. Family picture again, but as in most, Mariah is in the back of the stroller.Parc Guell - Gaudí's experimental park. Lots of fascinating architecture and a place for Anna Claire to run around.Hi guys! Here I am! Mariah loves this place too!Hmm, let's see if I can move this.Ooomph!Whew, this is hard work! Now this is more like it!At the Barcelona Aquarium. Hi fishies!Check me out on this giant turtle! I liked this place so much, Mommy and Daddy almost lost me, several times!Oooh, shark!

COSTA BRAVA

Our one sunny hour at the beach. . . We stopped at the Salvador Dali Museum on the way home. Fascinating, but our tour was quick because the kids had a meltdown in the middle of it.

March 2007

It's March and Spring is in the air. My cousin David, our closest relative (distance-wise) drove down from Belgium with his girlfriend, Tatiana. We had a great time toodling about Morges. Anna Claire, Mariah and I have been having lots of adventures while Daddy has been working hard. We go on long walks along the lake and do playdates and music class with friends.

The Happy Family!

My cousin, Dave and me. I always LOVE seeing him. Such an adventurous guy! (btw, check out that wind!)

Anna Claire digging up buried treasure along Lake Geneva's beach.

Mariah is just happy to chill out in the back of the stroller (for now).

Anna Claire hangin' out on the back porch with her friend Mason.

"Mom, if Mariah is going to play under here, I am too."

Check me out -- I'm a chubby one!

Please, please pretty please! How can one resist such a face?

Ooooh yeah!

I'm finally back out on my bike again and I'm loving it! Switzerland is an ideal place to bike with kids. The vineyards, pastures and cornfields around our home contain a gigantic web of paved roads -- with no traffic except the occasional tractor. We love it and the kids do too. They get to see cows, horses and chickens along the way -- not to mention CASTLES.

February 2007 - Life with Two Kids

In February, after both Grandmas left and I had no help, reality set in. The picture below represents our crazy lives right now -- Anna Claire getting into who-knows-what, Mariah spitting up and Rob and I just trying to keep a smiling face. You gotta love it!

We love our girls!

Here's little Mariah -- all in blue!

Me, the Mom, in front of Lake Geneva with my Phil & Ted's stroller. Mariah is actually lying down in the back. Love it! Love it! I shop with it, jog with it, do everything with it.

VALENTINES DAY!

Anna Claire got a big package from her Aunt Cathy (Anna's favorite babysitter from EDH). She sent her a new addition -- Baby Ca-Ca, to join Anna's other dog Ca-Ca.

ROB'S BIRTHDAY - FEBRUARY 20

So I made a delicious American cake mix (doctored up) chocolate cake for Rob's birthday. Anna Claire had been waiting for the big birthday celebration all day. She helped me with the balloons and the cake. After dinner, we got out the cake and were all set to go when I ran back to get the camera. As I ran back to the table, it slipped out of my hand and dropped onto our hardwood floor. Both Rob and I were examining the damage and completely forgot about Anna Claire. Suddenly we both looked up to see Anna Claire digging her fists into the chocolate cake. She just couldn't wait any longer! Needless to say, she was a mess! I did manage to fix the camera long enough to get some cute pics (albeit blurry because I messed up the lens)!

Mariah Madeleine at about 7 weeks. Isn't she a cutie?!