SALZBURG: Back at the Ranch

Back at the Kinderhotel, Rob and I enjoyed a nice, quiet dinner without the kids (except Baby Tyler). The kids got to eat pizza in the kids room tonight.

Rob and I then walked around the hills a bit with Tyler.

This is me after singing "The hills are alive. . ." so scenic with the snowy Alps in the background.

Our hotel gave us a gorgeous view of Salzburg. Can you believe we are actually in Germany? That whole scene of the Von Trapps hiking over the Alps to Switzerland was a crock -- they actually would have been hiking right into Germany near Hitler's Eagle's Nest hideout! Not a wise move.

Up and down the teeter totter with Tyler and Mariah. Daddy and Anna balanced out the other side.

I love this movement photo of Mariah on the merry-go-round.

Anna and Mariah ready for bed in their "car room".

Tyler etc.

Tyler has become such a wonderful baby! He had some feeding problems at first -- but now he does pretty well. He burps gigantic "manly" burps and spits up volcanoes, but other than that he is such a nice boy. He doesn't demand attention constantly and is often content playing with his little play gym. He loves to be tickled by the girls -- but they can go a little too far. Oh, the contented third child. Please let this continue!!!

We met some friends at the Rapperswil Zoo and Anna Claire just had to climb the giant whale.

Anna and her friend Joseph on top of the giant whale.

Across Lake Zurich to Rapperswil

Rob had never been to Rapperswil town (aside from the zoo) so we decided to take the boat across the lake on a little excursion. Here are the girls with Daddy on the boat. (They are becoming boat experts -- living next to Lake Geneva and now Lake Zurich.)

Our darling little Mork n' Mindy Mariah.

Rapperwil -- the view from the boat. It's quite a picturesque town -- but then there are lots of these in Switzerland.

Our picnic was not complete without some time on the funky merry go round.

Anna in front of the giant "A" right in the town center. A is for Anna!

The Diaper Cake

Okay, so I love to make and decorate cakes -- mostly because I love to eat them. Maybe that's why I've never tried a diaper cake before. But I'm hosting a shower for a friend who is having twins, and I thought it would be fun to make a diaper cake centerpiece. It actually was fairly easy to do. I watched a couple youtube videos and bought diapers, rubberbands, ribbon and some useful baby items like pacifiers, diaper creme, etc. The trick is to roll and rubberband each individual diaper, then rubberband together each layer of diapers. I held them together with two bottles full of candies (for the mom, not the babies, of course.) Check out the finished product below.

Anna Claire and Tyler

Anna Claire loves playing with little Tyler. She calls him her little "Boo boo". Don't ask me where she got the word. It is funny how kids relate to babies in the same way their parents do. She uses many of the same nicknames for Tyler that I do, and also the same phrases -- all in my tone of voice. I had better stop yelling at my kids or she'll start doing that. :)

Here's a great shot of the two of them snuggling in the morning.

March madness!

Okay, my life is always mad but it gets more mad when Rob leaves town. I do everything I can to make life fun for the kids (and me). That means outdoor trips -- especially now that the days are finally getting warmer and sunnier. We spent a fun afternoon with friends last week at the Wildlife Park Langenberg. They have loads of wild animals there -- deer, bears, boars, wolves, etc. It's only 20 minutes from our place. I can't believe I haven't been before!

Here are the girls comparing their sizes to bear sizes with their friend Joseph. (Kelsey's head is cut-off in the foreground -- sorry Jess, my photography isn't quite like yours.)

We also hiked around Halbinsel Au, a little peninsula that juts onto Lake Zurich not far from Waedenswil.

Although it looks deceptively warm, it was actually really cold outside. The girls were troopers for making the long walk.

Here is Mariah, on the other side of the peninsula, looking out toward Horgen.

It's clear days like this that make me so happy to be in Switzerland.

Here is Mariah trudging along at one of our favorite parks.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

It's St. Patrick's Day so the girls and I put together a last minute green meal topped off with our pot o'gold green cake. This cake isn't quite the masterpiece, but I was proud that I was able to make the rainbow from leftover m&m equivalents and the pot o'gold from leftover butterscotch chips and a chocolate bar. That thing in the right-hand corner was an attempt at a four-leaf clover.

We didn't have much green food around, but we had green napkins, green plates, green beans and green kiwis too.

When I tried to get the girls to pose for a shot -- they made little leprechaun faces instead.

A Trip to the Rapperswil Zoo

We decided to make a daytrip to the Rapperswil Zoo -- so that the girls could show Daddy all their favorite animals. (It was his first trip.) Our first stopping place was the giraffes.

"Kiss him, Mariah! Kiss him!"

"Hey you, want some popcorn." The best thing about this zoo is that it's a feeding zoo -- you buy popcorn and feed it to the animals.

Watching the camels. I don't think Anna Claire was even trying to kiss this one.

Mariah was a little shy with the petting part.

Both the girls love the pony rides. No fear!

She's the perfect equestrienne.

Mariah found a pony just perfect for her size!

Time for a little icecream break!

Yummy!

Bye bye! See you later!

Baby Tyler is Growing. . .

Baby Tyler is growing so quickly -- he's almost 2 months old. Time has been speeding by and I just realized that I've hardly taken any pictures of his growth. Poor third child. But he is growing so quickly -- and turning into quite the chubby one. He's very smiley -- as you can see. Anna Claire and Mariah dote on him.

The other day I was carrying on my usual running conversation with Tyler. "Here's your binky." Then in Tyler's voice, "Mommy, I don't really want it right now, I just want to play" etc. I do this with all my babies out of instinct or something. Anyhow, Anna Claire finally tells me, "Mommy, you know that Tyler can't really talk." Reality check!

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!