Egypt: Fun in the Sun

The best part of our Egypt vacation was relaxing and playing with the kids. The beach was fantastic. It was right across the street from our hotel and the sand was nice. The only bad part was that we think there were lots of sandflies. Rob is highly allergic to them and I think Anna Claire and Mariah are too because they got bites that swelled up enormously all over their faces. I must not be allergic because my bites didn't swell much.

Aside from the beach and pool, we spent our nights pigging out on American chain restaurant food. Not very cultural, but a huge treat for us because Switzerland doesn't have many American chain restaurants. I never thought I would crave food from Hard Rock Cafe! And we were shocked when they actually gave us free refills for drinks. Aaaah! I miss American service.

Anna Claire and Mariah hangin' out at the beach. There are so many fish, that many of them swam right up to the shore, so the kids could almost touch them!

Building a sand castle with Daddy. But this is no ordinary sand castle -- it's an Egyptian pyramid. (We studied ancient Egypt with the girls before our trip. Anna Claire was surprised when she arrived to see the Egyptians wearing clothes, rather than the little white skirts she saw in the books!)

Mariah added some royal seashells to the pyramid.

The finished product!

Tyler just loved digging. Like all my kids, he kept removing his hat!

No, Mommy, I want to put this on MY WAY. Tyler is starting early with his stubborn streak.

We took the girls on a glass-bottomed boat trip. It's amazing how many different kinds of fish we saw. Apparently, the Red Sea has some of the best diving around. It's too bad I'm pregnant and can't dive.

Back at the Pool. The girls were happy to hang out here all day long!

Tyler is chillin' in Daddy's glasses.

Anna Claire thought she'd pretend to be Mommy -- sitting in the shade with a big floppy hat and huge glasses. And I still got sunburned!

Look at our little cutie. This is Tyler's personality most of the time!

Anna Claire demonstrating her new floating trick.

Tyler in his little floater ring. My sister-in-law gave us this and it's been the BEST thing ever for babies. (They're hard to find in Switzerland.)

Playing with Monica. It was wonderful to have her on this trip -- that's how we were able to do some side trips without the kids. She took a daytrip to Cairo and had a great time!

Wheeeeee!

Hanging out with Daddy!

"Mom, I love it here. Can we stay forever?"

Ah, what fun memories!

Fasnacht Again!

So this morning we went to the local Fasnacht Children's Parade. Much of the entertainment was the same. But they gave out lots of candy and our girls came prepared. They dressed up as princesses and brought bags for their candy (and for confetti).

"Oooooh, this candy is a bit yucky!"

Enjoying this sunny February day with the kids.

Anna Claire cheek-to-cheek with Monica.

Ooooh, confetti fight!

The parade is over and look at all the confetti -- the only time the Swiss litter!

Fasnacht 2010

Fasnacht (or the Swiss German version of Mardi Gras) is something we've only come to know since living in the Swiss German part of Switzerland. The celebration does not always land on Fat Tuesday, but actually depends on the community where you are living. Wädenswil celebrated it this weekend, with loads of parties and parades. We went to the main parade today. I don't quite understand the whole tradition, but it has evolved into a sort of Halloween, where the children dress up in crazy costumes to celebrate. In fact, everyone is dressed in crazy costumes and everyone throws lots of confetti.

Daddy at the parade with his girls. (Tyler is asleep in the back.) Fortunately, it was a beautiful, sunny day.

The funniest part of the parade were the people dressed up as politicians. I didn't get all the inside Swiss jokes, but I know that they actually paradied some of people running for the local town counsel. (They were easy to recognize because their pictures have been plastered all over town.)

Some of the bands had hilarious costumes. These guys looked like Care Bears.

The cowbell ringers are a tradition, but they were so loud that Anna and Mariah plugged their ears while they passed.

The girls liked this band the best. They all were wearing king and queen masks (with holes in the mouths for those who played the wind instruments.

Back at the house taking a break on the swings.

Happy Birthday Rob!

Rob's birthday is the last in a string of three winter birthdays in our families. All this celebration makes the cold winter days fun!

The girls helped me make a cake. I asked Rob what he wanted and he just said "chocolate, lots of chocolate". So that's what I gave him. I call it the Swiss Chocolate Mountain Cake. It has my standard super chocolate, chocolate chip cake inside, with melted chocolate Toblerone frosting and decorated with "Toblerone mountains". The thing was RICH. Even Rob could barely stand eating it with the chocolate Mövenpick ice cream it was served with. Anna Claire and Mariah made the Swiss flag that went on top.

So happy to celebrate with Daddy!

Come on Dad, blow them out!

Mariah can't wait to get a taste of the chocolate.

Oh boy, all that cake was just tooooo much. Tyler could stand for more, though!

Playtime for the kids

While Rob and I were away on our Valentine's weekend, Monica did lots of fun dress-up and playtime with the kids. She took some fantastic photos.

Here is kittycat Mariah.

Mariah and Anna Claire, all dolled up and ready to go.

Funny faces!

Look at my pretty nail polish!

Tyler wanted to join in on the dress up fun. (I can't tell you how often he is wearing a crown or a bow or a headband. It's the influence of his doting older sisters.)

Princesses seeking out a treasure.

It's cheese roll time. Monica would roll the girls up in a blanket and call it a cheese roll, after their favorite food.

Surprise Valentine's Weekend

Rob surprised me this weekend and whisked me away to Davos for a Valentine's Ski Weekend. It was so much fun. The snow was great, the scenery was breathtaking and as an economics buff, I was thrilled to be in the place where the World Economic Forum meets. We did a little night skiing too. It was Rob's first time and he loved it because there were NO CROWDS. Personally, I prefer the sunshine!

I had to stop and take this picture before I headed down the mountain. Beautiful!

Babies and Balls

We went to Planeta Magic again and the kids had a blast. Especially Tyler. "Ba-ba-ball."