Home Away from Home

I've just emerged from a trance where I finished reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Finally I can get back to regular life (at least until I start the next book). I did a few things I wasn't proud of today including taking Nora to the play area at the mall so I could continue reading as quickly as possible. There was threat of rain. Otherwise we would have at least played outside. The play area at the mall is really really small and I always feel like I should buy something to patronize the restaurant there, but I never do.

I took some pictures around the apartment recently. The weather has been good so we're able to spend time outside each day, which is great. I spend a lot of time infront of the kitchen window making dinner, washing dishes and watching people walk by. They are on their way to work, school, the bus stop or train station. It's a good spot to people watch.

Big kitchen window

Nora's room with princess tent which we will soon try to sell for 5 Swiss francs

Other bedroom complete with comfy chair where I do my reading during naptime

Balcony where we frequently eat because the kitchen is too small
and gets too warm after cooking the meal

Pudding Pretzel Anyone?

On Wednesdays they have a market in the main train station in Zurich. During our visit in the Spring, Nora and I discovered pudding pretzels.

Just before the market opened and they took down the red tape

Waiting patiently for the pretzel

Isn't it beautiful? Much like a custard filled donut

After desert we sampled a pretzal with some sort of cured meat inside. It was so good, I think we'll start with that next time.

Tallest Tallest Mountain

Nora and I have a list of things we want to do while we're in Switzerland this time. Well ok, it's more like my list and I'm dragging her along. My train pass is good for all zones touching Zurich, or something like that. There is a special train that goes up to Uetliberg and we took it to the top of the mountain last time we were here. There is a great view of the city from there, but of course all we were interested in was the playground directly outside of where the train drops you off. Nora has been playing Nora the Explorer lately and we dubbed this the Tallest tallest mountain. I'm pretty sure it consisted of three steps to get there. Bike, train, mountain! Say it with me. Better yet, don't.

Half way up the mountain, a daycare got on the train and sat down right next to us. I was lugging Nora's bike, a backpack full of sand toys (later I found out there is no sand box at this playground), my purse, and a lunch bag of snacks. The daycare had 3 adults 9-12 kids and ONE backpack for all of them. I asked Nora if she'd like to spend the rest of the day with the daycare. She nodded emphatically Yes! When we got to the top, these 2-4 year olds took off in a different direction from the playground. I think they may have gone on a hike. They were tough kids.

The playground has these swings that cost 1 Swiss Franc to ride. I told Nora she could have one ride and only if there were other kids who wanted to ride too. The red swing was her favorite and she did end up getting to ride once before we left. The rest of the playground had regular old equipment that didn't cost money.

This is the slide that I was most interested in checking out. See that green thing? It's like a lunch tray that you sit on and then slide down as these rollers turn. I wasn't sure if you had to rent the green tray or bring your own or what. I watched another family and then when we headed down to the slide, we found two green trays just sitting there. Don't you think if this slide was in the states, the trays would frequently be stolen?

Nora tried it once and I tried it three times. It was a lot of fun and kinda reminded me of a toboggan run. WHEEEEEEE!

Finally sleeping

I've been mulling over this blog post since we arrived last week. I was laying in bed with Nora for hours on end in the middle of the night (or at least it seemed like hours), trying to convince her it was indeed the middle of the night. Over the last week we've implemented strategies for how to know it's the middle of the night. They have these awesome blinds here that completely block out all light. I'm convinced between the blinds and the healthy Swiss air, this is why Nora takes such a long afternoon nap here. We have been leaving the blinds part way up. Then if she sees it's dark, she knows it's not time to get up. Other than that, incentives (bribery) seem to be working well. If you want to do X,Y and Z, you have to go to sleep with no crying. I'm trying to wean her off Y and Z and just offer one incentive each night.

At home, I'm inclined to turn on all the lights in the house when we both are wide awake at 3:30am after a transatlantic flight home, (you'd be amazed at all you can accomplish starting at 3:30AM) but here there are quiet hours to contend with. From 10pm until 7am you need to be quiet. As a parent this makes me really paranoid because it is hard to contain a 2 year old who feels like being loud. Maybe if I had grown up here, I'd be more used to it and know when it's a big deal and when it is not. For instance, when one of my neighbors takes a phone call in the middle of the night. Is that a big deal? As I was laying awake, I thought it would be great if I had a sewing machine along. Since I have a little extra time, I thought I could finally finish the 43 projects I've started over my lifetime and never finished. Maybe I'd start something new, perhaps a flannel nightgown for Nora or better yet the floral pantsuit.

Before I had completed this day dream in the middle of the night, Nora had finally fallen asleep and so had I. I ended up sleeping next to the mattress on a comforter. The mattress was on the floor next to the bed frame, so basically I was on the cold hard floor. A week later we're doing much better. Everyone is sleeping in their own bed up off the floor (except Elmo who sleeps in his crib in the bathroom.)

Going places

Moving up

Nora pretending to fly to 'cago (her words) and then Switzerland

Mosquitoes?



**note to self. Take more outdoor pictures. Much better scenery than the usual kitchen table.

Corn crazed

Corn and tomatoes. That's Schmid style from what I understand. Why serve them on the side when they can stand alone?

Paint job

Mom painted

I kept her company

...and rearranged furniture in other parts of the house

Done!

Where in the house is Cheeto - installment 6

Let's set the stage. We were having pancakes for dinner with bacon.

That's right. Bacon. See the bacon?

The little rascal ran off with a piece of bacon under Nora's bed.
Don't worry. It was turkey bacon (and I didn't let him eat it.)

Bob gives blankee some love

No! Nooo Bob. Get off blankee.
This was the scene when she discovered Bob on top of blankee.

Feeling remorse and making up with Bob

All in the family

Going to the zoo zoo zoo. How about you you you?

Mom fed the goats. Ick...

Isn't this a cool sheep statue Dad?
If it's still there in the Fall, let's go see it!

What? The giraffe doesn't go up and down?

Quick..switch!

Little archeologist

Mom is experimenting with Picasa and blogging pics right from there. It's super fast, but so far she's limited to 4 pictures per post. That'll have to do. Watch out for a backlog of posts to come.

Googling for Your Health

Tonight I was googling for my health (or actually Nora's). Part of one of her eyes is red. According to her she got some blueberry jam in it, but I can't really be sure. It's not bothering her. She pointed to the wrong eye upon questioning. I let it go for a day and a half and then thought hmm... it is her vision we're talking about. I should look it up. Big mistake.

I came across a range of answers from let it go for 7 days to rush her to the Dr. immediately if it's only one part of one eye! At this point I came to my senses and called a professional. While I was waiting for said professional to call me back, my brother called. (Which one? The employed one. Still confusing.)

While on the phone, I wandered into Nora's room where I found the cats eating through a baggie of dog biscuits. I don't even have a dog, but I did have some treats to give the next door dog. Apparently I had left a cupboard door open and Cheeto, using his amazing sniffer, had located the treats, notified Bob and dragged them into a safe spot. (Cheeto also ran off with bacon earlier in the night. It was a good night for him). At some point Nora also found a granola bar from my lunch bag and asked if she could have it. Sure, why not? I also found blankee stuffed in my lunch bag much later. Mmm..blankee for lunch?

I retrieved the biscuits. Neither of the cats have puked...yet. After talking with a health professional, Nora is probably fine, but I'll keep an eye on it. I definitely won't do something dumb like leave the country without having it checked out if it doesn't go away on it's own.

The point of this story is don't google for your health. If you do, it's at your own risk and you may end up with cats who scarf dog treats and kids who leave 3/4 of a perfectly good granola bar behind..for you guessed it - the cats to find.