Home Alone

The family left Friday evening to spend a long weekend in Holland to visit Marit's dad; they'll be back tomorrow, Tuesday night. So, since I had the house and the car to myself, I took full advantage. On Saturday, Katie and I drove to Luzern, Switzerland which is about an hour and a half away. We went on a hike on Mt. Pilatus for about 4 hours and then wondered around the town for a bit. It is a really beautiful place with the water and mountains always in view. The first 2 pictures are in the city while the third one is looking down on Luzern during our hike.

-

Then, on Sunday we met up with two other au pairs, Kellie and Michelle, both from New Zealand, and went to a spa in Germany. It was about an hour away in a ritzy little town in the Black Forest. The Black Forest region of Germany is where Hansel and Gretel takes place. Considering I've never been to a spa, I didn't really know what to expect. Here we paid about $15 and we got to swim in different kinds of pools. There was a huge swimming pool that went indoors and out, lots of different hots tubs of varying temperatures, jets, and lights, and, my favorite, a whirl pool. Oh, and don't worry, we made sure it wasn't a nude spa before we went. Then we went into Basel for a few hours and ate ice cream. This picture is of the town where the spa was. I wish I would have taken photos of the spa, but I forgot.

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

Then, today Katie and I drove to Freiburg, Germany for a few hours, which is also in the Black Forest region. We didn't get to spend much time there because Katie had to get back to pick up her kids from school, but it was awesome. I really liked it there and I am definitely going back to spend more time. I didn't take any pictures, but I promise to next time. Then, tonight we made veggie sushi!! It was delicious!

Tonight I was timing Katie's boys on how fast they could ride their bikes to and from the fire hydrant so they would get tired and go to bed. They finally convinced me to try and I was confident that I could beat their time. So, wearing a skirt, I got on one of their bikes and raced to the fire hydrant. As, I braked to turn back, I flew off the bike. So, not only did the little boys laugh at me, but I scraped my knee and tore a whole in my skirt.

1 month anniversary

I've been here 1 month today. I left Tallahassee on August 21st and I'm still here. I got myself a souvenir so I'll never forget it here. Well, it all started when I was cutting the cheese! After school Sterre likes cucumbers and cheese for snack, so I was getting it for her. The cheese comes in big blocks and you shave slices off. Then what happened next was what adults always warn kids about when cutting the cheese. I cut the tip of my pinkie off. It bled soooo bad. I think I would have cried, but I was too worried about getting blood everywhere or the kids seeing me that I ran downstairs. Sterre was yelling for me to find out where her snack was. I finally came back upstairs and the mom was like, "what happened?" I told her and she laughed. But, then she helped me wrap it up because it was bleeding like crazy still. The first picture is what it looked like after an entire roll of gauze and 3 band aids. I think she went a bit over board. Anyways, two days later this is what it looks like without the bandage.

It really isn't that bad, but it's just in a spot where I of course bump it all the time and it is hard to cover. I think I might always have a dent in my finger after this. But, I suppose that's what I get for cutting the cheese though!
-

-

Extra pictures:

This first picture is of Katie and I. Last Wednesday we went on a hike at this place called Wasserfallen. It was really beautiful and green. With a name like Wasserfallen, we thought we'd see some waterfalls, but no. We saw sheep and cows though, and some really great views of the countryside. The last one is a picture I thought was really cute of Romee. I figured it out that she sleeps almost 14 hours a day! But, when she isn't asleep, she is wide awake.

Crazy Kids Weekend

Saturday was Romee's 2nd birthday! I thought I should probably get her something, but I didn't know what, so I asked if they were going to make her a cake. Marit said she was just going to buy one, so I asked if I could make it instead. I wanted to make it fun so the two things I know Romee likes a lot are shoes and Autos (car in Dutch). I thought making a car would be easier. So, on Friday night I went to Katie's house, her parents are in the US for a week, and made it there. I thought it turned out OK, but the family really LOVED it. We ate it for breakfast Saturday morning when she got her presents, which I thought was weird, and then they ate it the for lunch, and dinner, and desert. Sterre told me she was going to tell the newspaper to put a picture on the front page. The other picture is Romee next to one of these big cows that have the Swiss flag on them. We pass them a lot when we go on walks around the neighborhood.


Like I mentioned, the parents Katie works for both went to the US for a week (they're American), so they asked if I would come over on the weekend and help out. They have 3 boys: Dylan 11, Sean 8, and Bryan 6. They said that if I helped out they would pay for everything we did plus pay me! So, on Saturday afternoon Katie and I took her 3 boys and then also Sterre and Constantijn, what's 2 more?, to a toboggan slide. We all went down it a few times and then went on a short hike in the mountains nearby. It was really fun, but strange being in charge of so many kids.

On Sunday Katie and I took the 3 boys to Europa Park. It's kind of like an Epcot and it was about an hour away in Germany. Everything was themed as a different European countries. Though we couldn't really do a lot of the stuff we wanted, I did get to ride the biggest roller coaster in Europe while there. Also, the mascot of the park is a mouse, though not Mickey Mouse, but there is a bit of a resemblance.

A walk in the park

Today, Katie, Romee and I went to Grun 80 (A big park in Basel). It's really green with lots of trails, a pond, mini golf and stuff. They have this one crazy looking play area in the middle of a big field that we took Romee to. It was a slide disguised as art. I went up it with Romee and from the pictures you can see what happened. Katie captured the events with my camera. Romee went down first and completely busted, dirt in her teeth and all. The second picture is my reaction to Romee as she hit the bottom. After that we went to the real kid play area and played in the tubes.

Phones, alligators, and Africa!?!

-

-

These are just some random pictures. The first is one I took while on a run. I take my camera everywhere now, even when I exercise! The second is of me on the tram. I guess no one wanted to sit by me! And the last is of Romee playing in the phone booth while we waited for the tram. We went to the zoo this past week. She called every animal a cat. The last is Constantijn playing with play dough. He was learning the letter "A" in school and wanted me to make an alligator. I ended up making a mama gator, papa gator and baby gator. I also told him that my school mascot was a gator, but he didn't seem so impressed.

Today I went with the family to Germany to do some shopping. It takes about 30 minutes to get there. Things are cheaper in Germany, so on Saturdays the shopping center is full of Swiss. We got Romee a birthday present because she turns 2 next weekend and then we did a big grocery shopping trip. It was chaos in there and having 3 little children didn't make it any easier. But, it was new and fun, and since we had to drive through France to get there, I was in 3 different countries in 1 day!

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

These last two pictures are for Cara. The first is taken from the balcony off the house. That is a castle that is just across the France border and those are vineyards just below it. I haven't been there yet, but I plan to soon. The other is of one of the bathrooms in the house. It is the coolest looking one, the others are rather ordinary.

-

-

Great News!! I'm going to 2 new countries and one of them is on another continent! December 1st-4th I'm going to Marrakech, Morocco in Africa! Then January 25th-27th I'm going to Lisbon, Portugal! I booked the tickets a few nights ago and each round trip ticket was about $85 US. There was a special going on online, so we took full adavntage. I'm sure there will be more blogging about these trips in a few months.

-

*And one more thing: I changed my settings so that anyone can comment now, you don't have to have gmail. Hope that makes you happy!

Small adventures to Basel and Mariastein

This first set of pictures are from Basel. I went there for the second time, but actually took pictures this time. The first is me sitting on the "middle bridge" that goes over the Rhine river. I took a picture with the statues backside! The second is of the tram. They don't all look like pigs, this one was just special.

The next is of city hall. It really sticks out from the rest of the buildings. The next one is from the same square that city hall is in (see what I mean.)



The next picture is the Tinguely fountain. You're suppose to take pictures of it I was told, so I did. It is really a neat fountain. Lastly, Katie and I went to a music festival downtown for a few hours. I took this picture early on in the evening. Later that night it was packed with people and you could hardly move.


Driving in Switzerland
I got to drive the van the other day to take Sterre to tennis lessons. The van doesn't even have a key. You simply have this piece of plastic, kind of like a credit card, that you carry with you and whenever you are near the car, it automatically unlocks the door. So, once you are in you press a button on the dashboard and the car starts. This car is a manual as well, don't forget. So, to sum it up, I get to drive a key-less minivan and a Beemer around Switzerland; sure beats the old Ford Tempo!!




These pictures are from when I took Romee on a walk, which was more like a hike, to Mariastein. It's a monastery that you can see from my backyard and we can hear the bells all during the day. Apparently the story is that a women's two year old son had fallen off the cliff up there and when the mother went to find her son he was alive. He told her that a women dressed in white named Maria had caught him. So the monastery was built to thank her. The first picture is from inside the sanctuary, the second is of the plaques that are all over the walls in the hall that thank Maria, and the last is to prove that the hills really are alive with the sound of music!!


Pronunciations:
Marit, the mother: Mar-eet (strong E)
Martijn, the dad: Mar-tine (like time, with an N)
Sterre: Like Sarah, but with a T
Constantijn: Con-stan-tine
Romée: Rome-A (strong A)
Flüh, the town I live in: Flu, like the illness


***As for an update on the ironing, I'm getting much better. It takes me a long time, but no big mishaps. I just don't really understand it though. I can understand ironing some things, but is it really necessary to iron a 2 year olds's jeans?