Turkey and skating

Thanksgiving is definitely an American thing. I made turkey, stuffing, green beans, and an apple pie for my family on Wednesday night. I got Constantijn and Sterre to make leaves and turkeys out of paper and decorate the table. Sterre made menu cards too. It was really cute, despite the fact that everyone was kind of sick and cranky. Constantijn kept calling Valentine's Day the whole time, no matter how many times I reminded him. Then on Thursday I went to Katie's house for a big Thanksgiving dinner. The family she lives with is American and they had about 20 people over for dinner. I got to eat pumpkin pie and I was so happy!! These two pictures are of the turkey and stuffing I made. It was my first time ever cooking a turkey and the first time the family has ever seen a whole turkey. Don't worry, I didn't eat any, but it wouldn't be a Thanksgiving dinner without a turkey, so I had to make them one. I also made the stuffing from scratch, crumbling the bread and all. I really liked the stuffing.












On Friday I took Constantijn and Sterre ice skating during the day because they had school off. It was rainy so the place was pretty empty. We ate lunch there and skated for about 3 hours. They have these things called ice bears that you can rent for the kids to hold on to to help them keep their balance. Constantijn got one for about 30 minutes and his name was Mino. I fell just once if you can believe it! but the kids won't let me live it down.












This last one is a bonus picture. It's me leaping from France into Switzerland. That block with the "S" on it is the marker, the other side has a "F".

Road Trip

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I got an email a few weeks ago from my friend Lisa asking where in Switzerland I was. I told her Basel, only to find out she had two friend who lived just over the border in Germany and she was coming for a visit. So, this past weekend Lisa came and I met her two German friends, Pascal and Thomas, and we went on a road trip to Zurich to visit another of her friends, Susann. Zurich is only like an hour from here. So on Friday night we went out for traditional Swiss fondue and walked around Zurich, On Saturday we all drove down to Luzern to stay at Susann's parents house. Then we went on an all day snow trek in the mountains nearby. That's where all the snowy pictures were taken. It was sooo beautiful and the snow came up past my knees. Oh, and we bought some of the cheese to eat, just because it looked cool, and it ended up being delicious. So, then on Sunday we went into Luzern, and though I've been there already, it was still really fun. We went on a boat tour of the big lake and then saw the lion in the mountain landmark that I had skipped the previous visits. It was a really fun weekend despite having a cold. I'm almost over it now, but still a bit stuffy. The whole family has it so it was inevitable that I would eventually too. I have more to tell about since this weekend (like getting my haircut and Thanksgiving), but I'll have to write about it later, I'm cooking a turkey for the first time in my life and I have no idea what I'm doing.

the wait is over!!!

Last night I was sitting in my room and I looked outside to see snow falling! I was so excited I started yelling as silently as I could because the kids were asleep. I couldn't stop grinning. But, after only 5 minutes it stopped, just as I was getting on my warm clothes to go play in it. Anyways, today as I was driving home from music class with Romee (every Wednesday morning we have Kindermusik class together!) it started to snow again! I stopped the car and walked around with Romee on the side of the road for a few minutes. It wasn't sticking to the ground or anything, but it as enough to land on me and catch in my hand. It snowed like that for about an hour, but has stopped just a few minutes ago. The first snow is so exciting!! I can't wait to make snowmen and stuff!

waiting for snow

I've been staying close to home the past couple of weeks, since from here on out, I will be doing a lot of traveling throughout November and December. That also means, I've not taken a lot of pictures lately. I did go to a nearby town called Mulhouse (think of it pronounced in a French accent). We walked around and looked in some shops. It was super cold that day, but still nice to see new places. This picture is of me and Romee in front of a cool statue in Mulhouse.

This next picture is to show that fall is almost over and winter is coming real soon. They are actually predicting snow later this week!!

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A funny conversation between Sterre and Constantijn in the back of the car:
Constantijn: Well, I'm not going to marry you anymore Sterre. You're mean.
Sterre: Constantijn, don't you know there is a rule where brothers and sisters aren't allowed to get married.
Constantijn: Who told you that?
Sterre: No one, I just know that it is a rule.
Constantijn: Really?... That's not true because I'm going to marry you and you are my sister.

around Basel

The mom came back from her stay in Holland on Tuesday night, ending my long week, though it was fun playing mom! But, not before we all got a slight cold: stuffy noses, coughs, diarrhea, etc. Tuesday I went down to Basel with Romee and Katie and we had a picnic on the Rhine river (first 2 pics). Wednesday I had the day off , so I went to the zoo with Sarah, another au pair, and then went to Starbucks and talked to friends or 6 hours! Halloween isn't big here at all. In fact, I didn't see a costume the entire day. I saw maybe 5 jack-o-lanterns, and 2 pubs that had any decorations. It was strange to not celebrate this year. But, when I woke up on Wednesday Sterre had made a Halloween display on the counter. The paper said, "It Halloween and be scard." Then she found a plastic ladybug and squirted mayonnaise around it to scare me. It made my day.










So, this weekend I went to Sarah's house for an appetizer party and board games. It was fun and we all got dressed up. Then on Saturday Katie and I ran from Fluh into Basel, about 7 miles, and saw parts of the city we've never seen before. That's what the 3 pictures below are of. There is a big carnival going on downtown as well. We didn't ride anything though, we were too cold wearing shorts.

This is a video of Romee saying "bless you." I taught her it! She isn't very clear, but I promise she is saying it.

Things I did new as MOM:

cooked chicken (but it was actually pork, oops)

made popcorn on the stove

changed diarrhea diapers