Ski Week...Swim Week

Ski week didn't have any skiing in it for us. George was busy with work and taking 4 kids skiing wasn't something I could do. But I could take them all swimming and so we went. We signed up for swimming lessons every day at Baar pool and swam from 9-12. It was relaxing, fun, and made me feel like we were back in Florida. Just what we needed!

This was Clara's first swimming lesson. She did great and left putting her face in the water and kicking. Success.

They have them wear all the same swim caps...isn't it cute!

Alex doing a little back stroke work. He wasn't allowed to wear goggles which was hard for this kid. But he survived.

Oh yeah...lycra swimming suits are a must. We are actually the different ones because he is not in a speedo...welcome to Europe.

Sammy has passed all the levels and is just working on her strokes, so she gets to wear her goggles. Now she is working on her dive.

Allison loves the water! She was such a trooper...you could not tell she was missing a nap. She splashed and crawled around exploring like crazy.

Sammy practicing her strokes.

More skiing

Alex, Sammy, George, and I headed out for a day of skiing at Hoch Ybrig without the 2 younger kids. It was a great day. We learned that Sammy has passed her mom in skiing skills (not too hard to do); the runs are marked by orange polls with the color of the run on top of the poll...red is more difficult than blue; Alex is a trooper...after falling down 100 times he still said he wanted to do it again; George is the best skiier in the family; and it's ok to crash.

A quick picture before Sammy and I headed down the mountain. We were up there this summer hiking around Hoch Ybrig, so it was fun to ski it.


After a day of skiing we could all do a "pizza" well:)

Valentine's Love

Valentine's wouldn't be complete without decorating sugar cookies. The kids were out for ski week, so we made the cookies during the day (with a LOT of cookie dough consumed) and then frosted them when George got home. Sammy came up with a great game for us to play while we frosted...she cut small hearts out and wrote people's names on them. We pulled them out of a jar and had to say something we loved about them. Valentine's Day isn't really celebrated here in Switzerland so we made sure to keep it alive in our home.

A green mouth....a small price to pay for Valentine's candy.

Ready, Set, Decorate!

Alex ate the cookies as quickly as he decorated them.

Clara is always happy when there is sugar to consume.

Sammy really took her time decorating her cookies and they looked lovely.

Allison is at it again!

Our sweet little Allison is packed full of personality and just a joy to be with. This week she finally got the word "hi" down and says it to everyone she sees. Until then she was busy waving at everyone...using her sweet personality and smile to get exactly what she wants. Can you blame us for giving in?

Allison often cracks herself up. She (and everyone else) thinks she is so funny.

A sweet moment between sisters. Clara is always so caring towards her.

Riding the little horse and clapping with excitement. She has figured out how to get on and off now.

She cruises from object to object and is so close to walking. She wants to play what the big girls play and on that day it was painting. A little spit paint never hurt anybody.

This little girl just loves books and sitting on chairs. I think it makes her feel grown-up.

Allison has this sweet friend Hans. They just love playing together and he is so gentle with her.

Allison loves talking on the phone...how do they always know just what to do with it? Do I really talk on the phone that much?

After a Christmas full of cameras she figured out that you smile real big when someone points a camera at you. This girl just loves bath time and crawls away when I try to get her out.

Snow Fun

We have been enjoying playing in the snow this winter. After living in warm climates for 10 years, snow is quite a change. But we love it! Fortunately it has snowed in our own backyard, so can take advantage of it with travelling. The kids just love playing in the snow...I hope after 3 years of it the novelty won't wear off.

Clara just loved sledding down our hill in the yard. We did it forever...a little hill for a little girl!

Clara and I built her own snowman...we didn't have much snow so it was pretty small. But it was so cold for so long that it lasted a long time.

A sledding trip up to Zugerberg. We have been there a couple times, but on this particular day it was warm, so the snow wasn't so good. But it didn't matter. The kids still had a great time. Even I love to get into it. I had some pretty good crashes!