Musings of Amy

An old childhood friend contacted me via Facebook and asked me if I would be willing to host her daughter’s Flat Stanley for a while.  I immediately agreed, as I have seen lots of other cute stuff done with him but had never had the opportunity myself.

On a Wednesday afternoon the kids and I took him out for a little fun.  Only traffic ended up being really bad, so we only made it to the zoo.  I had to take him around myself a couple of days later.  But we made the most of the time we had.

Sarah stayed home to do homework, which made me proud and sad at the same time.  Proud that she would make such a mature and hard decision, sad that I didn’t get to be with her as well.  She is an amazingly dedicated student, and I hope it really pays off for her, without her getting burnt out.  We are working on finding a good balance.

Anyway, the kids decided Flat Stanley wanted to climb a tree. We also took him to see the adorable baby gorillas.  We were happy Nick also got a chance to see them, they are seriously so cute!

On the way home, we passed our favorite crazy tree.  It is so bizarre looking, and yet I can’t look away.  A good reminder of the power of nature.

The kids had another day off from school on September 10, so we went up to Legoland for one last day of fun before they closed for the winter season.  I was looking forward to another fun day with hardly any one there, just like when we went in June.  I mean, Knabenschiessen is purely a Zurich holiday, so there would be zero crowds in Germany, right?

Yeah, it was the most packed ever.  Like crazy bad.  We got there an hour after it opened, just like always, and instead of parking at the end of the second or third row, we were being directed to park in the dirt way, way, way at the end.  (I went around the barriers and was able to find a much closer spot, but still, it was not looking good.)

There were long lines for almost everything.  Up to an hour, in many cases.  So I told the kids we would just hit the rides they most wanted to go on, since there wasn’t going to be time to do everything.  And weren’t we lucky this wasn’t our one and only time to be able to come here?  They agreed, and so we kept the disappointment to a minimum.

You can see what Sophie thinks of actually having to wait in line. 🙂

It was a great day, weather-wise.  In fact, I ended up buying Sophie and Alexandra hats since it was so sunny!

Noah and Sarah had some to wear already.  If you click on the picture to make it bigger you can see the wound under Noah’s nose still healing.

The best ride, hands down, is the boats you can steer through the little lake.  The kids love getting to drive all by themselves, and pushing on the gas to make the boat go.  Of course, we often have incidents where someone forgets to keep pushing on the pedal, so their boat just drifts to a stop in the water.  Then it gets passed by another boat or two, before they finally start going again. 

The one advantage to being in the park on a full capacity day was that the second side of the horse ride was open.  They had only ever been on the left-handed side of the track, and this time the right one was open.  They excitedly got in that lane, and waited to see what cool different stuff was on the other side.

They weren’t disappointed, either.  Even though the voice-overs were the same, the pictures and wooden cut outs were all completely different.  Now they finally know what that mysterious side looks like. 🙂

Sadly, it was at this point that the camera battery died.  I took the small one that the kids also use, and they had taken a whole bunch of crazy pictures and made several “movies” that ate up all the power.

Alexandra and Noah were both very disappointed that we couldn’t go on their favorite rides, but the lines for both were over an hour long, and I just didn’t think that was going to end well.  We decided to hit the big store and then leave an hour before closing.  I was glad they suggested it themselves, as they did have school the next morning, and we were still going to get home late since I needed to go shopping first.

Fortunately? that also went rather quick, seeing as how the store was closing that location and there was practically nothing left on the shelves.  It was actually kind of creepy being in there, honestly.  Not only were the shelves bare, there were big sections of bare floor as well, since the shelves had already been disassembled and removed.  We did manage to pick up a few things, including Ben and Jerry’s ice cream and treats from the bakery for dinner. heehee

I am planning on taking the kids one more time before our passes expire next April.  Hopefully with fewer people!

So one morning I get back home after a morning of running errands and shopping without kids, (aah, pure luxury) and the message light is blinking on the answering machine.  It’s Noah’s handicraft’s teacher calling to tell me that he fell, and there is blood everywhere, and she isn’t sure if he should go to the doctor or the dentist because she thinks the teeth might have been damaged. Yikes!

I raced up to school, and found a poor pitiful little boy, whimpering with his head down on a table.  He had a face full of bloody tissues and his clothes were covered as well.  It really did look pretty bad.  He saw me and started crying pretty hard.  I understood completely.  When I fell and cracked my chin on the metal bleachers in high school, I was able to hold it all in for a good half  hour until my mom was able to come get me.  But the second I saw her, I started bawling my eyes out and didn’t stop for at least 2 hours.

It seems that during break, Noah went running up the tiled stairs in his socks, no school slippers.  He slipped and fell face first, whacking the edge of the stair in the process.  He was actually pretty lucky he didn’t knock out all his front teeth, although he still shivers when any of us talk about it, so it must have hurt pretty bad.

I picked him up and carried him to the car.  Two little girls in his class came with me, carrying his shoes, jacket, and backpack.  When we got home, I put him on the couch with a blanket since I knew he was still in shock, and let him choose a movie.  I also got him fresh toilet paper as there was still lots of fresh blood coming out.

The pediatrician’s office had just closed for lunch, and wouldn’t open again for a couple of hours.  So I called the emergency doctor line to ask if I needed to take him to the hospital.  The man I spoke with said that you could wait up to 7 hours after the accident and still do stitches no problem.  So I waited and called as soon as they opened again.

I hadn’t tried to clean off any of the blood as I was afraid of hurting him and possibly making the wounds worse.  They did that at the doctor’s office and were very gentle.  Fortunately Noah’s teeth were absolutely fine, it was all his nose.  Well, actually the skin just below the nose was cut very deep and his left nostril was completely detached. Yuck, huh?

They decided to use super glue rather than stitches, which is less invasive and actually creates less scarring for facial wounds.  I told Noah that is what they used in America when I cut my face open as well.  Made him feel slightly better about it all.  The doctor told us to come back in a couple of days, when the swelling had gone down, so they could take an x-ray and see if his nose was broken as well.  Noah got some good drugs as well. 🙂

I kept him home from school the next day because it had been a big shock and he was still pretty shaky.  Also, thanks to hydrogen peroxide his clothes, socks and shoes ended up getting completely clean, no stains.

By the next day, I was afraid that he really had broken his nose.  His eyes were pretty bruised, just like in all the nose-job after photos. But when we went back to the doctor and had the x-rays taken, Noah’s nose was fine.  Hurray!  I didn’t want my little guy to have to undergo any surgery, and was really nervous about it.  He was having trouble breathing, however.  So the doctor looked up there and saw a giant clot blocking the airway.  We got some spray to squirt up there a few times a day, and eventually Noah was able to blow his nose really hard and get it out.

He looked like he had gotten into a bad fight for quite a while, and even now, two months later, his nose is still extra sensitive if someone bumps it or pushes it accidentally.  But it could have been much, much worse.  Also, he now ALWAYS wears his school slippers. 🙂

We have awesome neighbors.  Really, really awesome neighbors.  Friendly, kind, helpful, everything you want in a neighbor.  So when some of them organized a backyard barbecue for the rest of us, I was happy to go.  They originally wanted to do it before summer vacation, but the weather never cooperated.  Finally they had to postpone it until the beginning of September.  Strange that almost fall weather would be better than summer weather, but that’s Switzerland for you!

The kids had a great time playing with each other.  They do it pretty regularly, but it’s always more fun with a party atmosphere. The blonde boy is Luka, from downstairs, and I think that’s his wheelbarrow Noah is absconding with.  Laura is his big sister, and the baby is Paul, he belongs to the family in the house across the courtyard.  Isn’t he so cute?  Machiel and Amelia are Paul’s older siblings.  Alexandra plays the most with them, including eating dinner at their house when they aren’t ready to say goodbye.  We have had an extra dinner guest ourselves on more than one occasion.

Everyone brought their own meat to grill, and a dessert or side to share.  But the drinks were provided.  They kindly had lots of water and juice for me and the kids, since they know I don’t drink wine or beer. 🙂 Of course Chris and Nicholas didn’t join us.  They stayed hidden upstairs, eating whatever they could scavenge for dinner, since I wasn’t cooking.  Chris did occasionally peek at us from our balcony, but never waved or said hello, in case someone saw him! hahaha

From left to right, Maya B., Maya, and Lente.  Maya B. is the kids Swiss Grandma.  She puts up the advent calendar full of chocolates and toys in the hallway at Christmas, sets out a huge basket of never ending treats at Easter, and brings baked goods for all of us as well.  She also sews us something special for every Christmas; little gift bags, bells for the tree, or the adorable Samichlaus’s from last year.  We won the lottery when she moved in.

Finally, after what seemed like forever to the kids, the grill was ready to go.  Sophie is always happy when there is a plate of meat around.  It got dark pretty quickly, but they had taken care of that as well.  The Christmas lights and candles made everything so magical looking.We left earlier than some, since the kids needed to get to bed.  But it was a great evening and I hope we do it again before too long.

Every year, when I celebrate back to back birthdays I am so, so , so grateful that they aren’t on the SAME day, like the doctor wanted.  I may have lost peripheral vision in one eye, but it was totally worth it to not have to throw two parties on the same day! 🙂

And talk about a birthday being special, Alexandra literally partied from morning til night.  It started off in Kindergarten, where she was the first child to celebrate their birthday this school year.  She chose the red crown and cape over the blue.  I knew she would, since it is the color closest to pink!  And check out this fun throne she got to rule her kingdom from! Part of her duties as birthday queen included choosing which games the children would play in her honor, AND getting to run them. Red cat meant the children had to stop dancing, green cat meant go totally crazy.  Whoever didn’t stop when she raised the red cat was out.

The kids all formed an archway with their arms, and then the ones at the back got to walk through it, with Birthday Lexi leading the way.  Look at that grin, she is having such a great time!

Each child gets a present from Frau Meier, as well.  The birthday child and two friends of their choice go outside while the other kids hide it somewhere in the room.  Then they play “Hot or Cold” to find it. It was hidden up in the “Leseecke” or reading corner.  She now wears her t-shirt with the pink kitty cat painted on it to bed, and loves it!

Alexandra also got to light and hold a sparkler, with adult supervision, of course. During cupcake time, some of the kids started laughing and pointing.  I turned around to see this.

They were hoping for some leftover cupcakes, but alas, Frau Meier let the little kids eat them all! 🙂

After the kindergarten festivities were over, I ran home to get everything ready for her friend party that afternoon.  The theme was Hello Kitty and we were both so excited.  I had been planning, creating and buying things for over a year!  And it was totally worth it.

She’s all ready, let the guests arrive!  We had lots of different coloring pages out on the floor, and as kids arrived they could choose one and color it.  It was a good way to keep them occupied until everyone showed up.

I told the kids that there was a stuffed Hello Kitty for each of them, hidden somewhere in the house.  Well, there were stuffed Chococats for the boys.  They ran all over everywhere, shrieking and laughing trying to find them.  I thought some of them were in pretty obvious hiding places, but we still had to help a couple kids find theirs.

Then, to encourage everyone to play and have fun, I showed them the prizes for participating in the games…clothes for the cats!  There were bows and dresses for the girls, and cute little shorts for the boys.  (The dresses were super fun to make, the shorts a bit more challenging.  Still, good practice for me.)

I had drawn a giant Hello Kitty face onto a piece of cardboard and sewed a felt bow for the kids to pin on her head.  We spun them around a couple of times, so that even though the picture was only 5 feet away, they had a tough time finding it.  A couple even put the bow on the bookcase.  What delighted me was that the boys who had expressed concern about attending such a girly party LOVED all the games and wanted to play them over and over.  Score one for me. 🙂

Then we played musical paw prints. We started the first round, and the kids were slipping and sliding around on the floor.  Apparently wooden floors, cardboard and socks are a dangerous combination.  So I stuck the paw prints down with masking tape, and it worked much better.  After several rounds, we were down to the final three. Nils won and received some chocolate for his paw print prowess.

My favorite game was having them lap milk from saucers. It was hysterical to watch.  I didn’t have quite enough saucers, so I had to use bowls.  They were all racing each other, because whoever drank all their milk first got a prize. Go, Lexi, go!

The last game was the absolutely simplest, and the hands down favorite of the entire crowd.  Balloon popcorn!  I had originally blow up a bunch of balloons to make them into flowers, like I had seen on Pinterest.  But there just wasn’t enough time after I got back from the Kindergarten party.  So I used them for this game instead.    All the kids grabbed a hold of the sheet, and we carefully lifted it up so that all the balloons stayed on it.  Then we shook it like crazy and watched them fly![youtube] http://youtu.be/eLv5WA_b2bM[/youtube]

We did that for quite a while, because they just didn’t want to stop.  Who knew?

By now, we were slowly running out of time.  I had counted on them wanting to play so many of the games more than once.  But we still had presents to open.  The tip of Hello Kitty’s ear determined which present Alexandra got to open next.  She was super excited about all of them, and I was glad she remembered to say thank you for each one.

Then we hurried over to the table to get the cake cut before parents started arriving to take the kids home. Sort of looks like a mouse, doesn’t it? 🙂

They mostly ate the cake, and then the kids took their stuffed animals, now all dressed, and goodie bags full of chocolates I made using a Hello Kitty mold, Hello Kitty stickers, and  Hello Kitty erasers and Hello Kitty writing pads, both of which were bought on clearance.  I love a good deal!

The kids helped me clean up from the party, since I had to leave right after the guests did to take Sarah to violin lessons.  That evening we had our family party with more presents, and leftover cake. 🙂 Sophie and Sarah had both made Alexandra jewelry and she loved it. Finally Alexandra was able to find out what was in the oddly shaped present Oma had left behind for her.  It wasn’t a snake, it wasn’t a stick, it was a ladybug umbrella! It was a pretty memorable, non-stop celebrating kind of day.  Happy birthday, Alexandra!

Sophie turned 10 this year, and we celebrated with a party at the Zurich Zoo.  Since I didn’t need to do anything for the actual party but show up with the girls at the right time, I went all out on the invitations and goodie bags.  The invites were super fun to make.  When the kids pulled them out of the envelopes, it looked mostly like this.There was a zebra as well, but it fell off by the time I got around to taking this picture 2 months later!  Anyway, then they pulled it open by grasping on the two sides, so they could read the information for the party.

Since the zoo tour started right at 2 in downtown Zurich, I had everyone come to our house straight after school.  So the school bus turned into the party bus! 🙂  Sophie’s choice for lunch was raclette!  Normally eaten in the cooler winter months, it was still a big hit with the kids. When we had finished our lunch, I left Nick in charge of the youngest two and we were off to the zoo.  Since I would be dropping off the kids directly at home after the party, we handed out their goodie bags now. I could have spent even more time shading all the animals with ink, but come on!  I am not THAT crazy. heehee

Inside there two small stuffed animals and animal lollipops for each girl.  We ordered them from Amazon and my friend Julie brought them back for me.  So nice!

At the zoo, we were lucky and find a great spot right by the entrance.  One of the girls threw up on the grass near the curb as soon as she got out of the car.  I guess she got very car sick with all the twists and turns and the heavy lunch.  But as soon as she did, she felt better and was ready to party.  Whew!

There were two guides waiting for us right at the entrance, and they brought us to a corner table in the restaurant where each girl was given a zoo hat to decorate and a name tag. They had the girls put the name tags on the visors so they could easily see who was who.  Pretty clever! When I registered for the party, they asked me what Sophie’s top three animals were.  On the tour, we made sure to visit those animals, and they had lots of interesting facts to tell the kids about them.  We also stopped along the way to see some other animals.

It seemed like all the animals knew it was Sophie’s birthday, because they were easily visible and many put on a little show for us!

One of the animals Sophie picked was the otter.  They were asleep, as they are mostly nocturnal, but at least one was lying in such a way that we got to see his adorable belly button! There was also an otter fur that the girls could touch, but Sarah wasn’t interested at all.  That kind of thing completely creeps her out, and Sophie only touched it with a fingertip.  They can’t get the past that it used to be attached to a living thing, and now isn’t, regardless of the circumstances of its death. Notice the two little girls wearing orange reflectors and no hats?   Yeah, they didn’t belong to our group but joined in anyway, when they heard the guides talking.  They also loved petting the otter fur. As we walked away, one of the guides told me that had never lost a child that was part of a party group, but they often had extras! 🙂  One time they got to the party room where the cake is served and there was one child without a hat.  They immediately knew something was up and had to call security.  Not to arrest her, just to help deliver her to her frantic mother who hadn’t been able to find her for over half an hour!  So now they check for official party hats after every animal.

We also made a stop in the ape house.  There were two baby gorillas to be adored, ages one month and two weeks.  We got great views, despite the crowds.

We didn’t want to leave, but the rest of the tour was calling.  Next stop, the dwarf otters!  These guys put on an awesome show for Sophie.  They were running across the rocks, diving into the water, swimming past the glass while doing all kinds of flips, and then they would hop back out, and chase each other across the rocks all over again.  So hilarious!

Occasionally we would stop along the trail and they would give us some random bit of information.  It was always very interesting, and the guides were great with the kids.  I would highly recommend this birthday party to anyone.

Eventually we made it to the party room, just a bit behind schedule. 🙂 It was all decked out festively, and the presents I had handed off at the beginning of the tour were all laid out as well.At registration time you could choose either a chocolate or lemon cake.  Sophie chose lemon.  Blow. Sophie, blow! The guides were great, doing absolutely everything.  At one point, I got up from the comfy sofa to pour the kids drinks and they made me sit back down and refilled my drink instead!  Now that’s the way to enjoy a kid’s birthday party!

After the cake, it was present time.We improvised and used a coke bottle as the spinner.  Sophie’s favorite presents would have to be the gift cards she received.  One was for a local department store and one was for the Zoo gift shop!  So fun to be able to choose whatever you want and pay for it with your own “magic money card”, which is what I call my debit card.

After presents the girls got to make a little craft.  They each chose an animal picture and colored it with provided colored pencils.   Then they got to turn those pictures into pins/buttons. After that, we piled in the car and headed home.  It was rush hour, so it was slow going through the city.  Fortunately 7 little girls are never short of ways to entertain themselves.  Their favorite game was to open the windows and wave and say hi to all the people sitting at the cafes, in the neighboring cars, and anyone walking along the sidewalk.

There were lots of laughter and shrieks of excitement when someone would smile and wave back.  The best was the man at the cafe who struck up a conversation with them. 🙂  I smiled and waved my appreciation as the light finally turned green and we were able to drive away.

When we were finally back home, we had quick dinner and then it was time to open more presents!  Sophie always makes a birthday crown for every birthday kid in our family, so Noah made her a crown and royal scepter.

Alexandra made her a necklace.And when we went to Legoland, I picked up a little something for her as well. That’s just the kind of big smile every parent wants to see on their birthday kid’s face.  Love you, Sophie!  Happy birthday to the sweet filling in our Oreo cookie!

Just before he flew back home to the States, Grandpa Jean came over for dinner.  We hadn’t seen a whole lot of him on the trip, he liked to go sightseeing on his own schedule.  But we did want him to come over at least once and just hang out.  It was a bit tricky, since there are three flights of stairs up to our apartment, no elevator, and he is 97 years old!

The original plan is that he would come over when Chris was home and they could figure out how to get up the stairs together.  But Grandpa was really excited to see us, and he showed up much earlier.  I couldn’t leave him just standing around outside, so I went downstairs and discussed with him how we should tackle it.  I ended up standing behind him, in case he fell backwards, and literally pushed him up the stairs.  I didn’t have to push him the entire way, he is pretty strong and pulled himself up using the rail most of the way.  But there were a few spots where he got tired, and at the very top there is no rail, so I really did push him the whole way.

It was a lovely visit, and he loved the food.  I cooked a shepherd’s pie that uses bread chunks instead of meat, as he has dentures and can only eat soft things.  The mushroom cream gravy is what put it over the top, I think.

The kids all played their musical instruments for him, and many art projects were oohed and aahed over as well.   I also made sure that everybody got a picture with him, since it is most likely the last time they will see him.  I think it is pretty special that they are able to spend any time with their great grandfather, and want them to remember these special times, even though they are still so young.

Thanks for making the effort to come visit us, Grandpa!  We love you!

It finally happened.  Alexandra is old enough for Kindergarten.  No more kids at home in the morning.  Every morning.  I was so excited I could hardly stand it.  I would spontaneously burst out into giggles whenever I thought about it.  I even did a little happy jig on a number of occasions.  But I had to be sure and do it when she wasn’t looking.  Because even though I was thrilled that she was heading off to school, Alexandra was not so sure it would be as awesome.

She was looking forward to riding the bus with the big kids, and she loved wearing her reflector shield.  But was she really going to have to speak German?  And why did she need to go every single day?  Still, she really liked what she saw on visiting day back in June, so she was pretty excited for the first day of school.

She had her outfit picked out and waiting on the stairs for a couple of days.She has her gym clothes and her painting apron in the plastic bag, along with her Finken (special slippers all the kids wear while inside).   Doesn’t she look adorable?

I rode the bus with all the kids, since it was the very first day.  You can see Sarah’s shorter hair a bit in this picture as well.  There were lots of other mommies and daddies on the bus, so I didn’t stand out at all.

We walked up the hill together, and the older kids said hello to all the friends they hadn’t seen over the summer.I am glad she has so many older siblings to help take care of her and make sure she knows the way.  Poor Nick had to do it all alone.

When we got to school, there was a bit of time to play around, and then all the kids separated to their own classrooms.  Sarah and Noah were both going back to the same teacher they had last year, but Sophie had a new teacher, since she was now in the fourth grade.  With the way the school is set up, all the other kids will all have the same teachers, but Sophie is on a different track.  She really liked Frau Goeldi, and I am sure Frau Berendts will turn out to be just as good.  It’s just a bit scary since we don’t know them like we know Frau Nicollier and Herr Trinkler.  Oh, excuse me, it’s Frau Wolfer now, since she got married. 🙂

Alexandra and I found her hook and cubby for her toothbrush and cup, and hung up her coat and reflector as well.  We put her gym clothes in the basket with her name on it, and then went to find her chair.  I knew she was nervous, but at least she wasn’t crying like a couple of the other kids.  Poor things.

Her teacher is well known to us, since she is also the German as a second language teacher.  Sophie loved her and told Alexandra lots of good things about her. Here Frau Meier is taking Findus the puppet around to each child to say hello.  He is also new in Kindergarten and is a little bit nervous about all the children.  They are trying to help him feel more comfortable.  She sang some songs with them, explained the few rules, and let them look around at all the toys with their parents.

Then we went over to the main school building for the welcoming ceremony.That is all the kids and most of the teachers in the entire school.  One row for each grade, and two for the kindergarten classes.  I love the smallness and family atmosphere of a country school!

That is Sophie’s teacher, Frau Berendts playing the piano, and Herr Geiger on the violin.  He teaches French and Geometry to the kids in Herr Trinkler’s class.  So both Nick and Sarah had him as well.  Very nice man, rides his bike from his home in Bonstetten through the forest to Aeugst every day.  Says he has the prettiest commute in the world. 🙂

All the children who were new to the school were called up one by one to be greeted and welcomed by the principal.  First up in her class was Alexandra. And then slowly all the other kids joined her. They were greeted with cheers and applause by all the other kids, and then they went outside to release balloons into the air.  Each balloon had a postcard attached to it with the name of a child on it, and the address of the school. Whoever found the balloon is supposed to write their name and address on the other side and send it back to the school.  On the last day of school they give out prizes to the kids whose balloons went the farthest.  One year Sophie won, she was super excited!

The first day must not have been so bad, since she came home looking like this. Of course, a little later in the week the tears started.  Every night she would cry when I would tell her she had to go to Kindergarten the next day.  “But I already went to Kindergarten!”  She didn’t quite grasp that she had to go every single day. 🙁  But then it got a bit better, and the crying stopped, although she still wasn’t thrilled.  However, now that the boy who was hitting her every.single.day is no longer in kindergarten, she is doing much better. Funny how that works.

Just before school started, Sarah underwent a dramatic transformation.  She had been growing out her hair for several years, and it was quite long.  She loved it, but didn’t really like me to brush it for her.  Nor did she want help washing it, even though it was so long she often had trouble getting it really clean.  In other words, she had gorgeous hair, but it never looked its best.

So I told her that maybe we should cut it to make it easier for her to wash properly.  By the time it grew long again, she would have mastered washing such thick hair and it would be problem to keep it looking nice.  She agreed, and we hacked it off.  I cut it up to her shoulders, which was slightly shorter than the agreed upon below the shoulders length.

I was a little nervous, because I usually only cut the boys’ hair.  Cutting hair that is long and needs to be even and straight is much harder than grabbing a shaver and rubbing it all over their head.  Hence the slightly shorter length.  🙂  Still, I think I did an okay job.  Sarah was at least very happy with the outcome.   But she wouldn’t let Chris take a picture of the finished project.  sigh

On the first day of school, Sarah got lots of compliments and attention from all her friends who oohed and aahed over her new look.  That erased any last little lingering doubts she may have had about chopping off her hair.

A couple of weeks later, Sophie came and asked if I could cut her hair as well.  So I did.  They both look really nice and their hair looks fuller and thicker now.   Kind of makes me want to chop mine….

Chris bought the kids new bikes this spring.  They had all outgrown their old bikes since the previous summer.  It was so bad some of them looked like they were riding little clown bicycles!  The bikes all have gears, which the old ones didn’t, so we can hopefully go on longer bike rides as a family.  But before that could happen, a certain someone needed to learn how to ride her new bike.

Alexandra had been using one of those bikes with no pedals for a while, and she was really good at holding up both feet in the air and balancing for long periods of time.  I knew she was completely capable of riding a real bike, but she had some issues.  Her new bike was heavier than the old one, so even though she could theoretically ride it just fine, she had trouble holding it up when she stopped.  It kept tipping over, taking her with it.  Also, the whole climbing-on-the-bike-while-trying-hold-it-still move was seemingly impossible, again because of the sheer weight of the bike.

But every time I could convince her to try it, she rode for long stretches without me touching her at all.  It was just the starting and stopping that was throwing her for a big loop.  So big that she finally completely gave up and refused to try at all.  When Oma came to visit, I told Alexandra that she had helped all the other kids learn how to ride their bikes, maybe she could help her.  It had been a long enough break, that she was willing to let Oma try.

It took about 5 minutes and Alexandra was a true blue bike rider!

The other kids rode their bikes over to the fountain to cool off, but Alexandra wasn’t quite confident enough to do that yet.

We are so proud of her, and happy that she can now go out and ride bikes just like the big kids.  Bodensee here we come! Woohoo! 🙂