Around the House

Getting ready to go to the roof to enjoy the cool monsoon air before bed:

Sometimes cool kids ride their bikes backwards:

Another new trick: pulling wheeled toys by their strings:

A New Trick

Our House

We are very pleased with our house. 2/3 sides of the house have green-facing windows. The house is new so it's clean and fairy bugless - we tamper with the idea of sleeping without mosquito nets! And it is a place of peace, something we asked God to do.

Living Room
(We don't own couches, but Charity gave this nice tent to Lukas -
a nice diversion for lots of indoor hours!)

Dining Area
(built in cabinets on left are real nice,
that's the living room on the right)

Lukas' room
(I love those curtains. Flag banner from Kari H, floor quilt from Lorina)

Our Bedroom
(I also love these curtains, and the veranda and window to it's right,
not pictured, let in lots of sun and green)

Office / Laundry
(Each bedroom has its own bathroom, this one is for washing clothes!
We hang dry inside now - monsoon!)

Kitchen
(Even our kitchen has a full length window looking out to green!
A unique thing about this kitchen is how high the counters are -
they come almost to our hips!)

of Selfies and Sleepies

This one is from Day 1 in Switzerland (see earlier post):

A pretty castle church in Thun, Switzerland which we had the opportunity to enjoy after missing our train to Milan:

In Fiemelatte, Italy. We had a nice hike to the source of this river and filled our water bottle. Lukas was along, we were just too lazy to include him in the selfie, as you can see above it's hit or miss.

And our sleeper. He was a champion with all the traveling and carting him around:

And there was also Italy

We also enjoyed a week in Fiemelatte, Italy. Here's the lovely view of Lake Como from the veranda there:

And on a day of increased bravery (after being down and out a few days with hand, foot and mouth disease acquired in the nursery at the conference in Switzerland) Lukas played in these cold fountains (he prefers hot baths, even on hot hot days). He also went up the stairs and down the slide at the playground all by himself!

Grandpa and Grandma

One very big highlight of our trip was seeing Grandpa and Grandma! Lukas warmed up to them quickly. We ate good food together. We played cards together. We sat on the floor and watched / played with the baby together. We rode trains and ferries together. We saw beautiful things together. And G&G gave us a few dates, which was needed and lovely.

The cubby in their room that was just right for the small person:

This flower was outside their room, which Daniel said he, Hanna and Jacob drew all the time as kids. The passion flower has more layers than an artichoke:

And some threads from Grandma (which stayed white for one wearing, thanks to my arch laundry enemy, bananas):

The Hiking and the Beauty

Beauty #1: The view from our veranda, where we would play cards after Lukas went to sleep. A date every night :)

Beauty #2: The view from the top of the mountain we climbed by means of lots of transportation including: train, tram, gondola and bus (back at the bottom). There was also a bit of hiking, but we can't boast of any great feats. Daniel has joyfully accepted this season of lesser hikes.

Same place, other side (there's a sleeping baby in Daniel's backpack):

Beauty #3: Waterfalls everywhere on the way down. 

The Joys of the Outdoors

In Switzerland we were outside all day, except when we slept and ate. We liked this.

There was a lovely park just a 10 minute walk through the mountain village from where we stayed. This very nice gliding horse was a favorite:

And swinging with Papa and Mama brought lots of giggles:

It seems our Swiss friends like their very long slides - these mountain rides were everywhere:

The mountable digger at our castle was another favorite:

Even hats are acceptable when you get to be outside, or on the train looking outside, about to be outside:

We have discovered swinging as a new favorite. I must say a playground at the top of the Swiss Alps is as delightful a time at the park can be:

The sweet people at our conference brought in a trailer full of snow for the many kids attending who live in places where they never get to see or touch it:

The Excitement of Day One

Day 1 in Switzerland proved to be as excellent as we anticipated - it was nice and cold so we wore jackets, there were beautiful places to walk everywhere we looked so we set out right after breakfast, and as a special gift to these two foragers, there were strawberries and blueberries to be had right away.