Engine Shed!

Niamh, Rowan, and I went to the CFF open house in Lausanne yesterday. We had a great time checking out the trains. There were multiple engines, passenger coaches, and the fire/rescue train. They were also a number of people that seemed to be giving details about the trains, but it was all in french so I did not pay much attention to them.

Rowan and Niamh checking out the controls on one of the older engines.
Niamh and Rowan in the cab of a modern engine.

Rowan climbed into this engine and said "this engine is even older than Big Bumpa Charlie." He was wrong.

Niamh and Rowan check out the inside of the older engine.

The controls of the older engine.

The nameplate (?) on the older engine.

Niamh!

Rowan wasn't too excited to be in the pictures. He just wanted to look at the trains.

The kids checking out one of the new coaches.

These are some of the engines in the shed that we did not have access to.

Checking out a switcher in the yard.

Checking out more coaches.

Running for first class.

Checking out the view from first class.

The turntable in Lausanne

The engine shed.

Smoke Free?

I believe smoking is no longer allowed in public places in the Canton of Vaud. Of course, I may have translated this incorrectly.

Signs of Fall

Chestnuts on the ground

These are actually, I think, châtaigne (horse chestnuts), which are not edible. Rowan and Niamh love collecting them, though we'll have to be careful this year because of Little Miss Eat-Everything-Including-Cigarette-Butts. The chestnuts that are sold roasted at stands are marron. I have not seen any of the edible variety around yet (roasted or chocolate), but it shouldn't be too long. Hooray! It also won't be too long until the chestnut festival in Fully. We've never been, I hope we can go this year.

Fishing for Letters

I think most of you know that I've been getting a taste of what home schooling might be like by teaching Rowan to read English just in case we end up being here for a while. We've been doing this since May, and are taking it pretty slow (we're only on lesson 55 of 231 in The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading) since there's no real rush.


Tuesday's lesson was a huge success. It was so great to see him excited about lessons, as he is not usually too enthused!

I wrote letters (and a few letter combos) on small index cards and attached paper clips to each card. Then made a finishing pole with some string, a ruler, and a magnet. Next he had to read the word that was made when he put the letter(s) next to an ing, ang, ong, or ung card. It was so much fun for him that after we had finished and it was quiet time, he asked me to leave out all the fishing supplies so that he could continue to fish during quiet time.

Package!

Thanks for the three big boxes of Os Grammie and Bumpa!

Baby or Puppy? Sometimes it's hard to tell.

Serious Business.

Little Chipmunk.

When her tummy was full Muriel discovered that making Os jump is fun.

After that got old she found that dropping them on the floor was cool too.

Rowan had wanted to eat Os dry like Muriel, but in the interest of making the boxes last as long as possible I told him no. I did tell him he could eat the ones on the floor that Muriel had dropped. His response? "YESSS!"

Everyone was super excited to see all the Cheerios in the package from Grammie and Bumpa yesterday morning. It was Muriel's first taste of regular cheerios. You can buy Honey Nut Cheerios in France. You can buy Multi Grain Cheerios at Migros' online store (I've not done this yet). But regular cheerios are a rare treat! After lunch yesterday Rowan chose a bowl of Cheerios for his special treat instead of a piece of chocolate. And Niamh would have as well, except she took too long to eat lunch (way past quiet time) and so had to wait and have her bowl for snack.

Thanks again, Grammie and Bumpa! As you can see, they were well received!

Too Tired for Three Books

Saturday was an unusually busy day for the big kids and I (Pat stayed home with Muriel). In the morning we took the train to Lausanne with our friends, the Elkos, for a picture book reading at Books Books Books. We then came back home for a quick lunch. After lunch we skipped nap time and took the train back to Lausanne to attend their friend Wyatt's birthday party at Pop-In's (for anyone reading from the Lausanne area with small children, this was a really nice place to hang out). We didn't get back home until about 6pm. This is how Niamh looked at the end of bedtime stories.

Morning Boats

Practicing at school

Rowan has been practicing writing his name at school. I think he is getting much better.

Niamh returns to jardin d'enfants

Yesterday at about 9:00 while Muriel, Niamh and I were hanging out at home reading books I got a call from Niamh's teacher at Le Petit Moulin wondering where she was. Pat and I were certain we signed her up for Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, but they have us down for Monday, Tuesday, Thursday. I told Andréanne that we'd be right over, and rushed to get ready. But as soon as I told Niamh I'd made a mistake and it was time for school she panicked and started crying. And cried to whole way to school. And didn't stop when we got into school. So Andréanne and I decided that maybe it would be best if we skipped Monday this week and just started today.

Niamh did great this morning. We talked about what was going to happen and that it might be hard, but she'd done it before. We talked about how Lola was scared on her first day of school too, but it turned out all right. We talked about how it was super important that she learn french. And she did great, there were no tears.

That is, there were no tears until right after the above photo was taken, when her new teacher Maroushka (this year there are two teachers who each take different days--Andréanne she had last year, and Maroushka is new this year) said hello to her. That opened the floodgates. She was completely inconsolable and didn't want me to leave, and was still crying when I left.

But after school she greeted me cheerfully and said she'd had a great time. Maroushka said that she had cried for a while, but after she stopped was completely fine the rest of the morning.

Here are Niamh and Muriel after school, on our way home.

Payerne

On Sunday we took the train to Payerne to see it's 11th century abbey church which was part of the former Benedictine abbey founded in the 10th century. Pat and I both agreed that it was worth visiting, but doesn't make our list of top ten things to do while in Switzerland. There was no photography allowed inside the church, so photos are limited. A small room next door to the church (cloister??) had been turned into a little informational exhibit and I did take a few photos there because there were no signs saying not to. Pat says that is following the letter of the law and not the spirit of it...he is much more law abiding than I am (and we all know what a crazy rule breaker I am), as I would have sneaked photos inside the church if it wouldn't have made him twitch.





While I was taking the above photo, I turned around and noticed Niamh engaged in some rather interesting stroller antics:



A zoom lens sure makes it easier to spy on your children.

Another step closer to walking

It's hard to tell from the photo because it's so close, but Muriel has been standing unassisted quite a bit the past few days.

Today feels like fall

Hooray! We're looking forward to a lot of things this fall: Muriel's first birthday, Rowan's fifth birthday, Pat's...um, birthday (we'll just leave it at that), a visit from Uncle Patrick, Halloween, Thanksgiving (I hope to actually cook this year), cows in St. Cergue, and a trip to the Mosel River Valley. Not to mention all the little things like cool mornings, sweaters and jackets, roasted chestnuts, and Vacherin Mont d'Or.

While Rowan's been at school this week...

A(H1N1) and kindergarten

This link was given to parents in Zurich, but we didn't receive anything on the topic from Rowan's school.

Conversation with a four-year-old boy

Today Rowan and Muriel and I (Niamh was already snoozing) were hanging out in the book room before quiet time (Rowan)/snooze (Muriel). Our conversation went like this:

Rowan: "Muriel is my best friend."
Me: "Oh? I thought Sam was your best friend."
Rowan: "Super best friend."
Me: "Oh, so Muriel is your super best friend?"
Rowan: "No, Sam is my super best friend. Muriel is my best friend."
Me: "What about Neevie?"
Rowan (without even stopping to think about it): "Niamh is my husband and I am her wife because I'm the mama who takes care of my dinosaurs."

First real day of school

Rowan seems to have enjoyed his first real day of school. We didn't realize that we were supposed to send a snack with him, so his snack consisted of an old piece of chocolate that was in his backpack. We'll make sure he has a real snack starting Thursday (no school on Wednesdays). Here is art from his first day:

School supplies

Here is Rowan's school supply list for kindergarten. There are a few items that I don't think would be on the list in the US.

1. t-shirt and shorts for gym
2. bag for gym clothes
3. soft shoes for gym
4. slippers for class
5. paint smock
6. felt tip markers
7. glue bottle
8. small notebook
9. plastic paper holder

La rentrée 2009

Rowan had his first day of school today. It was actually more like an orientation because it was just a partial day (or a partial day of a partial day, since this first year of kindergarten he only goes one full day on Thursdays. The other four are just half days). My friend Jen, another American who lives in our apartment building, watched Niamh and Muriel so I could take Rowan without so many distractions.

This first day the parents stayed for about thirty minutes or so. We then we left and returned to pick the children up after about an hour and a half. There are two years of kindergarten here, and this morning there were only new kids--or first year kids. Tomorrow will be a normal day, for the full time, and with the whole class (first and second year is all in one class).

There was one boy he knew who attended Jardin d'Enfants with him the past two years. And out of six new kids in the class, four were English speakers. Good for his comfort level, not so good for the learning french. Rowan told me he did not have a very good day because I didn't stay with him. I suspect that he did okay. There were no tears so it must not have been too bad!

As for me, I met three moms who are native English speakers. Which, as with Rowan, was nice for my comfort level, but perhaps not so nice for improving my french. Anyway, we all went out for coffee while waiting to pick up the kids. Pat has been saying for a while that he thinks things will get better here (I've been quite homesick and lonely lately) once Rowan starts school. If this first day is any indication, I think he's right.

putting on his slippers

in the classroom and positively thrilled

on the way home--thrilled again!

Switzerland in the news

Links sent to me by family:

Switzerland gets bigger
Switzerland and healthcare

Come, Dreams

Weary you must be with play,

Running, running, all the day;
Come, dreams,
Come to baby, come;
Come, dreams,
Come to baby, come.

-Old French Lullaby

The Best Picture of Muriel Ever

Muriel was feeling very cheery this afternoon. I'm not sure what was so funny...it doesn't take much when you're only ten months old. This is how she often looks when she laughs, I'm so glad I finally caught it with the camera!

Old Train Car

Vevey

Niamh's new favorite book!

10 Months Old!

Here are a few pictures from Muriel's 10 month birthday. In related news, she had her 10 month checkup yesterday. She weighs 8.4 kg (18.5 pounds) and is 73 centimeters (28.74 inches) tall. The doctor says she is tall and thin.

Expat Postings

I follow a few expat blogs and here are three entries that I found interesting.

The Works: Swiss National Day in Au

Fun on a Budgeté Rheintal and Locarno Regions of Switzerland

Laid Off in Switzerland? What to do first.

Au revoir et à la prochaine, Auntie Katie!

It was so sad to say goodbye to Auntie Katie this morning. We all had a wonderful time during her visit. So many adventures! Though they said goobye last night the kids are going to be sad to find her gone this morning--not as many books and boulangerie visits and park excursions as when she was here.


The above photo was taken yesterday--Katie loves how Muriel often behaves like a little puppy, carrying things in her mouth as well as burrowing, wiggling, kicking, and rolling gleefully in a pile of blankets and pillows. Need to get a video of that, because it really is darling.

Thank you Katie for everything! We will miss you!