Swiss life...

As the boys both nap, I thought I'd catch everyone up on our experiences thus far.

Last Monday evening we boarded the plane to start our journey through Switzerland (and Europe).  We had 9 checked bags, 3 carry ons, 1 single jogging stroller and 1 double jogging stroller, 2 convertible carseats, 2 sleeping kiddos and then us.  With much help, we managed to get through the airport, eat a little dinner and board the plane quite smoothly.  I installed both carseats in the plane (not an easy task with everyone boarding and the lack of room to begin with), secured both kiddos and sat in between them with a sigh of relief.  We did it!  The next 8 hours flew by, the boys both slept for 5 1/2 hours, being awake for both take off and landing.  I can't complain about the first flight over here, it really went pretty well.

We landed in Zurich which is about a 2 hour drive to Lausanne where we are living.  We opted for the direct flight from Philadelphia to Zurich rather than the Newark NJ direct flight to Geneva Switzerland. It's a MUCH nicer drive in Switzerland and the landscape is breathtaking.  We arrived at our temporary apartment around noon, the boys both slept the entire ride.  Our relocation agent met us, showed us how everything worked and then off we were again to get the necessities...like milk, bread and so on.

The grocery stores here are much different.  You pay 2 CHF to get a cart out (you get it back once it's returned), baby food is bought at a pharmacy, and you pay for bags at checkout if you don't have your own...along with the outrageous prices of food here and so on.  We arrived back home after hitting a few stores to get baby items, coffee (it was much needed) and so on.  We made dinner for the family, organized the house a little and called it a night.

The first night both boys went to bed on time, were up from 10-midnight because that's 4-6 pm back home, but then Thomas slept until 8:30a and Henry slept until 11 am.  Henry had a minor setback, he threw up twice in the morning, mostly liquid, but then was fine the rest of the day once he ate.  The second night was much better, Henry slept from 7p-8:30a and we had to wake him up for his first day of school.

On Thursday Henry attended his first day of school,  but only for an hour to acclimate to the new setting.  His classroom consists of 2 kids that only speak Russian but are learning both English and French, 4 kids that only speak French but are leaning English and about 4-5 kids that speak English and are learning French...all 2 year olds.  Both teachers speak both English and French and are super nice.  Before I left I had emailed them asking what to bring the first day and they said slippers and a change of clothing if he's not yet potty trained.  When you walk in the door, everyone takes off their shoes and puts slippers on.  They have their own little potty room, a bunch of toys (which is nice since we only brought a handful), tables and chairs and an art room.  He's still adjusting to the new school and he cries when I drop him off, but they say he's great once he starts playing.

Friday, Henry went to school from 8:30-12 and did great again.  There were only 4 kids in school that day which probably made it a little easier for him.  I packed a picnic lunch so after we picked him up from school (which is only a 5 minute walk from our place) we headed to the park for a picnic.  It was such a beautiful day on the lake.  Friday night, little Henry and daddy took a quick walk to the butcher while I bathed and put Thomas down and came back with 2 beautiful ribeyes freshly cut.  It's amazing here, they don't say the food is organic because it's all organic...they don't ever use hormones and everything is grass fed and just grazes at it's leisure.  We enjoyed dinner with a bottle of wine and sat back and relaxed.

Saturday we played outside at the various parks in the morning, I went for a wonderful run along the lake, came home for naptime and then ventured out again to another small town.  It's so wonderful here, all the towns have a pedestrian only part where all the shops are so that you can just stroll up and down and not worry about any cars, it's great to just let Henry walk and expend some energy too.  Saturday night we just made a pizza we bought at the grocery store and watched a movie on the iPad while eating Swiss made ice cream.

Sunday we played outside in the morning, I set us a walker I bought for Thomas (video to follow), went to an English mass at 10:30am, came home for lunch and nap and Henry slept until 4pm when we went in and woke him.  We then did a long walk and played at the park.  It was such a great family day.

Today Henry had school and daddy is doing his first day at the office.  It's raining outside so it's a good day to get organized...or just read a book :)  Tomorrow daddy leaves for London and Germany so I'm a bit nervous, but I'm staying strong knowing it's only 3 nights.

I hear someone stirring...I will post photos later!!