Tommy's visit

Uncle Tommy came to San Diego for work and spent some time with us when we returned from Chicago. We had a great time with him in the few short days we overlapped. Jeff and Tommy drove some go-carts one afternoon prior to some car shopping. 

The blurs coming around the corner are Tommy & Jeff. Can't tell who is who, but no matter.

Thanksgiving in Chicago

Thanksgiving in Chicago got off to a rough start and only continued that way for us. But at least we got to go home to see all the family which was nice. A lot of these pictures are of the kids sleeping... we got nailed with sickness this trip. We started on a 6am flight (UGH!) in the last row (infinite UGH!) and Kyle got as sick as he's ever been (pretty UGH!). 

Sweet bed set-up for some very tired kids!

Completely passed out after attempted family photos. Kyle doesn't nap anymore, but this just shows how exhausted he was. And as we later determined, he was getting sick again. 

Emily passed out too after attempted photo session. Also no longer naps...

An awake and playful moment.

Out again... ear infections and blown ear drum. Poor kid. Screamed all night the previous night with so much ear pain. 

Really passed out in our rental tChevy Aveo (Kyle calls Chevy cars tChevy's, but he knows "the t is silent and you don't use it to spell t-Chevy but you say it tChevy")

Ahh Potbellies on our bonus day since our flight was cancelled because it was too windy to fly. And kids seemingly on the mend!

Glow in the dark mini-golf at the monkey hole.

Passed out on the plane on the way home. Again no longer napping... He just conked out. One minute he was asking to play a game and I look over the next and he was out. 

Emily also resting on the plane.

Miko rides Olivia

What do you get when you have 2 five year olds, a cat, a monkey and free time? A monkey riding a cat of course!

Almost got it!


There she goes!

Despite her hisses, Olivia kept stopping and waiting for Kyle and Emily to put Miko on her to ride. Or so it seemed...

Kyle & Emily's Thanksgiving program at school

Kyle and Emily's classes both put on a little Thanksgiving program for the parents. They each sang some songs and had a Thanksgiving feast with their classmates and families. 

Kyle's class singing (Kyle is just left of my videoing center in bright yellow shirt)

Kyle's class with another song:


Kyle's class with a final song:


Emily's class with a song (Emily is bottom left in pink skirt and flower sleeves and ponytail - can't see her face. I didn't have a very good spot to record):


Emily's class with another song (Emily is third from end, 2nd with head dress. Still not a good angle to record):

Emily with her seatmates

Red Macaroni

Mmmmm red macaroni for Papa B, my dad. He always made it the best. I've tried to duplicate it, but of course it never tastes as good as it did when he would make it. 

Great Grandma's cinnamon candy

Today the kids were off school and I wasn't feeling the best (very tired and many contractions) so we did some holiday decorating and cooking. We made my Dad's mom's cinnamon candy. I have never made hard candy before, but I remember my dad making his mom's cinnamon candy and it being super hot and great. So we made it because I had found some cinnamon oil a few weeks ago at Whole Foods. 

Making sure it was at the appropriate temperature and testing the candy strings in the cool water. Yes we are still in our pajamas at noon. It's a day off!

The finished product. Bummer was that it did harden up and have some decent flavoring, but the oil wasn't as potent as it was supposed to be and it was very sticky after first lick. I think next time I need to let it boil longer or perhaps to a higher temperature. 

Emily's Switzerland journal

And here is Emily's Switzerland journal with translations.

I woke up super early. And I went to NY. I went to dinner with Max and Leo.

I had lunch with Uncle Adam & Max. I went on a subway. We ate cupcakes

in the park. Now we are  flying over the Atlantic to Zurich.

In Zurich I got a kid hotel. I like the teddy bear soap and the stuffed panda and she loves me.

We went hiking. We made 3 giant leaf piles and we destroyed them. I like going

swimming. I liked the pretzel cheese sandwich.

We are in Luzern. We met the pastry chef Bettina. I made a cat cake.

I can't wait to play in the snow.

Today we went to Mt. Titlis. I was 10,000 feet high. We had to take 4 gondolas.

Mt. Titlis we went sliding down a little mountain. It was super cold.

I got to go feed bunnies. We went high. We went in a mirror maze. Now we are flying home.

Kyle's Switzerland journal

While we were in Switzerland last week, the kids were to keep a travel journal as part of their homework. It was something I wanted to have them do anyhow, but thankfully the teacher assigned it so they kids did it. Here is Kyle's journal (with translations).

We went to New York. We went on a airplane to get to New York.

We had dinner with Max and Leo. Max likes monkeys. We woke up super early.

We had lunch with Max & Adam. We took a subway. We had cupcakes at the park. Now we are on

our airplane to Zurich. We are crossing the whole Atlantic Ocean. yesterday we started at the Pacific Ocean. I can't wait to have chocolate in Switzerland.

We had a special kid hotel room in Zurich. We have a teddy bear soap.

I got a affen (monkey (in German)) at a toy store. We ate special treats, sausages and fondue.

We hiked at Uetliberg. We made a big leaf pile. We messed it up.

We went swimming at the hotel in Zurich. We ate a yummy pretzel salami sandwich on the train. Tomorrow we will take a train to Lucerne.

We are in Luzern (German spelling). We made cookies with the pastry chef Bettina.

I made a monkey cookie. I can't wait to play on the mountain. We are going to the mountains.

At Mt. Titlis we went sliding down a little mountain. We went on four gondolas. We were 10,000 feet high.

We played in the snow. We took a train to the gondola. We saw some pretty mountains. My favorite part was sliding.

We took a airplane ride to New York. We saw bunnies and we fed them leaves. We went

watch shopping. We walked to dinner by the lake and pretty bridges. I had a wonderful time in Switzerland with Mommy, Daddy and Emily. (Note: The latter description of feeding bunnies, watch shopping and dinner by lake and bridges was still in Lucerne.)