Over the last couple of weeks Owen has been SO tired during lunch.  If I wanted to make you all haters I would be honest and tell you that he just recently gave up his morning nap and went down to one nap. The boy loves his sleep. And I hope each one of you gets a sleep lover like Owen.  What can I say, he scrapes the bananas and nutella out of crepes, stands on the dining room table and gnaws on his crib so if he loves sleep I will rejoice in it! Sleep on Owezer Dozer!

I finally had the camera close enough to grab as he dosed off during lunch yesterday. If you could hear the sound in the video you would hear us all talking and interacting. Jackson’s giggling and my camera didn’t phase him!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHdcYMPZT3k]

Almost done with the catch up folks I promise!  This is my last backtrack post!

The day Dan and Margo flew out was the first day of the church weekend away. We had reservations to go but for the couple of weeks leading up to it we waffled back and forth trying to determine if we should really go or not. Not because we weren’t interested but because we had many guests, as you already know, and Seth had to travel beginning the Monday following the retreat. Oh yes, and because for the 4 of us to go to the rustic weekend away it was going to be $350 Swiss Francs. Um, okay that’s a whole lotta mula. About a week before I emailed the coordinator and asked if by chance anyone who wanted to go wasn’t able to go because of space. I just could NOT fathom the packing, sleepless nights and exhaustion accompanied with such expensive fun! Another couple decided at the last minute to come and needed our space. Phew. But we still wanted to go for the day Saturday to spend time getting to know people and enjoying the scenery. So that is what we did. We drove the hour up Saturday morning to Kandersteg, listened to a speaker in the morning, spent the afternoon picnicking and hiking to a lake with friends and then enjoyed dinner with the group before heading home with two very tired boys!

The Lodge where everyone was staying was about 5 mins drive to the base of the hike that took us to Oeschinen Lake. We opted for the gondola with the stroller. It was pouring as we bought our tickets but about 5 mins into our walk to the lake the rain let up and we had a really nice time outside. Jackson and Seth got to go in a boat on the lake and we all visited over hot chocolate. While we were on the patio of the cafe having drinks we heard bells coming our way.  A big herd of sheep were making their way down the mountain and passed by on the path next to us. Jackson loved seeing the sheep dogs at work!

our pastor’s wife Margi is a retired Biology teacher. She loves Jackson’s curiosity and has so much patience to answer his questions!  He was the only big kid on the hike so he got to get all of the grown-up attention.

Daniela and Miguel with baby Anna. They are in our small group and have become good friends! Seth gets his Spanish fix with Miguel and Daniela has been such a sweet friend in this mothering adventure. She is so patient with my boys enthusiasm and even took them up the Gurten a couple of weeks ago so Seth and I could go out on a date!

Sue and Margi laughing hysterically at the boaters…I told them my thought was if the wives of the men wouldn’t get in a boat with their husbands that there was no way I would get in!!!

sweet Owen was snacking and content in his stroller so I stepped away to take his picture from afar…no worries the breaks were on and he was buckled in!

I think this is hysterical…everyone looks a bit concerned again about those silly boaters

This is Seth and Jackson on their turn. One of the ladies asked if they could “take Jackson”. I laughed and said “sure” thinking she was wanting to take him home with her. She meant on the boat. I told her I didn’t mind her taking him to live with her but the boat sounded a bit scary! No really, laughing aside, it did scare me. Seth assured me that he could handle Jackson on the boat safely.

don’t let this awake face fool ya, the next one is of him ten minutes later. He was exhausted from all of the fun!

We are drawing to the end of day trip and festival season. It’s about to get really boring in terms of pictures of the sights of Switzerland. Today the high was 45 degrees. And rainy. Lord, help me through this upcoming grey season!!! Last winter was tough y’all. The Swiss love the outdoors but haven’t mastered indoor activities and kid activities! So glad to have some better friends this year that I know well enough to call for emergency playdates!

In early September our friends Dan and Margo along with their twin boys, Seth and Bryce came to visit us for a week! Seth and Dan have known each other since their awkward teenage yrs! Dan and Margo were so brave to face the jetlag with 3 yr olds and amazingly jumped in and saw so many things!! We did our best with 4 little ones to get them around Switzerland and make sure they had yummy meals and warm beds! Jackson and Owen loved having brothers around and my Seth *may* or *may not* have said at the end of the week that he will let me adopt twins! I will keep you posted on that one. For now here are a few pictures from their visit!

The Saturday they arrived was the Sharing of the Cheese Festival in Magisalp

this doesn’t look so yummy but apparently it was so good Seth had to take off his glasses to eat it. toasted bread, sauteed onions and melted cheese poured on top.  not part of our weekly diet…more like once a yr!

i love this one because it looks like I photoshopped Owen in.

little boys gathered around a little frog

lots of bike riding and outside time!

fountains downtown

Cow Festival downtown

I don’t have pictures here but they also went down to the Aare for walks, Zermatt, Gruyere, Callier Chocolate factory and Old Towne Bern.

As we walked up the hill to catch our tram into downtown he sang loudly as he marched onward. I was conscious that Jackson’s exuberance was screeching into the silence and peace of our new neighborhood. We had only been in Switzerland a couple of weeks and I was already keenly aware of how quiet the people were here, including the small children. As we walked I asked Jackson what song he was singing; his reply was “what song, mom?” It seems he goes through life with a soundtrack playing. It brings so much joy to our family, and I have to admit, at times it sends me running for Tylenol with a pounding headache many a day around 4 pm.

My goal from the beginning of each move has been to learn to appreciate our new home while still maintaining some of who we are and where we are from. I remember clearly in those first months how my blood pressure would rise each time we left the house knowing that Jackson would push the social norms and likely offend someone. I would prep him before getting on each tram or train and pray that he would get lost in people watching and not be quite so noisy. But then one day it hit me, I was stressing in an effort to fit in, and the result was stifling to my son’s personality.  I wanted him to respect the social climate but what I was doing was allowing my insecurity to pressure me into thinking that he had to be seen and not heard. But the truth is that being sensitive didn’t mean being silent.

So for the last ten months we have worked and worked to teach our little ones “tram rules” and “noise laws.” If it is late afternoon and we are playing outside for goodness sake I allow him to use his outside voice. With the occasional, “Let’s make sure the whole neighborhood can’t hear us.” But if we are taking an early morning walk, especially on Sundays, we try to explain the need for our neighbors to have some quiet rest. This is no task for the weak-willed. We still have days when my blood pressure boils and it is nothing short of a miracle that we don’t get asked to step off the tram. But mostly the boys feel the “climate change” as we enter the tram and know to knock it down a few notches.  They can point out the window and talk to us but their voices can’t be so loud that everyone can hear.

When it comes to teaching cultural sensitivity I often feel as if I am working for something unattainable. But as motherhood would have it, I was completely surprised and encouraged last week.  We got on the tram on Friday evening after a casual dinner out with the boys. They were WILD, as in Owen screaming to see the fish tank, eating not a bite and Jackson wishing oh so hard that I would suddenly think it was okay to get up and down from his chair to walk around the food court while we ate. With dinner done we hopped on our tram and the boys settled in. They sat quietly next to us and looked out the window. Two rows in front of us a toddler popped her head up above her seat and shot Jackson a vibrant, mischievous look. She proceeded to get into a standing position, shrieking and growling to get the boys to laugh and enter in. While Jackson smiled and laughed a bit he stayed in his seat and did not get up like he would have in the past. Looking around you could see people becoming visibly uncomfortable with noise level and interaction. The excitement in this little girl got so rowdy that the lady sitting in the row between us turned to look at us to see what on earth we were doing to cause such commotion. Jackson and I just smiled politely at her. When the little girl and her mom reached their stop she continued with the show and began loudly yelling “goodbye” to the boys in Swiss German.  Our boys paused and then looked to us to see if it was okay to holler goodbye. We encouraged them to say goodbye and they both with all friendliness and nearing outside voice levels said goodbye to the girl.

Sure there are days when excitement cannot be contained and the volume knob is not reachable. And on those days I remind myself that these boys are not by nature quiet. SO we roll with it. But there are also days where I see new maturity that allows the rambunctious to sit and take in the world we currently live in, which happens to be a quiet, reserved place.