The Old and the Restless

While I was in Toronto last week I picked up Tom from preschool from Monday to Wednesday. After he asked me if mommy was home and if daddy was home, he always wanted to stay and play a little while longer. If I had the camera out, Nelson wanted me to take his picture too. Tom wanted me to make sure I put the truck he made in the picture.

I flew from Toronto with Margot and family early Christmas Day. It was nice to have the children (and their parents) with us for eight days. Joshua was enthusiastic about everything. Watching the manatee. Since it was  a cold morning, there were a lot of manatee at Blue Springs. Having a rest. Ella didn't want her photo taken today . The children seem to be more interested in the playground than the manatee. Joshua is trying to show his missing tooth which was removed at the dentist the previous day. A conversation with Grandpa during a walk on the beach. The Biolab alligator safari. "I spy with my little eye..."

Michael and Tom made gingerbread cookies. On the Sunday before Christmas, Joshua, Ella, Margot and Mark came for lunch. First, they had to explore the renovations. The laundry room is now on the second floor of the house in what used to be the kitchen. Megan and Tom And a happy Christmas to all!

Margot invited us for dinner and made a delicious crown roast of pork with a sourdough, dried fruit stuffing. I think it would be good in the Christmas turkey. On the Fine Cooking website that each serving is supposed to be 1220 calories. I guess we won't have appetizers before Christmas dinner. Would we have to miss dessert? Trying to get the three cousins together started calmly enough. A little excitement here. I made a remark about the bare feet. Beginning to lose control... A final collapse Joshua recited a song and poem he learned at school. Ella joined in. "Go in Peace" (And he went)

Travelling by train from Cologne to Basel and then to Neuchatel we were surprised to see snow in Switzerland. However, when we arrived in Neuchatel, the only snow was on the distant mountains. The Eiger, the Mönch and the Jungfrau were out in all their glory. The white in the foreground are the greenhouses behind Bryn and Hervé's house. Not snow. Alicia goes to the local Kindergarten.  The hours are strange. Most days it's morning only. On one day it is morning and afternoon but lunch is from 11:45 until 1:45. One afternoon we made muffins. For Halloween, Alicia was a cat. Brandon was a monster. I don't think the mask was very comfortable. The pumpkin Bryn carved. In their town of Wavre, Halloween was to be on Friday November 2nd from 6 to 8 pm. I don't think all the Swiss quite understand Halloween. In the bags I found that someone had given the children a handful of shelled almonds. I guess they were supplies f...

For this trip, go to the Blog.... Still Old and Restless. - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

On their way to Florida, Bryn, Hervé, Brandon and Alicia stopped in Toronto and were able to celebrate Thanksgiving with us (even though Bryn did not know it was Thanksgiving). Unfortunately, their flight on Saturday was delayed 12 hours. Paul picked them up at 2:30 AM on Sunday. We went back to bed at 5:00 AM. On Thanksgiving Monday, Alicia dressed up for the visitors. Wearing an apron over her pretty dress, Alicia helped me make the stuffing for the turkey. Ella and Alicia are trying to find clothes to fit the dolls that I still have. It's not an easy match. Bryn and Brandon helped Joshua with the toy they had brought for him. It seemed complicated. Tom enjoyed his new truck. Tom even wanted his truck beside him at the dinner table. It's good that we had dinner at 5:00 pm because Bryn began to look a little tired afterwards. Ella liked the games that Alicia has on Hervé's iPad. The cousins, ages 3, 4, 5, 6 and... 11. They would not...