Les Diavleres

The weekends have been so fun to take random day trips up to the mountains.  Henry especially begs to go to the mountains.  He wants to be up in the snow!  We haven't hit any snow yet, but next weekend we are planning on returning here and taking a tram to a glacier where they give you rides on a dog sled.  How cool does that sound?  I hope it works out.  To our dismay, we haven't stubbled upon any St. Bernards or Berniese mountain dogs yet.  Elsa wants to run through a mountain meadow.  She cracks me up.  She has talked about running through a meadow in the mountains so much we showed her "The Sound of Music."We were on our way to a city called Gstad-pretty famous ski resort and stumbled upon Les Diavleres.  They had this great little park and we ended up not going any further.  The kids had such a great time on the swing and teeter totter.  The parks in Switzerland have been such a great treat.  They have all of the equipment we use to play on, but was taken away for our children because it was too dangerous.  I'm so glad they are experiencing a real teeter totter!

Take special not of the turquoise purse Elsa has on her shoulder.  She carries it everywhere.  It is full of treasures.  That purse has become her best friend!  Thanks Kendra!
Henry played on this rope swing for probably an hour.  No kidding.  

The spring in this motorcycle moved.  Rad.

A few more pictures...

A few more pictures of our weekend trip to Gruyere. Here are the kids enjoying some ice cream near the city gate...

There's a ski resort a little ways away from Gruyere. Henry, Greg and Elsa got to ride the bob luge. It was our first Alpine Slide ride that was actually in the Alps.

Moving In

We should be online in our apartment by this weekend. In the meantime, let me post a few pictures until Suzy's able to resume her blogging duties.

This is the van we rented from Ikea loaded with the furniture we purchased:

Our luggage with the inflatable mattresses were lost in London. We were afraid we were going to have to sleep on the hardwood floor the first night. Fortunately, the airport delivered them to our door around 10 o'clock that night. Here's our front room BEFORE...

And AFTER...

It took a couple days of allen wrenching the furniture together. We're still waiting for one piece of our couch. In the meantime, if the kids can't sit on a fully-assembled couch, they can sit on the couch box...

We're here!

We've been in Switzerland for a week now. Lots to tell. Lots of pictures to post. But we don't have internet access right now. (This is Greg posting from my office.)

Suzy can fill in the details but here are some highlights:

• British Airways is easily the best airline we have ever flown.
  
• Four trips to Ikea so far including one with a large red rental van that Greg drove.
  
• On Saturday, we took the kids to Gruyere - a castle in the Alps. This country is crazy beautiful.
  
• Church was great. Lots of helpful people there. Henry and Elsa made friends their age easily.
  

More to come...

Châtelaine

Looks like we're flying out of Chicago on June 29th. We'll be moving into our new home on June 30th.

Booch!

What do you think he's thinking?

We're In A Pickle!

We thought we'd find some great way to get rid of our mini-van before we left. It really has been one of the last things on our list to settle before we leave. Bad idea. We have hardly any options for ending our lease without paying thousands or ruining our credit (no option there). So we are searching for someone to assume our lease. It is a 2006 Honda Odyssey. The payments are $385/month with 22 months left. We will offer a $1000 cash bonus. Pass this along to anyone you trust. Thanks.

Skating and Yoga

We finally returned to the great park in Geneva, IL to test the skating ramps.  This was Henry's first attempt and he did amazingly well.  He could do two of the ramps without a problem.  The next higher one looked pretty intense.

Elsa entertained herself on the ramps doing yoga poses.

We liked this sign.

Crazy Climber

Henry and his buddies have taken to climbing trees.  I hope we make it out of here without any broken limbs.  Hang in there Atticus!

"I'll sell that for $2. Actually, how about $5?"

My neighbor Patty and I had a massive garage sale last weekend.  This is us the night before the event...

Neither of us has ever hosted a garage sale before.  We had visions of sitting back and reading magazines while the kids sold lemonade.  Wrong.  It was insanely busy.  One potty break a day and my other neighbor Michelle would bring us lunch (which we didn't even sit down to eat).  We made loads and loads of money.  Well, not really.  By any standard it was a success.  After it was over we still took two van loads to Goodwill.  Yikes, that is a lot of stuff!

Greg posted these pictures and titled this post for me.  I guess I'm just not keeping up.  His title refers to my bargaining technique.  To some it may seem a bit backward, but it was quite effective.  I suppose it made the buyer feel so uncomfortable they just wanted to get it and get out. Hey, whatever works.

Watch Out!

I am so glad each of my children has a sense of humor. They are constantly making me laugh (or scream). I had a brood of children at my house the other day, and because of the house selling thing-I didn't want them inside. So, I brought them all outside to wash my car. It was a fabulously warm day. They of course loved being in the water and loved squirting the hose. Ansel felt the power of this new tool. He stood next to the side walk as the school-aged kids came home and threatened them with the hose. He was hysterical from their reactions to him. What a dude.

The Happiest Place On Earth!

We had such a wonderful trip to Southern California. Greg's mom and sisters met us there for a really great time. The highlight of Disneyland was getting passes to attend the "Magic Hour." They close the park at eight and if you are lucky enough to get invited you get to enjoy the park from 8:30 until 9:30. It was a blast. This trip was just the perfect get away from selling our house.

Bring Your Kids to Work Day

Hi. This is Greg. Husband of Suzy and guest-author for today's post.

Yesterday was Bring Your Kids to Work Day, so I took the two oldest Banshees into the city to see my office. (For those of you who don't know, I work in advertising, doing things like this.) Here are just some of the day's highlights:

The train ride into the city. Henry said this was his favorite part of the day. (It's all downhill from here.) When I asked him why he simply said, "No seat belts!"

Downtown near the Sears Building. (Obviously, the Windy City.)

Taking the water taxi up the Chicago River to the office.
(In the winter I have to walk through the Loop.)

Our Kind of Town. A short walk from the dock to the office.
(I've just noticed I've been using parentheses quite liberally.)

Henry tries his hand at copywriting.
(Note the two cans of grape juice. The free soda in the vending machine meant a morning of punching buttons and an afternoon of trips to the bathroom.)

Elsa drew a picture of Corey, my art director partner.
Apparently, Corey is part Charlie Brown, part piranha.

Foosball!

Elsa loved the view!

The train ride home.
(Do you know how hard it is to carry two kids off a train?)

Choo-Choo!

Last Saturday, we went to the Choo Choo, a diner in the northwest part of Chicago. There's an electric train that runs along the counter and back into the kitchen. When your order's ready, it comes out on the train. The place was packed. When we arrived the line was out the door. But the onion rings were worth it.

Ansel spies the train!

Waiting patiently. Trying to suppress the hungry grumpies.

The onion rings begin to take their toll on Elsa.

Ahh Spring.

Dare I say it has arrived? The crocus have bloomed and daffodils are poking up. I have even seen the first leaves of the hollyhocks. Birds are singing, and Ansel has been allowed to go outdoors! Heaven help us we can hardly open the door without him escaping or throwing a fit when he misses his chance to breathe some fresh air. This weekend we took a little time to visit Geneva. Geneva, Illinois that is. We found a great little park with some wicked fast slides. Ansel was in heaven. He dove head first down these slides. Mothers were gasping in fear. We couldn't get a picture because we had to catch him at the bottom. Elsa exposed her bare legs for the first time this year. She was worried about goose bumps and was pleased that they didn't manifest themselves. She really was scared about these goose bumps I had warned her about-she thought they would hurt. I really don't know what her imagination had drawn up in her one-of-a-kind mind. Henry was mesmerized by some young boys on their skateboards-actually he was green with envy. It felt good to be outside. Thank you spring.

Mueller Visit(s)!

We were so happy to have our cousins Calvin and Natalie (and of course their lovely parents-Travis and Audrey) come and visit. We had such a great time eating and playing. One highlight was gathering in the couch bed to watch a little show. How fun all cuddled up together. Thanks for coming guys. We hope it isn't years before we see you again. Please come visit us in Geneva!


The week after Grandma and Grandpa came! We had such a wonderful time eating and playing! (I have gained five pounds since their visits)! The children loved their visit. We are so grateful for our family. I don't know why I didn't take any pictures of my cute parents with their darling grandchildren. duh.

Easter Sunday!

This post is an afterthought. I didn't even know I took any pictures on Easter. It didn't seem worth going all out with new Easter outfits this year, it was just too cold. Elsa wore a new dress from Grandma and Grandpa and looked very pretty. Henry made do with what he already had, and Ansel looked quite dapper in some hand-me-down seersucker. I really felt great about my effort to minimize when the kids had nearly finished their candy by Monday. Easter was good.

New Perches!

I obviously enjoy chasing after "the Booch," because I keep taking these pictures of him climbing over and into everything. He is a joy.
This one on the counter makes me laugh. . . he's so comfortable up there.