Back to the Transport museum

Of course we had to take Pop-Pop to our new favorite place (move over Please Touch museum!) - the Verkehrshaus der Schweiz, aka the Swiss Transportation Museum. Since the weather was nice today, we spent more time at the outdoor activities. The boys loved the construction area and couldn't wait to take Pop-Pop inside the big plane. Given how much work Dad has done with the aerospace and transportation industries, he may have been as excited as the kids :-)

Teamwork!

Getting the job done

On the hamster wheel

And my big milestone of the day...I got to go to the grocery store all by myself for the first time since we got to Switzerland!!! (Thanks, Dad!)

After getting the boys to bed, Dad and I enjoyed a nice night of cooking together, sharing a bottle of wine, and chatting...something we rarely get to do these days.

Meeting Ethan

Dave left a day early for the US so he could swing through VA to meet our nephew Ethan.  Needless to say, I'M JEALOUS!!!  :-)  What an adorable little guy!
   



 

Proud Pop

Sweet Baby toes

   

Family of Four

Big sis

   

Dad's here!

Pop-Pop (my dad) has arrived!!!  We are all so excited to see a face from home and for him to see our new house, new city, everything!  The boys literally flew into his arms when they saw him at the bahnhof.

Dad will be here for 10 days, acting as my saving grace with Dave leaving for the US tonight for the week and the boys being on holiday.  A busy day...we got Dad back to our house, dropped off his stuff, then headed off to an electronics store to buy a new TV and have lunch.  That got us back in time to get Dave turned around and off to the bahnhof for his train to the airport.

It was a beautiful day, so after some naps and quiet time, we packed the kids up and walked down to the Rathaus Brewerei down on the lake for some fantastic Wurst and Bier.

Weinfachmesse (aka Wine Festival)

Last night I went to my first Living in Lucerne event - the Luvina Weinfachmesse. It was a wine festival at the Schweizerhof Hotel, with about 30 wineries and over 1000 wines to try! We were first met by the president of Luvina, the local Luzern wine association, who explained a little about Luvina and the event. Then Living in Lucerne had arranged for English tasting sessions a few of the stations. The first had wines from multiple countries, and the second was all wines local to the Lucerne area. Definitely a fun night and a great chance to meet some more expats. And after two months of emails, I finally got to meet Joy, who runs Living in Lucerne!

At the end of the night I had another "I live in the city now" moment as I walked home from the event. Still getting used to the change :-)

Ethan Garrett Ege

We welcome to the world our nephew, Ethan Garrett Ege, born today.  We are so excited for Peter and April, and big sister Emilia, and can't wait to meet the newest member of our family!!!

Just hanging around

With Nathan in school full days, Alex, Matthew and I have a bunch of time just hanging around...especially on the rainy days!
   

   

Getting back in the groove

We're starting to settle in more to our life here in Luzern.  After two weeks, we have our internet up and going, our phones working (including still having a US phone number that rings here in Luzern - thank you, Vonage!), and we hosted our first dinner last night for another family who is also new to Luzern.  They are a Dutch family and they have a son in Nathan's kindergarten class and a daughter in Alex's preschool class (and another daughter in 3rd grade). We had a pizza and movie night for the kids and then we sat down to enjoy a fun dinner.  Definitely not like our nights with our old friends, but good to be starting to have those nights again.

Friday night we had a great night out!  The welcome committee for the boys' school hosted a Welcome dinner for the beginning of the school year, and Dave's assistant was nice enough to offer to watch the boys so we could both go.  After a rough departure (Nathan had a hard time with us leaving), we had a really fun night and enjoyed meeting a lot more people and learning more about the school, the Parents' Association, etc.  Who would have thought we'd have a night out so soon!?!?!

It POURED today!  There is a carnival going on in town that we were hoping to take the boys to, but instead Dave took the two big boys back to the Transportation Museum (they've asked EVERY day this week!) while Matthew napped and I did stuff around the house.

Missing Mom

A tough day in the Estes world…6 years ago today we lost my mom.  It’s hard to believe it’s been that long already.  I wish more than I can say that she were here to see us all today - Dave and I with our three amazing boys, living in Switzerland; and Emily married with two beautiful daughters.  Our lives have changed so much in the last 6 years, and yet every day I hear her in the conversations I have with my boys, in the funny little “mom-isms” I can’t help but use too, and in my thoughts as I wind my way through the labyrinth that is motherhood.  She taught me everything I know about how to be a mother…I just wish she was here to see it all come to fruition.  Mom, I love you so much and miss you every single day.  I know you’re keeping an eye on us and keeping this"mommy train" on the tracks…thank you!

I posted this last year to Facebook, but am going to post it here again today since it reminds me of my mom every time I hear it.  These are the lyrics to the song “Always Remember” by Train.

"Always Remember"

Train

Always remember I'm by your side
Such a shame that you had to go
So much more that I'd like to know
So many things you forgot to show me how to do

When times are hard I forget your gone
I go to call you before it dawns on me
That you wont be there now
But I still have these words that you gave me

Always remember I'm by your side
Always remember I'm by your side

I got two kids of my own now
They grow up so fast
And how I wish you did not miss that part of who I am
But I keep doing all that I can do
And I will smile when they ask about you
And I will sing to them every day 
With voice and the words that you used to say
Will change the world one day

Always remember I'm by your side
Always remember I'm by your side

And while they grow up you will show up
In things they do and say
Like a reflection to a connection 
Of who they'll be one day
They will learn to get their wings 
And fly through the changes life will bring
So on 
And it will go on
And you will go on

And they will sing with the voice that you gave them
Always remember I'm by your side
Always remember I'm by your side
I'm by your side
I'm by your side

Alex on the bus

I wasn't sure how Alex would do on the bus this morning, but he LOVED it! He popped right into a seat next to Nathan and Nathan helped him get buckled in and off they went.  He was so excited!

Ironically, after getting the boys on the bus, I came back home, got Matthew and myself pulled together, and followed them over to school for a Parents' Association meeting.  The boys had no idea I was coming to school, and I didn't want to disrupt the bus riding so early into it, so I just went over 20 minutes later :-)  The meeting was good, I met some more parents and started to get a feel for some of the other activities that will be going on through the school in the upcoming months.  First up is the Halloween party and "Trunk or Treat" where everyone decorates their cars and the kids got "trick or treating" from car to car.  We brought over a couple of Costco bags of American candy to donate to the cause!

And…right before we left, the cable box arrived!  Dave quickly set it up and left it to initialize, etc.  And guess what?  It doesn't work!!!  But, of course, I have no cell phone or internet to be able to let him know.  Sigh…

On the other hand, we got some great news this afternoon - our air shipment is being delivered tomorrow!

Riding the bus

Nathan’s integration into Kindergarten is complete - he gets to ride the bus!  As of this morning, they have added us to the bus route for school.  We walk to the end of our street, through a little pedestrian gate (that thankfully the stroller fits through!) and down the opposite street to the bus stop.  It’s about a 5 minute walk, and the pickup and dropoff are at 8:05 and 4:20 (16:20), respectively.  There are no busses at midday, so I’ll still pick Alex up on Tues, Wed, Thurs at 12:15, but it helps SO much to not have to pack everyone up and drive to school every morning and afternoon!

As soon as the bus door opened this morning, a little girl in the back yelled “Nathan is on our bus now!!!”  It was very cute, and Nathan likes having someone from his class on the bus with him.

I stayed home with Alex and Matthew until 1:30 waiting for the cable box to be delivered…but it still hasn’t come.  Argh.  We finally gave up and went for  walk down to the Old City.  It was a beautiful day, so we walked for a while, got some groceries at Migros (the other grocery store), stopped at a playground for a little while, and then came back home to get the groceries unloaded (and Matthew’s diaper changed) before going down to meet Nathan at the bus stop.  Tomorrow is a Luzern bank holiday, so none of the stores in Luzern will be open, so I had to make sure to get dinner for tonight and tomorrow night!