Good Finds

I'm on a roll with the blogging this week if you can't tell. 3 posts in one week is a record holder for me lately.

My friend Jane recently hired some woman to help her with a wardrobe makeover, basically a "Trinny and Susanna makeover" complete with the English woman and everything. Our budget it too tight for me to do the same thing, but hearing Jane talk about it and the happiness it has brought her led me to go on a clean-out-the-closet frenzy with what little clothes I already do have. This Euro living doesn't allow for much closet space to begin with, so at first I was a little hesitant I wouldn't have any clothes left if I let myself attack the closet. I took it all out, threw it on the bed and tried on every piece one by one and if I hadn’t worn it in the last year it was going to goodwill. I filled an entire garbage bag full of clothes (and if you have ever seen my closet to begin with, hearing me say I filled a garbage bag full of clothes, you might begin to wonder what in the world I have left in that closet)......well I don't have much, but what I do have is wearable, goes together, and in the end like Jane told me (and at first I didn't believe her) you feel like you have more with less.

That leads me to my next subject......the one thing missing from my life lately was a good pair of tall brown boots. Everyone here in Zurich wears tight legged jeans and boots on the outside. I have some black ones, but what girl is complete without brown and black. I've been awing over all the beautiful ones in the store windows, all for a mere starting price of about $400 US. Poor me I'd say every day, I am too cheap to fork out that much..... that was until Chance and I happened upon these beauties on Monday for over half off. I was sold and such a happy woman.

Then on Tuesday when walking around my happiness in knowing I had found a good deal was suddenly squelched when I found these $400 boots for $60. I was crushed. How could I have bought the others with this kind of deal out there? So instead of just getting over it, I had to buy these too. Now I am double complete and I LOVE my new boots!

My next find is so random but in Switzerland apparently people have no idea what Aloe Vera gel is. Last year we searched and searched after getting scorched at the beach and to no avail, we had to use some Aloe Vera lotion which just isn’t the same when your skin hurts. Well today I found some in a coffee store no doubt, how random is that? I had no need for it but thought I would stock up for next time I want to get burned. And lastly I found some CoEnzyme Q10 which I have been searching for and can only find it for about $80 US per bottle....I found it in the same cafe for $7. Oh boy. Do you think I'll be as happy as these people when I start popping these?

So this leads me to my last thought of the day.....I was standing in line to pay for my Aloe Vera and Q10....I could have sworn I handed the lady a $100 bill and she swore I handed her a $50. We went round and round in my broken German, and she says for me to please write my name and phone number down on a piece of paper, and tonight when she counts the register if $50 is missing, I better come back tomorrow and give her the $50 back. Now what store in the states would do that.....they'd probably take your name and number and tell you to come back for your $50 tomorrow if they happened to miscount. The Swiss are just so honest, why can't we be like that in the States. It's kinda sad.

Phew, my hands are tired, and I am sure if you have read this whole post you are about to fall asleep if you haven’t already. WAKE UP, it's over!

Chance the arteest

Sometimes I just sit with my mouth hanging open as I watch Chance navigate the computer..today he was cutting and pasting objects in to a word document using short cut keys, and I thought to myself......how does a 4 year old do this?

Ryan introduced Chance recently to the Paint program. He created this piece of work that I thought was worth putting on the blog (well said coming from an unbiased very proud mommy!)

Now I just need to beg Stirling to recreate it in to a wall sized masterpiece :)

Little Snow Angels

Last weekend Ryan had to work so Cyndy graciously invited me along on her family outing. Zurich was clear and mildly cold.....and amazingly enough only about 100 yards up hill it felt as if we were on a different planet.......the world was blanketed in white. We took Chance and Gabriella up in to the forest to run off steam and enjoy the snow. Sunday Ryan was able to enjoy it too on his mountain bike......nothing like jumping tree limbs and doing bike tricks in snow! Here's 2 videos of the kiddos....if you can't see them right away, click on the space to activate the YouTube Video to play.

Zoom Zoom Zoom

Saturday the mountains were calling our names.......we met the Sacarro Family in Flumserberg to do some sledding. The snow was perfectly powdery and we had the best time zooming down the mountain on our sleds. We kept asking ourselves why the US ski resorts don't catch on to this type of fun.....then we all said oh yeah, it's the liability issue (sorry mom, not to freak you out with the danger we are putting our son thru for such thrills.....but at least he was wearing a helmet!). Nah, it can't be that bad if all Chance likes to say is "faster, daddy faster!" Here's a cute pic of Chance, Jack and Jack's sister Kate at the base of the gondola after we had completed one of the runs.

Baganz Weekend News Report

Fun stuff abounds here around the Baganz house.....first and foremost the Baganz travel agency is open for business.....well open for the Baganz family that is and I've been in full-on research mode for where we want to go this year. I am super excited to have booked an awesome looking place in the Dordogne Valley of France (http://www.lepetit-manoir.fr/welcome.htm) and we've reserved plane tickets for southern Spain in May. Oh boy. We're also hoping to venture over to Germany towards the end of the month to visit the Newschwanstein Castle, which is supposed to be Disney's inspiration (pic below). Check out the "Maps of Our Travels" links to see where we hope to go!

Yesterday we went to the swim center down the road. It's always such a struggle to get Chance dressed, everything packed up, and out the door.....by that time I'm usually already in a bad mood! But once we get there moods change and it is always such a good time. This place has 5 indoor pools....3 of which are shallow enough for Chance to stand in....and 2 great water slides (like big waterpark type slides) that are so perfect for him cause they don't dump in to the pool. They just have shallow endings so Chance can brave them alone. Since Chance has turned 4, his attitude has changed and he thinks he can do so many more things "now that he is 4". So, now that he is 4, he is big enough and brave enough to go down the fast "Snake Slide", as he calls it. The snake slide is completely covered, and pretty intimidating when you walk up to it. The water rushed out from the back of the slide very srongly and it's very dark inside. By the end of the day yesterday, Chance was doing the snake slide by himslef over and over, the kid probably climbed 200 flights of stairs to do it so many times. Ryan and I just stood there and let him do it over and over. He's getting much more comfortable in the water which makes me happy. Hopefully when we start swim lessons back again at the end of the month, progress will be more rapid.

Last night Ryan and I got a sitter and he took me out on a date. I love going on dates. We went over to SihlCity...and new shopping complex with an amazing movie theater and one of my favorite Italian restaurants. Before the movie we had dinner, then ventured over to the Gelato place to reward me for being officially off all things sugar and wheat for 2 weeks. I am hoping that this change in blood sugar will prevent so many migraines. We'll see. So, 2 weeks in and I'm plugging along strong, but I just had to celebrate. We looked pretty ridiculous sitting out in the mall with our outlandishly large ice creams. Ryan had tasted the Cherry, then decided instead on the mint chocolate chip, but something got lost in the translation and the lady handed him a cherry cone. He corrected her, and so she gave him the cherry cone for free and the mint chocolate chip as he had asked for. I ordered some massive 3 scoop bowl complete with massive whip cream and adornments.....enough for 2 really. So there we were sitting in the mall eating our ice cream amongst the Swissies who have small portions....me with my massive ice cream, and Ryan licking 2 ice cream cones. I am sure we got some looks. But it sure was yummy! We saw American Gangster, which I'd highly recommend. I think when we move back the movie going experience will never live up. The place is spotless, no sticky or stinky floors. The seats are huge and very comfortable, and when you get your tickets, you choose from a screen which seats you want. So, when they print your tickets you have your reserved seat number to tell you where to sit. The other brilliant thing about Swiss theaters is the intermission. It's about a 10 minute break and I think if the US theaters would catch on to this, they'd double their concession sales. And it's nice to be able to run and go pee!

So, today we might be going to walk with the penguins. At 1:30 everyday at the zoo the penguins get to go out for a little walk about the zoo and you can walk up close and personal with the penguins. Here's a picture from the zoo website. We'll see if I can get motivated enough to get these boys dressed and out of the house!

Poopid and Stupid

This past week I had to ask myself, do I really say STUPID alot and just not know it? Chance tends to keep me honest by repeating what comes out of my mouth, and as he has started with the word STUPID this week, I have to wonder. This morning
I was "Stupid MOM". He got to sit in time out a couple times for that one. Then while in time out he proceeded to say instead "poopid" over and over. I was trying to hold it together and act mad, but I just couldn't stop laughing in the other room. Kids! Guess I need to watch my mouth!

Mexican Food and BBQ

Our 20 days or so in Texas was really nice, not very relaxing, but still very nice! 2 days after Chance and I made it in to Austin, Ryan followed and the next morning we drove straight to Dallas to Christmas up there. Ryan's brother Randall and his family flew in from Florida, and it was the first time in 18 months that we were all together in one place with Ryan, his parents and siblings. Chance was in heaven with all his cousins, and it was the first time that they all interacted with each other so much. We drove in and immediately went to Chuckie Cheese, where Chance and his cousin Garrett both celebrated their 4th birthday's together.

We also celebrated Christmas with the Baganz family while there, and as usual there were so many presents! Ryan captured this picture after Pappy had asked the kids who wanted to open the next present...

Back in Austin, Ryan only had a couple days until he had to fly back. Those days he spent in the office talking with partners, and we got to go out one night with my brother Drew and his girlfriend Andrea, and another to the work office party. I got to see lots of old friends (thanks to mom graciously watching Chance everyday for me!), and catch up on girl time with my mom in the evenings when Chance was in bed. We got to spend time with my dad and grandparents too. And topped it all off with multiple birthday celebrations for Chance's birthday as well. Here's a pic of Drew, Andrea and Chance riding the train at Zilker Park.

So all in all it was so nice to be back. We loaded full of family, friends and the food we love and miss, and headed back to the cold winter ahead in Zurich (snow yeah!). Hotel Baganz is in full swing again and filling fast, so check out our calendar at the bottom of the blog and see when there is space for YOU to visit!!! We love visitors!

White Christmas

We made it back in one piece from Texas, to meet up with Ryan who had flown back last week, so we could all be together on Christmas. We arrived Christmas morning and postponed celebrating until the 26th so that we could make cookies for Santa to leave by the fireplace, and wake up to the traditional Christmas morning. It was our first ever to celebrate alone just as out family, and it was very nice and relaxing after the whirlwind that was Texas. And best of all it starting pouring snow, so we had a real white Christmas.

Santa brought lots of things, most notably the electric milk frother that Ryan got me...luxury at it's best. It makes the most beautiful white froth, better than Starbucks I might add. Heaven. I am drinking too much caffeine cause I just want to make more froth. Oh...back to what Santa really brought.....a Diego bike for Chance. So we ventured out today to try it out.

So pictures and stories of our Austin adventures are forthcoming, I just have to get them loaded and find the time to write. Hope everyone had a great Christmas.

Texas Texas Yee Haw

Bags are packed and we are ready to roll.....we've done some "Strategic, expandable packing"....we have bags inside bags so that we can bring back all our loot. And there will be a lot of loot! Here's a nice pic of Austin to kick off the trip.

Excuse Me Santa

Seems like the last couple weekends have been packed full of things....shuffling Chance from one social activity to another. Last weekend we had a great time at Jack's 4th birthday party at a place called Kindercity where Jack and his 3 best buddies: Chance, Gabriella and Ava got to make chocolate snowmen and cookies; play fun games like tug of war and potato sack race; eat yummy pizza and cake, and have an all around good time. It is so fun to see the 4 of them in action. They are so accustomed to being around each other on almost a daily basis that they all have a certain rhythm and place within the group. We feel really blessed for Chance to have found such close friends, and for us as parents to be friends with their parents.

This morning we went downtown to the English bookstore Story Hour, where Santa made an appearance. Chance and Gabriella attended together and were really excited to see Santa. There was about 50 kids there, all snuggled in to a corner of the store with their parents looking on as Santa was about to start reading some Christmas stories. He gets through page 2, all the children are nicely sitting still (except for mine who is preoccupied with the fact that Gabriella is not giving him enough room on the bench), the onlookers are patiently and quietly listening to the story as Santa tells it, when all of a sudden Chance decides to shout out "EXCUSE ME SANTA.......Excuse me Santa....." Santa stops his story, all eyes in the room turn to us and Santa says "Yes, can I help you".....Chance proceeds to say "Well, My name is Chance". And that was it! He needed so desperately to tell Santa his name. Santa reads on a bit, then all eyes turn on us again as Gabriella says "EXCUSE ME SANTA"......."Chance was being very naughty when I was at his house yesterday". At this point I am asking myself why I am sitting by the only 2 kids in the whole place that need to draw attention to themselves? Oh well, it was cute and will definitely go in to the memory bank of Chance moments!