Girl at the bus stop

Here is Bluet at the bus stop this morning, waiting for the bus to playgroup. She is carrying her new bag that is really for kindergarten..

This weekend

On Saturday it was a family trip to the city. After visiting a Swiss car boot sale equivalent near the lake (it was very posh. Lots of bad oil painting) we headed up the posh shopping street (Banhofstrasse, literal translation, Train Station Street), where Ilona perched on a posh shop window, then Bluet had to too, but obviously as far away as possible

On Sunday we went to the local school playground to play football and scoot

And here Bluet shows concern for a small scrape on Ilona's knee

Getting bigger

Yesterday we went to a shoe shop, where they also happened to have a height measuring thing, so now you can see exactly how tall Bluet is right now, minus however much she grew in the last day.

Meanwhile Ilona is also getting very big, and her hair is so long she now needs hair things to keep it out of her eyes, as you can see. This has the bonus side effect of looking very cute

Swing!

Ilona loves swings, just like Bluet (and all other children). So we bought a second swing so they could swing at the same time, side by side. Ilona loves swings so much she has taught herself how to climb on by herself, whereby she grabs the ropes either side and shakes them vigorously, crying "'wing, 'wing" until someone comes and pushes her, which sometimes is even her sister.

Swiss weather part II

Of course, often it also rains, and that was the case this most recent weekend. The kids still need to go outside, or else they (and everyone else) would go crazy, so on Sunday we donned our rainwear and went out for a walk around Hoengg.

First stop, a truly enormous snail.

Next, a few minutes in the car park of a local hairdresser, mainly because they fill the window with child attracting items - at halloween, witches, today, frogs with boots

Then outside the local model aeroplane shop to look at aeroplanes

The playground is almost in sight!

Swings = success!

Then we found an abandoned plastic car to roll down the hill, before heading home

Swiss weather (part I)

Last weekend it was summer. We purchased a paddling  pool for the garden, filled it with water, and Bluet and Ilona were easily entertained.

Another weekend in swimming costumes and sun hats. This made entertaining the kids ever so easy, as we could make full use of the garden

We also bought Ilona her own swing, so that she and her sister could swing together

Sunday, still sunny, so another playground, another swing

And even time for a game of snakes and ladders before snacks

Aside: Ilona is getting very big - there are some 3 word sentences these days, and she is getting very good at answering yes-no questions accurately. Mostly in English (to us at least). Her favourite German word for the last 2 or 3 months has been 'jacke' (pronounced 'Yakka', meaning 'jacket'. she says this a lot as she likes to put on her coat and go outside (to swing). She also says 'shoe' and 'milk' in a German way. Bluet meanwhile likes to tell us what the German word for various things is, but will occasionally be overheard counting to herself in German, often on the swing, or singing a German song from playgroup.

Throwing Rocks and Stones

Last Sunday we went for a walk. First we went to where Bluet's kindergarten will be in August.

Then on down to the river, for something to do. We found a place where there were lots of stones to be thrown into the river. This made Ilona and Bluet very happy.




Note: Bluet lent Ilona one of her numerous tutus.

Some stones are bigger than others. Some stones are rocks

On the other side of the river there is a wooden walkway to run on, with beams to practise balancing

Later, Ilona pushed Bluet on the swing