Christmas in Italy

Christmas day, after the presents were opened, we got in a car and drove to Italy to spend 3 days at a farm near Bergamo, with our friends Leila and Mike and their twin boys. The farm, accessable only via a rickety bridge, produces their own food and then cooks it for you, so for 3 days there was no cooking for us, which was nice. Unfortunately there was rather too much rain (and even an ice storm); the upside of this was that Bluet and Ilona discovered a frozen patch on the lawn where they could ice skate.

Also, there was a lovely, cosy recreation room with roaring fire to relax in and seats to sit on, as well as cows to watch being milked, goats to watch escaping, and even a pony ride for the kids (the highlight for Bluet, although she said it was a bit wobbly and she worried she might fall off).

Christmas Tree

Last Saturday morning Bluet and I went out and chose a Christmas tree, which was then decorated as tastefully as possible when you involve 2 kids. Since then the first thing Bluet does when she comes downstairs in the morning is turn on all the Christmas tree lights.



Happy Christmas!

Meanwhile, Bluet

Here is Bluet dressed up for a School trip to the woods (taking her penknife and some hot tea once more; i think here she is waiting for her tea)




And a photo she took of Wilder (I think they bonded a little whilst I was away with Ilona)



And wearing her new hat, given to all the school kids by the local policeman as part of the road safety education program.

Then in Cambridge

As you can see we were treated to some winter weather. We did manage to go outside a couple of times, almost all of which is documented below.

Here  is Ilona immediately after discovering she likes scones:



And with her new hair clips


And here are some of Gran Helen's photos

Trip to Cambridge

Last weekend I took Ilona to Cambridge to visit Gran Helen (Bluet had school and ballet so could not come). We had a very straight forward trip, and Ilona was very proud of her suitcase, as you can see.

At our local bus stop


At Zurich HB


At Basel Airport

Wilder eating real food

It comes from a jar, but he likes it!
I think this is the first time he ever ate, almost a month ago. Now he eats all the fruits and vegetables (suitable for an almost 5 month old




And another time wrapped up warm to go out and about