Not a Very Happy Post

   I'm tired. On top of having a nursing baby- he's awesome and only gets up 1-2 times a night, but he still gets up-  I am struggling through Jackson having night terrors.  He is not really struggling because the hallmark of night terrors is that the person having one doesn't remember it.  But I do.  (I'm clenching my teeth in stress just trying to type about it) If you unfamiliar with night terrors, and I was until last week, let me tell you about it- because I need to talk about it.  Jackson's night terrors occur around 2 hours after he goes to bed- 10ish. This is about the time when he is transitioning into deep non-REM sleep. This is the kind of sleep where you don't dream, which is why he doesn't remember them.  He wakes up (or seems to wake, the articles I've read say that he's not really awake) moaning and crying which transitions into screaming, terrified, blood curdling screaming.  Nothing soothes him, which is classic for a night terror, it just has to "run it's course." They haven't lasted for very long so far, but any amount of time watching your child appear to be truly terrified is too long.  Once he goes back to bed he sleeps fine the rest of the night. I, on the other hand lie awake and try  not to think about the various scenarios which could cause my children to scream like that for real.    
   Out of the past 6 nights, he has had 4 episodes.  My reading suggests that  Night terrors can be caused by extra stress or over tiredness along with an immature Central Nervous System. I'm sure kindergarten in a foreign language is extra stressful, but ironically, the terrors started the same night that Jackson stopped crying when I dropped him off at kindergarten. (5 days tear free, yay!) I can't say much about the over tiredness- we have a pretty stable bedtime routine.  I read today that waking the child up just before the usual time of the night terror and disrupting the sleep pattern might avoid the episode. We'll try that and see what happens.  Pray for Jackson, pray for me. I thank God Kenny is home every night for these because he is the one who really deals with them. I've gotten to where I can't stay in the room. What makes these episodes extra fun is the paper thin walls and floors in this house and the knowledge that the whole house gets to enjoy these episodes too.

 On a somewhat happier note, it snowed! A lot. yay. No official measuring but we guesstimate about 2 feet.  and the sun came out today for the first time in a week or so...maybe longer. Eli seems pretty intrigued by his first snow experience. Jackson is pretty thrilled with it. Jo, well, I got her to walk to kindergarten with us this morning.

 

 

 

Do you see that blue sky!?

 

  

Rheinfalls

Our Saturday adventure took us North to Schloss Laufen and the Rhine (river) Falls (as in water).

 The Rhine Falls are the largest* waterfall in Europe. There is a waterfall in Iceland that is much taller, but much more narrow. The Rhine Falls are only 75 feet tall, but 450 feet across- and it is a sight to behold and be heard!

Kenny and I are wising up to what works for us, and that is a plan. Our plan for Saturday was to leave fairly early and return mid-afternoon, possibly in time for naps. So we caught the 9:11 train out of St. Gallen seated in the awesome “family car” that has a little play space (planes REALLY need this). We changed trains about 45 minutes later and strangest thing happened. As our second train pulled out of the station and went around a bend we instantly went from a sunny morning to thick fog. Kenny and I thought surely it was only temporary, we would roll through it quickly. But we didn't. When we disembarked at the Falls it was still very dreary, we wondered around and found a spot where we should have been able to see the falls- we could certainly hear it- but there was nothing but white foggy mistiness. We made our way to the tourist information building and found some early lunch (our choices: brat, brat, brat, or chicken nuggets- we went with chicken nuggets). We stepped back outside around noon, just in time for the fog to instantly lift. One minute your staring into clouds and the next you are groping for your sunglasses. The rest of our afternoon was GORGEOUS and the Rhine Falls were spectacular. Jackson and Johanna's favorite part? The 5 minute boat ride across the river.

 It's a picture of all of us together! It would only better if more of Eli could be seen, or even if he were awake, but sleep is his M.O. on this trip.

 They are making binoculars with their hands to look at the river

 Just to prove Eli does wake up when we are out and about- sometimes

 There's a rainbow behind us...

 Not a great shot of the falls, but don't they look handsome?

I was in souvenir buying mode so Jo weaseled a stuff cow out of me. It did help (a little) to keep her calm on the trip. 

  The rest of the trip went off fairly hitchless and we made it back home by early evening- too late for naps but we had family movie night with popcorn for dinner so it was a good time.

the Swiss Doc

     Monday was our first visit to a pediatrician here in Switzerland. Generally, I take my babies for well check ups at 1 month, 2 months, 3, 6 etc. Eli went from 1 month to 3 ½ months. It was really on my to do list much sooner, but how to go about getting an appointment? Call a number and hope the receptionist speaks English? I did try to walk into what appeared to be a medical practice and ask in Deutchlish (German/English) if there was a pediatrician and if I could get an appointment, which could have worked, but that practice didn't have any peds. Too bad. It's right downtown next to the grocery store. But Andrea came to the rescue and got an appointment and then came along just in case there was a need for a translator and to help with Jack and Jo.

     So it was a little bit of a different experience for me. It was a fairly small office and didn't really feel like a clinic/dr office- lacked that sterile- ness, felt more homey. There was no nurse. There was a receptionist, but the dr was hanging out in reception also when we came in. They asked me to bring Eli directly to an exam room. No waiting for us, although the waiting room set up was was amazing- toy grocery store, toy kitchen, large construction vehicles- Jackson and Johanna did NOT want to leave when it was all over. We didn't even wait but a couple minutes in the exam room for the doctor to join us.

     There were quite a few toys in the exam room also- all wooden and of high quality. The doctor and I sat across from one another at a nice table in the exam room while he asked the developmental questions. I half expected to be asked if I "would take a cup of coffee." The dr later told my neighbor that because of Eli's name, which in the German language would be pronounced Ellie, he wasn't sure if Eli was a boy or girl, until the physical exam. Instead of paper on the exam table there was a receiving blanket and the scale in the exam room was reminiscent of a produce scale.

     The doctor himself gave Eli his immunizations (that's a first for any of my kids) and he actually advised against a particular vaccine (another first). Overall, it was a good experience with the Swiss healthcare system (so far). And after a lot of paperwork and letters, we have been approved to use our own health insurance while we are here. The Swiss have a mandatory national insurance program and if you are visitor they must verify that your insurance is equivalent to their insurance in what it covers or else you have to participate in their insurance.

I didn't bring the camera on the dr visit, so here are a few cute shots, mostly of Eli.

 I know it's blurry, but as much as Eli smiles, he doesn't do it for the camera very often.  And here is a snapshot of Johanna's developing fashion sense.

 Grandma Debbie gave this outfit to Jackson but we never had the chance to get him in it, so it became Eli's. Looks like it should be Christmas.  (check out the better shot of my hair!)

OLMA

OLMA is a big event here. And if I understand, it is basically a county/state fair. There is a lot to do with agriculture- "showing" farm animals and such.  It's also similar to Oktoberfest in that there is a big emphasis on beer drinking. And there's a midway!!
  The big opener to OLMA was a parade through the old town area of St. Gallen on Saturday morning.  This was fascinating!  They had floats representing different areas and industries of Switzerland- maybe just the East part of Switzerland- maybe even just the St. Gallen Canton- knowing German would be helpful to figure that out.

 The street just before the parade

 A scout helping to keep the parade going smoothly

 There was an Indonesian man standing next to us and every time one of these bread guys walked by they waved their feather broom in his face. Racial profiling.

 Oh yes, they are really playing those Alpine horns.

 For once I can say that Eli participated in something!  He happily watched most of the parade :)

One of the neatest parts was the different foods that were passed out- oranges, buttered bread, cheese, tea, hot chocolate, salami, and the requisite (in my mind) candy. They were much stingier with the food than the American parades I have watched. We were passed over for most of the goodies. 

 There was some lag between floats, so we would often smell what was coming food wise- great way to experience a parade.

 Girls in traditional dress

 Several clubs participated in the parade, too.  There was a circus school, steel drum band, bagpipers, jump ropers, and more.

 I really don't know what this was supposed to represent...

 "Gnomes" and fir trees

 That is another Alpine instrument

 Trolls. These guys terrified my kids. Along with the ones wearing blackface- yes, really.

There was more parade, but our camera battery died.

   The other interesting thing that happened while watching the parade was that I was interviewed for the radio. A guy walked up to us with a microphone and started speaking to us in German, once we explained that we spoke English, he decided to go ahead with the interview in English.  He wanted to know if we were in town just for OLMA (no), how we liked OLMA (all we've seen is the parade so far, but it is fascinating), what we liked best (the traditional dress and displays), and if we would be back again for OLMA (uhh, maybe?)
  After the parade, we grabbed lunch, which happened to be the best chicken Kenny's ever eaten. And that is the only reason I mention it, because HE keeps mentioning it. (It was really good- slow roasted, fall off the bone, curried, greasy, yumminess). After nap time at home we headed back out to find the actual OLMA Festival.  We found it, but we didn't have a plan of action. Us +  no plan of action + big crowd = misery.  We walked around the midway, ate a candied apple and chocolate banana, snapped at each other and/or cried and went back home.
   On Sunday we regrouped, came up with a strategy, and tried again with much greater success. Rides were ridden (by Jackson and Kenny), fair food was eaten (fried apple rings, falafel, gyro, and hot dogs- what else?) and cheap toys were ogled.
  We have not made it to the "Halls" portion of OLMA. Our neighbor says it's not so great for young kids. There are farm animals on display, which my kids think are great in theory, but tend toward terrified when seen in person. So we probably won't get to that part.

Rainy Week

I don't have much to say about our rainy week. We consumed a LOT of television. *yay* Now that it is sunny, I almost don't know what to do with myself.
Friday, Jackson got so tired of television he took to playing with this.

Relax, it's peanut butter play-dough. Disturbing, though, isn't it?

I think the pig tails just add to her mad scientist demeanor

How about a Kenny school update?
   I think this schooling experience is giving Kenny better insight into how he functions. For instance, he's learned that test taking stresses him out. Even when he knows the information. He can tell me all about whatever it is (I can't say that I always pay attention, or know what the heck he is talking about) but his grades don't reflect his knowledge.  He is passing, so that's a plus.  (He already know the information and that is the point of this whole endeavor. Passing is important, but from what he tells me, their methods of testing are...not very effective)

No, it's not apart of Fall decoration, these are commonly used for outdoor sweeping here. I first saw one our first week here and it has taken me 8 weeks to get a shot of one. This one here was left at our house 2 weeks ago and I just took the photo today.

And here's an official picture of Eli "Ace."  Munchkin is growing so fast, I almost didn't get this on him in time. The problem now is the weather doesn't cooperate with the wearing of onesies so much. But thanks Aunt Katie!

  

Munich in 7 hours

 I don't recommend Munich in only 7 hours.  It's a big city, it's an OLD city, so there is a LOT to see.  We planned to do about 24 hours in Munich- that's probably not really enough time either, though.  Friday I go to the train station and buy tickets- fine, no problem. I go to the travel office to get help with a hotel reservation-Big Problem. It's the last weekend of Oktoberfest. Oh. Finding a hotel room on Friday for Friday night is hopeless. Oh. You REALLY didn't know it was Oktoberfest?...no...
    Luckily our train tickets are very flexible. We actually bought tickets and seat reservations (unbeknownst to me). The tickets could be used at any point for the next month. We simply lost the money for the reserved seats (10 CHF for both of us) if we didn't get on that train and we could always make new reservations for a different train. You don't have to have a reserved seat, but when dealing with Oktoberfest, it is wise to reserve a seat.
   So instead of a Friday night departure, we left Saturday morning. Maybe we'd be able to look for a hotel once we got there, and if not, we could just come back on our reserved seats Saturday evening. Apparently it is way more fun to go to Oktoberfest in costume, because that is how the majority of people were dressed on the train. Many were also already drinking (this was at 8:30). We arrived in Munich 3 hours later to a PACKED train station. And that is about the best way to describe Munich during Oktoberfest- packed.  Also very jovial since most everyone is hammered, or buzzed at the very least.
  Oktoberfest: a tutorial.
It's amusing that I'm writing this since we never made it to the actual Oktoberfest, but this might explain why.  Roughly 6 million people visit Oktoberfest over 10 days. We were there over the last weekend. The actual Oktoberfest takes place within a certain area-basically like a state fair. In this area there are several beer tents with tables. You need a reservation a year in advance to get a table in one of these tents. Everyone else tries to get into the beer garden. When they can't get into that, or when they have had enough of that, they head back to town to one of the 6 beer halls in Munich or just a pub or restaurant. We shared a table at dinner with some Americans who had been to Oktoberfest for the afternoon. They said it got crazy at 3 pm so they left. I can only imagine what 10 pm is like.  The crowds on the street were enough to convince Kenny and myself that we didn't really want to make the effort to go to Oktoberfest.
(I happened to catch
    So what did we do? As mundane as it sounds, one of our main goals was to do some shopping because things are cheaper in Germany than in Switzerland.  We didn't do much of that, but we did get boots. What we really needed was jeans for Kenny, but it will have to wait.  We also did an English walking tour of the city. It was a nice little introduction to the major historical sites.

 This is the glockenspiel (I know, it is really hard to see- but kind in the middle is a little scene- think cuckoo clock). Everyday at 11am, Noon, and 5pm a little scene plays out. The top scene is a marriage feast of a king and queen with joisting and dancing. The bottom scene is barrel makers dancing to celebrate the end of the black plague. This is one of the things that my mom remembers from being in Munich on her honeymoon and something she highly recommended we check out. It was definitely neat to see.

 Eli is "steering"

 Yes, that is someone surfing on a teeny tiny river in the middle of the city. My first reaction was "how Swiss, to be surfing." (to find some kind of exciting outdoor sport to do) Kenny said "how German, to engineer the river so that they can surf." There were signs up encouraging the surfing, although suggesting only very experienced surfers participate-and that is definitely not American. We would have had signs forbidding it.

I don't even remember exactly what this building was-something government, but the middle part is original- it withstood the bombing during WWII. There were lots of pockmarks on the pillars to prove it. The wings are obviously redone. The architect said the glass walls stood for transparency in government- nice.

   I mentioned in the Grandma post that we got to drink the Pope's favorite beer. The Pope used to be archbishop of Munich.

 Near Munich there is a monastery that brews one of the last beers still brewed by monks. According to our tour guide, he has it imported to the Vatican monthly. Just before we left Munich we snagged a shared table at a little pub that served this beer.

 There is the new haircut, but it doesn't look right in this shot-too much wind

  A note on tipping: Tipping in Europe in general is not like it is in the States.  It is not an expected thing. It really is a tip- I see that you went over and above in your service and I am going to give you a little something extra for that. I think Euro servers like Americans because tipping is so standard for us.
 And speaking of restaurants and paying, it has been my experience while over here that we always pay the server, who is carrying a large wallet with him/her. The server will make change right there. If you want to use a credit card they will bring a small machine to the table. I don't know if that's very interesting but just a note on differences in customs.
  It would have been nice to stay longer in Munich, but not with those crowds. Kenny and I are not big crowd people. It was definitely nice to get away for a day with just one kid (who slept a good part of the day).

Week with Grandmas

It's Tuesday, October 9 and the Grandma's have been gone for 3 hours. The tv has been on for 4. It's raining outside, the internet is working and we have no where we need to be and no shopping we need to do.  Tomorrow I will work on cutting back the number of screen hours, but today it is useful for decompression from Grandma time.

   We had a great week. There was a lot of park time. Grandma Debbie even discovered a bird sanctuary at one of our favorite parks (Kenny calls it "snake park") so that was an added bonus. Lots of ipad time-Grandma's ipad ALWAYS trumps our own tablets. Lots of book reading with Grandma (either one). We asked that they bring some different books with them so I am super excited about that. (Our) kids do not get very excited about reading books on a kindle or tablet. When we get done they ask when we are going to read books.  And with as much screen time as they get, it's probably a good thing to do books the "old fashioned" way.
   Wednesday we visited a chocolate factory with our Israeli friends. REALLY glad the Grandmas were here for that. Apparently factory tours do not interest a 2 year old. Free chocolate does, though :)

 Bonus discovery: the train had a kids car with a little play area.

  Thursday I got to go grocery shopping alone. Friday I surpised Kenny for lunch, and bummed around in the train station alone (hello spiced pumpkin latte #2) while waiting for my hair appointment. Most expensive haircut of my life!
(I was going to put a picture right here, but it turns out I don't have a great shot of it. Stay tuned...)

 I do like it, and now that haircuts are on my radar I am seeing this cut everywhere, so I'm apparently trendy. I also found English magazines and an English section in a bookstore.

  Saturday Kenny and I (and Eli) took off for a day to Munich. This was supposed to be an overnight adventure, but it turns out it was Oktoberfest and finding a hotel room, in the words of the travel agent, was "hopeless."  More on Munich in a separate post, but here's a teaser: we got to sample the Pope's favorite beer. And in hindsight, I should have tried to buy some to send home for Brewgiving...shoot!
We took a trip to Santispark- a great indoor recreational facility- on Sunday, where we got to do indoor mini-golf.

 I've know about this place for about 5 weeks now, and I'm glad to finally check it out. We can bowl, mini-golf, play table tennis, and even swim. There is amazing water park with some fun looking slides. Now if they only had baby sitting for infants...Of course, it is (say it with me now) expensive, but for the occasional excursion, it is doable.
Monday was not rainy, but it was chilly so we headed to the Arena so I could do some pantry filling grocery shopping at Aldi's and the kids could ride some mall rides. Debbie picked up some (and by some, I mean A LOT) chocolate. Between my groceries and her chocolate, we had quite a load to haul and we just missed our last #10 bus for the afternoon that stops practically at our doorstep. On top of the hike from the bus stop, we also had to take the long, steep staircase to our house because of the road construction. (They appear ready to lay the asphalt, but of course it is raining and is supposed to rain all week.)
  Monday night we did our fondue at home, which I think turned out really well despite our lack of fondue pot. 
   So, we are Grandma-less. I think I'll resort to giving my kids this to drink

(it's water)