Busy Week

This week we had lots of fun things going on - and some sad farewells as well.

On Monday, I went to a farewell lunch for a mom in Jack's class - their family is moving back to the US. This was the first of Jack's real good friends to leave - and reminded me of one of the downsides of the expat school experience. I imagine that there will be about 4-5 classmates of his who will leave by the end of the year.

On Tuesday, we had Kate's best friend, Johanna, over for a playdate. She was joined by Jakob (Johanna's older brother, who had been in Jack's class last year), her baby sister Nina, and their mom. Everyone enjoyed catching up with their friends - me included.

On Wednesday, we met Leanne, Marlayne and Josefien for a swimming date at our nearby pool. It was fun to watch the kids show off their swimming skills - and after getting all dried off and changed into PJ's, we stayed for an early dinner - then promptly took them home to roll them all into bed.

On Thursday, it was absolutely gorgeous in Zurich. I snapped the above photo (my favorite to date) on my way to the dentist office. Since I hate going to the dentist (I realize nearly everyone does), it made me feel a bit better to have such a beautiful commute to/fro. Afterwards, I met our friend Kelsey for coffee - she is 38 weeks pregnant with their first baby, and getting ready for their new baby boy's arrival.

And that night, Jay and I met a couple, Connie and Chandra, for dinner. They were really fun - they are German, but had spent a good chunk of time at Stanford - so it was fun to share stories about off-campus housing in Palo Alto. Connie grew up in East Germany, so it was really interesting to hear her impressions of life before and after the Berlin Wall fell. And despite the fact that Jay asked if they were both HUGE David Hasselhoff fans, I think they had a good time as well - so hopefully we'll do it again.

On Friday, we had our Tandem gang over for dinner - kids and parents. There were 5 families in all, so it was pretty chaotic - but very fun. The kids loved being with their friends - and Jay and I had a good time catching up with everyone.

Unfortunately, that was the end of the fun weekend for Jay... poor thing woke up very sick on Saturday, so we spent the rest of the weekend laying low - and taking it easy. On Sunday, while Jack went to his friend, Thomas', birthday party, Kate and I had a date around town. We had lunch at Globus - and then she proceeded to ride her no-pedal bike all the way home. She's still crazy dangerous (as I was yelling, "Achtung, Achtung" behind her), but her stamina is improving - and it was fun to see her go.