Balancing Baby and Bonjour

It’s been quite some time since I’ve done a post about things I miss. This idea came to mind last week when our entire home ( minus Anna ) had the stomach bug. T started it off on a Saturday morning around 1:36 am and didn’t go back to sleep until his ( earlier than usual ) nap at 11:30 am…oh and he only wanted mommy 😥. We set up camp on the couch, then the floor, then back to the couch but he was just so uncomfortable. Once he ate later in the morning he seemed fine. I kept him inside with me for the morning and we got him out in the afternoon for some fresh air.  We thought we were in the clear and had a nice family day on Sunday.  Monday night after baths, Henry just stood over the toilet saying his “tummy was being naughty.”  We were reading stories and getting ready to head to his bedroom at 7:30 and wouldn’t you know, he stopped in the bathroom and started vomiting.  I hadn’t felt good all day and really didn’t eat anything and around 9 pm that evening I was sick.  Of course Henry had just left for Germany so it was a sick mommy to take care of a sick 4 year old…the worst feeling.  Even worse, Henry landed in Germany and started throwing up as well.  UGH!

Tuesday I was feeling much better and little Henry and I had a bum day of doing crafts, coloring, watching a movie and just laying around.   Wednesday morning Henry was all better and ready to go back to school, but our nanny was now sick.  I gave her the day off so she could quarantine herself and after taking Henry to school, Thomas, Anna and I went outside to get some fresh air.  By Wednesday afternoon everyone was better and I had now disinfected our place 3 times!  I really couldn’t eat anything until the weekend, but now I’m good as new.

Ok so back to the things I’m missing lately:

• It’s now Autumn so I’m missing all things fall…pumpkins, apple cider donuts, apple cider, pumpkin patches.  They sell pumpkins here but it’s just not the same
• Again, the weather is getting cold and I’m missing my US coffee – the big ole cup of java.  We have a Nespresso which we love, but somedays I just want a coffee with some kind of special creamer in it!
• Kids clothes.  Henry’s actually in San Fran this week and he took an extra suitcase because buying kids clothes here isn’t as much fun…plus they are ridiculously priced – 1 sleeper can be upwards of $60!!!!
• Of course, FAMILY, especially when the kids are sick – you just want to be able to call home!  2 more months until we are home for the holidays
• Target, now that’s a give in.  I mean you an go there and get pretty much anything you need or want!

I have to cut this short since Anna is waking, more later!  But before I get off, when you are missing home, just look out your window and know all will be ok!

We hosted Henry’s team for one of their annual dinners. At the dinner last year I was very pregnant, this year Anna was able to enjoy an hour of the party before she went to bed!

As usual we just do the shopping (besides the wine in which the man from Paris is always in charge of) and his team divides and conquers the rest! We had a great menu this year; gazpacho to start, leeks and scallops, mashed potato with cod atop a whole wheat baguette for appetizers; broccoli sautéed with garlic and tomatoes, grilled cedar plank salmon and a 6lb filet roast. For dessert his team member from Milan made tiramisu from scratch – amazing!! We also had an apple tart/pie with vanilla ice cream.

The 2 guys from the US are always in charge of cleanup because they did such a great job their first time (their own fault 😉).

It was such a wonderful evening and his team had such a wonderful time. The weather couldn’t have been any better either! It’s very un-European to invite a lot of people to your house for dinner so it’s a good change for his team…puts them at ease a bit.

The baby is sleeping, the kitchen is clean and the laundry is in – now for a little mommy time.

Ok so I’ve started my Greece post far too many times, only to come back and finish and it’s no where to be found.

I’ve made a little promise to myself that I’m going to blog at least once a week, little or big, but blog.

So here goes, a little recap on Greece.

We landed in Switzerland on a Wednesday in August from the US and then left again that Saturday for Greece. Luckily I had finished all of our laundry at my parents house before we flew home so packing for Greece wasn’t really that bad (I mean I still had to pack for 3 children, Henry and I).
We left for Greece that Saturday afternoon and 2 1/2 hours later (isn’t that crazy!) we were in Elounda, Crete, Greece. It was quite dark when we arrived, we had room service to make it easy and then put all the kids (and ourselves) to bed. The next morning we woke to utter beauty. It was a scorcher already at 8 am so we had ourselves a quick breakfast and headed straight to the beach/pool. This was basically our routine each day, with a few days being exceptions where we did a few excursions. The kids were in heaven and were full of smiles all week.

Each afternoon while T and A napped, we would take Henry on a little trip into town for lunch all by himself. Towards the end of the week, he would stay and have quiet time as the sun really exhausted them!

Wednesday afternoon we rented a boat for the family and our captain took us out and around a few other islands for 3 hours. We were able to snorkel (with the kids!), enjoy a cocktail (as much as you can enjoy it when you’re trying to keep the kids from falling into the sea) and little Henry even got to fish! It was a lot of fun. Our captain was very informative and even taught little Henry had to drive the boat – he was so excited!

Thursday during nap, Henry and I rented a speed boat to go and explore by ourselves. I was a bit nervous to say the least, I mean Henry really doesn’t drive boats ever, especially off the island of Crete in the sea! I relaxed about halfway in and we found a really great cove to do some snorkeling.

Friday morning Henry and I took the first boat over to Spinalonga (the island across from us) and walked around and enjoyed the history.

The food in Greece was to die for. A few nights we took everyone into town and enjoyed an early dinner and a few nights we ordered room service for our nanny and the kids and we would go out alone. I had at least one Greek salad a day, if not more, the feta was just that good!!

Now for a little photo diary of our trip: