End the first trimester with glacier hiking!

Ok, so I'm probably going to keep this short.  Running out of time on my Sunday!
Monday was our doctors appointment and they did a bunch of tests and measured the baby and it was so big that they decided I was a week ahead.  So I'm 13 weeks now and the new due date is Jan 3.  As far as we know the tests went well.  Now we are working on getting our name on as many kinderkrippes (day cares) as possible.  Who knows if we'll need it but it takes a long time to get a place and there is no penalty for not needing it.  So here we go!

Thursday Paul decided that we needed to go hike the biggest glacier in Europe called Aletsch.  The trip was not cheap but it was definitely an experience.  Saturday we woke up at 5am and made our way to the train station.  Unfortunately our train had some problems.  So our 2.5 hour trip took almost 4.  Not cool but we made it with plenty of time!  A section of the trail we wanted to do had been closed off because not all the snow had melted but Paul wanted to try it out anyway and the ticket lady still sold us tickets to do it.  Rachel and I were a little weary but we braved it and made it out alive!  You just had to place your feet in the snow very carefully and take your time.  An old guy helped us try it out in the beginning and then we left him in our dust!  He made it clear that he didn't know if we should really try to go all the way around but we proved him wrong.  We hiked all along the glacier, scrambled through rocks, and took a tunnel (a shortcut) to the other side of the mountain since it had taken so long to get through the snowy part.  The glacier is huge and I dont think I ever got a really good feel for how big it really is- about half a mile wide.  The whole hike took about 6 hours and we were home by 8:30.  It was one long day but very worth it.  I'll put pictures up at the end of this.

Next week will start the not so fun next 3 weeks.  Paul is leaving me for glacier sampling Wed-Fri and then he's gone for 2 weeks in Lucerne.  I'll probably get A LOT of sleep which I will love. :)

You can go here to see an album devoted to this hike!

Day trips and packages- love them :)

Alright, so I've had a tough time motivating myself to blog but here it goes!

So, the week before last was crazy.  One day I went to a seminar for most of the day for work by myself and I actually enjoyed it- this made me realize I am still somewhat of a nerd.  Then something happened with our alarm and I kept forcing myself to sleep thinking it wasnt time to get up (our room is very dark) and realized what was going on by almost 9am.  Not exactly the best way to start the day but I made it to work by 9:40.  Not too bad.  And then that Friday I had an interview with a English-speaking company who builds engines for ships.  Pretty cool but I found out yesterday they hired someone with more experience.  :(  But that Friday we hung out with Paul's people and Saturday cleaned the entire apartment (thanks mostly to Paul because I was feeling SO gross) and invited our neighbors over for coffee/tea/cake (I still think it's bread).  We got some great advice on day cares and strollers and life and watch Lizzie find everything she could get her hands on in every nook and cranny!  It was cute.  Sunday we took a trip to Bern (the capital) with a couple people and climbed TONS of stairs to see some amazing views.  The pain I was feeling Monday was definitely worth it.  Here are the pictures:

Bern is named after bears.  So they have a few bears by the river for tourists.  They were adorable!

Oh, there's just water flowing down the middle of the road.  Definitely attracted little kids!

Einstein's house!  He lived a few places in Switzerland including Zurich.

We climbed tons of stairs to the top of this church to get these awesome pictures of the city.

We've been getting some packages lately and I love it.  My friend, Jayce, sent us an amazing package with tons of fun stuff AND homemade jam!  Heck yeah :)  Then my mom sent us (well mostly for me) one with clothes!!  She got me some cuuute Target maternity shirts and a dress and pants.  And they dont even look maternity so I can wear them now.  Yay!  Now if the 50's and rainy-ness will just go away and give us some summer!  But she put some Luna bars in there too.... I'm sad I never ate them before because they are delicious and now they're super hard to get.  A few people from Paul's group are in the states now and we are hoping a couple of them can bring me back some.  They are perfect for when Im hungry and dont want to eat anything AND they are super filling.  :)  But look at how my mom's box came.   Keep in mind that Jayce's package was in perfect condition...

The clothes were soaked and even the white shirts were semi-stained.  Paul bleached them and everything was clean in the end.  So no worries but it was crazy!  You never expect to pick up your package soaked and in a plastic bag.

Today we went over to the Bebecenter and IKEA and priced tons of stuff.  I thought I'd figure out what stroller I liked best until I saw them alllllll.  Who knows now.  I have some research to do.  It wouldnt be that big of a deal if we didnt live in a tiny place with lots of stairs and walked/used public transportation for everything.  So winter as new parents with a newborn will definitely be fun.  :)  But we did buy a picture for our place so now we have one picture hanging on the wall!  Go us!  Eventually we'll get more but we didnt want to carry it all in the rain.  Since tomorrow is Father's day Paul is wanting to celebrate...  I dont know what we'll end up doing but he wants to go to Bern again.  We will see!  Monday I have a checkup (11 weeks) and it's the one where they do tons of tests.  They scheduled me for a 2 hour checkup- holy cow.  So hopefully everything is great!

Sunday lazy day- YES PLEASE

I guess Sundays are turning into blog posting time.  :)

This week was a usual week except that I realized I must be eating more than I think because we had to go to the grocery an extra 2 times this week!  Friday we started our weekend by putting together a basil-mozarella-tomato appetizer and headed to an American friend's place for baked spagetti with Paul's group.  It was a nice relaxing night just chilling with friends and by 10pm I was exhausted.  I have officially become an old lady!

Saturday morning we got some picnic stuff together and met our neighbors for a bike ride around the Greifensee (a huge lake not far from our apartment).  The day was so perfect and clear for it- 80 deg!- that you could see the snow capped Alps in the distance!  I knew it usually takes us 2-3 hours because I like to slow down Paul (he can do it in 1) but I had forgotten how little kids definitely make things take longer.  Little Lizzie did not like riding along in the beginning and just wanted to walk around.  So almost immediately after arriving at the Greifensee we stopped at a really nice swimming spot for our picnic.  We were amazed at the amount of food Robert and Kerstin brought.  We brought a light lunch- sandwiches with fruit and lemon poppy seed bread- and they brought 2 huge loafs of yummy bread, TONS of vegetables with a homemade dip that I have GOT to get the recipe for, hot dogs, orange juice, German coke, and more for Lizzie.  They were so awesome and shared it all with us.  Lizzie got to run around and chase a duck and then we were off for more bike riding.  We stopped later for ice cream and a handful of other times and had one last stop in the shade for Lizzie to run some more and have some snacks.  7 hours later we were back home.  It was a super nice ride and I talked to Kerstin A LOT about having a baby here and got a lot of great information.  She was just so open and it was great to chat with someone who could help me.  I'll even go over to their place sometime to learn the way they do their diapers (reusable) but Im not sure I'll do the same because some of the stuff they use they have to get specifically from Germany.

Anyways, we got home around 5 and relaxed for about 30 min before getting ready for the next outing- dinner with our new friends, Elena and Christian.  We cat sitted for them while they were in the states (Elena is from Atlanta).  We threw together some salsa and guacamole and showered and were off again!  *Side note: The shower hates me again and has been cutting off very randomly.  I got 2 min before it shut off for 10 and then I got 2 more min before it shut off again.  I was sooo pissed.  It is not fun freezing in the shower that is making you late just because the hot water wont stay on!  We're going to check the batteries (yes- batteries for our water heater in the shower right in with the water) and if that doesnt work someone is going to get an earfull.*  So we went over to give back the keys and have Mexican lasagna with them and talked for a few hours.  I was so shocked I stayed up so late but I no doubt slept hard as a rock last night- except for when I slept walked to the bathroom.  :)  But we had a lot of fun.  Elena is part Mexican and Christian is German so they are a fun couple.  They are our age and have been married 4 years and previously lived in Ireland.  So Christian has an Irish accent when he speaks English.  So crazy.  But they are our first friends that have no connection to ETH which I think is really cool!

Today has become our lazy day and I love it. I just wish it would last longer! Here's to another week of work! Wooohooo ;)