July so far

I'm almost caught up on my blog. So I'm going to cheat a bit and just give a brief overview of our July since my parents left. Our activities have been:

1) Playdates and hanging out with Kai, Vanessa, and Eleanor as much as possible because they're awesome. So here's a photo of Carsten and Eleanor at our house being goofy, and here's a couple photos of a hike we took with them at Flumserberg (top of a mountain near here). Highlights of the hike included lunch under a covered awning, having it clear up while we were hiking so we could enjoy the view and take off our rain gear, and Vanessa and I got to go down the Floomzer, which is a sled on a rail track (yay!). Andy and Kai had gone skiing here in February, so I think it was fun for them to see it without snow as well. Here are photos:

They were having a ton of fun doing this :).

The group!

Not the best weather.

But we still had some pretty views :).

The Wallenzee. Zurich is just beyond what you can see here. 

The Floomzer! SO FUN!

2) Playing outside our house. We do this almost every day, and Carsten loves playing in the sandbox and with the trucks.

He likes our playground!

Looking for airplanes!

3) Playing at parks in Zurich. We found this by accident, and despite it being a rather cold morning, Carsten still had a lot of fun on the splash pad. We went back today and it was a much nicer day :). The best part is that it's free! Not a lot seems free here... :).

I love his face here. I think he accidentally ran through it :).

He got VERY wet :).

Today was much nicer. 

Carsten didn't want to play much in the splash pad. I think he didn't like going barefoot because it was slippery.

4) Going to the zoo! Our membership runs out at the end of July, so we've been trying to go there a bunch because we are not renewing our yearly membership. Carsten has a really good sense of where the animals are (I don't have to tell him where we are), and lately, he always asks to see the tigers. When the tigers are sleeping, he says 'AWAKE!'. Surprisingly, they usually do wake up :). He also loves the aquarium at the zoo, especially the fish we call the 'digger fish' because he digs himself into a hole and disappears. He also really likes riding the tractor down by the petting zoo.

At the tigers.

Where did the digger fish go?

The tractor!

5) Going to the tram museum. Andy took Carsten to the tram museum on Saturday afternoon while I stayed home and cooked. We all had fun! Well, except the boys got stuck in a torrential downpour when they came home... Poor guys. Here's a few photos of their tram museum time. Carsten loves the number 9. And he knows what it looks like (we didn't teach him).

Carsten the tram driver.

Playing trains.

This kid loves the number 9.

6) Going to the gym. Carsten and I go here about 3-4 times per week. They have daycare in the morning so I can workout while Carsten plays. He loves going there and playing with different trucks and diggers. :) We usually hit the grocery store on our way home to reduce the number of errands. No photos here :).

7) This weekend we went on a brief walk near the Greifensee (down in the valley by Uster). We normally don't go there even though it's close because there's not an easy way to get there by public transit. However, our friends let us borrow their car (thanks!) so it was super easy and close to go take a quick walk.

We went sans stroller.

Just walking!

8) When we're home, we play trucks, trains, and watch Bob the Builder. Carsten loves ALL of these activities :). Carsten also likes to help sweep. In fact, he asks to sweep several times per day. He's a clean kid. We also play 'hide' when we're home. Which mostly involves Carsten hiding in the same spot and then yelling 'ready!' However, this particular day he found a great spot! We also enjoy eating at home, and chasing Carsten around the house. Here's a lot of photos: :)

trains!

Big Wheel Loader (from Grandma and Grandpa Hoogie!).

He loves his tractors.

Love. 

Bubbles on the deck!

What a goof. :)

Ready!

The cuteness. Oh the cuteness.

Watermelon! 

He loves to wear our shoes.

This kid loves bacon.

Babyface.

Cleaning with Mommy!

Ok, so this post was supposed to be brief, but it wasn't. I guess we just do a lot of things!