Hi everyone! I have had so many questions about just our day to day life, so Ill do my best to give a good idea of our life from Mon - Fri because so far Ive only shown all the weekend adventures. Heres what we do when Ryan isnt around..hehe
Housing and our new place!
We are currently in temp housing until we move into our house on Sept 16th. Ryans company owns the condo we are staying in and we are able to stay here for a total of 3 months, which will work out good because by the time we leave it will have been 2.5 months. I can best describe this place as maybe a condo youd rent in Florida, all light colors , mainly white with tile floors. With a washer and dryer that can get out any stain! No joke, I am bringing back one of these washers if I have to smuggle it. The town we are in is called Rotkreuz, it is about 30 min from Zurich but situated between Zug and Lucern, both about 10 min away by train and so far two of my favorite towns. Both are located on lakes.
We will move to a town called Wadenswil, that is 20 minutes from Zurich and way more international than where we are now. The shops and resturants are open later and there are many more English speaking people there. It is located along Lake Zurich. Our house is the end unit of a 4 unit "townhome" structure. It is very European. The kitchen is smaller than many of your master closets and I am not kidding! However, for those of you who know me, I dont like to spend much time there anyway so thats ok. It has two car garage...The basement level has a large laundry room, bomb shelter (all homes have them and they are good for storage) and a bedroom which will be the playroom, the main level has a mini kitchen, eating area and family room and half bath, then the next two floors up are bedrooms and bathrooms. The top floor is a guest bedroom with a bathroom and veranda with awesome views! I was thinking of also putting Charlies room up there but I am a bit worried about him falling down the stairs if he looks for us a night. I might actually have Ella and Charlie share a room. All the stairs are circular and carpeted, which the carpeting is rare here. Our favorite thing is the location which is close to town, close to Zurich and it has a large backyard with really cool views of Lake Zurich and the Alps. You can even see the boats cruising on the lake. There are lots of dinner cruises that launch from the town about a mile from us. It is situated at the end of the road so the kids can ride their bikes.
School, horray!
The kids will start school Thursday and Ella will go 3 mornings per week and Charlie will go 2 mornings. The days Charlie is there, Ella will be there also. It is a split class, they divide the younger and older kids after circle time and free play. The school will be 1 mile from our new house and I can walk there except it is up hill the whole way. Maybe I will take the bus to take them to school and then walk them back home. Having them together is good for everyone, it eases their anxiety and gives me time to run errands. The school is English and brand new, the day they arrive will be the 2nd day it is opened. It has a wonderful setting and lots to play with, including fish tanks, wooden train sets, games, kitchen sets, dress up, etc. So, needless to say, we all cant wait for tomorrow! As of next week my days will change alot from what we are doing now because I will have to drive them 25 min to school and back, 3 x a week.
We have one car that we bought, Ryan and I will share it and it is like a trailblazer with a 3rd row but just shrunk a bit. Everything here is smaller and a wide car wont do, you would take out your side mirrors for sure! Its black which is cool, I have never had a black car.
Grocery Shopping:
Shopping here is better than when we first moved here, once you figure out what everything is it is somewhat easy. The stores are smaller but within walking distance I have 3 I can walk to so if one store doesnt have what I need , the other usually will. Sushi is impossible to find here, when I go back to the states for Christmas i will be a regular at my favorite sushi resturants. If I go up to a deli counter I usually point to what I need and with the little German I know and the little English they know, it works out. I can count to 100 which seems so hilarious, but actually helps a ton. The neighbor kids above us taught us how to count. I have a list of things to bring back with me from the states but off the top of my head it is impossible to find: lemonade, ranch dressing, canned soups, hot sauce, chedder cheese, anything premade or boxed like mac and cheese...the food is good though and very natural. You need to eat it quick because it wont last long in the fridge! I also miss jalapeno poppers. Love those things.
The Farms:
The farms here are everywhere and most of them have cows, goats, chickens, some horses (not sure if they are to eat..ugh). But they are beautiful and the animals are treated like royalty. You can walk to many of these farms and help yourself to the fresh fruits, eggs and veggies theyve picked that day. You just write down what you took and leave your money in a basket. They are some of the best fruits and veggies Ive ever had. The dairy farms are crazy, lots of cows and they are equipped with spritzers incase the "ladies" get hot, huge fans and a big massager they can rub their back against. Not too bad. Ella and Charlie like to feed them, as if they are not well fed enough as it is. Maybe that is why the milk here is great, the cows are happy! Well as happy as you can be having to produce milk all day.
Daily Life:
Our days have been filled with going to parks, farms, shopping, taking trains to neighboring towns and it is fun but we are ready for school to start. The neighbor kids here have been really friendly and we will miss them when we move. Their moms speak English. The kids above us are sweet, 10, 8 and 7 and they love Ella and Charlie and run around riding scooters together and playing with chalk. Everytime we walk by they are waiving and saying hello. Ella and Charlie think it is really neat that their friends live right above us.
We brought a large container from our house and it arrived on land last weekend. It will go straight to our new house in Sept. we brought about 60% of our stuff, all the beds, couches, clothes, kitchen stuff, toys, bikes, etc. I am so happy to hear our stuff actually made it as far as it did. FEEWWWWW
We have slingbox which means we watch tv through our colorado cable box at my parents house...we are able to record programs and watch them which is so nice. We have been watching Seinfeld at night or movies , the tv here is either british or german. Watching the olympics in german is just not the same.
ok, thats it for now!
With traffic it took me a whopping 45 minutes to drive them, so it will be that way until mid-September.
With traffic it took me a whopping 45 minutes to drive them, so it will be that way until mid-September.
