A Visit from Friends

Last weekend, the Sivitzs came to visit us for the long weekend.  The kids had a GREAT time (and we learned that Maya won't break a baby, at least not immediately).  We did some hiking, some wading, LOTS of eating, and some visiting with their family (who have a farm not at all far from our house).  The kids loved riding horses (ok, Maya just petted the horses), driving the tractors (yes, driving), and swimming.

Bluebonnets

While I was in Switzerland, Maya spend a night and day with grandma and grandpa. My dad shot some pictures of her with the bluebonnets, which are experiencing a bumper season this year with all of the rain we've had over the past couple of months.  Someone was performing for the camera...

Lugano and Monte Bre

While in Lugano for a conference, I had some time to snap a few photos of the city and its surroundings.  The first two days we were here, it was rainy, foggy and overcast.  These first few photos are the view from our hotel room on those days.

Luckily, it cleared up pretty quickly.  See the reshot photos from our hotel room.

On Monday, Jamie and I went for a long walk alongside the lake after the conference but before dinner.  It was a little windy and chilly, but it was a really nice walk.

On Tuesday, we took the funicular up Monte Bre for some lovely pictures back down into Lugano and of the surroundings.  It was a gorgeous day, and everything is just starting to bloom here.

Chicago

Maya, mom, and I spent a few days of spring break visiting Rob, Sarah, and cousins.  It was a great visit... in the 80s in Chicago in March!  We took a trip to the American Girl store and had fancy lunch with our troop of dolls.  On Friday, we went to the Brookfield zoo.

Maya and secrets

Maya is really into telling secrets lately.  She leans in, cups her hand around your ear, and whispers something of great import.  This morning at breakfast, she said she wanted to tell me a secret.  Tim was sitting between us, so he said she could tell him, then he could tell me.  She thought about it for a while and decided that we would each get our own secret.  Tim got to go first.  Then she came around the table to me.

Maya: [whispering in my ear] It's actually going to be the same secret.

Me: OK.  What is it?

Maya: [whispering in my ear] I'm not telling.

I have no idea what she told Tim.

Conversation in the car

I would insert pauses in this conversation, but there really were none.

[Following a conversation in which we discussed Maya's favorite "M" word, which she refused to tell me.]

Maya: You can guess my favorite "F" word.  It ends in "Y."
Me: Fly?
Maya: Nope
Me: Fry?
Maya: Nope
Me: Furry?
Maya: Nope
Me: Fuzzy?
Maya: Are there ox in Texas?
Me: Ox?
Maya: Yeah.
Me: Um, actually I don't know.  We could look that up when we get home.
Maya: Are ox mean or friendly?
Me: I imagine they could be either.
Maya: Oh! We went on a field trip today!
Me: You did?  Where did you go?
Maya: To Africa.
Me: Oh!  How did you get there?
Maya: We took a bus.
Me: A bus across the ocean?
Maya: Yeah, it was a special bus that can float.
Me: Oh.  What did you see there?
Maya: We saw giraffes.
Me: Oh?
Maya: Yeah, but it was scary because the giraffes tried to eat us.
Me: Really?  I thought giraffes ate leaves.
Maya: These were special kid-eating giraffes.
Me: Oh, that is scary.  How did you get away?
Maya: We fed them some leaves.
Me: Oh. What else did you see?
Maya: We saw ice cream growing on trees.
Me: Really?  On trees in Africa?  How did it stay cold?
Maya: It had sticky stuff on it to keep it cold.

[As an aside.  I assume Maya meant "ox."  Maybe she meant "auks."  In either case, I think she thinks it is spelled "oks" and that the word is plural; she did use the word "ok" (pronounced "auk") to describe a single ox.]

Lists for Amy

So Amy asked me to put together a list of things we missed about the US but didn't realize until we got back.  I appreciate the assignment actually, because it made me actually take some time to reflect.  People keep asking how we're adjusting to being back, but it's really been smooth.  Like we were never gone in many ways.  Though every once in a while, something becomes apparent that we really miss about our time in Italy.  So my single list morphed into a set of lists instead:

Things we missed about the US but didn't realize until we got back:

• Maya's school.  It's truly superb.  Her Italian kindergarten was also great, but we were quickly reminded as to how thankful we are to have found Bluebonnet.
• NPR
• Potbelly's Farmhouse Salad
• My hair conditioner (though, to be fair, I purchased it in Iceland...)
• Our bed (what do you want me to say?  It's a nice bed.)
• Right turn on red
• KGSR
• Amazon (Prime)
• The Y
• [UPDATED] CTAH: Tim missed both working and his co-workers (though they would never hear him admit it...)

Things we knew we missed while we were gone and were glad to have back:

• Our puppies
• Our family
• Our friends
• Our clothes dryer
• Our kitchen and everything about it
• [UPDATED] Eating out before 7pm

Things we didn't miss about the US and were unfortunately reminded when we got back:

• Austin traffic.  Sigh.
• Poor quality restaurant food.
• Smartphones.  I thought I missed my smartphone.  I was wrong.  Maybe I should get rid of it.
• Stuff.  We have a lot of it, and clearly we can do without much of it.  We're slowly cleaning out.

Things we miss about Trento/Italy:

• Our friends
• Walking to things from our home
• The food.  Seriously.
• The pace of life (though this may have been significantly impacted by the fact that only one of us was working...)
• The huge number of things to do nearby.  We're being more deliberate about seeking things out in Austin now.