Katie Turns Two in Switzerland!

Today was a special day - Katie's 2nd birthday! Since she gets so excited about animals, we thought it would be fun to visit a nearby zoo today. However, Katie and Lily woke up feeling just a little bit unwell. Nothing terrible - some runny noses and general malaise. We decided that after our big long day in the sun yesterday, maybe a more restful day was in order for all of us. So we'll plan on visiting the zoo tomorrow instead.

So happy to be two years old!

However, we still had some fun things planned to celebrate Katie's birthday. After lunch, we sang happy birthday and she opened a gift from Uncle Siraj, Aunt Malorie, and Cousin Ceci.

So excited! 

It was a little Playmobil puppy set - so cute! 

Katie absolutely loves her new present, and has already spent a considerable amount of time playing with it. The other kids all liked it too, and say they want to start a big Playmobil collection - oh boy!

The birthday present was a surprise just for Katie, but next it was time for a surprise for EVERYONE! We told the kids we were going out for a surprise and headed out for a walk.

On the way to our surprise!

Living here for the past two weeks has made me realize that we really could do a lot more without our car back home. Here there are so many times driving just isn't an option because we don't all fit, so we go on 10-30 minute walks both to run errands and to get to fun places. There are lots of places within that distance of our home in Wisconsin that we could walk to instead of drive, so I think after we get home we'll make it a point to walk a little more and drive a little less. This also means I will need to plan our outings with enough time for us to walk, so no more jumping in the car 15 minutes before the library closes - haha!

When we reached the local mall it was time to reveal the surprise - build your own frozen yogurt!!!

I took a picture of these elevator buttons in the mall because I thought it was interesting that there was a negative floor. I can't recall ever seeing that before.

The rest of the day we all relaxed at home. Before bed Katie had a nice bath in her cousin's tiny bath tub. We had been giving her baths in the big tub because she seems too big for the baby bath. However, earlier this week, after I left the room for about 30 seconds to help with the dishes, we discovered that Katie had gone upstairs, entered the dark bathroom, and climbed into baby Ceci's unemptied bath tub all on her own. Fully clothed! She was happily splashing away in the dark when we found her. "What are you doing?" I asked. "I'm taking a bath! I feel good!" she said. Haha! So tonight I gave her a real bath in the baby bathtub, which she loved. Happy Birthday, Katie!