Saturday, January 24, 2009

Enero




El mes de Enero estuvo un poco dificil. Despues de salir del hospital y comenzar mi recuperacion, tuvimos que empezar los arreglos para despedir a Minnie que decidio regresar antes a Mexico. No pudimos hacer ningun viaje en ese mes. En cambio, pasamos tiempo disfrutando vistas como esta desde la comodidad de la sala y por supuesto tiempo en el parque/juegos cunado el tiempo lo permitia.


Friday, January 09, 2009

From the hospital

Starting the new year at the hospital has been weird. I am on my 4th day in the hospital and when I am not sedated by drugs, I have been able to catch up on this blog (hence the progress seen below). I thank you for your prayers and good vibe sent over here; the surgery went well and I have very little discomfort. The Doctor might let me go back to work by Wednesday, I will know by Monday.

Traveling has been a huge component of our overseas assignment and I want to write some words to those travelers out there that are currently growing their families. 2 years ago we would be able to sit at a restaurant, we had to order in, travel with so many diapers, kids continually asked when were we going back home, they would try new food, and we had to be in bed by 7:30. We had to travel with a double stroller which sometimes nobody wanted to ride and it was not optimal for the coble stone streets of Europe. 2 years later everything is different. JP and Syd ask when are we going on another trip and they count the days in the calendar. They have travel toys that they see only when they travel, they are small and varied. They try more food in every trip. We travel with only one single stroller and they take turns riding it. Sweets are always handy and we always make sure we unwind at the hotel room before dinner with a good jump on the bed practicing some disco moves. Some years from now, they might not remember that they have visited more that 20 countries but they will remember we had fun while doing so.

So for you just starting your families, who love to travel, do not be afraid to take your little one on trips! Do not be discouraged if he/she cries all nights while you are in Rome for the weekend…. It just gets better.

We wish you all a great 2009 full of health and good company!

Thursday, January 01, 2009

Going back home


New years day was a travel day. We drove to Chambery and made regular stops along the way. One of the stops was to Chateau Grignan. We read that this castle was surrounded by lavender fields, and it was on the way, so we decided to check it out. There were indeed lavender fields all around the history where the castle resided. As it was winter, the lavender was not in full bloom, but we still got a good sweet smelling whiff of lavender when we got out of the car. With all the stops, we did not get to Chambery until dinner time. We unpacked, had dinner at the hotel, and retired early. We got up not so early the next morning and traveled to Baden (about 30 min from Zurich) to soak in the thermal baths for a few hours - what a way to end the trip!
Sydney really liked this tram so she asked me to take a picture while leaving Montpellier

Grignan

Grignan