Football in the rain

We got dirty muddy this afternoon when we met with Vincent (we visited his grandparents cherry tree orchards in the mountains in the summer) and his three brothers and sisters for a game of football in this hissing rain. Poor Bea slipped over (Vincent had proper football boots) and got covered in mud. So did I right on my bottom, much to the children's amusement. Wish we had taken some pictures!

End of summer?

Can summer really be over? It's gone very cool, and after Bea's afternoon Kindergarden today (and a short reading and writing session at home), we scooted through the rain to pick Ili up from Spielgruppe. Had a wet scoot back again too!

First piano lesson

Bea had his first piano lesson today, and he said he really enjoyed it. I sat in for a bit at the beginning (at his request) while he was finding all the 'Cs', and got to grips with a three finger drill up and down the keyboard. It's a 30 minute session every Wednesday, so we'll see how it goes. It's at Rösli Schulhaus which has a cute playground, so Bea and Ili got to let out some steam afterward.

Ili's singing starts again

With the idea being that Ili gets to hear more Swiss-German, we've signed up again for the parent and children singing Tuesday mornings (all in Swiss-German). Of course, it's only me that sings at all (and very badly), but she's all ears.

Chisels and saws

Ili was very involved in her 'craft work' when I collected her from Spielgruppe today. In the background the tool set the children are able to play with is visible. Not plastic Fisher Price, but the real thing — chisels and hacksaws. There has been a tad of discussion about this in Switzerland of late, including an article (see here) about the difference in US attitudes to Swiss (questions such as: "should three-year-olds be able to play with such 'toys'", and "should children be walking to school on their own from four years of age?") The Swiss are very proud of their attitude towards fostering children's sense of responsibility—and I'd be interested to know where the UK stands.

Off swimming . . .

Bea and Ili prepare for a Sunday morning swim at Kaferberg (the warm indoor pool)

Antonia's sixth birthday party

The first birthday party of the school year, and shamefully we arrived late after getting a little too relaxed over a late lunch in a bar. So, Antonia has turned six and I left Bea in the company of seven girls for a couple of hours to celebrate.

Friends since they were both under two years old.

Swiss healthcare

Swiss private health care is great, but you don't want to have to pay a small fortune for all the regular kids check ups. Here's how we we do it with thanks the the Post Office scales — yep, looks like they're still growing! Of course, I am only joking, we visit the docs regularly too! Bea also had a follow-up hearing check this afternoon as the school doctor picked up a 'problem' with some of his results months back, but it was confirmed there was no problem and he can hear perfectly.

Ili starts afternoon playgroup

Up until now Ili has only joined the morning Spielgruppe, but this term she has started Thursday afternoons too. Bea goes back to Kindergarten now on a Thursday afternoon and today they were all asked to bring their swimming gear so they could splash around in the pool and fountain in the school playground after lunch. So after Bea gathered his gear, Ili started to mimic him and got exciting gathering her things too—so no bother there—she was very happy to go. Oh, and I had some rare time to myself.

Ili having a story in the Spielgruppe garden.

Afternoon swim

Hot hot hot today, and even though the children are both exhausted this week (too hot to sleep) they wanted to go and swim. Bumped into Irish friend Sarah and her two little ones at Allenmoos, so Bea and Fiona joined the humongous queue for the slide (they didn't mind waiting!) and had a ball sliding down together. On the way home, we popped into the allotment for the first time since we left for the summer holiday and was totally amazed. Last time we visited was after the storm trashed the garden. We've decided the neglected, no-dig garden is the way forward. The weeds were flourishing, but so were the fruit and veggies (spuds, broccoli, beans, kohlrabi, sweetcorn, salad, cucumbers, herbs, raspberries . . .). We tucked into Bea's potatoes for dinner.

Shop, and dance, 'til you drop

We're starting to get geared up for the new apartment. Ili and I went window shopping this morning —nothing we could afford of course, but all good for ideas. Ili was crawling across the swanky display furniture in her shoes trying everything out for size, luckily nobody noticed her or we'd have been slung sharply out the door. The extra curriculum classes started this week, and Ili's friend Miya wanted to join a dance class (or at least twirl around in a tutu if truth be told), so I suggested Malika (our ballet dancing neighbour and James's mother who runs a range of music and movement classes—Bea took them last year). It just so happens Malika's starting a group for the younger, pre-Kindergarten kiddies so we all gave it a trial today. Ili was absolutely great, and got stuck in jumping all over the place, waving scarves and dancing to the bongos. Miya was unfortunately rooted to the spot. Bea came along and was great support for Ili, and he stayed for the group afterward with James. It's all in Swiss German so good for her language.

Back to school

No bother going back to school or Spielgruppe today. From now on Bea comes home for lunch on a Monday and heads back in the afternoon for another two hours. He told us that he's now the "Finken Chef" (at least for a couple of weeks) which means it's his responsibility to make sure everyone at Kindergarten puts their shoes away. Papa and I are making sure we don't step out of line. . . . Better be careful! Took Ili to meet them turnout at 3:30 and we took his friend Viktor up for an ice cream, then they played in the water fountain (sweltering hot today) until late. In the afternoon Kindergarten today, they were encouraged to speak High (proper) German.

Theater Spektakel

It's Theater Spektakel time which is always a good vibe! It's a small festival with theater, music and dance — which we haven't been to — but it's the free street theater with acts from all over the world that pull us in. Well, it's Zürich, and this is actually something for nothing. It's set in a beautiful location by the lake at Wollishofen, and you can sink a beer, watch the performers, and take a dip and you can easily cycle there. Bea swam there last year across to the little island (where there is another venue) with armbands on. This year he was very proud to have done it there and back without them!

Two parties

This afternoon, a friend in the Hof decided to celebrate the end of the summer holidays with a spaghetti lunch for the kids and a few party-style games. We had to leave this early to head down to another party (this time, less spaghetti more beer) by the lakeside (Zürihorn) to meet with the birthday boy (32), and friends. Swimming was lovely. Had a bit of a late night, and Bea travelled back on the back of Frith's bike in a friends trailer.

Biking and swimming

No pics today, but met with Marianna this morning (Miya's mother) and this time she brought her son, Nico who's is slightly older than Bea. The boys have met before and as we met at the school they both hurtled round on their bikes. We've decided to do a weekly swap with Miya and Ili to give each other more work time and let the children play (Marianna is finishing her second novel). In the evening, Bea and Papa went back to the river for another swim meeting with the Ghazoul children (Zeki, Antar, Alligan and Sanna) who are just back from Australia, and Bea impressed them all with his swimming. Three times across the river and down again.

River swimming

Took the children out for a picnic with their bikes and Bea's friend Zinnia came along. Bea is still catching up on missed friendship over the summer hols. In the evening we introduced some newly arrived friends (Claude, Anita and their two children Hugo, 7 and Alice, 10) to the river swimming. The current was weak (no rain for days) and after Bea saw Hugo take a swim, he was desperate to get in but only had his pants on! Getting him in with his pants on (concerned everyone would notice) was the biggest challenge, swimming upstream was easy in comparison and he was like a little puppy dog swimming backwards and forwards between us. But he did it and loved it, and kept getting back in for more. We've promised to go back again tomorrow evening.

Bea (middle of the picture) and Chris swimming upstream in the Limmat.

Can't stop swimming!

Back to Zurich and we can't stop swimming! While we still have the car we've been along Zurich lakeside, and out to Stafa on Sunday where Bea tried to swim to the raft with papa — but too choppy — and today we went to Küsnacht badi on Zurich's wealthy 'gold coast'. The sand is artificial (just like the trophy wives that frequent there), but the swimming was nice. We still couldn't make it out to the raft (without armbands). Swimming in the comfort of a pool is one thing, but coping with the waves is Bea's next big challenge.

Two early birds at Küsnacht badi before the crowds arrived.

Papa piggybacking Bea towards the raft at Stafa.

More France pics to come . . .

Will publish the remaining France pics shortly . . .